#the onus was never on the fans to be the managers of what could be done on the server and I hate that they (we?) took it anyways

[dodgebolts]

saw a clip of Aimsey on Puffy’s stream talking about the reason he left the smp like it’s something that’s been brought up since FOREVER ago and yet still people will act like everything on that server is holy and untouchable. like guys I was sad when things got blown up or disappeared but they’re pixels. on a minecraft server people have to play on. it’s not the end of the world it will be built upon and new stories will get made!

Like l’targay? I watched Purpled build its predecessor, Walmar, I watched it get claimed by puffy, turned into l’targay, and then watched again as it got plowed and the land turned into a giant beetroot farm by clingyduo like that’s how the server works! They’re not just acting out a story in minecraft for us to laud their ability to create in the video game only for people to turn around and yell at them for…playing the video game? Another example was people getting all mad at Bad for prettying up the prime path. They were the asses because in reality? Tommy was finally able to get back on and riff off of someone. It was GOOD and fun ‼️

Like I am thankful for all of the wonderful memories I’ve watched get made on that server but people were seriously insufferable about touching anything on that server—they’re adults, if something happens to something they can work it out or play off of it! Instead what happened—leaving the server in a preserved state as was enforced by fans—was easily one of the things that killed activity on the server in 2021 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#lyss rambles #cw negativity #SORRY I needed to get this out #like tommy did not blow up half of the smp during that one stream to have people be weird about it IN 2022???? #it’s why the uproar over Michael was annoying too like if 🐝duo had a problem they could’ve messaged any of them #the onus was never on the fans to be the managers of what could be done on the server and I hate that they (we?) took it anyways

[db-reviews]

#159 - Black Hole / Blank Canvas - Motorpsycho (2006)

After the impressive jazz and country efforts of In The Fishtank 10 and The International Tussler Society, Motorpsycho would have an unsuspected turn of events as the band’s longtime drummer, Håkon Gebhardt, left the band. The rest of the group, Hans and Bent decided to continue on as a duo. Not only that but the two decided to try something new, still continuing the psychedelic rock sounds, but with more of an edge that could be found on their earliest releases of Lobotimizer and Demon Box. The duo wanted to go for a more hard psych approach combining elements of shoegaze, alternative rock, post-punk, and garage rock to create one of their more ambitious efforts, that being Black Hole / Blank Canvas.

Even as a duo, the passion for their sound remains unmatched, as this album gives way to some of the group’s best numbers in my opinion. Kill Devil Hills, Devil Dog, Sail On, L.T.E.C., and Hyena to name a few are some of the band’s most enjoyable songs they’ve released, having this very energetic motion that is carried every second along the way. The album’s heavy nature really lets these songs reach the same heights that Timothy’s Monster and Demon Box gave me with their giant, really gravid songs.

I think Hans’ guitar work on this album is really nicely done, just giving out this huge bassy sound that I find myself really loving to sink my teeth into. Not only that, but Bent finally showcasing more punchy jams into these songs is a fantastic need for any classic Motorpsycho fan, and for me who really likes the more heavy psych nature this album exudes. This is the best heavy sound the band has attempted in a long while, and they still manage to make it sound super fresh by combining more garage and prog infused efforts into it.

Guest starring on this record is Jacco van Rooij on drums and Øyvind Brandtsegg on the vibraphone. I think these two do a great job in creating more of an atmosphere and tension within the album, especially Jacco on the drums. While I think Håkon managed to really set the score and dynamic that previous albums exude, Jacco does a fine job in replicating it for this effort, and I think he does a really great job at it. It gets the job done, and what came of it was some really stellar percussion.

Now, I will say though that while these songs are good, I find this to be one of the only “bloated” Motorpsycho records, much in the same vein as Trust Us was. I am fine with hour-long albums, but I think 17 songs is a bit much, especially for this caliber of music. It comes to a point where I feel like, after 13 songs, I kinda want it to wrap up. Not to discredit the band’s hard work, but I just never enjoyed the album completely, and it is a real shame since these are some really good songs. I think if the band split the two discs into two separate albums then I think this project would be more beloved for me, but as it stands, it can become a fairly overly ambitious onus to get through.

Another really good effort from Motorpsycho, as expected. This is, what I think, would be the turning point for the band, as 2 years later they’d go skinny dipping into the prog trenches more than they have before, but that is a story for another day. As it stands, while it is a bit zealous to get through, this is another really solid display of musical workings that Motorpsycho delivered in the 21st century.

4/5

#music review #album review #progressive rock #rock #psychedelic rock #motorpsycho

[rainbowsky]

Hey new 🐢 anon here. I wanted to talk to you about the last night GG hotel incident. It was so horrifying. I have been into Kdrama and Kpop long before I started watching C dramas. The Sasaeng culture there really bother me. What I don't understand is that why the companies don't take any legal actions against these fans. There is enough video evidence against them and its not hard to identify them from their own videos. So why not file complain against them for harassment and invasion of privacy and put them in jail. Is it because this obsessive fans spend a lot of money on merch and other things??? But clearly the damage they do is greater than the profit. So why don't they take any action against this fans. I have seen some companies banning few sasaeng from attending shows and all but have never heard of any company taking any legal action against them. Why? Can anyone shed some light on this.

I think @accio-victuuri did a really good job of answering that question recently so I'll just point you to that post.

A couple other points worth making:

A lot of these fans are minors - teenage girls - so there are limitations to what can be done legally.

It's often difficult to prove any one particular fan has been responsible for certain activity, and a lot of the activities are actually legal (i.e. taking photos, for example, or standing around in public areas).

But ultimately as accio-victuuri said, the onus is put upon the celebrities to control fans, moreso than on any external company to protect them. Look at how Weibo helped fuel the harassment against GG last year vs making any attempt to curb it, yet they were the only ones with the complete power to put a stop to it. Sadly the fan culture there is pretty fucked up, and the deck is heavily stacked against celebrities.

Also, there are reports that the incident in GG's hotel involved antis, not fans. They were blocking him in the hallway and chanting slurs at him. It's difficult to know what's really true, except one thing seems clear: that hotel has shit security. Perhaps someone on staff was paid off or something, but the situation was inexcusable. I hope they find better accommodations and/or beef up security.

One other thing that I forgot to add is that celebrity culture in China actively promotes this completely unhinged romantic fantasy type of fandom that leads to this type of stalking. Money is king, and these romantic fantasies drive more sales, drive more viewership and ultimately drive more profits, so of course those with a financial stake in a celebrity's career are going to be much more likely to promote those fantasies than to try to curb them in any way.

As a result, you end up with a dynamic where celebrities are simultaneously being stalked while the studios and management and agencies and so forth are all promoting celebrities in a way that further fuels that stalking. The celebrities are basically being exploited from all sides and it's left up to them to manage their own security situation. If a problem comes up, it's viewed as their responsibility to tell their fans how to behave. And you see based on how many times GG has lectured his fans how truly ineffective that is. But no one seems to care.

And as @ohnoyizhan pointed out, it is extremely lucrative to be a stalker. They can make a lot of money from the information and photos they acquire. It's a disgusting reality, but it is a reality.

And so stalkers can afford pay people off to gain access to areas they're not supposed to be in, they can afford to hire drivers to follow celebrities, even disobeying traffic laws. They can afford to book seats on flights the celebrities are on, they can afford to book hotel rooms in the same hotels where celebrities are staying. It's really quite disgusting. The money they make stalking helps to bankroll their stalking.

One other element that I think warrants mentioning is that I have heard from C-fans that stalker fans often have a lot of leverage because of the material that they sometimes have on a celebrity. So celebrities really can't afford to piss off those stalker fans too much, because they could find some very sensitive information being leaked to the public that could seriously damage their careers.

So as you can see there are a lot of truly toxic layers to why stalking is so serious and such a serious and dangerous problem.

#hundred holes curse on all stalkers #entertainment industry #ask

[defensefilms]

Embiid, Sixers And Everything Else In A Wild NBA Post Season

1. Sixers And The Joys Of The 1 Seed

This is it.

This is what it’s all about. I can’t remember having this type of optimism about the Sixers during any post season. The 2018/19 Sixers were close but they didn’t validate that optimism the way this year’s team has as far as regular season performances.

These guys have done that and then some.

We’re no longer a team devoid of shooting or ball movement. We’re no questioning what our best line-ups are and who our best player is. We now have an experienced post season coach with the cache to make demands of these players.

This is the best any Sixer team has looked in any post season. We put the mollywhopping on the Wizards. From the head coach Doc Rivers, his staff and then all the way down to Shake Milton and Mike Scott off the bench, no one even entertained the idea that we weren’t going to sweep these guys.

Now we’re facing an obstinate Atlanta Hawks squad.  The Hawks have no way to stop Simmons or Embiid 1-on-1 but they got shooters for days and Trae Young’s averaging 27.7 points on 48.4% from the field. We need to put some respect on his name. Get the ball out of Trae’s hands because he was doing too much in game 1.

First there’s the fact that we’ve had our struggles defending elite scoring point guards this season. Then there’s the fact that Trae Young has done us dirty a few times before. The Hawks gave us hands in game 1 of the 2nd round. We we’re down early and didn’t get close to coming back until it was too late buts its far from curtains in this series. 

One thing that has definitely been of huge concern is the health of Joel Embiid.

How is it possible that a man tear his meniscus on May 31st and then drop 39 points, 9 boards and 4 assists in the playoffs on June 3rd? How? He can’t be healthy and I don’t know if it’s smart for his long term health to play right now. He was one of the bright sparks of the game. It’s not just this specific injury either.

This season has been hell on Embiid’s body. You have to wonder how much their gonna risk it or if the team are even halfway considering giving him a rest. Embiid spoke about managing his injuries after game 1 against the Hawks. Honestly doesn’t sound good. He’s talking about managing the swelling in his knee. This on top of ACL injuries sustained towards the end of the regular season. He’ll have had five days rest before game 2 so hopefully that helps remedy what is way more alarming than the Sixers front office is making it seem.

2. Lakers Flame Out

It’s been a dramatic season for the 2020/21 Lakers and typically speaking I don’t think that a team seeded so low are worthy of a list or breakdown like this but this is a special case. These Lakers are likely a way better team than seeding suggests.

Injuries to their 2 best players, saw the Lake-show lose number 1 seeding and then slide further down.

Roster-wise the Lakers tried their utmost to replace the production that they got out of Javale McGee and Dwight Howard. Marc Gasol just can’t be an active defender anymore and his inability to cover the perimeter and post at the same time became a huge issue. Montrezl Harrell has averaged 23.7 minutes off the bench and Dennis Schroder stretches the court as a shooter and a tertiary scorer but is more turnover prone than Rajon Rondo was.

The signing of Andre Drummond was a great idea and his rim protection and big body offense are valuable assets but he was never on the court with the team’s top stars long enough for any kind of chemistry to develop. 

The big issue is that as a team they are not the defensive powerhouse they were last year. The issue with that is that this team doesn’t have the kind of offensive scoring and 3-point shooting that can allow them to rely on blowing teams out the water and outscoring the opponents.

The signs were ominous from pretty early on but stop lying to yourself. More importantly, stop lying to the people. Don’t pretend you knew the Lakers would lose this series to the Phoenix Suns.

Anthony Davis has had his well covered and documented struggles with injuries throughout the season. As a an on looker, I gave the Lakers the benefit of the doubt every step of the way. I felt like we knew how this goes and the team with winning pedigree would get it together. LeBron’s injuries were something I felt he could overcome because he’s LeBron. It just never happened. That moment when Lebron takes over like he did against Boston in 2017, just never happened. 

I’m hesitant to say it’s over for LeBron or anything even remotely similar to that. However it might be a wrap for him in Los Angeles.  

3. Brooklyn Looking Nasty

Are the Brooklyn Nets Nasty or are they playing against a team that lacks versatility?

I’ve watched a lot of this team since 2017 and you know what I realized, that they’re a well oiled, championship caliber team until oppositions shut down the 4-out-1-in strategy. The meltdown they suffered in the 2018/19 post season against the Toronto Raptors was bad but still left room for optimism. The massacre they suffered against the Miami Heat in last year’s second round was a signal for change.

Yet I don’t feel there has been a lot of change. So the onus falls on Mike Budenholzer to come-up with a convincing second act to his game plan. Two games in to the 2nd round series against these Nets, Bud has failed spectacularly.

Then there’s the flipside of the coin, which I hope just isn’t true.

The Brooklyn Nets are looking untouchable. Kevin Durant is among my least favorite players but he’s killing it. The confidence he’s showing taking defenders off the dribble and pulling up is incredible and to be fair he’s always been really good at that. 

Durant slapped the Bucks up for 32 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in game 2 and then had one of the snidest post game interviews you’ll ever witness from an athlete. 

The hope here is that Giannis and the Bucks can get it together because we need someone to take some of the steam out of this Nets squad.

4. Kristapz Porzingis Hates Being A Mav

There is an absolutely hilarious 5 minute clip of Luka Doncic just refusing to pass the ball to Porzingis throughout the 2020/21 season. Click here and witness basketball comedy.  

Luka Doncic absolutely dominated in a losing effort against the Los Angeles Clippers in round 1. However it was clear that he was only going to push the Clippers and the only way to do better than that would be to take the pressure off of Luka and some one else to help carry the scoring. If only the Mavericks had a big man to compliment Luka, you know, a guy that can create his own shot and still be a mismatch when Luka forces bad switches and he finds himself guarded by smaller guys. Oh wait.

The world has finally taken notice of everything happening in Dallas and most importantly everything that’s not happening in Dallas. Luka’s growth and development is something for the organization to be proud of but this was supposed to be complimented by the growth of Kristapz Porzingis and that just isn’t happening. 

The word on the streets is that Porzingis is frustrated with his role on the Mavs and may seek a trade but after some of his performances in that round 1 series, I think the Mavs will have a hard time convincing anyone to take on his contract.

5. The West Can Call Itself Wild Again

This here is by far the most open Western Conference playoffs in over a decade, 

I don’t buy the hype about how the Western Conference teams are better and more competitive but the record is the record and it can’t be argued with.

No so this year.

The Lakers falling out of the race has definitely gifted us a conference where we just don’t know who is going to emerge as the representative in the finals. 

The Phoenix Suns have definitely racked up the most street cred by beating Lebron’s Lakers in 6. Devin Booker is simply awesome and I don’t say that as a fan of his. He average 29.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists against the Lakers and they also overcame an injury scare to Chris Paul. They have a very interesting 2nd round series against the Denver Nuggets, who lost Jamal Murray to injury and found a way to keep winning and also overcame a near super human scoring output from Damian Lillard in round 1.

Then there’s the 1st seed Utah Jazz, who will go down in history as the most disrespected and underrated 1 seed in recent memory. They’ve been matched up against the Los Angeles Clippers who looked like they were reeling in the early part of their round 1 series against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, then Kawhi and Paul George composed themselves and took the series in a thrilling 7 game series. The redemption story is definitely still in progress.

That’s 3 different 2nd round playoff match-ups that will probably provide a high quality of basketball. Well worth the watch.

#nba #nba 2021 #nba playoffs #philadelphia 76ers #joel embiid #los angeles lakers #lebron james #brooklyn nets #kevin durant #dallas mavericks #denver nuggets #utah jazz #phoenix suns #los angeles clippers

[phantoms-lair]

MSA Secret Santa

@accidental-child

Arthur sighed, leaning against the steering wheel of the van. The bus was a little late, but that wasn’t unexpected. Not out here at any rate.

There was a small selfish part of himself that wished he hadn’t picked up the phone that day. It was selfish - and ridiculous. The call had been at the garage, he needed to answer those calls!

It had been some great Aunt, or far removed cousin. He wasn’t quite sure how they were related. Apparently her son was originally going to spend summer break with one of his friends, but their trip had been cut short. The problem was said parents and their daughter had already made other arrangements and wanted to know if the aforementioned son could stay with Lance.

The problem was, Lance wasn’t there and wouldn’t be for a while. He was off on a road trip with some of his old buddies from his days when he absolutely positively was not a wrestler. It was a well overdue vacation and Arthur wasn’t going to call him back from it.

But something stopped him from just turning her down. It wasn’t her, but… it was the idea that their current plans ‘couldn’t be altered’. Lance had planned his trip to originally be last year, but he’d dropped everything after Arthur had turned up in a hospital without an arm. Also that they were reaching out to family that wasn’t that close at all made Arthur wonder if the closer relatives had also had plans that couldn’t be altered. It stank too much of no one wanting this kid, and damned if he was going to add to that

So here he was, waiting for a cousin he’d never met who’d be spending a month with him. He didn’t think it would matter so much if he wasn’t the age he was - 18. Younger would have been easier to slip into a child-guardian relationship and older meant this wouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. But 18 was an age of feeling you were coming into your own authority, and much more likely to take onus with someone a mere five years older than you being in charge.

The bus pulled up and Arthur braced himself. Two figures got off the bus, his cousin and...a dog? A rather large dog at that. Something else Aunt Wendy had forgot to mention. Hopefully it was good with other dogs and hamsters.

Pushing his misgivings aside, Arthur left the van with a big welcoming smile. No need to borrow trouble till it was here. “Hi, you must be Norville, right?”

The teen winced. “Like, call me Shaggy please. I hate Norville.” 

“Done and done.” Arthur agreed readily. “The name Norville is thus dead and shall never be spoken from mine lips again.”

“Ri’m Scooby Doo.”

Another talking dog, huh. “Just to make certain, you’re not actually an ancient kitsune with an evil Japanese tree after you?”

“Like, not that we know of?” Shaggy looked confused. So did Scooby so Arthur let it slide. 

“Okay, let’s get some food, and we can figure out stuff out.” Apparently he said the right word, because his cousin and dog perked up a lot. “Let me help you with your bags.” “Is your arm metal?” Shaggy asked, surprised.

“Sure is, made it myself.” Arthur wiggled his fingers at him, inwardly bracing himself. “That’s cool.” Shaggy said earnestly, picking up his other suitcase.

No ‘How did that happen?’ or ‘That must be so terrible’? Okay, thus far Arthur was counting this as a win.

~

“So,” Arthur started as they slid into a booth at Pepper Paradiso, “Let’s go over your options.”

“Options?” Shaggy asked, surprised.

“Yeah, you have two main options, and we can tweak them as need be. The first is what I told your Mom. You come to stay with me and my boyfriend and girlfriend. We’ve set up a spare room for you, and Scooby I guess, sorry no one told us he was coming.” “If you’d prefer not to deal with three people being kinda mushy, or just want more privacy  I’d give you a key to Lance’s place. You could stay in my old room and basically have the house to yourself. I’d still be checking in everyday and making sure you had food and stuff, but other than that, you’d be on your own.” 

Shaggy seemed to think a moment. “You have a boyfriend and a girlfriend? You can do that?” “Yes.” Arthur answered simply.

“Okay, like if it’s all the same, man, I’d rather stay with you. I don’t think me or Scoob want to be alone.”

Arthur tried not to take it as a warning sign. True, most teens would jump at the first chance to be on their own, but that was hardly universal. There was a small feeling that something was wrong, not just parental negligence. What, he didn’t know. And truthfully it could be nothing. Arthur had a tendency to jump to worst case scenarios (catastrophizing, his therapist had called it), so for now he’d wait and see.

“So is this the mysterious cousin?” Mrs Chef Pepper came over, winking .

“Yeah, this is Shaggy. Shaggy, this is one half of the best cooking team in Tempo, and honestly Texas.”

“Flatterer. My name’s Carmella Pepper. My husband’s running the kitchen, so I have the front end today. I assume the usual, Arthur?” “With no Cayenne additions, please.”

“She’s banned from the kitchen after the last hot sauce-strawberry shake.” Carmella assured him. “What about you, Shaggy?”

Shaggy looked at the menu. “Like, could Scoob and I each get a ‘Vivi Special’ “ he pointed to the menu.

She raised an eyebrow. With the exception of its namesake, the Vivi Special was usually ordered to be shared by a family. She’d never seen an order of two of them. “Do you want the plate of spicy chorizo or pancake poppers?” Scooby and Shaggy looked at each other. “One of each please. And, like separate checks? Mom set up an account for me for food and stuff.” Arthur tried to hide his relief. One extra mouth he could feed. Two more Vivi appetites would have strained his budget beyond feasibility.

~ “Lewis, Vivi— we’re home!” Arthur called, letting himself and his two guests in.

“Welcome home, Arty.” Lewis greeted, pulling his boyfriend in for a kiss. “So this must be Nor-”

“The name is not to be spoken. It has been cast into the abyss and replaced with Shaggy.” Arthur said with a completely straight face. “It has become one with the void.” Lewis rolled his eyes. “Sorry for the melodramatic one, I’m Lewis. Lewis Pepper.”

Shaggy shook his hand while Arthur sputtered over Lewis calling him melodramatic. “Pepper, like the people who run the restaurant?” “My parents.” Lewis explained.

“Wow, like they’re great cooks, man. It’s the first place me and Scooby found that we could be full off one thing on the menu.” “If you can call the ‘Vivi Special’ one thing.” Arthur quipped.

“Someone call me?” Vivi slid into the front room, literally, her socks holding no traction on the hardwood floor, causing her to crash into Lewis. “Arthur’s cousin Shaggy is a fan of your addition to my parents menu.” Lewis said.

“Ooooo Did you get the version with the spicy chorizo or pancake poppers?”

“Like, Scoob and I got one of each. I really liked Aztec Chocolate sauce on the sweet chili!”

“I know! And the smoked gouda filled jalapeño poppers!” 

“Arthur, I think our girlfriend just adopted your cousin.” Lewis commented.

~

Vivi stretched as she got home from her morning shift at the Tome Tomb. Arthur was having a full day at Kingsmen’s, so she figured she’d check in on Shaggy and Scooby before getting in some serious cuddle time with Lewis.

She found them in the living room, Shaggy was looking at a book. Not reading it, but staring at the cover, while Scooby leaned against him comfortingly. “Everything okay boys?” She asked softly.

Shaggy took a moment to answer. “Do you believe in this stuff? Magic and monsters?” “As a matter of fact I do.” She tried to keep the humor out of her voice. Shaggy had no idea he was spending the remainder of his summer with a ghost and a kitsune. “Do you?”

Shaggy didn’t answer. “Doesn’t it scare you?” he asked.

“The supernatural? Not really. Or at least, not more than anything else.” She sat down next to him. “There’s good and bad magic, just like there’s good and bad technology. Some beings are friendly, some just want to be left alone, and some are truly evil, just like people. You always, always, have to be careful. But I’d rather know, you know?” Shaggy shook his head. “Like, I think I’d rather not.” He looked at the book again. “Like, have you ever heard of something called the Chest of Demons?”

“Not off the top of my head, why?”

Shaggy shook his head. “Nothing, like what’s for lunch?” Vivi accepted the topic change, but didn’t forget what she’d heard. This merited some digging into.

~

Arthur felt dead on his feet (though not quite as much as Lewis, ha!) as he got home that evening.  Working in the garage was one thing, but running it was quite another. He couldn’t wait for Lance to get back.

It was Vivi who greeted him at the door, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him. Arthur melted into the embrace, the warmth he felt in his heart giving him back the strength spent on budget balancing and unruly customers.

But as he felt himself relax, he realized she wasn’t easing up. Something was wrong. “What is it, Vi?”

“Your cousin.” She answered, her head still buried in the crook of Arthur’s neck. “He was looking at my books and mentioned something called the Chest of Demons. I hadn’t heard of it, so I sent out some feelers.”

“Bad?” Arthur guessed, as if the name didn’t give that away.

“Not just the chest itself. I still don’t know what it is, because one of the few things I did manage to learn is it’s protected by near total secrecy. It’s not something he could have just randomly heard of.”

Arthur’s mouth set into a grim frown. He could think of a few reasons, but none of them were good.

“And this isn’t some random client messing with something he shouldn’t, he’s your cousin and I like him, but this is serious.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Arthur promised. 

“No!” Vivi squeezed him tighter. “I don’t want to think he’s up to anything bad, but-” Honestly with how Shaggy had reacted to ‘Magic and Monsters’ she doubted it, but she couldn’t be sure and she wasn’t willing to put any of her boys in the path of danger.

Arthur laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You can have one of the Beats watching over us if it makes you feel better, but we can’t leave this alone and he’s nervous enough I don’t want him to feel like we’re ganging up on him.”

“That still puts you at risk,” Vivi argued.

“There’s always a risk, love. And you can’t take all of them for me. And I think this is a small one. Have you talked to Lewis yet?”

“Talked to be about what?” Lewis popped his head in. “You guys were taking a while. Is everything okay?”

“Shaggy may or may not have gotten mixed up in something supernatural and I want to talk to him about it. I want to do it alone so I don’t overwhelm him, but Vivi doesn’t want me to go talk about an evil artifact with the person who brought it up by myself. I volunteered to take a Beat with me.” “Take Mystery too.” Lewis suggested. “Shaggy likes him, so he wouldn’t feel ganged up on.”

Vivi let out a sigh of relief. “I love your Deadbeats, Lew, but I feel a lot better about that plan.”

~

“Hey Shaggy,” Arthur sat down. Mystery curled up by his feet, looking innocuous, but keeping a careful eye on Shaggy and Scooby.

“Hey,” Shaggy didn’t look up from the video game he was playing. “Like, how was work?”

“Not too bad. Can we talk about something?”

“Sure, man.” Shaggy paused the game. “What’s up?”

So many questions ran through Arthur’s head. Why do you know about the Chest of Demon? How did you find out about it? How much do you know? But there was one question he felt the need to ask above all the others.

“Are you in any danger?”

Shaggy blinked, caught completely off guard. “Huh?”

“You brought up something called the Chest of Demons to Vivi today. She did some digging. It was bad.” Arthur kept it vague to hide how much he didn’t know. “It’s also not a name you’d just stumble on. So, are you in any danger?” Shaggy deflated. “Like, not right now. Probably later. Thirteen seems to be keeping a low profile, but given the other twelve? At least Boggle and Weird are sealed up.”

Okay, Arthur didn’t understand any of that after ‘Probably later’. “Can you start at the beginning?”

“Okay, so like originally the five us were supposed to spend the summer on a global road trip, but Fred and Velma ended up going to camp, so like it was just me, Scooby, and Daphne. And we kinda sorta got lost. We ended up in the place where the chest was hidden. There were these two ghosts, Boggle and Weird. They wanted the thirteen evil spirits in the chest free, but it can only be opened by the living. So they tricked me and Scoob into opening it.and setting their masters free.”

Shaggy then rolled his eyes. “And of course only the ones who open the chest can return them, so like, suddenly we’re chasing down the nastiest ghoulies this side of the River Styx. We got the first twelve and got Boggle and Weird sucked in for good measure but with no sign of number thirteen Vincent cut us loose till he finds him.”

“Vincent?” Arthur inquired.

“A mystic who knows a lot about the Chest of Demon and it’s prisoners. He’s been helping us.” Shaggy shrugged. “Daphne suggested continuing our vacation while we’re on break, but I just kinda wanted to go home.” “Did you tell your family any of this?” Arthur wondered.

His cousin snorted. “Besides you? Like no one would believe me! And Daphne….” Shaggy trailed off.

“And Daphne?” Arthur prompted.

“It sounds weird to say, but this seemed to be, like, good for her? Before she kinda followed whatever Fred said. This summer though, she was taking charge and becoming more confident in herself. And like, I’m happy for her, but it means-” Shaggy seemed to struggle for his words, Scooby putting a reassuring head on his knee. “I’m a coward. I’d rather run from scary things than fight them. And I know I have to get them back in the box, cause it’s my fault they’re out-”

“Rour fault,” Scooby corrected.

“-but I’m scared all the time and I don’t want to be and no one but Scoob seems to get that.”

“Of course you’re scared,” Arthur scoffed. “You’ve had thirteen evil spirits after you. That’s objectively terrifying. You’d be crazy not to be scared.”

Boy and dog seemed taken aback.

While he couldn’t say he had been expecting those details, at least this lined up with what Arthur suspected, that Shaggy had stumbled into trouble, not sought it out.

“Okay, so first things first, what do you know about Spirit #13? What kind of spirit is it?” Arthur’s voice was all business.

“Not yet, Vincent usually tells us about them as he finds them.” Shaggy explained.

“If you can contact him, see if you can find out what we’re dealing with. It’ll be more effective if we can narrow that down.”

“What will be?” Shaggy asked, confused.

“Protective wards. That reminds me. Lewis, Vivi, Shaggy has a potential evil spirit after him. Brainstorming time.” “Huh?”

Lewis and Vivi showed up a bit too quickly to not have been listening in, but Arthur hoped Shaggy wouldn’t notice.

“There’s already some basic wards against hostile entities on the house, Pepper Paradiso, Lance’s, Kingsmen’s, and the Tome Tomb.” Vivi listed.

“I’ve got a few things around town warning me of anything of any level of power entering.” Mystery put forth. “It’s only weak spot is the lake.”

“Which has a protector of its own.” Arthur had a wry grin. “Nothing coming in from that side.”

Shaggy and Scooby shared a confused look. “You guys had this already set up?”

“You get surprised by a Jubokko once, you take precautions.” Vivi said dryly. “But this is all general stuff. The more specifics we know, the better defenses we can make. We can also figure out what places near your home we need to ward, or come up with something portable.”

Shaggy just looked between the four of them, confused. “Why?”

Lewis took a deep breath ( or at least mimed doing so). “Shaggy, you’re Arthur’s cousin, do you know what that means?”

Shaggy shook his head.

“It means you’re family,  you’re our family. And we protect family however we can.” Lewis stated. “And we know monsters exist. We’ll be ready.”

Shaggy seemed at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed a few times. “Thank you,” he finally whispered, his voice raw with emotion.

Arthur pulled him into a hug. “That’s what family does.”

#Accidental-Child #MSA #Scooby Doo #MSAHolidaySpirits2019

[kunalkarankapoor]

Because Art Is What You'll Make Of It...!

Marking 6 months of Na Bole Tum. And 6 months of following a performer who lends soul to his performance. Kunal Karan Kapoor - you're truly the coming of an artist! ps: Also (belated) Happy Birthday to a friend who's made many days of my life over the last one year feel brighter just like that! ---July 9th The episode was, as I think has been sufficiently - and unless I entirely missed some drastic forum drama - unanimously established, as Kunal Kapoor's arena! Ever since I got done watching, I've been torn between two conflicting mindsets. How exactly does one react after an episode like this one? No team of show makers can really use an actor's genius, unless he himself will live it out and give it all - and I have never known moral, ethical or professional compunctions to become the motivation for an actor to truly deliver. If Kunal still managed to give Mohan and the Monday space what he did give - he's an artist in more ways than I have personally appreciated him for! Because working on correcting and perfecting a minor quarter of a castle of cards while the rest of it sways and falls to a heap is not something everyone can do - much less an artist who is genuinely a performer of his art... The Kunal fan in me was rooting with an admiration that had no way to be subdued, no matter what my sensibilities had to contend. And that is brilliant. As is it ironic. It's not just about a commitment he has towards this team and the show - "Mohan" has to be dear to him in more ways obviously than any reasons that he may find to detach himself from the character! I was saying this elsewhere, and for making my case I shall say again. Indian television is perhaps one of the worst cases of typecasting at the moment. An authentic platform that seems to "honour" mediocrity as a virtue that should trump difference and thought. It doesn't mean there aren't people who are different - it only means that survival for this minority is obviously more than just an artist's struggle to exceed quality "competition". For some like Kunal whose lisp I assume has landed him more often than not in roles of stumbling, fumbling, goofy, stammering sidekicks - "Mohan" has obviously been a life altering opportunity. And frankly - "Mohan" is the chance he is, because Kunal himself makes it out to be so! What he had in hand was merely a case of not being typecast the way he had been previously. I remember this Rangmunch interview where Rinku Karmarkar mentioned how at the start of the show some from the team had apprehended the makers' decision to bring on a hero who lisps. And then she'd trailed into what in commonly accepted parlance is Mohan-Kunal-jaap! Something the audience is far too privy with, and as it turned out, so is the cast and crew! Anyway. What Kunal's made out of this opportunity is an indisputable case for himself, as an actor who can no longer be recognized for or upheld on account of a speech fault and the consequential typecasting he may have faced in the past. It's not just while "Mohan" lasts either - even if yes, it's fresh and of greatest impact while that's there - fact is, Kunal has successfully managed to free himself of being "stereotyped". Whenever the tomorrow comes for "Mohan" to wrap up, he will not - or at least should not - have to apprehend going back to the sidekick roles which were casually put together to "accommodate" him to "fill up" screen and script space with more than just the protagonists. He is no longer part of the "baggage" and it is not unlikely a tediously earned spot - which obviously runs much prior to "Mohan" happening, even if for me like many others, knowing the gem he is has started with Mohan. Anyway. When NBT started off, and safely upto its 100 episode mark, and some weeks into it too - what Kunal had in hand was an asset. An asset he had struck gold with and turned into the chance of a lifetime. What he currently has in hand however, is at least in part an albatross. Mohan himself may not be the distorted character of the series even yet; but Mohan does not exist in mutually exclusive space. If he was the epicenter of a brilliant slice of life plot earlier - the SuperM(oh)an whose interactions with just about any other made the other stand out too; Mohan has now become the hold it together super-glue. He seems like a blackhole of authenticity at some level - because while words like authentic, vintage and logical fall flat over most of remaining charades, Mohan holds out like he's absorbed it all in himself! There is the possible bias of Mohan being a favorite, for everyone from the makers to the audience turning to Kunal to salvage the situation from dire straits. But honestly, like I said above, I doubt any artist can deliver as Kunal has consistently been (through much low and little high of recent times) out of the sheer pressure of "expectation". Curiously enough, expectations evoke a sense of obligation in most people even with respect to vocations that have been entirely of their own choice and interest. I find it very humbling to believe as a mere fan of this artist, that he may have succumbed to neither the "expectation", not the "obligation" it brings in the wake. Somehow, even as I find myself increasingly losing out on my front as a viewer - he holds on not in faith or optimism but with a sensibility that seems like a myth to me when I look at the big picture otherwise. I want to say for myself here - and perhaps most will disagree-  that if "faith" or "optimism" was all he progressed with, the conviction would not come through to me, ever. But what Kunal is managing to do here - something that puts me in another level of awe for him as just an artist and no strings attached - is delving so deep in the psyche of his character that he can essay sense even when there is an immense lacking of it. If you can lie like you believe it, sometimes it will not just seem like the truth - but actually become a truth in some alter universe. Sometimes, when a lie matters that much, somehow you make it real in some realm. And Kunal does that. Contrary to what most in his place would have done, he wasn't parading around with Mohan when the latter was in a soaring place, because he figured didn't have to. He was giving it all no less back then - but it was easier, because Mohan was in a place Kunal could easily slip into. He only had to slip in and out of shoes that nearly fit him anyway - and the onus was more about handling the center stage spotlight upon himself. At this point, the center stage focus is a heavier task. If Kunal was another kind of artist, a more usual kind in Indian telly industry, I would likely in all my judgment assume he's losing little sleep over disconnect or distortion. I'd probably go as far as assuming it either didn't matter so much to him, or perhaps even eluded him partly! But if Kunal was any percentage superficial or shallow in his understanding of the show, of Mohan in it and where and how he stands with respect to all else and others - he could never bring conviction to this point of the "story" (or lack thereof, if I may!). At a point where I in the viewing audience find the gap to be such a gaping hole - there is no way for him to not fathom its gravity. And yet, for an actor who consistently tried to establish himself as distinct from the "Mohan" on screen, in his real life bytes - Kunal has currently stepped right into the core of the caricature that is Mohan, and is what breathes life into it like a heartbeat. For all my saying all along of how Mohan and Kunal are intriguingly inseparable cases - at this dire stage I take back part of my opinion. A lesser actor could have possibly carried Mohan forth in the good times, and still connected with us - we may think not, accept not, being spoiled by what Kunal has made of Mohan - but fact is so. But what a lesser actor could not have done is what Kunal does now. When a lesser artist would have found it easiest, even inevitable, to "disconnect" with the character he was portraying, Kunal has only lodged himself more firmly in place. He has reinforced - not contrived - sensibility and conviction into Mohan! He has literally submerged himself into a place where he is only Mohan, where Kunal ceases to exist. The phenomenal part of it has been not just sustaining Mohan - who has constantly seemed like the least altered on account of I can no longer say the "story" or Kunal - but he's done so in complete awareness and understanding of the inconsistencies around Mohan. At more points than not, in his scenes, Mohan somehow lends sense to those who're sharing the screen with him. Somehow, you feel a little more sympathy for Megha. Somehow, you manage to connect with what Ved and Mohan have at another level beyond contentions. Somehow, you feel empathy for Indu. Somehow (in my case) even a sheer unwanted extra like Ridhima too feels ... tolerable. And that I believe has been his greatest feat yet. Carrying Mohan through times of reign was more a journey of ruling. Carrying Mohan through ruins is the tricky part. One that can automatically transition into seeming like an obligation, often irrespective of the host of an albatross wanting for it to seem so or not. But somehow, Kunal has done what Mohan does best. Strike a balance. He seems to understand the discrepancy of the script in a complete manner, and not just with regard to Mohan. And he puts his understanding to root himself deeper in the character of Mohan - the key to all the tangled webs which make lesser sense each day by themselves. I've always been one to believe no actor however good can carry on himself the weight of a failing story. And while logically I can still not challenge that fact - Kunal seems to manifest the contrary through his art day after day. I don't feel any more kindly for what NBT has been made into. I can't put aside all the contentions that rise for me as a viewer with respect to just about every character (mostly excluding Mohan). But on days like Monday's episode, when Kunal just takes over the stage and does his thing - I find myself in such a sublime place of content (even if "sensibly rueful" of it in bits and flashes of awarness, lol!) where somehow, for a while, I can just go back to being the NBT viewer who could for some 20 odd minutes everyday descend into another world that isn't my own, but still find myself "fitting in". I'm not sure how long Kunal can do this. I'm not sure where and in what he finds it in himself to balance the act of understanding fallacy and infusing sensibility in it. I don't know how many days I can come back to this place feeling like I do now - in such a conflict with my own domain between contention and conviction yet compelled to be here - but everytime that I do, I will always want to come back and say what it means to me. To know there is someone on this team who is capable of the very enviable feat of striving for change in a system, by being a part of its center. To have followed an artist who will truly, like an underdog that he is, exist with it, against it, without it, for it!       ---I'd really hoped to write something for the occasion of 6 months. And I'm glad the muse to still feel the coming of an ode for this show and my love of it remains the one piece of the jigsaw that fits right in the middle of all the groves and cuts like it's no ones place or business but his - Mohan Bhatnagar! ps: I think the one reason Mohan somehow manages to retain himself characteristically - apart from Kunal's part to play in that - is what Sonal Ganatra once said about being quite like Mohan. Maybe, just like for Kunal, Mohan comes so naturally to her, that she can lend him sensibility even in the middle of a lot of lesser reason. So even if this is only an acknowledgement in the postscript, I want to say what's been her part of grooming and nurturing her baby - has been the making of a wonderful journey! Here's hoping that as she continues to spin stories for her followers, her pen will emerge as the mightier force to reckon with!

by without-fathom

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

#kunal karan kapoor #artist #nbtnmkk

[killscreencinema]

We Happy Few (PlayStation 4)

When I watched the trailer to We Happy Few, I was instantly fascinated by the concept.  The impression I got from the trailer was that the game would involve a gameplay mechanic centered balancing using a hallucinogenic drug in order to fit in with a dangerous dystopian society with taking the risk of being off it in order to more accurately perceive, and therefor navigate, the reality of the world you live in.  I figured you would have to be high on “Joy” in order to solve certain puzzles, or more likely, be completely sober to solve puzzles but risk the wrath of the scary Bobbies. 

As it turns out... nah.  Not so much.

We Happy Few, developed by Compulsion Games, takes place in an alternate version of 60s Britain, where it’s illegal to be sad and everyone must take a drug called “Joy” to prevent becoming a “downer”.  You play as one of three rebellious downers who seek to escape from their happy hellhole of a country, while also unearthing the secret reason behind the compulsory use of Joy.  You begin the game as Arthur Hastings, a mild-mannered clerk who stops using Joy as memories of his long lost brother Percy begin resurfacing, causing him to embark on a journey to leave Britain so he can find his estranged sibling.  You also eventually play as Sally Boyle, a professional chemist as well as former flame of Arthur’s; and Ollie Starkey, a Scottish soldier who has almost utterly gone mad. 

I’ve heard that the gameplay subtly changes with each character, but I wouldn’t know as I only got to play through most of Arthur’s story and the game crashed before I could finish it.  As a matter of fact, the game crashed multiple times during my play through before terminally crashing towards the end of Arthur’s campaign.  By “terminal”, I mean that I could no longer load up the save file without the game immediately crashing again.  I tried updating both the game and the PS4, but both were already updated. 

So... game over, I guess.  I suppose “We Happy Few” refers to those who managed to get through the game without it crashing.

This really sucked, because despite my significant reservations about the game, I was beginning to mildly enjoy it! 

My first and most significant critique, as hinted at above, is with the basic gameplay.  From what I understand, Compulsion Games initially set out to make We Happy Few a “Rogue-like” survival game similar to Don’t Starve (though, perhaps, not as INSANELY DIFFICULT) with a very minimal story.  However, after the trailer was released, and people began comparing the game’s vibe with BioShock, the developers realized a lite survival game would be a huge let down and immediately went back to the drawing board.  They stripped down, or wholly “nerfed” the survival aspects so that not eating, staying hydrated, or well-rested only affected your stamina as opposed to health.  They rebuilt the game to be more narrative intensive, with more side quests to round out the experience.  The end result feels like a hastily put together mish-mash that doesn’t quite satisfy one way or another. 

As a survival game, it’s very superficial, while as an action adventure game it’s adequate at best.  The combat isn’t very fun and feels a bit buggy (I once managed to punch an enemy several yards away for no discernible reason), while the stealth takedown options are nice but hinge on a somewhat flawed enemy AI.  It takes an inordinately long time before you get to the point in the game when you have to take Joy to blend in, and it’s a neat effect how the world becomes cheerfully bright and colorful, as opposed to the normal drab look, but I feel they could have done more with this on even just an aesthetic level.  I would have loved to have seen more hallucinations, such as cartoonish characters who aren’t really there and ruined houses looking like shiny mansions.  It would have been neat to, as the player, have to discern what is and isn’t real while on Joy.  Also, there should have been more consequences for taking too much Joy.  As it stands, if you take too much Joy, you lose memory.  What happens when you lose memory?  It’s not made very clear, but I think it would have been neat to lose a skill that you unlocked (perhaps even permanently).  I suppose the vague threat of memory loss served its purpose, though, as I minimized the use of Joy for fear of finding out the hard way what happens. 

Either way, you can eventually unlock enough stackable skills that you don’t even need joy to avoid suspicion, effectively making the whole Joy mechanic, arguably the centerpiece of the entire game concept, a moot point.  Ultimately the combination of the game’s failings that I mentioned above is can be blamed on one thing: the lack of a clear vision of what the game is supposed to be.  In comparison to BioShock (which in all fairness, the developers never intended, nor had reasonable expectations, to make We Happy Few a spiritual successor to BioShock in any way, shape, or form - that onus was put on them by fans craving a new BioShock game), that game had both the benefit of an insanely driven game developing auteur in the form of Ken Levine, who had a very clear vision of what he wanted and even a rough draft to work from in System Shock 2, not to mention the luxury of a triple A development company budget.  While the art direction of the game is clearly outstanding, from the creepy masks worn by the Bobbies, to the overall retrofuturistic look of alternative 60s England, one is left feeling there wasn’t a strong enough hand at the helm of the development process to bring it all together into a solid package. 

What you get instead is a game with an interesting story, but gameplay that is moderately entertaining at best when it’s not completely broken due to incessantly crashing. 

I guess what I’m saying is We Happy Few is a bit of a downer.

#we happy few #compulsion games #gearbox #playstation #playstation 4 #ps4 #sony #review #video games #action #adventure #wellington wells #joy #bioshock #roguelike #survival games #don't starve #british

[twiddlebirdlet]

Leonardo Dicaprio × Chris Evans

To the anon that asked why Dicaprio is not labeled as a fuckboy, that are some reasons: he has a much more respected career than Chris and Dicaprio is not much older than him. Some Oscar nominations, a win. LD after Titanic and Romeo & Juliet ran away of the Prince Charming label while with Captain America CE team pushed that image a lot + the I’m dieing to have children image, topics that Dicaprio never talked about and seems not interested at all. Society is ok with that kind of thing. Men that are not into marriage and kids sometimes are propped as smarter while women are propped as selfish. LD has tuned down the clubs appearances and if he goes to Vegas and clubs, it’s not a sponsored thing or he doesn’t allow it to become public in exchange of a better treatment for his friends and a private jet, so we don’t know when/if it happens. I believe he gets the better treatment with his name alone without being asked to do things because he is much higher at the list in HW. We can’t keep track of LD party habits but we can do that with Chris, with the #sponsored or posts from his brother and friends. LD friends don’t do that. So things becomes much bigger than they really are with Chris. LD goes to route of dating much younger blond models for about 2 years and goes to the next, but at the same time he has a bigger career and is seem as a much more respected actor with acess to the best scripts and directors. That buys the respect of the public, no matter what he does with his private life, that he manages to keep even more private than Chris. Dicaprio is not using his family for good PR. Dicaprio barely talks about his parents. His friends don’t post when they are enjoying the goods of being his friend. His private life x his work sort of balance things for his public persona, we like it or not, we agree with it or not. Chris, while he was dating JS, was going to Vegas with his male friends and to Pierre’s in Canada. Dicaprio takes his young gfs for trips in italy and to spend the summer in a yatchy. The trip that Evans took JS was the one for Australia, for work, and he ticket was probably paied by the liquor sponsor. See the difference? If Dicaprio parties while he is dating, we don’t become aware of that while with Chris, we do. In the end, both guys do similar things, but the image built for LD and places that he goes have a better image. That doesn’t even mean that those places are exactly classier, but both are in a career where image and PR are everything and the places they go reflect on their image and show their tastes. If we want to know how people truly view Chris, all we have to do is talk with someone that is not part of the fandom. For whatever reason, his party habits/women will be the one of the first topics or we will listen: who? Chris Evans? And you’re going to have to remember the person who he is. Mention Dicaprio and the first thing that will come is not his gfs, but his career. Yes, Chris is nice, he visit hospitals, he makes videos for sick fans, he talks about politics. Dicaprio talks about the enviroment, meet presidents and went to the ONU, traveled to many places to talk about the topic, produced a documentary. See the difference why one is seem as fuckboy and the other is not?

Have in mind that I’m not saying this difference between their image is the right thing. There are tons of hypocrisy there. But it is what it is. It doesn’t mean Dicaprio is a better person in real life, but that’s the image that sticks.

________

Thanks, Anon!

You make a great point there. Leo does most of the same things, but in a way more upscale kind of way. However, his acting work and his charity make his reputation revolve far less around his personal “antics”. I really do believe that he’s genuinely passionate about his charity work, so it’s not artifice, but it does also serve to divert attention away from his personal proclivities, which could negatively affect him in some circles. Thanks!

[tkmedia]

Ten kneejerk reactions to the opening Premier League weekend

The Premier League’s opening weekend lends itself to the hottest takes, such as Southampton’s relegation and a breakout Paul Pogba season. 10) Trevoh Chalobah will be England’s next debutant It is a Crooksism but the tendency to highlight the virtues of a defensive player only when they score is unavoidable and pervasive. Trevoh Chalobah might have broken through that barrier and received due praise regardless but his debut goal against Crystal Palace, combined with the perennial focus on Chelsea’s talent production line, guaranteed glowing column inches and gushing pundit prose. The 22-year-old will not retain a regular starting place beyond the next fortnight or so; Thiago Silva promptly reprises that role upon his return. But Thomas Tuchel has been sufficiently satisfied with Chalobah’s seamless adaptation to this stage and so his foot is in the door. It is only a matter of time before Gareth Southgate revisits interest in a player he called upon to train with the England squad ahead of the 2018 World Cup. The only defenders to make their Three Lions debut since November 2019 are Conor Coady, Reece James, Ben White and Ben Godfrey. There is room for a fresh addition, even as flavour of the month. 9) Brighton will finish in the top half For a moment there it seemed as though Brighton supporters should actually have been careful what they wished for. The safety net provided by Chris Hughton was cast aside for something greater, more meaningful and conducive to growth in 2019. But the transition was not seamless. You can throw a small net over the club’s four Premier League seasons: finishes of 15th, 17th, 15th and 16th, points totals of 40, 36, 41 and 41 and goals scored columns of 34, 35, 39 and 40. Hughton and replacement Graham Potter have opposing tactical ideals but whether the focus was on defence or a more expansive style, Brighton never seemed to move the needle too far. They have won nine games in each of their four Premier League seasons, infuriatingly incapable of breaking through that ceiling. It has been enough to survive each time but the onus is on progression and a comeback win against Burnley is indicative of that. Brighton won one game from behind in the entirety of last campaign: that euphoric first match back in front of fans against Manchester City in May. But this victory was inspired by the manager’s substitutions and the players’ indomitable spirit instead of any fan emotion. Two points separated the Seagulls from Burnley in 2021/22; the gap felt more substantial on Saturday. While their respective levels of investment mean that should be a given, it has rarely been the case in practice. Brighton have valuable players throughout their spine and even the lack of a reliable goalscorer should not prevent them from finally cracking a top half that, beyond an established six or seven teams, has an interchangeable cast. Since 2016, Stoke Burnley, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Wolves and Leeds have all come tenth or higher. There is no guarantee of being able to build from there but Brighton have the foundations in place for something tangible. 8) Burnley and Southampton will be relegated The numbers are rough estimates but they tell a story that can be spun in two different ways. Either Burnley and Southampton have mastered the art of shopping for own-brand items and living on a stricter diet than most, or theirs is the sort of inherent tightrope gamble that many clubs accept to live within their means. Four current Premier League clubs have a net spend of £50m or lower over the past five seasons; the Clarets and Saints have been top-flight sides throughout that period, unlike Brentford and Watford. It already feels as though Burnley and Southampton might have struggled to strike that balance this season. The former have infused the squad with as little fresh talent as possible in recent years. Jay Rodriguez was the latest signing in the starting XI that fell to Brighton; he joined in July 2019. Sean Dyche otherwise named four players he bought in 2017, three purchases from 2016, an addition each from June 2015 and January 2012 and academy graduate Dwight McNeil. ALK Capital do not seem to have opened any recruitment doors. That is still an upgrade on the apparent asset-stripping occurring on the coast as Southampton have sold their top scorer and best centre-half in the same summer that they lost one of their most senior players. Danny Ings, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand will be difficult to replace and Ralph Hasenhuttl was already working close to the edge in terms of depth at times last season. He and Dyche are talented coaches but those tides will be tough to fight without a paddle.

7) Brentford and Watford will be fine Norwich understandably struggled to carry their share of a historic weight as the three promoted clubs almost all won their opening Premier League fixture for the first time. The Canaries might justifiably point to the standard of respective opposition as to why they could not quite emulate the feats of Brentford or Watford, who both displayed their top-flight credentials in different but similarly stinging circumstances. The Bees were phenomenal against Arsenal – organised, fluid and uninhibited by their relative lack of experience. The Hornets stunned a supposed European hopeful in Aston Villa, overwhelming their visitors and possessing the sort of individual brilliance that can be harnessed to immense danger in the right team dynamic. The chasm between the Championship and Premier League can be bridged with patience, foresight and investment, especially if the top flight already contains a few sides clinging on to that status through reputation and longevity alone instead of proper planning and vision. Brentford particular seem more suited to this level; Watford have plenty more capacity to surprise. 6) Everton will qualify for Europe Many clubs, if not most, had more impactful and outwardly impressive transfer windows. Few were quite as focused, specific and tailored to the existing strengths of the squad in question. Rafael Benitez had a budget imposed upon him through the mismanagement and financial excess of his predecessors. He identified an area for improvement and acted on it within the constraints placed upon him. Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray were cost-efficient purchases for rivals to scoff at and some Everton supporters to lobby against, but it is always better to spend £1.7m on necessary signings who have an obvious place rather than much more on luxury buys who do not. The results were immediate. Southampton were put to the sword and the cross as Goodison Park witnessed an aerial bombardment designed to exploit the new Dominic Calvert-Lewin meta. Richarlison should excel by his side and Alex Iwobi even embraced the challenge, while Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure will compete with most midfields and the defence is solid enough even without Benitez’s more conservative and pragmatic stylings offering a little more protection. He feels a more natural fit with these players, if not the supporters just yet. 5) Liverpool don’t need more signings It will never be accepted. Standing still is moving backwards, particularly when the only two clubs definitively expected to do better have either broken the British transfer record or have edged remarkably close to the new mark. Manchester City will keep trying to unite Harry Kane with Jack Grealish and Chelsea should be forgiven for relishing the arrival of Romelu Lukaku. Liverpool have instead quenched the never-ending thirst for signings – and reacted to a recent defensive injury crisis – with £36m fourth-choice centre-half Ibrahima Konate. Every other advance has been to write out a spate of new contracts for the existing squad. That will never appease sections of the fanbase or a media built on transfer rumours but it makes sense in this context. If Liverpool can avoid such a freakish cluster of concurrent injuries then there is no issue in the squad that requires an imported solution: the starting defence is sensational and every position has at least one solid back-up; Georginio Wijnaldum is a significant loss but one outcome of Curtis Jones developing, Naby Keita emerging, Thiago acclimatising or Fabinho adjusting seems likely; Mo Salah can carry that attack with Harvey Elliott and Takumi Minamino as possible wildcards now Diogo Jota is fit enough to provide serious competition and variation. The collective mood and mentality seems genuinely more important to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool than to most other managers and teams and it is worth trying to continue fostering that instead of risking friction with too many new faces in an established set-up.

4) Tottenham will finish in the top four Newcastle finished third when Andy Cole won the Golden Boot and set up the most goals in the 1993/94 season. Kevin Keegan was defending his sale to furious supporters on the steps of St James’ Park 18 months later. Harry Kane became the only other man to ever lead the division for goals and assists outright last campaign. Perhaps Daniel Levy will soon be inviting beleaguered fans to a newly-instated VIP cheese room to explain his reasoning for finally letting the club’s prize asset go. Beating Manchester City has not quelled talk of Kane’s departure. It has had rather the opposite effect. But lost in the renewed clamour to smuggle England’s captain to the Etihad was a professional, dedicated, organised performance from his teammates to overcome the Premier League champions in north London. Nuno Espirito Santo engineered victory with neither Cristian Romero nor Bryan Gil starting, the new coach instead dusting down a squad that had been marginalised and misused, finding treasure in another man’s trash: Japhet Tanganga, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn were considered expendable yet each have a role to play in a quietly exciting future. Add Kane to that mix once the distractions are removed with the closure of the transfer window and Tottenham are suddenly a genuine force again, even without their actual best player. Erik Lamela is in a better place now. 3) Aston Villa and Jack Grealish will both be worse off This is not to say Aston Villa will be relegated and Jack Grealish will be a catastrophically bad signing for Manchester City. The one thing Dean Smith could not buy to replace his talisman was time and it will take plenty for a new attack to gel, for players to adjust to not giving the ball and the responsibility to their captain. And Pep Guardiola’s ideal and meticulous instructions cannot be absorbed after a few training sessions; Grealish will find his role in the team and calibrate, just as long as he absolutely does not become a two-time Premier League winner and Champions League finalist who regularly scores and assists. That would be awful. But the grass will be greener for neither. Villa handled the situation impeccably, putting a contractual escape route in place, insisting it be met instead of courting any sort of saga, signing numerous fine players to share the workload even before he left and clearly explaining each thought process to the fans. That does not change how vast a hole Grealish has left and how much it has irrevocably altered the entire team dynamic. Villa have reiterated that they were 18 months behind in terms of where they would have needed to be in their project to keep their crown jewel; this will set them back much further before they find the right track again. As for Manchester City, they signed a phenomenal player but not one they necessarily needed. He will do well enough – win trophies, score goals, win free-kicks – but offers only a brilliant variation to what they already had rather than a legitimate alternative. His honours list will benefit but his light will be that little bit dimmer. It’s not a bad personal trade-off, in fairness. 2) Paul Pogba will be named PFA Player of the Year He could have done more. The blame for five underwhelming and inconsistent seasons has to be apportioned appropriately and one of the bigger slices belongs to Paul Pogba himself. It has not been a question of attitude or application, rather an inability to bring the best out of less talented teammates. He lowered his own level more often than he raised that of those around him. Anyone expecting the Frenchman to single-handedly drag Manchester United to glory had misunderstood his career to that point – and some are still wilfully obtuse in that regard. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has built a platform and is happy for Pogba to stand upon it as long as he has him. Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Edinson Cavani improved the collective standard; Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane will hope to do the same. A Pogba unencumbered with that weight of individual expectation is free to express and enjoy himself. “Manchester United need one outstanding season from Paul Pogba because he’s going to leave next summer,” was Gary Neville’s belief and whether the midfielder extends his deal at Old Trafford or not, he finally has the sort of worthy team he was promised in 2016. One year of his French national team alter ego is better than nothing at all. 1) Mikel Arteta will be the first manager to go The process is a whole lot harder to trust when a newly promoted team with vastly inexperienced players and a manager in only his second senior role seems so much further ahead in theirs. What Brentford lack in history, prestige, transfer fees and wages, they made up for in a performance that thoroughly and painfully explored Arsenal’s limitations. It was not about the bounce of supporters being back, the novelty of top-flight football or the brightness of those Friday night lights. Brentford beat Arsenal because they were better in preparation and execution. That run of form from Boxing Day onwards spared Mikel Arteta. Only the Manchester clubs earned more Premier League points from December 26 to the end of the season and a five-game winning streak to close the campaign was the longest the Gunners had managed since October 2018. It offered an illusion of progress that has been almost immediately undermined as soon as the pressure was back. There is a lack of confidence on the pitch and seemingly an absence of clarity off it. Chelsea and Manchester City await before the international break and it could genuinely be worth changing tack then if things have not significantly improved. Arteta might not be the problem but he certainly does not appear to have the solution.

Read the full article

[kopzone]

Jamie Carragher exclusive column: 'Liverpool will not win the title this season. I don't know when they ever will'

Liverpool will not win the title this season. I am not convinced Jürgen Klopp will ever be able to bring it back to Anfield. I am not sure when my old club will win it again. I certainly do not see it happening in the near future.

These are not pleasant words with which to introduce myself as a columnist for The Telegraph, but such is the current balance of power in the Premier League Liverpool must face a harsh reality.

It is no longer appropriate to evaluate the success or otherwise of a Liverpool manager based on whether he wins the league. The competition is too strong to set the bar so high.

There is no doubt the ultimate ambition remains the same as it has been since the last title in 1990 and the onus is on Klopp and Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group to banish such pessimism, but every season I find myself asking the same questions. How can Liverpool do it? How can they compete with three of the wealthiest clubs in the world? Given the history and expectations at Anfield, has Liverpool become English football’s impossible job?

Manchester United, City and Chelsea are formidable on and off the park. They have financial strength and a winning culture Liverpool do not currently possess. For the last seven years FSG has tried to approach transfers in a studious way. It has yielded one League Cup. I think FSG are good owners, but to win the league their approach in the transfer market must be as robust as the big three, and I am not convinced they have the capacity to match them.

I know what people will say to this: “What about Leicester? They won it, so why can’t Liverpool do that?”

Let’s get it right. Unfortunately for the game that was a freak. Look at Leicester’s results before and since that unbelievable season. You can’t build your hopes around repeating that.

When opportunities come along to push on in order to remain truly competitive at the top of the league – which tends to happen at Anfield once every five years – you have to grasp the nettle. Liverpool have not done so.

Last summer Liverpool and United were in a similar position; preparing for the Champions League, knowing to go up a level and be serious title contenders they had to make the right signings.

United, in sixth, acted. Liverpool, in fourth, did not. This is a trend. It is typical of what happened when Brendan Rodgers and (under previous owners) Rafa Benítez and Gérard Houllier had their best sides. Houllier, Benítez and Rodgers were in a position where they needed one more step to give good teams an even better chance of winning the title. They could not do it. My fear is Klopp will be looking back at the summer as his opportunity spurned.

Instead, Jose Mourinho goes to Anfield on Saturday as a genuine challenger and Liverpool’s lingering flaws remain glaringly obvious.

This is a fundamental difference between the modern Liverpool and United: one club recognised its weakness and fixed it, and the other is beset by the same problems.

United did not score enough goals so spent £75 million on Romelu Lukaku. He was not United’s first choice. They were pursing Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morato, but when those deals fell through Mourinho did not hang around. He did not wait a year for Griezmann. He wants the title now.

Liverpool conceded too many goals so wanted Virgil Van Dijk. They put themselves into a position where he was ready to join but messed up. Instead of lining up alternatives they spent the summer hoping Southampton would change their mind.

It was Van Dijk or no one, which led to the season starting with Liverpool continuing to concede soft goals, failing to win games they dominate, dropping points to teams in the bottom half. Liverpool cannot afford these mistakes on and off the pitch – not only to challenge for the Premier League but to remain in the top four.

This is why on the second anniversary of Klopp’s first game as Liverpool manager, he is hearing the first murmuring of discontent. It is not that Liverpool are a poor team, or they do not have some outstanding players. Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mané could play for any team in the world.

It is repeating the same error that provokes doubts. This week’s injury to Mané will sour the mood further, but it is the defending that causes most concern.

No team have won the league conceding the number of goals of Klopp’s side.

I have seen startling statistics demonstrating the inefficiency of Liverpool’s defending. In the 111 games since Klopp took over Liverpool have kept 37 clean sheets. To put that into perspective, in one season under Benitez in 2005-06 we kept 33 clean sheets.

You cannot win the title defending like Liverpool.

It is often said the team with the best defence win the Premier League. This is actually a myth. It is not always the side with the best defensive record that win the league, but you can guarantee those with poor defensive records get nowhere near.

Only three times since the Premier League began have a side conceded over 40 goals and won it. Manchester United did on each occasion, but they had already won the title and were cruising through their final games at least twice, gifting soft goals. The other season they had multiple goalkeeper issues.

You hear some saying Klopp’s job is on the line at Liverpool, which is daft.

Klopp has done a very good job so far at Anfield and has taken the side in a positive direction. Qualifying for the Champions League in his second season, and reaching two finals in his first, were notable achievements. Alongside Manchester City there has been no more exciting side to watch since Klopp arrived on Merseyside, but that is as much to do with the goals against as goals for.

Klopp should be judged on realistic objectives.

If by the end of his contract he has won three domestic trophies and qualified for the Champions League three or four times he has done as well as can be expected.

When many felt the League Cup and Europa League final in 2016 were just the start for Klopp, I worried they were finals that had to be won because they do not come around frequently. To me, it felt like massive opportunities were missed.

Between 2001 and 2009 the Liverpool team I played in won every trophy except the Premier League. Both Houllier and Benítez were sacked, yet I argued at the time - and believe it even more now - this was a golden era for a younger generation of Liverpool fans. Houllier and Benítez were successful managers. The problem is every Liverpool team is measured against what happened between 1963-90.

That is why the assessments of Klopp must consider the last 27 years and not the 27 years previously.

Klopp has time to build year-on-year working for owners who believe in gradual improvement - and that is cause for hope. He signed a six-year deal in the summer of 2016 underlining the belief the board has in him and their intention to see through a long-term project. He is a development manager and will believe his way will bring success over time.

The problem in modern football is no matter how much you plan ahead the moods swing every time there is a bad result. I remember Benítez signing a five-year contract extension in 2009. He was gone in 2010. Rodgers signed a four-year deal in 2014. He left in 2015.

Regardless how noble the intention, withstanding pressure is easier said than done because the game has never been more temperamental, and the clamour for change gets louder every year without a trophy.

Despite my misgivings regarding the title, do not presume Klopp cannot be successful at Anfield.

The landscape has changed at Liverpool. Failure to win the Premier League can no longer be used as a reason to describe a Liverpool manager as a failure.

#lfc #liverpool fc #Jamie Carragher

[trevorbailey61]

Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters

Civic Hall, Wolverhampton

Monday 20th November 2017

It is a dull and drizzly Monday evening and in Cardiff Deep Purple are about to take to the stage at the 7,500 capacity Motorpoint Arena as part of what we are told will be their farewell tour. With Jon Lord sadly passing away in 2012 and Richie Blackmore seemingly content to spend the rest of his days playing madrigals, this current incarnation of the band is as close as it is possible to get to the classic early 70s line-up and they even managed to get themselves into a studio to record a some new songs. Few, however, even amongst their most die-hard fans will want to hear them, instead they go for “Smoke on the Water”, “Speed King”, “Black Night”, the heavy rock based prog that became their signature. Despite forming earlier, sounding different and working their way through multiple line-ups, Deep Purple never seemed to escape from the shadow of the behemoth that was Led Zeppelin. Both had songs that helped to define their genre and era but Led Zeppelin’s were more memorable, both had the riffs but Page’s were the ones that were more instantly recognisable, both had charismatic singers but Plant’s bare chested image was always the more striking, both were bigger in America than in their homeland but Led Zeppelin were immense. Even now as the Purps take their last celebratory victory procession, the response is; yes, filling these arenas is impressive but just think what Zep would do.

That they don’t is down to Robert Plant. The journey that he has taken since the demise of Led Zeppelin is one of the most curious but ultimately most inspiring of any of the 70s rock legends and even as he approaches his 70th birthday there is little to indicate that his exploration is anywhere nearing its end. What that makes this all the more remarkable is that even during the final days of Zeppelin, Plant seemed to have lost his instincts, his feel for the music, his judgement, even his dress sense. I missed out on the opportunity to see Zeppelin during their reign, I was far to young to catch them in their early days and by the time my concert going had started, they were mostly absent as they preferred instead the huge money spinning American tours to those at home. I could have seen them at Knebworth but chose a family holiday instead, a decision I have long since regretted but Plant has always maintained that those concerts should have been cancelled due to how poorly prepared they were. Maybe then the thought of how good it could have been is better than the memories of how it actually was. With Page a junkie and Bonham drinking himself to his early death, the onus was on Plant to put together their final album, “In Through the Out Door”, which, smothered in synths as it was, gave an indiction of the direction in which he would be heading as a solo artist. This was the era of massive albums, the final throw before music became digitalised, and with the technology available to produce a bright clean pop sound many 70s veterans found a way to make the biggest selling album of their career. Bowie had “Let’s Dance”, Springsteen “Born in the USA”, Phil Collins “No Jacket Required” but despite respectable sales, particularly for the single “Big Log”, Plant never threatened to eclipse his former band.

Ironically, it may have been a brief reunion with Page that finally convinced Plant how misguided this had been. Together they had taken early Zeppelin away from being the purely heavy rock act that most of their pale imitators were by introducing at first the acoustic feel of English folk music and later African rhythms, Indian instrumentation and melodies and a host of other sounds that would later be referred to as World Music. This reunion led to “No Quarter”, an album that included a number of rearranged Zeppelin songs which would have convinced him of two things; firstly how shallow and undemanding much of his recent music had been and secondly that he could rework Zeppelin songs in a way that would still hold his interest. Thus began his restless musical exploration, taking in the North African sounds that he had explored with Page as well as journeys into the remotest backwaters of American folk. The sounds he created were often quieter, more delicate and intricate than the bombast of Zeppelin and required him to find new voices to tell their stories; the bravado and swagger would soon be a thing of the past, replaced by something more subtle and nuanced. He collaborated with people who would challenge him, Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, producers T Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller and a host of crack American session players, even briefly relocating to Austin in the process. His musical quest, however, is built on a strong sense of place and returning home allowed him to reconnect with the band he first worked before his American sojourn. The Sensational Space Shifters have developed into a formidable outfit, allowing him to realise the songs that have come from such a disparate range of sources. While over 7000 filed into an arena in Cardiff, less than half that number made their way through the oppressive security at the Civic Hall and most, I am sure, wouldn’t have been too put out had he not included a single Zeppelin song; we understand what he is doing and we are here just as much for the new songs as the old ones.

There were, of course, some Zeppelin songs but these were mostly played without the deconstruction and reshaping that he has applied on previous tours. A gentle acoustic strumming accompanied “That’s The Way”, still magical, and “Gallows Pole” as on the album although the latter did gain a harder edge towards the end. “Whole Lotta Love”, as so often his final song, had its usual swagger which tonight was enhanced by the violin of Seth Lakeman who, as well as his support slot, had added some wonderful textures throughout the set.  The first encore “What Is and What Should Never Be” built from its quiet and delicate verses to release the power of its chorus. The exception was “Misty Mountain Hop”, so different from the recorded version it it was only the words that gave it away. Plant added some context about how is was an attempt to recapture the collective spirit as the ideals of the Woodstock generation were fading but its reworking lacked the insight he has previously shown when he turns to his back catalogue. The best of the Zeppelin songs, however, was the wonderfully lyrical interpretation of “Babe I’m Going to Leave You” illuminated by Skin Tyson’s expressive acoustic guitar and Plant for once releasing the full power of his voice.

The last time I saw Plant was just after the release of his previous album, “Lullaby …. and the Ceaseless Roar”, a highly personal album made shortly after he returned from his exile in Texas. His sense of displacement is captured in the song, “Turn It Up”; “I'm lost inside America; I’m turning inside out; I’m turning into someone else” neatly expressing his disconnection from his surroundings. Appearing early, its stuttering rhythm gives a sense of someone struggling outside of their familiar surroundings. From this album he also includes “Rainbow”, a wonderful hymn to the rugged highlands of North Wales that inspired his excursion into traditional folk in his Zeppelin days, and his reworking of “Little Maggie”, illuminated as ever by Justin Adams’ exquisite finger picking. Where previously the disorientating drone of Juldeh Camara’s ritti had helped to create the mood of the songs, that is now done by Lakeman’s violin. In tone, his most recent album, “Carry Fire” shares many similarities with its predecessor suggesting his return home has also seen some tempering of his musical wanderlust. Whilst there may be a consistency in the sound, however, “Carry Fire” feels a lot less personal, being more settled has allowed him to observe the world around him and you get the feeling that he is not too impressed with what he sees. Opener “New World” sounds like a rebuke of the “Immigrant Song”, rather than heroic warriors, the destructive will of the settlers overwhelms the land, “The great white father’s word is law”. The theme of immigration also informs the title track, its wonderfully inventive arrangement and thoughtful lyrics providing a compelling highlight. Here he takes the perspective of the pressures that cause people to leave their homeland in search of a better, or more likely, safer life and their lack of comprehension of the hostility shown to them. It is rare for Plant to be this overtly political but the sincerity and emotion conveyed makes it incredibly moving. Similarly with  “Bones of Saints”, performed as the middle of three encores, which covers how arms from Britain and other western nations are used in the atrocities carried out around the world, in particular at this moment in Yemen. It is a theme that Plant doesn’t shirk from in his introduction, overcoming his tendency to ramble to make his point clearly and directly. “The May Queen” is the lightest of the songs from “Carry Fire”, a repetitive, hypnotic trance whose folk origins are enhanced by Lakeman’s fiery violin. He also includes “All the Kings Horses” from “The Mighty Rearranger”, the first album to feature the musicians who were to become the Sensational Space Shifters, and a beautifully tender “Please Read the Letter” from his collaboration with Alison Krauss.

A dull, drizzly evening and in Wolverhampton the the audience are filing out through the limited number of exits that seem to be open. Filled to its capacity, the hall had been crowded leading to some tetchiness as people struggled to gain a view. The heat from all these bodies made it obsessively hot which, despite its recent refurbishment, the Civic’s air conditioning failed to moderate. Added to that a near septuagenarian rock star had decided that we really wanted to hear his new stuff. There were so many reasons, then, why it should have gone wrong but it didn’t and what we saw was a truly inspiring performance from an artist who is still at the very top of his game. One striking thing was just how quiet and receptive the audience were, the response to each song was as enthusiastic as Plant’s reputation requires but during the songs people were there to listen, quite something in a venue that is usually notable for the volume of its background chatter. The post gig euphoria is not the best time to make comparisons with previous shows but having had chance to reflect since, I have found few reasons to doubt my initial reaction as to this being one of the best shows I have seen him do. The template for how rock stars gracefully age is still in the process of being written but there are few who manage to do it whilst still remaining important and relevant. Plant’s travels, both physical and musical, may now be a little more limited in their scope but his music remains both intriguing and important.

[frankiefellinlove]

Return of the Native The Aquarian , September 23, 1978 By Mike Greenblatt

We’ve been sitting on a bench facing the ocean near the Casino Arena in Asbury Park. It’s 45 minutes past our appointed meeting time with Bruce Springsteen and we’re trying to light matches in the wind. It’s past 1:30 now and we’re wondering if he’s going to show up. Hell, it’s a beautiful sunny fall day, one of his very few days off from a grueling whirlwind tour of the country. And it’s his birthday to boot. Maybe he just ain’t gonna show.

But we’re determined. We’re prepared to wait for two more hours. Then, if he’s still not here, we’ll split. We’ve already tired of scrutinizing all the faces for something that will tell us it’s him in disguise. We forgot our quest and go back to the matches.

“Hi”, he says as he walks right up at us. “Sorry I’m late, I just got up.” He’s dressed in a blueish work-shirt and jeans. He has ever-present sunglasses on. We decide to break the ice over lunch.

Settling into a booth at the Convention Hall Coffee Shop, I order a BLT, photographer Sorce, a cheeseburger, and Bruce, a hamburger, french fries and coke.

“Yeah, we had a real rep”, Bruce starts to say. “We could draw two, maybe three thousand people on any given night. We played our own concerts here and also down south. It’s weird. Nobody would ever book us because we never did any Top-40. Never. We used to play all old soul stuff. Chuck Berry, just the thing we liked. That’s why we couldn’t get booked. We made enough to eat though.”

The waitresses are starting to mill about the table so Bruce puts his shades back on and hushes up his tone. “The other night was amazing”, he wispers. “I went to see Animal house, and when I came out of the theater there was a whole bunch of people that started following me to the parking lot. I wound up signing autographs for over an hour.”

“Anyway, after a while the kicks started to wear off and a lot of the time we didn’t make enough to eat. That’s why i signed with Mike (Appel). Anything was better than what was happening at the time.”

Little did the local rocker know that this early signing with Mike Appel would result in the latter claiming rights to the early material Springsteen had written. The rest of the courtroom drama is famous. Perhaps generously, Bruce had nothing bad to say about his former manager.

“He did a lot of good for me at that time”, he says, dipping one particularly long french fry into a mound of ketchup. “He introduced me to John Hammond (CBS bigwig responsible for signing Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and others). He helped me on that first album”. He pauses as if he were ruminating on something. “I haven’t seen him since that day.”

“Actually, I was pretty shielded from the whole thing”, he continues. “Mike put the onus on Jon (Landau), claiming he was the culprit.”

I ask: You mean he charged Landau with stealing you away from him?

“Yeah, sort of. I was never good at the business end of things.”

Asked about the famous line Landau wrote for his Real Paper review (“I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen”), Bruce says, “That line is misrepresentative of the whole review. It’s funny. The review was nothing like that one line. It got taken out of context” - another myth shattered.

“I remember playing in a club where an earlier review that Jon wrote was splashed all over the outside wall. I was leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, when Jon practically bumped right into me. I had never met him. We hit it off right away.”

“When asked if he ever gave up during the long months of inactivity, Bruce still remains bright, completely devoid of bitterness. ” I knew that it was just a matter of time. We were playing almost throughout that whole episode even though we weren’t supposed to. I mean, what kind of law is it that is written specifically to stop a man from doing what he does to make his money?“

“The only real frustrating thing which did cause me grief was the fact that my songs weren’t my own. I didn’t own my own songs. That hurt.”

But that makes it all the more satisfying now. At Nassau Coliseum, thousands of kids screaming their guts out for him before he even played a song. They didn’t let up until he finished, drained and exhausted. At the Capitol Theatre, two nights before, he was surprised onstage by a giant birthday cake out of which a scantily clad girl bounced. He swears he didn’t know a thing about it (“I even told John Scher no cakes”). At Madison square Garden, 18,000 fans leaned on every note as if it were the last they would ever hear. A gala party was held for him in the plush Penn Plaza Club located deep inside the bowels of the Garden. Security was the tightest I’d ever witnessed.

We paid for the food and split for the beach. The conversation continued amid the sea, the wind and the hovering presence of the Casino Arena.

“I’m into a little photography myself”, Bruce says as Sorce adjusts his light meter. “I took some pictures of Lynnie (Lynn goldsmith, photographer) that were published somewhere.”

When asked about his other interests, Bruce talks of softball. “Yeah, we used to play hard. we had to stop, though, when Clarence and myself used to get too battered up. We’d go on stage all wracked up and it would hurt. After a while, it got too important and too many people were into it. There’s no softball on this tour. What else do I like? Hmmm, I’ll tell ya…not too much besides music. Right now, music is it. I don’t care about anything else.”

We get back to talking of copy bands and the difference between making it with your own material and making good money playing copies. I tell Bruce I had to play “Shake Your Booty” to get booked anywhere.

“Shake Your Booty?” laughs Bruce, falling into the sand. “That’s a great song. KC, man, he’s great! He always comes out with those repetitive things. Over and over and over, that kind of stuff is great! It’s like the ‘Louie, Louie’ of today.” Later on, in talking about what is written about him, he says, “I have Glen (Glen Brunman, CBS publicist) mail me everything that’s written about me. Hundreds of things, man. I read them all at once. That way I can get a pretty good perspective on what my press is like, rather than reading one thing at a time.”

“Near the end of Darkness, I wasn’t doing any interviews”, Bruce continues. “Then I did them until I noticed myself saying the same things to different people. There’s only one answer to each question; you don’t want to lie to these people. I really had myself in a spin. And each interview was a multiple interview situation with two or three people at once. I guess the problem was that I did too many of ‘em.”

Walking off the beach, we talk of the Garden shows and his stretcher routine, whereby he sings himself silly until he has to be taken off the stage in a stretcher, only to break free and grab the microphone again until he’s forcibly restrained from the stage.

That’s a great routine. Where’d you get that from? I ask. I know that professional wrestling has a stretcher routine where the good guy gets beat so bad they have to carry him off in a stretcher and the bad guy always kicks him off of it as it passes by. It’s classic.

“No”, answers Bruce, “I didn’t even know about that. We got it from James Brown. He used to get himself so worked up that the bassist led him offstage wrapped in a cape. He’d throw the cape off his shoulders and come running back to the mike stand some two or three times. It drove 'em wild. So that’s where we got the idea for the stretcher routine.”

Sliding into the front seat of a borrowed '78 burnt yellow Camaro, Bruce at the wheel, we’re on our way to the neighborhood where he grew up in Freehold. Shoving a cassette into the receptacle, he says, “A fan gave this to me outside a concert once. it’s real good tape.”

He turns up the volume, guns the motor and shifts into second. We take off. He turns up the volume a little more and starts looking for “Hello Mary Lou” by Rick Nelson. “This song has one of the greatest guitar parts ever on it.”

He can’t find the tune and settles for oldies like “If You Wanna Be Happy For the Rest of Your Life (Never Make a Pretty Woman your Wife)” and “Blue Suede Shoes”. He shifts into third.

Now for the first time, we do not talk. The music is loud and damn appealing. The windows are down so the wind is whipping furiously into the car. He shifts into fourth and takes off.

We’re rolling now. We settle uncomfortably behind a slow driver. He checks his rear-view mirror and roars past the driver. Seeing another slow-mover right ahead, he stays in the opposite lane and passes two in one fell swoop before settling comfortably back on the right. From the back, Sorce lets out a soft “Whew!”

It’s great moment. Chuck Berry is wailing out with “Maybelline”. Bruce is going faster. It’s such a fuckin’ beautiful day. The wind is rushing in and Bruce is feeling good, snapping his fingers, clapping his hands and letting out with a hoarse vocal or two on the last line of each verse. “Hello Mary Lou” finally comes on and suddenly everything is crystallized in one magic moment - the speed, the music, the sun, the wind, the company. Jeezez Christ! We’re rolling down the highway with fuckin’ Bruce Springsteen at the wheel! And he’s driving the way you would think Bruce Springsteen would drive.

Later, when we reach a light, Bruce impatiently waits on it before saying, “This is what we used to call a 'quarterback sneak’”“, and with that he takes off surreptitiously past the red light.

We’re in the old neighborhood now. Bruce drives slowly down Institute Street until he reaches the right number. It’s been painted now. "I lived here all through grammar school. There’s a Nestle’s factory near here. Man, when it rained we smelled that stuff all day long.”

The elder Springsteen would go to work in the morning, come home, go to sleep and wake up and go back to work at the factory. “I guess there was other things he wanted,” Bruce reflects.

We get back into the car and drive over to the factory. “Both my grandfather and my father worked here. It used to be a rug mill in the old days, but for some reason it ran out of business fairly quick. I was pretty young at the time.”

When I ask about high school, Bruce clams up. “It wasn’t exactly the best time of my life because I didn’t graduate with any of the others. It was a rough period.” I could see he really doesn’t pursue this avenue too long so I drop it. But I wonder what mystery is veiled beneath this wall of secrecy.

We get back into the car and tear out of there. Ironically enough, the tape Bruce shoves into the machine this time is an old Animals cassette. The first song could be a forerunner to much of the music Bruce writes. As the opening line comes out of the speakers, the dusty factory is just fading from view…

“In this dirty old part of the city/Where the sun refuses to shine/People say that there ain’t no use in trying/My little girl you’re so young and pretty/And one thing I know is true/You’ll be dead before your time is due, yes you will/See my daddy in bed ad night/See his hair a’ turnin’ grey/He’s been working and slaving his life away, yes he has.”

The song is, of course, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, and it was a fitting omen as we drove off.

As we drove, Bruce starts reminiscing. “Yeah, I lived in practically every single town around here, from Atlantic Highlands to Bradley Beach. We used to move quite often.

"That’s where I had my very first gig,” he laughs as we pass a mobile setup. Looking out of the window, the 10 or 20 mobile homes facing us look worn and old. “The gig wasn’t bad…for our first job.”

Hey Bruce, are you gonna show up at the Capitol again like you did last year on New Year’s Eve? I ask him. It was announced earlier in the week that Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes would again party away the year in such grand fashion. Bruce turns around and answers, “I don’t know where I’m gonna be on New Year’s Eve.

"C'mon, I’ll show you where my surfin’ buddies used to live,” he says, changing the subject. We swerve sharply off the highway onto an exit. “This used to be a surfboard factory,” he says. We step out of the car near a small white building.

“Yeah, me and a fella named Tinker lived here for a year and a half, in one room. All the rest of this area used to be nothin’ but sand dunes.” He points to a huge expanse of stores, houses and construction. “None of this was here.”

“They used to make the surfboards downstairs. Tinker and I, we had a ball. Just one room! Two beds, a fridge and a TV - the rest of the room was filled with surfboards.”

“Since I was from Freehold, I was considered inland. All these guys used to surf every day. I was friends with 'em all but never went. Finally, they got to me. One afternoon they were merciless. They just kept taunting me and kidding me about not surfing that it just sorta got me riled. I grabbed a board and we all headed out to the beach.

"I must have been some sight surfing for the first time, but I’ll tell you something - I got the hang of it pretty quick. Hell, it ain’t harder than anything else. It’s like riding a bike. I haven’t surfed in awhile. Now that’s something I’d love to do. As a matter of fact, I think I will.”

He seems resolute.

He continues: “This guy Jesse taught me the finer points of surfing. We used to stay in North End Beach in Long Branch all the time. Some guy owned the beach so we had the use of it for almost two whole years. We’d be there every day. We’d stay on the beach, go in the water. It was great.

"This area is really amazing. There’s really poor neighborhoods and then there’s real nice neighborhoods all in a five-mile radius.

"I used to go to New York a lot back then. I played at the Cafe Wha? a lot in '68. I used to play there with Jerry Walker’s old group, Circus Maximus. Let’s see, I played the Night Owl (all these places were in the West Village). They had a lot of good bands there at the time - the Raves, Robin & the Hoods. Let’s see, the Mothers of Invention were playing all the time in that area and so were the Fugs.

"I didn’t go to too many concerts then. I much preferred playing and jamming with these people. There was a whole 'nother scene taking place over in the East Village that I wasn’t part of at all - the Fillmore, the Electric Circus. I think my first experience seeing a rock star was going to Steve Paul’s Scene and seeing Johnny Winter. That was really something. I remember between sets, he came out and sat at the very next table from me and my friends.”

Let’s go back to Asbury, I suggest.

Asking Bruce if he’d take me back to the old Upstage site where he held court almost every night, he gladly obliges and we get out of the car again in what could be termed downtown Asbury.

“I gotta be cool,” Bruce chuckles. “I ran out of here without paying the rent.”

We walk over to the site, which is upstairs from a shoe store.

“I lived here while Greetings From Asbury Park was being made. I slept in my sleeping bag on my friend’s floor for a good portion of that album.”

Bruce poses for pics while people pass by right and left. Surprisingly enough, nobody recognizes him (or if they do, they keep on walking).

“I’m lucky in that respect. What happened in the movies the other night is a rarity. Usually, I don’t get recognized. I don’t have that instantly recognizable feature that a lot of other people have.”

Yeah, like Frampton’s hair, I reply.

“My folks had already moved to California,” Bruce remembers, “and I was out of high school by the time I got to Asbury.

"Upstage was a great place for us to play. We played here an awful lot.”

In answering questions about his immediate future, Bruce says, “I have one more day off before we finish the tour. Then I have a whole month off before we start up again. In February we go back into the studio for work on the next album. I’m hoping it will be out by next summer.”

Just for the record, the tour ended officially in Atlanta on Oct. 1. It started in Buffalo on May 23. The new tour starts (possibly in New Jersey) on Nov. 1 and finishes by Dec. 20. If the time it took to cut Darkness is any indicator, then number five will be lucky to hit the stands by the summer after next.

The just-finished tour took in 70 cities and 86 shows in four months and eight days. That’s why Bruce has to be listed as a “great guy” to do up an afternoon on one of his rare days off. Another highly impressive thing is that he spent the whole day without the protective cradle of a publicist’s presence. Rarely have I done an interview without the artist’s publicist in tow.

In talking about the current LP, Bruce says, “The guy who took the cover shot for that album is a friend of mine from south Jersey who works full-time in a meat market. The shots were taken at his house. He’s a great photographer.”

Bruce’s only comment about the self-destructive syndrome (dope-money-power) affecting so many rock stars is that “they let all the other things become more important than playing. Playing is the important thing. Once you forget that, you’ve had it.”

Bruce, obviously, hasn’t forgotten that. He’s been having fun with music since the start. Bruce Springsteen is the perfect assimilator of many styles - Chuck Berry/Stones/Elvis/Buddy Holly/ Dylan/Little Richard/Animals. His image on stage is also an amalgamation of many images - Elvis/young Brando/James Dean. Somehow he melds all of these influences into one cohesive framework for his own strikingly original material. The man is all that he has devoured musically from the time he started listening to music, and it all pours out of him every time he steps on stage. “That Elvis, man,” Bruce says, “he is all there is. There ain’t no more. Everything starts and ends with him. He wrote the book. He is everything to do and not to do in the business.”

If Elvis Presley is Bruce’s prototype then Bruce, himself, is the focus for a lot of envy and speculation. We all have fantasies - Bruce included - of making it big and living as stars. Well, Bruce is living the ultimate realization of that fantasy right now. He’s made it through all the bullshit inherent in such a proposition. He’s doing it. And doing it in style.

Yet if you talk to him, he’s quite humble. Ask him what part he played in the writing of “Because the Night” and he’ll tell you that he only wrothe the title line (although he admits he will probably put it on his next album.)

Seeing him so close up and listening to him speak makes one realize that, although not articulate, there is a certain aura about him. A certain intangible. His charisma is the well-worn persona of the working man. His handsome/beautiful face could even make the transition to the silver screen as a prophet of the proletariat. His facial features are tough, yet there’s a certain hardness to him. You’d swear he’s Italian before you’re told of his Dutch descent.

His enthusiasm is real. The moment when Gary U.S. Bonds came over the car speakers with “Quarter to Three” - that’s when Bruce really started to groove. The song is in his encores in most of his performances. He still loves the original and still sings along with it when it comes on.

The essence of rock and roll can be distilled into a performance that a fella by the name of Bobby Lewis did on American Bandstand many years ago. Lewis performed “Tossin’ and Turnin’” on the show, lip-synched it, and drove the small television studio crazy with his slips and slides. Host Dick Clark did a never-before-done-thing - he, in his madness of the moment, screamed for Lewis to perform the same song again. The sound man cued it up and Lewis went back out onto the stage and really tore into it this time, twisting, turning, giving it all he had. By now his lip motions were completely out-of-synch with the record being played, but it didn’t matter. It was a piece of rock and roll heaven. And one, I’m sure, Bruce Springsteen would have enjoyed.

[moriganstrongheart]

The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women – Review

Edited by Alex Dally MacFarlane ​2014, Running Press Paperback, 512 pages, $17.50 CAD

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Good: Great diversity, showcases excellent talent Bad: Not all stories are a worthwhile read

In her introduction to The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women, Alex Dally MacFarlane does a good job of laying down the purpose of the collection. She is not looking to change the sexism that festers within the writing industry, but is instead interested in building on a rich history of women writers in science fiction, demonstrating what female authors are able to do. Though if given the chance, I'm sure the authors in this anthology would see women given their rightful place as prestigious members of the industry. While things are rarely that easy, the stories collected here speak for themselves as to what women can accomplish when given the chance. I don’t think every story in this collection is worthwhile, but I also think that shouldn’t be taken as a slight against female authors, as I found many to be engaging reading experiences. I also would like to preface by saying I’m not generally a fan of short story collections; it takes me too long to read them, and I find myself cheated if a short story isn’t as good as I expected. I tried my best to not let this influence my opinions, but I may be harsher on some entries in this collection as a result.

To give each author the attention that is due to them, I will be reviewing each story on its own, and then conclude with my opinion on the anthology as a whole.

[ ! ] Spoiler Warning

Girl Hours

by Sofia Samatar, 2011 Rating: ★★★★☆

Girl Hours is a short poem written in reverse chronological order about the life of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a woman computer from the 1870's. Being based on true events and taking the form of a poem, it has little to do with science fiction, though it is still an interesting read. As with most poems, word choice is limited, putting much of the onus on the reader to establish themes and timing. I normally find this pretentious, but I enjoyed the format in this instance. Girl Hours is one of the few stories I have read multiple times out of pure enjoyment, as its structure allowed for reading front-to-back as well as back-to-front, letting the reader to experience the poem differently each time.

Link to Poem

Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang

by Kristin Mandigma, 2007 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang is an interesting take on socialist mindsets. The text itself is enjoyable in its tone, but fails to make a lasting impression on me. I would have liked to see more of the world than what was presented, as the piece consists only of its namesake: an excerpt from a letter by an Aswang. While I find gaps in a narrative to generally be a good thing, it can be frustrating when that gap is too wide—as if the author is expecting the reader to fill in the majority of the worldbuilding for them. The strength of Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang is in its lighthearted tone, which Kristin Madigma uses to criticize socialist mindsets through the writings of the author-character. The aswang rambles about communist ideals and writes degrading comments about capitalism—like any good neo-communist. The fact that the author-character is an aswang adds onto the ridiculousness of the situation, as they include activities such as the consumption of capitalist children in their socialist portfolio. Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang is a fun little piece that would benefit from an expanded narrative, and I felt that it was ultimately forgettable in its details.

Link to Short Story

Somadeva: A Sky River Sutra

by Vandana Singh, 2010 Rating: ★★★☆☆

Indian culture has never been something I’ve personally found interesting. As Somadeva: A Sky River Sutra relies heavily on cultural artifacts and historical persons from India, I often felt lost in its many references. I think Vandana Singh did a good job of explaining the most relevant parts to her story, but the folklore is far too complex and I do not have the desire to investigate it further. I thoroughly enjoyed the themes, as Singh builds stories within stories within stories, creating her own mini-compilation of folktales and adventures. Narration is well done, as is the imagery, which accurately describes how time-lost souls would search for meaning in a world where memory is fleeting at best. However, there was a bit too much going on and it ends a bit abruptly for my taste; I would have preferred some kind of conclusion, even if it did not conclude with the protagonists’ journey. I am sure those interested in Indian culture will find this story much more compelling than I did, but the themes are strong enough to hold up the story on their own.

Link to Short Story

The Queen of Erewhon

by Lucy Sussex, 1999 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I’ll be honest in that reading The Queen of Erewhon was like reading Shakespeare from the future—and not in a good way. If you’ve ever had to read Shakespeare in its raw, historically-correct format, you may have had some issues understanding some of the nuances inherit from the time period in which is was written. Something similar is the case with The Queen of Erewhon. Lucy Sussex keeps shifting between two different narratives: one that details the protagonist’s journey to uncover a story about two women falling in love, and the actual story of these two women falling in love. On its own this was confusing enough; there is no clear delineation between when one narrative starts and another one ends. I kept having to stop reading to reorient myself whenever this switch occurred. My confusion was aggravated further by Sussex’s rich, almost overpowering politics and worldbuilding. Every other passage contains extensive amount of exposition that dilutes the purpose of the story. I normally don’t enjoy unfiltered politics in fiction, and The Queen of Erewhon has some of the worst examples of this. And yet, despite my difficulties, I did enjoy the story’s themes and—once I had finally gotten used to the format—I even enjoyed the narrative itself. But the experience of reading The Queen of Erewhon was a hassle. I found myself often taking breaks throughout my reading and it felt like I was putting more work into understanding the story than actually enjoying it.

​Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day

​by Tori Truslow, 2010 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day is more of an interesting read than it is entertaining. Tori Truslow goes at great lengths to present the narrative in the format of a biography and to incorporate passages from Shakespeare at multiple levels in the prose. She succeeded in creating a realistic description of a fictional man and his adventures through the fae world. I could easily see this faux-excerpt as coming from a full volume detailing the life of Elijah Willemot Wynn. The world was a little difficult to grasp at first, but I found myself well immersed thanks to Truslow’s decision to write her short story in a non-fiction style. It made the story feel grounded and real. My only issue with Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day was the inclusion of poetry and Shakespeare, which seemed out of place to me. It’s as if Truslow wanted to offset the dry, non-fiction aspects of the story with more whimsical passages. These passages—more than anything else—broke my immersion in the narrative. I don’t think they should have been omitted though, as these poetic passages are integral to the narrative she’s woven. I just wonder if it could have been handled better; perhaps if the author of the biography had spent more time analyzing the poems and references to Shakespeare, it would feel more grounded and less eccentric.

Spider the Artist

by Nnedi Okorafor, 2011 Rating: ★★★★★

Nnedi Okorafor tackles a lot of issues in Spider the Artist: domestic violence, the exploitation of third world countries, environmentalism and machine sentience. Normally, I would find so many topics packed into a short story overwhelming. But Okorafor managed to create a relatable and realistic protagonist in Eme, to the point I felt deeply connected to Eme as she wrestled with her identity in this broken world. If I have one criticism, it is how quickly the story resolves itself; it feels as though in one moment Eme is discovering who she is, and the next she is in the middle of a war. I don’t think the strength of Spider the Artist is the issues it tackles or the ideas it presents. Instead, it is strongest when we get to live life through Eme’s eyes. As such, I wish we could have spent more time with her. I would be interested in reading more from Okorafor, especially if she has longer works of fiction.

Link to Short Story

The Science of Herself

​by Karen Joy Fowler, 2013 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

The Science of Herself is an interesting read—even leading me to research further into Mary Anning following my reading. However, the frequent name drops and descriptions of pre-Victorian era England bored me. I am not a fan of historical fiction, so this just wasn’t for me. Also, while I think it’s important to highlight people like Mary Anning lest we forget what she and other women in history have done, I don’t think stuffing thirty persons into a short story is the best way to do so, especially if the reader is unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Link to Short Story

​​The Other Graces

by Alice Sola Kim, 2010 Rating: ★★★★☆

The best part of The Other Graces is its inclusion of wacky, weird and wonderful science fiction shenanigans—specifically, in the form of a multidimensional, time-travelling network of singular consciousness which inhabits the minds of two versions of the protagonist for the purpose of ensuring the future of the younger protagonist, while simultaneously allowing the narrator to speak to the reader and the protagonist. And surprisingly, this multidimensional consciousness is rarely the focus of attention. There are some clues as to the ethical implications of using such a technology, and it is used at times as a metaphor for mental health issues, but these themes are glossed over in favour of plot. I feel that Alice Sola Kim handled all of this well, as it can be easy to be swept up in the majesty of one’s own conceptualization; too often I see entire storylines devoted to explaining how the author’s futurology would function and how it would impact society. The Other Graces manages to introduce an otherworldly concept like multidimensional consciousness while focusing on character, anchoring the reader in what would otherwise be a strange experience.

I also appreciated the way Kim presented Grace and her life as a person of Asian descent living in poverty. In some instances, I felt she may have over-characterized how downtrodden Grace was in her attempt to reset expectations about lower-class Asian-Americans. I understand that the fetishization of the exotic and status prejudice are big issues for minority groups; racists seem to think that people of different cultures are simultaneously privileged, yet inferior to them. However, I find this kind of negative language off-putting, as if unhealthy habits and subpar living conditions are a mark of pride for the character. There is no shame in what we can’t reasonably control, but doesn’t mean we can’t strive to be better. Grace certainly feels she can do better for herself; I just wish less time was spent on self-depreciation. I understand that others may be able to identify with her self-loathing, but it may also help to normalize negativity in like-minded readers.

Boojum

by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette, 2008 Rating: ★★★★☆

Boojum is a combination of the familiar and the surreal, meant to dazzle and confuse, to entertain yet left wanting more. I don’t have a lot to say beyond the fact it’s a great example of what a short story should strive for. Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette weave an interesting, futuristic take on Lovecraftian and pirate lore—two genres of speculative fiction I have had a long-time love-hate relationship with. I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetics of Lovecraft, but could never get past how ridiculous and pompous it is. By the same token, I enjoy the aesthetic and romance of pirate stories, but I sometimes feel that authors rely too much on nautical know-how to carry the narrative rather than good characterization. My criticisms of these subgenres could also be applied to Boojum, though to a lesser extent. I think what saves Boojum to me is its excellent pacing and narrative structure, focusing on the way Black Alice interacts with the world, rather than having the story focus on the world itself. And so I can look past some of my issues to enjoy Boojum for what it is: a fun space-pirate story with minor horror elements.

Link to Short Story

The Eleven Holy Numbers of the Mechanical Soul

by Natalia Theodoridou, 2014 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

The Eleven Holy Numbers of the Mechanical Soul skirts the edge between surreal and survival thriller, dipping its toes in both genres without commiting to either. I found the references to holy numbers and the fluctuating perspectives more distracting than compelling; it felt as though the author was trying too hard to add a mystical element to the story, in an attempt to elevate the story beyond being just science-fiction. It also never felt as though anything was at stake, with survival elements acting more as padding than anything compelling. Part of me wonders if this was all intentional, as if Natalia Theodoridou wants the reader to ask questions rather than just passively experiencing the story. Where exactly is Theo? Is he on a habitable planetoid? Are the machines sentient? Or are they just machinations of Theo’s engineering mind? Is he waiting for something? Will someone ever come? These questions are an undercurrent to the events in the story, and are what occupied my thoughts following my reading. However, there’s little substance to the story itself. In my opinion, Theodoridou excels at building a rich world around her characters, but I was not a fan of how she structured her narrative.

Link to Short Story

Mountain Ways

by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1996 Rating: ★★★★★

Unfortunately, I never had much exposure to Ursula K. Le Guin in my childhood, and it’s only recently that I’ve begun to hear how much she has contributed to literature. Her talent is obvious in Mountain Ways; after what I felt was a rocky start, I was fully immersed in her story. She places the focus on the characters, and the way they interact and change with the world, rather than on the world itself. Characters act like real people, with goals, flaws, worries and emotions. The world feels real and makes sense within the rules set by Le Guin. My only criticisms lie in the story’s beginning and ending. While I understand the necessity of explaining the complex marriage practices of the culture in Mountain Ways, I’m always wary when an author feels the need to address the reader directly regarding their world’s lore. It should instead be understood naturally through the interactions between characters, as they navigate their world and come to understand it. Although, her warning regarding the complexity of the ki’O’s marriage practices is well-founded; I often found myself confused when it came to marriage terminology, especially once genders were falsified. As for the ending, the conflict felt forced and unresolved. It’s as if the narrative could not end without some kind of conflict—as though Le Guin did not feel confident enough in her characters being influenced by anything but spurned love or misplaced anxiety. I felt betrayed that Shahes became so emotional, stubborn and unreasonable towards the end—especially after displaying such conviction, passion and determination up until then. Her stubbornness seems like a natural extension of her character, but she quickly became shallow and unlikable.

Perhaps this change in Shahes was what Le Guin was aiming for from the beginning. The change in narrative focus from Shahes to Enno/Alka is evidence of this. Beginning as a secondary character, Enno/Alka slowly turns into the protagonist, while simultaneously growing closer to the other members of their sedoretu and experiencing a rift with Shahes. I believe this change in focus is what kept me invested in the story, as I quickly latched onto Enno/Alka where previously I had difficulty feeling connected to Shahes near the beginning.

I also think Le Guin made the right choice in how she directly addresses sexuality and gender identity. In the world of O, the people inhabiting therein are bound together by marriage. Homosexuality seems accepted—even encouraged—and pre-marital sex is common practice. However, people are still expected to marry for the purpose of reproduction, with individuals expected to couple with a man and woman in a four-way relationship. As is the case with most stories worth being told, the main cast of characters seek to subvert these established laws through deception. While the events in the story are certainly interesting and help to build drama, there’s also a clear contrast with the gender politics and discussions of sexuality of our modern world. Mountain Ways reminds us that no matter how open and accepting your society might be, there will always be people who push the limits of what’s acceptable in the name of free love. It also reminds us that deception in relationships is difficult on individuals, and what may seem like a good idea in theory, is much more difficult in practice. I think it’s important that Le Guin does not preach free love as infallible, and helps to make Enno/Alka likeable, as they walk the line between wanting to follow their heart and following their beliefs. They are not bound by conviction, but by morality and reason.

Despite my issues with Mountain Ways’ beginning and ending, Ursula K. Le Guin lives up to her reputation by immersing the reader in her world almost effortlessly, while offering us the chance to explore important topics like sexuality and gender identity through excellent world-building. She demonstrates the power of science-fiction: the power to convey a message and discuss issues through metaphor, without being muddied by the social politics of the modern world.

Link to Short Story

​​Tan-Tan and Dry Bone

by Nalo Hopkinson, 1999 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

​I’ll begin by saying that the dialect Nalo Hopkinson chose for Tan-Tan and Dry Bone wasn’t for me. It made it difficult for me to become immersed in the narrative from the beginning all the way to the end. I thought the dialogue—which used the same dialect—was excellent. It felt authentic, and I could listen to an entire play or film with characters speaking in this manner. However, I was quickly fatigued by the dialect’s use in the narrative, leading to me having to repeatedly re-read passages to make I understood what was going on. That being said, I did enjoy Tan-Tan and Dry Bone for what it was. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much out of it as I think someone familiar with African culture would. To me it was a simple folktale with the purpose of representing African culture, while simultaneously conveying a message of hope for women caught in abusive relationships.

​​The Four Generations of Chang E

by Zen Cho, 2011 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

The Four Generations of Chang E attempts to tackle real world issues through metaphor and allegory—in this case, the issues of immigration, segregation and personal identity. I think Zen Cho tackles these issues with a grace that points to a familiarity born from experience, or at least from close study of them. However, I found the story to be rather boring overall and the metaphors a bit on the nose. Characters also felt flat and one-dimensional; caricatures of actual people rather than real people onto themselves. The focus is placed on social issues, leaving the rest of the story feeling rushed, hollow and unfinished. I can appreciate how Cho used science fiction for tackling these important issues, but I could not get immersed in the narrative itself.

​Stay Thy Flight

by Elisabeth Vonarburg, 1992 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Stay Thy Flight has a very rough opening few paragraphs. The beginning third or so presents a very difficult barrier of entry, as the author uses punctuation and fragmented phrases to represent how time passes faster for the protagonist than for the reader, before said reader has even had the chance to understand what’s happening. The sequence also lasts longer and contains more intense descriptions than I think is necessary to convey the theme of how time is fleeting. In fact—in fear of what I may have to put myself through—I even read ahead to see if I was in for a long, difficult read under this format. If I had met this story outside of this collection, I most likely would have stopped reading it after the first or second paragraph for this reason alone. Even though I love the themes that Elisabeth Vonarburg conveys, all I wanted was to finish and move on as quickly as possible. It’s a shame, since Stay Thy Flight is an excellent piece of fiction and could have stood on its own, without the need for such extravagant prose.

As an aside, I tried to find the French version of this story—titled ...suspends ton vol—but unfortunately, I could not find it published stand-alone online. It is only available as part of French short story collections, which I am not ready to purchase or find in a bookstore for the sake of my curiosity. However, I would have liked to read Stay Thy Flight in its original format, to see if the opening felt more organic in Vonarburg’s native tongue.

Astrophilia

​by Carrie Vaughn, 2012 Rating: ★★★★★

Perhaps it’s a testament to the skill that Carrie Vaughn and Ursula K. Le Guin hold in writing fiction, but I feel I am quickly becoming a fan of the “lesbian farmer” trope. Astrophilia reminds me a lot of Le Guin’s entry in this collection, and Vaughn manages to capture my interest with her romance just as Le Guin was able to weave a story full of wonder, internal conflict and change. If I am honest, homosexual relationships in rustic environments have always been of particular interest to me. I think what pulls me to this trope is the atmosphere, combined with the inherit rebelliousness that the characters must adopt to make their relationship work. It’s thrilling and endearing at the same time. Add on the expectation that people must raise children once they are of age in these kinds of settings, and the field is laid out for compelling storytelling.

The romance between Stella and Andi embodies the best of this trope, and Vaughn seems to have a knack for writing a compelling romance on top of it all. I was fully invested in both characters, and the final conflict had me on the edge of my seat. I was a little disappointed in how things were wrapped up though. It felt less like an authentic conversation between adults, and more of a sermon from the author to the reader on the moral of the story. I wasn’t convinced by Toma’s change of heart; it’s not that I think a more violent end would have been more appropriate, but I feel as though Stella could have convinced him without trying to appeal to a belief he had had instilled in him since his childhood. I’ve never known someone to change their mind that suddenly, especially when they have been repeatedly challenged before. However, the rest of the story was superb, and I must also mention that I appreciate that the main source of conflict is not the topic of homosexuality itself; Vaughn chose to subvert the expectation that stories with homosexuality must ultimately contain conflict surrounding the sexuality of its characters, often ending in violence. While stories depicting the difficulties homosexual people face everyday is important, it’s also important to depict people existing outside of their sexual identity.

Link to Short Story

Invisible Planets

by Hao Jingfang, 2013 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

I think what I most disliked about Invisible Planets was its format, in that it is simply a collection of worldbuilding concepts. Invisible Planets goes so far as to separate each world into its own section, with some commentary between the narrator and a surrogate for the reader (as the narrator addresses “you” throughout the story, and “you” respond). I do not know what the intent Hao Jinfang had when writing Invisible Planets. The structure feels uninspiring and bland. The exchange between the narrator and “you” near the end of the story feels similarly uninspired, and mystically nonsensical. There was no narrative here, only a collection of ideas. While that can be fine on its own, to me it feels lazy and unfinished. It’s the equivalent of going up to a writer or director at a convention and telling them you have this great idea, but you haven’t done any actual writing. You only wrote down the idea, dusted your hands and said “Yup, that’s good.” before moving onto the next project. Each world Jingfang presents to us is interesting enough on its own to warrant in-depth exploration, but instead she chooses to present them as flat canvases with which she expects us to paint our own narrative. Invisible Planets feels like a step back from what makes science fiction literature unique—in that it can explore themes and stories untethered by the weight of the real world. What it is instead is a synopsis for a series of pulp fiction novels from the 1940’s.

Link to Short Story

On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse

by Nicole Kornher-Stace, 2013 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

From the outset, it was clear to me that On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse would be one of those stories that relied as much on flowery language as it did on weaving a compelling narrative. Combined with textbook-style prefaces, Nicole Kornher-Stace manages to craft the pinnacle of pretentiousness. It’s a shame because the story has a magnificent world and interesting characters behind all of its presentation. Kornher-Stace’s use of poetic prose and textbook-style elements confuses what ends up being a rather simple story. It’s an inspiring, deeply moving story. But I could not bring myself to care as I had to move through a veil of fog before I could enjoy it. There are times where unique formats can help to elevate a story, to enhance the message it is trying to convey. Most of the time—when an author attempts to deliver their story in a unique way—they are either experimenting or are crying for attention. I do not know which is the case for On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse, but either way, the format Korher-Stace chose detracts from the overall experience. If anything I think this story would work well as a quest in an RPG, wherein in the player would learn the fragmented history of the world through exploration, and Wasp’s character through gameplay. But it just fails in its current format to be a worthwhile piece of fiction.

Valentines

​by Shira Lipkin, 2009 Rating: ★★★★★

Shira Lipkin was able to convincingly sell what it’s like to live in the mind of a person trying to make sense of their world through the act of recording everything on paper. Acting almost like a computer, the protagonist has to constantly write down and then index things around her. I came out of Valentines thinking a lot about the human condition and how we think. It’s a simple story, but it conveys its message well. Lipkin has a good sense of detail, focusing on elements that put us in the mind of the protagonist, even if you don’t have experience with epilepsy or memory loss yourself.

​​Dancing in the Shadow of the Once

​by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, 2013 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I found Dancing in the Shadow of the Once boring, as it suffers from the issue of presenting a problem, waiting for the reader to solve it and then having the characters enact the solution long after the reader has already decided what the solution should be. The problem in this case is whether Hala should stop being a cultural historian for the amusement of the colonist elite, and the solution is her no longer being in this position. As a reader, it becomes obvious in the latter half of the story that she will follow this path, all that remains is to know how she will get there. I found this tedious as the character walks methodically to the resolution, with no new developments along the way. Rochita Loenen-Ruiz also falls into a trap I often see accompanying this kind of storytelling problem: she withholds information, or only provides enough characterization to further the plot and then retroactively develops the character in the hopes of keeping things ambiguous or mysterious. I find this writing technique shows a lack of faith in the author’s own work, which didn’t help my already low opinion of the story. The only thing that kept me interested were the story’s themes of colonialism and imperialism, that were unfortunately not as prominent as I would have liked. I also enjoyed the discussions around the culture, as few as they were. Finally, one of the strongest moments in the story is the dance between Hala and Bayninan, as it becomes clear that Bayninan has romantic feelings for Hala. It’s a shame the rest of the story does not live up to the emotional impact of this moment.

Ej-Es

​by Nancy Kress, 2010 Rating: ★★★★★

There’s just something about living life through a character’s perspective for a short time, to see the world as they do, to hear their thoughts, feel their doubts and experience their pain. Nancy Kress succeeds at this in Ej-Es. I was captivated throughout my reading, feeling as though I knew Mia on an intimate level, even though I only spent a short time with her. She felt like a real person; a woman tired of protocol, far from where she first began but still holding onto what she values the most. She knows her place in the world and how to navigate it, and yet comes off as vulnerable all the same. Kress managed to craft a compelling character piece, while simultaneously commenting on missionary work and how it impacts indigenous people. Kress writes wonderfully, conveying a compelling story with realistic characters and immersive narration.

Link to Short Story

The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees

​by E. Lily Yu, 2011 Rating: ★★★☆☆

The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees surprised me, in that E. Lily Yu manages to weave a rather compelling fairy tale, seemingly creating it wholecloth from nothing; or at least, I have never heard of this specific folktale before. It has some of the familiar trappings of fairy tales: whimsical creatures, talking animals and a morally good ending. There’s also a good amount of commentary on imperialism and politics, without the topics being forced down the reader’s throat. The only thing I’m not too sure about is what part the anarchist bees have in the story. They don’t seem to have any impact on the story; in fact, everything is resolved without the bees doing anything at all to secure their freedom. The only explanation I have is the story must be based on real-life events of which I’m not familiar with, or its implied that while the anarchists did not survive, their ideologies will live on in this hive’s society to inform decisions in the future. Either way, I can’t shake the feeling that Yu is making reference either to either historical events or an existing fable. If this is an isolated work, free from influence, then there’s a lack of clarity and consistency in the story, with too much left up for the reader to interpret. In either case, The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees is a great fable-like story that shows that simple, concise stories often work best to convey an author’s message.

Link to Short Story

The Death of Sugar Daddy

​by Toiya Kristen Finley, 2009 Rating: ★★★★☆

I was on edge for a good part of The Death of Sugar Daddy, mostly due to the way people in the story would refer to Sugar Daddy. I felt he would end up being a pedophile or some kind of undying being—both of which may still be the case, but I’m not convinced one way or the other. This rising sense of dread transformed into a feeling of heartfelt anticipation as more and more of the world spilled out, slowly building a picture of a world wherein memory is intrinsically tied to existence. Toiya Kristen Finley does an amazing job of building the world through her characters; the protagonist and supporting characters help to build the world without acting as walking exposition dumps, with defined personalities and lives outside the context of the plot. Finley proves to me once again that character-driven narratives are the best vehicles for worldbuilding, as they allow the reader to discover the world organically instead of academically.

I also liked that Finley was able to convey African-American culture without over-the-top social commentary. There was still some underlying social commentary about the wealth disparity of African-Americans in the western world, but it was never anything significantly overt. I can normally appreciate social commentary in fiction, but the character-driven narrative of The Death of Sugar Daddy allows the characters to experience this wealth inequality instead of preaching to the reader. It’s refreshing to have something that makes you think about the issue from a human perspective instead of a political one.

Link to Short Story

Enyo-Enyo

by Kameron Hurley, 2013 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Some parts of Enyo-Enyo are genuinely interesting, and I think the underlying story is emotionally impactful, if not a little strange. However, any positive elements the story may have are overshadowed by its presentation—more specifically, the choice in vocabulary and the story’s narrative structure. From the first three or four paragraphs, it’s made clear to the reader that Enyo’s world is alien. This would normally be a good thing, but Kameron Hurley goes too far, and ended up alienating me with how “other” Enyo’s world is. And while I don’t have an issue with the non-linear timeline of events, it only helped to compound these issues here, making it even more difficult for me to follow what’s happening. Enyo-Enyo is a simple story told in a complicated manner—very rarely is this kind of storytelling effective, and often paints the author as pompous and shallow. It’s a shame, because I think I would have liked Enyo-Enyo if Hurley had written in a more straightforward manner.

Link to Short Story

Semiramis

​by Genevieve Valentine, 2011 Rating: ★★★☆☆

The easiest way for me to sum up Semiramis is to say that it instills a feeling that something is about to happen, or that some change is about to occur, but the reader is ultimately left at the precipice of anticipation, without anything ever being resolved. I didn’t like this at first. The protagonist-narrator would always seem on the cusp of making some kind of realization before moving onto the next bit of exposition or the next source of conflict. As a result, all of the events muddle together—with no beginning, no end. But as I reflected on what Genevieve Valentine might be trying to do, I came to my own realization that a feeling of helplessness is exactly what she was trying to convey. Between the global climate crisis and the protagonist’s struggle with their duties, environment and relationships, I underwent a general feeling of unease as the events of the story unfolded. It’s almost depressing as you come to the conclusion that sometimes, things are just out of your control, and all you can do is little things to make your life worth living. The world is cruel, unforgiving and need not pay mind to every individual. Not all conflicts come to a satisfying end, and waiting for something to happen will only lead to more anxiety as time moves on without regard for each individual’s desires.

I am still unsure whether I truly enjoyed Semiramis. Despite the message she was trying to convey, I had a difficult time initially remembering the contents of the story within a day of writing this. Perhaps the effects of the story were stronger than the actual fiction, and that should point to the power of what she was trying to do.

Link to Short Story

Immersion

by Aliette de Bodard, 2012 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Immersion is something that’s outside of my lived experience, but is easy enough to read that it doesn’t really matter. Sometimes, this can be a good thing. But when it comes to Immersion, I’m not sure if Aliette de Bodard utilized the medium correctly. I get the message of the story; colonialism is bad, and often the colonized are the ones who have to fight back, or risk being overwhelmed. Where Immersion fails is that the world and the story’s underlying message don’t mesh. De Bodard goes back and forth between describing a rich fictional world and taking time to preach their gospel to the reader, with obvious tonal breaks between the two. In fact, there is a surprising number of exposition dumps for a short story of this length, most of which I ended up speeding through. The information provided has little impact on the conflicts the protagonist is dealing with. De Bodard also utilizes a trope I dislike, namely the constant need to excuse bad dialogue by labelling it as “inevitable” or “obligatory”. I can’t help but feel that de Bodard’s writing is uninviting, and that it lacks the polish that’s needed to convey whatever message she wants to get across.

Down the Wall

by Greer Gilman, 2015 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

There’s just something about the writing in stories like Down the Wall that instantly turned me off. It feels like Greer Gilman is intentionally making the writing obtuse in an effort to make some kind of statement, or to convey a sense of the world she’s trying to portray. It just helps to break my immersion, forcing me to think about what the author is trying to say rather than investing myself in the world, characters and themes. I have to actively read and re-read passages, questioning if I truly understand what is going on. This kind of writing just makes me feel the author is pretentious, and unwilling or unable to let their story stand on its own. From what little I took from Down the Wall, I think it could have been a great story about children surviving in a run-down world, oppressed by adults and the system alike. But in reality, it is a confusing bowl of word soup bogged down by a lack of direction or purpose.

Sing

​by Karin Tidbeck, 2013 Rating: ★★★★☆

I instantly felt pulled in by Karin Tidbeck’s writing, fully immersed in the world she has created and the complex characters she introduces. Sing is a great example of what a short story should try to accomplish. Tidbeck gives us a slice, a mere glimpse of a person’s life as they go through their day to day life. You should be left wanting more, but also content with what you were given. I know that there are a lot of different kinds of stories out there; character-driven stories are not the only valid story type. But I’ve yet to find another story type that’s as engaging in this short story format. So many times I see movies and short stories trying to focus on world-building, plot, or even style, only to end up being convoluted or vapid in the process. Perhaps I’m just bitter, but Sing shows that you can have a fun, thought-provoking and immersive short story without needing to rely on literary tricks. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with Tidbeck’s writing, and I’m excited to read more of her work in the future.

Link to Short Story

Good Boy

by Nisi Shawl, 2009 Rating: ★★★★★

I felt myself enjoying Good Boy both on the surface level as well as within its deeper meanings. Nisi Shawl manages to craft a fun ride as we follow the antics of the titular Good Boy, after a short introduction to the characters and the concept of spiritual possession. There was something almost satirical about the way a hard science-fiction problem like colony-wide depression is resolved by dredging up the ghost of a 60’s-70’s Black clubgoer. Kressi’s serious, somber attitude is a fun contrast to the personality of Ivorene’s spirits. It’s just an enjoyable experience overall—and yet—below all this absurdity, is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of colonization, the perception of spirituality, mother-daughter relationships, Black identity, and even the interpretation of spiritual possession as algorithmic computer logic. Shawl is somehow able to pack a lot within such a short story. These are the kinds of stories that make short stories worth it for me, with compelling characters, fun situations and thoughtful themes that stick with me long after I’ve finished reading.

Link to Short Story

The Second Card of the Major Arcana

by Thoraiya Dyer, 2012 Rating: ★★★☆☆

The Second Card of the Major Arcana feels like the setup to a joke, expanded over the length of a whole story, and then dramatized so much that’s no longer a joke—while remaining just as entertaining. The premise is simple, but I enjoyed Thoraiya Dyer’s approach in their execution of said premise. There isn’t a lot to say about The Second Card of the Major Arcana; it’s a fun little story with a great punchline, with my only criticism being that the violence and the sphinx’s mannerisms came across a bit juvenile. It sometimes felt like I was reading the edgy fanfiction of a DeviantArt teenager, rather than the thoughtful, well-developed prose of an established author. I have a hard time seeing this choice in tone as an issue though, considering it only reinforces the playful nature of the story.

Link to Short Story

A Short Encyclopedia of Lunar Seas

by Ekaterina Sedia, 2008 Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is the second short story in this anthology that has to do with the moon—and more specifically mermaids on the moon—which makes me curious whether there’s some established folklore I’m not familiar with regarding the moon and fae-like beings. That aside, A Short Encyclopedia of Lunar Seas is exactly what it sets out to be: a series of isolated stories based around the “seas” of the lunar surface. Ekaterina Sedia manages to weave a charming and whimsical set of tales that I found myself simultaneously amazed and confused by. Normally, the latter would be a detriment to the overall experience, but I think the segmented nature of Sedia’s work allows this kind of exploration. She’s able to explore outlandish topics at a fast pace, moving from one to the other without the need to retain much from the previous snippets beyond her style of prose. A Short Encyclopedia of Lunar Seas is an interesting experience, though not a significantly fulfilling one. I didn’t find myself coming from this story having learned or felt anything specific; it felt more akin to a series of short fairy tales aimed at adults, complete with a surprising amount of descriptions of breasts, though nothing that I felt was overtly sexual.

Vector

by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, 2013 Rating: ★★★☆☆

Vector is a good example in my mind of how to write flowery prose for a science-fiction or fantasy story without it feeling pretentious. I don’t think I’d be able to draw a distinct line between something that feels genuine and in service of the story, versus something that’s merely decorative and just a chance for the author to show their skills with a thesaurus. However, Benjanun Sriduangkaew manages to keep my attention throughout, and I never felt overwhelmed by her metaphors. Perhaps that is what makes for good flowery prose: a focus on metaphor in service of theme, rather than on superfluous wording that only serves to pad the text. Vector shows you can do the former effectively, reinforcing the themes instead of muddling them.

I think where Vector fails is that it wears its theme on its sleeve. Sriduangkaew manages to present the theme of the effects of religious-white colonialism in an interesting way, but I think she sacrificed characterization and any semblance of worldbuilding in the process. In other words, Vector opts to punch you in the face with its themes, with science-fiction elements sprinkled on top for decoration. It feels more like a chance for the author to soapbox than an authentic storytelling experience.

Concerning the Unchecked Growth of Cities

by Angélica Gorodischer, 2003 Rating: ★★★★★

Concerning the Unchecked Growth of Cities is pure worldbuilding. After getting used to the narrative style, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed myself as Angélica Gorodischer basically spent the entire length of her story delivering exposition on a single city. I’ll be honest that I wasn’t on board at first, but I quickly became enraptured by the complex, weaving story told from the perspective of the narrator. The narrative tone is also fun and a bit cheeky, which helped to lighten the expository load. The narrator is no-nonsense, but sass and sarcasm drips from almost every passage. Paragraphs are long and go on for too long, adding to the idea that Concerning the Unchecked Growth of Cities is a story being told orally—or at the very least, informally—by an aging storyteller. Gorodischer did a great job at not only weaving an interesting world, but managing to present in an entertaining way.

The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew

by Catherynne M. Valente, 2009 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew relies solely on its premise and its world design to carry it, instead of having any interesting characters or a solid plot at its base. I don’t think premise and world alone are enough to make a great story, though I may be biased in that I don’t find the world Catherynne M. Valente created to be that interesting. Maybe it’s the steampunk/futurepunk aesthetic that’s off putting to me, but I never really knew what the setting was in any given scene, or how the characters fit within the context of that setting. Every scene has a dream-like quality, untethered to any semblance of a consistent reality. Perhaps that’s what Valente was aiming for: a world detached from reality, with nothing to anchor its people down. If this was the intent, I don’t believe she succeeded, as I was mostly left confused instead of swept away in the whimsy.

I just feel like Valente may have been trying too hard in her attempts to convey a specific feeling to the reader. I would have much rather have lived this world through the eyes of specific characters, instead of through the narrator, who lays out the primary events of the story as if it were a documentary. It all feels a little pretentious to me. Nothing proves this more to me than the “twist”, wherein the narrator is actually the boy that Bysshe interacts with. The switch from a documentary to telling of the ramifications of Bysshe’s discoveries and disappearance is too sudden, with the resulting revelations feeling preachy and disconnected from the rest of the story. The only saving grace for The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew could have been its world—specifically in regards to the callowhales—but it wasn’t enough to save it.

Link to Short Story

Conclusion

I enjoyed my experience with The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women, even though it took me quite a long time to finish it. While some of the stories didn’t feel worth my time, or didn’t fit my expectations coming into the book, I’ve come out of this collection with a list of authors I am eager to explore further, and I find myself once again appreciating female speculative fiction authors. I have always been a fan of female authors, as I find their works tend to be much more personable and focused on character. I consider this approach to writing incredibly compelling, as opposed to what I define as a “mansplaining” writing style—in which the author feels the need to explain everything to the reader from an objective perspective, including characters, settings and the world as a whole. This isn’t something limited to male authors, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s one of the reasons I tend to dislike books by male authors.

In concept and in execution, The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women is a worthwhile reading experience. It proves why it’s important to showcase female authors, while simultaneously being entertaining in its own right. It’s a shame that I personally don’t enjoy short story anthologies; a distaste that was compounded by my compulsion to review each story individually. It only takes one bad reading experience to put me off reading for days, if not weeks sometimes. I also need some time after finishing each story to think on it, so this format doesn’t lend itself well to individual reviews, at least not for me. Despite my issues with completing the book, I enjoyed my time with The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women, and will definitely be revisiting some of my favourite stories in the future

Official Book Website

#my reviews #review #book review #anthology #science fiction #scifi #sci-fi #the mammoth book of sf stories by women #the mammoth book of sf stories by women review #worldbuilding #world-building #world building #running press #alex dally macfarlane

[cloudvelundr]

Something Clever

Strifesodos soulmate au: Cloud has the entirety of Loveless written on his back.

Because why would I need sleep?

They were almost artistic, the words down his back.

Cloud hadn’t noticed when they’d appeared, tiny lines fading in one by one, in a near perfect script, neatly paragraphed along his shoulder blade. At ten years old Cloud had little interest in his back and had just reached the age of being appalled by the very notion of his mother wandering in on him changing and half dressed, and so with the only mirror available to him high and small above the bathroom sink he couldn’t say when the words began to darken. It was only when he got hurt playing on the trails outside of town that he clambered up onto the little counter to inspect the damage, hoping to not have to let his mother know what he’d been up to, that he saw it.

It was long. Longer than almost any soul mark he knew and he wondered if that was why it was small enough that he could not hope to read it in the mirror. He’d seen other marks – on arms and legs and necks and anywhere bare of hair – and some could even be read at a distance. But he wanted to know what his said.

And that was how Claudia found him, sitting on his bed with her pilfered ancient instant camera held precariously behind him. She fondly called him daft, took the pictures, and chewed him out for playing too rough.

Later, when his cuts were tended and the pictures as clear as they would ever be Claudia helped him transcribe the neat text, though they could not replicate the twists of the fine lettering: delicate slants and emphasis that somehow captured quiet nuance and tone. When the war of the beasts brings about the world’s end…

“What does it mean, mama?”

“ ‘Fraid I don’t know much about poetry, my Nebel,” Claudia apologized, “but I’m sure we’ll find someone who does soon enough.”

‘Soon enough’ lasted nearly three years as it turned out that no one else in Nibelheim cared much for poetry either. Cloud nearly found it himself after he took to picking up any book of poems that came into town. After all, if his soulmate liked poetry enough that they’d manage to recite an entire work – passionately even – before anything managed to interrupt them then reading up on it was the least he could do. It wasn’t his favourite subject, but he learned a certain appreciation for it.

“You a fan of Loveless?”

Cloud started from where he was thumbing though the General Store’s small shipment of paperbacks in long established routine. There were three contenders that week and he’d likely buy them all regardless of them containing what he wanted. The owner ordered them for him now, mostly. Tifa confided that she’d likely found his mark terribly romantic. (So had Tifa, if she were honest. She was also a touch jealous – but only a little. Her own mark was the fairly common ‘It’s you!’ flowering on the inside of her wrist. There was no onus on her to reply, whereas as lovely as a personal recital sounded Cloud felt he had something to live up to.)

“A fan of what?”

“You know, Loveless?” replied Mister Berg, the lowlander who ran deliveries up the mountain. “There is no hate, only joy? You were just saying it?”

Cloud inhaled sharply.

“So that’s what it’s called!”

The third book proclaimed itself by the same name, and the words weren’t printed with the same love as those on his back would one day be spoken, but it didn’t matter: Cloud laughed brightly and buried his face in the pages:

“That’s it! That’s my mark- how much?”

The man shrugged with a kind smile, “Well, that one’s damaged- can’t really sell it, so you can have it if you want.”

Cloud’s brow furrowed. “It looks alright to me?”

“It’s defective, trust me, it’s yours. Shoo.”

“Wha-? Oh. Oh! Thank you!” Cloud launched at Mister Berg and hugged him just long enough to get out another “Thankyouthankyou!” and took off before the embarrassment set in.

It would be a few weeks before he could bring himself to speak to the man again, but by the time Cloud was ready to catch a ride out of town with him a few months later his outburst was all but forgotten.

He knew and had known since even before his words appeared that whatever his future was, it wasn’t in Nibelheim.

He joined the Midgar Infantry. He had vague notions of the spectre of SOLDIER, but he needed experience first and the infantry was one of the few places that would take a country boy like him.

Boot camp was awful. Miserable, wet, filthy and exhausting in body and in spirit, but it was three weeks and done and then they were off to work.

Cloud did well enough, he supposed, given he was younger than most and smaller than all, and that and his prickliness had made it harder to make friends at first, but then he’d mellowed until the older men were a little less fed up with him, and the newer recruits were closer and closer in age and looked to him. His COs even seemed to think they could make something of him, and this he suspected was what started landing him the missions with SOLDIER.

They’d been small at first. Monster hunting in the slums, then an excursion to the plains here and the mines there, and then anywhere under the sun and a few more places besides. When he was nearly seventeen he learned the leader of his most recent expeditions was a recruiting officer, and then there was mako testing and appointments and a new uniform. His mission roster hadn’t changed much afterwards, but it had gotten harder, and a little more again when at nineteen he made Second.

Or at least it seemed that way. There’d only been the one after all.

Cloud tried to vanish into his seat.

There was a cluster of towns on the Northern Continent with a monster problem, which being the North had rated a respectable contingent of Seconds and a handful of Firsts. It hadn’t really been that bad either, as missions went, if one discounted that anything involving a malboro was always that bad, and there had been several. Still, they came out alright, aside from the status effects most of them bore.

Cloud’s problem was not that he was Silenced, not a dangerous curse, but still one that his unit healer hadn’t been able to lift, nor had the one in the unit they’d partnered with. Those two had then considered their resources as they loaded into the back of the troop carrier and concluded that their best option was for one of the Firsts to lift it. Their problem was that they were unwilling to approach one of them.

Cloud’s problem was the Colonel Rhapsodos was apparently a stress reader.

“… Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water’s surface. The wandering soul knows no rest...”

He read as quietly and as engrossed as the rumours said, and while his reading material supposedly changed from assignment to assignment he had favourites, Loveless crowning among them.

Hearing those words so lovingly said, in lilting tones Cloud could now hear before they were spoken now that he’d heard the voice, was a wonder. And he realized in wide eyed horror, the skin of his back warm and tight, that he’d still never quite figured what he would say to him. Even if he had it probably wouldn’t be appropriate, them sitting there in the back of a transport, surrounded by SOLDIERs, swimming in monster guts and with no way that the first thing out of his mouth wouldn’t be heard.

And so Cloud prayed for a flash of inspiration, or for his comrades to forget him in his silence or for them to simply fail to muster their voices until he could find the words he’d never really had a way with.

He was not so fortunate.

Rhapsodos was just finishing the last verse when Hewley, damn his attentive kindness, notice the healers’ shifty eyes and Cloud’s troubled look.

“Problem, SOLDIERs?”

Cloud frantically shook his head.

Hewley raised a heavy brow and faced the other unit’s healer.

Oinell pointed to him, “Strife here’s been Silenced, sir. We can’t break it ourselves.”

Cloud gave him a betrayed look. Oinell returned it with a puzzled one.

“Is that all? Well then,” Hewley lifted a hand, his bracer already aglow, “that’s an easy fix.”

The spell washed over him and Cloud sagged with a defeated noise, the first sound he’d made in hours.

“What?” Hewley frowned, “You can’t have wanted to be Silenced.”

Cloud sighed again and wished he could have just not answered.

“I was trying to think of something clever to say.”

And across the transport Rhapsodos choked and scambled:

“WhAt.”

Hewley blinked, a slow smile spreading on his face: “… Something clever?”

That was right wasn’t it? They were supposed to be friends, he might have seen Rhapsodos’ mark.

“In response to the entire poem on my back,” Cloud said. People were staring now. “Obviously didn’t work.”

Rhapsodos was standing over him now, all frenetic energy and startled, with a hint of something luminous behind his eyes.

“Oh, I don’t know – I’ve always rather liked it.”

#strifesodos #velundr writes #cloud strife #genesis rhapsodos #ffvii #k going to bed now #like i should have three/four hours ago #long post #slightly edited

[terabitweb]

Original Post from Microsoft Secure Author: Eric Avena

Many years ago, I worked with healthcare organizations to install infrastructure to support the modernization of their information systems. As I traversed hospitals – both in public and private sectors – I was often struck by one particular best practice: the privacy reminders were ubiquitous. If I stepped into an elevator or walked down a hallway, there was signage to remind everyone about patient privacy. Nothing was left to chance or interpretation. This was also pre-social media, so the concerns ranged from public conversations or inappropriate use of email, to leaving a document on a public printer.

Fast forward to 2019. Our society and culture have changed. We are much freer with our personal information on social media. We talk openly about our lives and post pictures and family information in the wild. We are less concerned about our privacy, as we use these platforms to connect with others – a connection we might be denied given our busy lives. However, as has oft been written, these platforms can be a cache of riches for someone seeking to steal your identity or compromise your email and other accounts. This same type of free flow of information is also following us to other parts of our lives and making it easier for the bad guys to attack and profit. Let me explain with a few examples.

I travel a bit (okay, a lot). While my global travel is mostly for work, this provides an informative world lens for people watching and listening. I am often between flights in an airport reading or catching up on email and overhear a wide variety of conversations – without even trying. Recently, I was in the U.S., delayed at the Chicago O’Hare airport for several hours as “there is (was) weather in Chicago,” the worst phrase in the US travel industry. I overheard a man on the phone discussing his declined credit card in detail, including his full name, billing ZIP code, card number, expiration date, and so on. My shock quickly faded when I started thinking about how many other times I was in public and overheard things that could lead to financial or IP or other loss for an individual or company. The number is non-trivial. That’s when I decided to tweet some simple advice, and solicit input via my twitter feed.

The results were equally horrifying and amusing. Some even thought my post was an attempt in social engineering. Overall, the response convinced me to write a blog as the evidence I gathered suggests this isn’t a small problem. Rather, it’s a real problem. So let me start by sharing some examples and then make some suggestions (which may seem obvious to many of you) on how to protect your privacy and security.

  Notes from the airport lounge: social engineering is a thing … a really big thing. Please protect your personal information (like credit card numbers, sensitive customer information etc).

— Ann Johnson (@ajohnsocyber) April 15, 2019

I’ve overheard people many times talking in lounges about confidential info re: unannounced acquisitions.

— Orion (@OrionListug) April 15, 2019

And a few drinks later I’ve learned about unannounced acquisitions… marriage infidelities, the amount of debt someone owes, passwords pulled up from a word doc. pic.twitter.com/pPDDZd6xq7

— root (@rootsecdev) April 15, 2019

My favorite are people who have had their credit card disabled because their travel inadvertently flagged fraud prevention. So they are in the middle of the airport, reciting all their personal info to the bank to get the card turned back on.

— Andy Mallon (@AMtwo) April 17, 2019

How you never lock your system when you walk away because it’s so inconvenient to enter your credentials. o_o. // How people on the CTA hold their phone outward and call utility companies and banks and provide information loudly. >_

— Christopher Clai (@ChrisClai) April 17, 2019

At one of my first IT gigs we kinda beat each other out of the first one by changing people’s desktop backgrounds to annoying memes. (I got to the point of using a bluetooth dongle and my almost-smart phone to autolock it lol)

— Chris (@tuba_man) April 17, 2019

I recently interacted with a thread where it asked individuals for the security weaknesses that they recognized in their orgs and felt would be critical if not fixed. I’m sure if people didn’t warn against accurately responding might in fact harm their org if used by attacker.

— C:…Security (@chris_foulon) April 17, 2019

So how do you protect yourself from theft of personal or proprietary company information in public? The super obvious, somewhat flippant answer is: don’t share any of this type of information in public. But, at times, this is easier said than done. If you travel as much as I do, it becomes impossible to refrain from conducting some confidential business whilst you are on the road. So how do you actually protect yourself?

Many people will read this blog and say, “well that’s obvious,” but sadly it is not, based on what I have personally observed and the feedback I received in preparation for this post. When in these types of situations, my recommendations are:

Use privacy screens on your laptop and your phone when in public, in meetings, and on airplanes. I cannot tell you how much confidential information I could have obtained just sitting behind someone on a plane.

Do not discuss confidential information in a public place: restaurant, club, elevator, airplane, etc. Based on the Twitter solicited feedback, people somehow think planes are cones of silence.

If you must conduct personal/confidential business on the road, wait until you arrive at your hotel or find a quiet place in the airport/club/restaurant where your back is to a wall and you can see anyone who is located by you. Use your best judgment.

Never give anyone your password. I don’t know how to say this more strongly. Do not ever give anyone your password.

Use a password manager. Don’t reuse passwords. This way if someone does obtain one of your passwords, you limit your exposure.

Be cognizant of what you put on social media. I am very active on social media but, remember, your information can and will be used against you. Be careful of when and how you post to avoid advertising when your home will be vacant for vacation or any personally identifiable information that could expose your passwords.

If someone calls you claiming to be from your bank, the IRS, the police, your company, a tech support organization, offer to call them back from a number that is published on their legitimate website or the back of your credit card, etc. Do not give any confidential information to an inbound caller.

Use encryption for sensitive data and sensitive communications.

If you must install IoT devices at home, segment them to a unique network.

If you are renting a private vacation home, there are some very good apps to scan the network to make certain you have privacy (e.g., cameras in a location that was not disclosed by the owner)

I am not a fan – at all – of listening devices at home, but if you do have one, remember there is a possibility we will find out all of your conversations were recorded. Be aware of what you say….

The world is quickly evolving as we embrace more technology. The onus is largely on users to protect yourselves. While this blog is just a high-level discussion on social engineering and privacy, using common sense is always your best defense.

  The post Oversharing and safety in the age of social media appeared first on Microsoft Security.

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Go to Source Author: Eric Avena Oversharing and safety in the age of social media Original Post from Microsoft Secure Author: Eric Avena Many years ago, I worked with healthcare organizations to install infrastructure to support the modernization of their information systems.

#Microsoft Security

[213hiphopworldnews]

How The 2019 Grammys Failed 21 Savage On One Of Music’s Biggest Stages

Getty Image

Although Post Malone performed “Rockstar,” his chart-topping smash featuring 21 Savage during Sunday’s Grammy celebration, obviously, 21 wasn’t present to perform his verse on the song. The since-freed artist, born Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was incarcerated in a detention center after being detained by ICE two weeks ago. He was reportedly detained because he’s from the British Commonwealth of Dominica and apparently, his 2017 application for a U Visa wasn’t processing fast enough. So the Atlanta-based rapper wasn’t able to be at the Grammys in the physical sense, but there were still plenty of opportunities for him to be a symbolic presence — unfortunately, the “Rockstar” performance came and went without Post Malone so much as mentioning him. And Post wasn’t the only person who dropped the ball.

21 was mentioned just once throughout the two-hour ceremony, despite being a star artist whose I Am > I Was album just debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. He was also nominated for Record Of The Year for his appearance on “Rockstar.” Neither host Alicia Keys or the award winners (save “This Is America” producer Ludwig Göransson) mentioned him. There was no segment where his Atlanta music brethren — or any of his rap peers — showed solidarity with him. 21’s mother Heather Abraham-Joseph was having such a hassle getting tickets to the ceremony that she ultimately didn’t attend, a predicament that once again highlights the Grammy committee’s tone-deafness and apathy toward hip-hop.

Sunday night was a prime opportunity for someone at the show to highlight 21’s plight as an opening to present a political statement against ICE’s unjust treatment of undocumented people of color. But no one cared to enough to seize the moment. At the 2017 Grammys, during A Tribe Called Quest medley, Busta Rhymes railed at President Trump, calling the cartoonishly tanned-in-chief “President Agent Orange.” That phrase has stuck in pop culture as a shot at Trump, not only exemplifying hip-hop’s power as a political catalyst but the benefit of making a statement on a big stage.

During his acceptance speech on Childish Gambino’s behalf, Ludwig Göransson shouts out 21 Savage #Grammys pic.twitter.com/d6RDL2aJ9j

— UPROXX (@UPROXX) February 11, 2019

The Grammys are watched by millions around the world, which makes it a prime place to amplify political statements. ICE currently has a record high 39,000+ people indefinitely detained at their detention centers, including, until today, one of the music industry’s brightest stars.

Post Malone bore a significant brunt of the blame for not mentioning 21 at all during the Grammys. Yes, he wore a 21 Savage shirt to the ceremony, but it wasn’t actually visible, and by the end of the show, there were many viewers on social media who called him out for the cognitive dissonance of performing his most commercially successful song without referencing the song’s other featured artist. The moment has become another strike against Post, a polarizing figure in hip-hop who has faced a backlash from the Black community for what many perceive to be culturally appropriative music and disappointing comments about rap lacking emotional range.

Post could’ve easily offered a “Free 21” shout out at the end of his performance — if only to selfishly gain points with rap fans. And if he really wanted to entrench his “Rockstar” image, he could’ve spoken for many by belting “F*ck ICE.” The FCC is infamously sensitive about obscenities and curse words being aired on broadcast TV, and it would’ve been fitting to see the committee panic over another foul-language fiasco aimed at another branch of the government for participating in what often amounts to domestic terrorism toward undocumented people. A story like that would have been the exact kind of disruption that the system deserves, and a way to ensure that what’s happening to 21 and so many other undocumented immigrants would stay at the top of the news cycle.

Post Malone showed support for 21 Savage during the #GRAMMYs

(: @keiopensdoors) pic.twitter.com/hRl1ZzMVCN

— UPROXX (@UPROXX) February 11, 2019

21 deserved for someone to toe the line, or at least acknowledge him in a meaningful way. One of his co-managers Kei Henderson tweeted on Monday morning that they “reached out to several artists” to perform 21’s “Rockstar” verse, but didn’t expand on who was offered and if they formally declined. His Atlanta brethren have rallied behind him on social media, and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has offered to pay his legal fees, which trumps any symbolism, but it would have been a powerful moment. Hopefully, none of his peers actually turned down the opportunity, but the truth will likely come to light.

We’ll never know the full story behind Ms. Abraham-Joseph’s difficulties to secure her son’s Grammy tickets. The Grammys had a no-brainer opportunity to let her occupy the seats that 21 Savage would have filled if he were free, but the rapper’s other co-manager Justin “Meezy” Williams took to Twitter early Sunday morning to allege that the committee wouldn’t release 21’s tickets to his mother. Later that Sunday, it was announced that she did ultimately receive the tickets, but 21’s camp believes that the Grammy organizers were merely caving to public pressure after their tweets. Neither his mother or managers attended the ceremony.

Someone from Epic sent me the photo of Post wearing the Savage tee before he performed. I appreciate the notion. Lord knows me, Meezy and our team attempted to solidify recognition for Savage during the performance of “Rockstar,” it just didn’t work out that way.

— Kei (@keiopensdoors) February 11, 2019

Someone from Epic sent me the photo of Post wearing the Savage tee before he performed. I appreciate the notion. Lord knows me, Meezy and our team attempted to solidify recognition for Savage during the performance of “Rockstar,” it just didn’t work out that way.

— Kei (@keiopensdoors) February 11, 2019

The Grammys’ historical MO is to be reactive instead of proactive when it comes to hip-hop, but ignoring 21 was an especially glaring oversight. Despite the rap-related highs of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” (which features 21 Savage) winning Record and Song of the year, their ignorance of 21 further stains the Grammy committee’s relationship with the hip-hop community. How could they award Childish Gambino’s politically charged song twice but ignore 21, an artist who was a casualty of the very system that Gambino criticized with that song?

The Grammy producers were cognizant enough to omit the late, controversial XXXTentacion from the “In Memoriam” segment of the show, but somehow couldn’t find a short, one-minute gap at some point of the ceremony to acknowledge the injustice of one of its nominees being detained — especially since 21 has an open application for a U Visa. The Grammys find a new way to drop the ball every year, and 2019 was a collective effort. The onus doesn’t merely fall on the show’s producers, the attendees also failed one of their own.

Rappers often call out nameless, faceless people who weren’t there for them like they should have been while they were incarcerated. We never know if they’re telling the truth or just employing a “me against the world” trope. But this time, we had three hours of live, internationally televised proof of the negligence.

source https://uproxx.com/hiphop/grammys-failed-21-savage-ice-detention/

#hiphop #hip hop legend #hip hop history #hip hop #music #trending #hip hop news #ballin #hip hop scen