ontheshoresofbabylon

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

I have only been working at the state park for just over a month now and I already have a crush on someone. Don’t know if this is a good or bad thing

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[1600x900] interactive map of endangered languages (link in comments) CLICK HERE FOR MORE MAPS! thelandofmaps.tumblr.com

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

Dear US Quidditch players, coaches, officials, volunteers, staff, fans, family, friends, partners, and supporters,

Thank you so much for a fantastic season and an amazing World Cup 8 – by far our most successful yet. I am so appreciative of all our staff, volunteers, officials, and players for...

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

Vineないない3 #ライブ

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

havin a crush on someone and not knowing if they like you back

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

So I’ve been Playing a lot of Zelda lately...

…and I came to realize something. The Triforce, or the royal family crest, is a triangle right? 

And the Sheikah who swore to protect the royal family have a symbol that’s an eye…

So when we put them together we get: 

Look Familiar?

Conclusion: 

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

A Super-Mario-style map of Westeros

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

Monsters in America

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

After playing quidditch at EMU for 3 years, I can’t believe in just under a week now, I will be playing in my last tournament ever for this team when we travel to Oakland University to participate in their tournament. I am definitely going to go all out. 

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

Each year, United Van Lines - a national moving and storage company - keeps track of where its customers are moving from and to, and publishes the results in an annual migration study. This year, they published their 37th annual study, and were nice enough to share the raw data with me.

I’ve mapped the results based on the percentage of movers who were moving to a particular state (inbound moves). Dark blue represents states where a high percentage of the moves are inbound, and dark red indicates a state where more people are moving away (low inbound percentage).

My home state of Oregon has the highest inbound percentage.  My wife’s home state (New Jersey) has the highest outbound percentage. She still insists that New Jersey is the best though…

Data source: http://www.unitedvanlines.com/mover/united-newsroom/press-releases/2014/2013-united-van-lines-migration-study.htm (Raw data provided by Melissa Sullivan of UniGroup, Inc.)

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

A fond farewell to 94.1 The Edge…

You might have heard.  Maybe not.  On Monday, when you’re in the Lansing area, and you flip to 94.1 on your FM dial, you’ll be listening to the sweet sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, and other “classic country” on “94.1 Duke FM”.  

Truth be told, I’m really bummed.  Some of our best friends in this “business” are our buddies over at 94.1.  I’m going to keep referring to it as “94.1 The Edge” instead of “94.1 Alternative Radio” or “94.1 WVIC”, because while they changed branding quite a few times, they’re always going to be The Edge to me.  I can remember when I was a teenager, in the late 90s (shit, I’m old), growing up on alternative and grunge like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I had three options.  89X played some of that stuff, WRIF mixed it in with AC/DC and whatever, and then I was in the western end of Livingston County, I could barely get in this cool station called “The Edge” that played every single song that I wanted to hear.  Those were different times, when radio (and MTV) was how you discovered new music.  There was no Spotify.  Napster wasn’t a thing yet.  It’s probably how the big corporations liked it.  The major labels had control, and the major radio conglomerates were in on it too, and both made lots and lots of money.  

Fast forward to 2015, and most of us with an internet connection can listen to whatever we want, whenever we want.  Spotify gives us just about every record we’ve ever wanted, at our fingertips.  No more waiting for the radio stations to serve us what we like.  

So because of that, radio has changed.  Terrestrial radio has struggled to stay relevant, and as such, I believe that they’re circling the wagons, trying to keep their way of life intact.  It’s hard to work in an industry that’s behind the times, on the verge of being extinct.  While the younger generations flock to Spotify and XM and iTunes, there’s still a generation that’s listening to the radio.  My parents don’t have Spotify.  They don’t own an iPod.  I’m not saying that all of their generation is doing the same, but I’m sure the demographics on radio would play this out.  

Not only are listeners trending older, but I’m sure advertisers are as well.  We spent a decent amount of money on radio advertising over the past five years, but ONLY on shows that featured acts that were played on radio.  Otherwise, we spend our advertising dollars on Facebook, Twitter, and other online outlets.  And we, the younger generation, are the ones that are listening to alternative radio.  It’s like newspapers.  We’re not spending advertising money in print publications.  But the older generations still are, so those publications (and successful radio stations) need to tailor their content to that demographic.  

This is not a Lansing thing.  You guys supported the station, and they put out a great product.  We all probably could have done better, but across the nation, alternative stations are disappearing.  It’s only a matter of time before it disappears as an FM format almost entirely.  We used to know who Matt Pinfield was.  We used to listen to the alternative station for what the next hot rock band was.  Now, we turn to Twitter, to our Facebook feed, to Spotify playlists and YouTube and everything BUT radio.  

So we say goodbye.  It’s incredibly sad to announce, but last weekend’s show with J Roddy Walston and the Business at the Loft was our last with 94.1.  We might find a way to work with the country station at some point, but in its current format, this weekend will be the end.  

We want to very publicly show our appreciation for our friends Scott, Melik, Span, Jay, Sandra, Clark, Parker, and of course, Fusion’s favorite hug artist, Mars.  Through the ups and downs, the folks over at that station were among my favorite people to work with, and we have an awful lot of memories.  So instead of lamenting the fact that we’re not going to be able to do that anymore (at least not in the same way), let’s celebrate what we’ve done together in Lansing.  And besides, we’ll still have their support from Q106, from the new country station, and from them as friends and part our little family.

I thought it might be fun to post all the shows we’ve done with 94.1 over the years, as a little trip down memory lane.  Reblog and tell your own stories!   2011 11/13 AWOLNATION 12/17 The Parlor Mob / IAMDYNAMITE

2012 5/22 Neon Trees 6/15 Anberlin 7/17 Electric Guest 9/8 Wombats 9/22 Mutemath 9/24 Foxy Shazam 10/8 Henry Rollins 10/12 IAMDYNAMITE 10/27 Flobots 11/10 Matisyahu 12/2 Youngblood Hawke 12/3 Walk The Moon 2013 2/2 Frontier Ruckus 2/12 Twenty One Pilots 4/8 The Joy Formidable 4/11 Family of the Year / The Mowgli’s 4/20 Anberlin 4/24 New Politics 7/2 Middle Class Rut 7/15 Youngblood Hawke 7/22 Fastball 9/5 Robert DeLong 9/15 IAMDYNAMITE 9/16 Airborne Toxic Event 10/17 Electric Six 10/22 Needtobreathe 11/7 Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers 11/13 J Roddy Walston and the Business 11/22 X Ambassadors 2014 1/22 Man Man 2/7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 3/1 The Unlikely Candidates 4/8 Sleeper Agent 4/11 Skaters 4/13 Dan Croll 5/13 Morning Parade 6/23 Kongos 7/15 New Politics 9/3 The Griswolds 9/16 Young Rising Sons 9/30 Bear Hands 10/12 Airborne Toxic Event 10/18 Local H 11/8 Knox Hamilton 2015 3/1 Catfish and the Bottlemen 3/7 J Roddy Walston and the Business

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

[ontheshoresofbabylon]

The creators of Cards Against Humanity have created another fantastic game (it really does sound fun) called Clusterfuck!. 

“Welcome to the sex party. Your goal tonight is to score three times or have one unforgettable threesome.

Clusterfuck is played in two phases. First, players go around the table and pass each other sexy notes. Once each player has passed notes, everyone closes their eyes and points to the people they want to hook up with with one or both hands.

Then, everyone opens their eyes. If two players are exclusively pointing to each other, they score, and each gets one point. If three players are all pointing to one another and forming a threesome they each get three points for their feat of sexual teamwork. The first player (or players) to get three or more points wins the game. A successful threesome immediately ends the game, just like Quidditch.” (x)