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onecanonlife · 3 years

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In which Tommy travels back in time and tries to prevent a nightmare from happening to everyone he knows. Everyone else, meanwhile, is highly concerned.

(fic masterpost w/ ao3 links)

(first part) (previous part) (next part)

(word count: 4,391)

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Part Eight: Fundy

The easy part is deciding to run.

It’s all a pretty clear-cut process. The rules were stated at the outset, though he’s got no idea what was Wilbur’s idea and what was Tommy’s, considering how much Tommy seems to care about this whole thing. But none of them are unreasonable or anything like that, nothing that he’d find objectionable. He just has to declare his party’s intention before election night, not rig the vote, not join his vote with any other parties, and not seek endorsements from people who are banned from the server. And be a citizen of L’Manberg.

There’s nothing wrong with any of those, or at least, not that Fundy can see. And—he wants to run. He wants to look all the rest of the players on this server in the eyes and make them see him, respect him, listen to him. For himself, because he is awesome and capable, and not because they think he’s an extension of someone else.

So deciding to run is pretty easy. It’s not like he’ll even be the first; Quackity’s already declared his intentions, though he’s running solo, and doesn’t seem to be taking it too seriously. He considered trying to become his running mate, but Niki, when he explained his idea to her, seemed pretty on board to run with him. Niki’s really cool like that, and honestly, he’d rather team with her than with anyone else. So he’s running. He’s going to do it. He’s going to.

The difficult part is going to be telling Wilbur.

So he’s not procrastinating. He’s definitely not procrastinating. It’s just—there’s other people to talk to about it, right? Other people to tell? And it’s not like it matters what order he goes in. So that’s why he’s here, at the base of one of those big towers that Eret is building, hoping to find them here. It’s getting late, but the sun only set a little while ago, so they’re probably still around.

This can be like a practice run. A trial, for telling people about it. And Eret’s always listened to him, and they’re not even running themself, he’s pretty sure, so this will be good, to ease him into it. Not that this is something that needs easing. But it’s good to practice things, even if it’s not something that necessarily requires it. He’s just being responsible, which is a trait that anyone would value in a president.

The tower’s still a work in progress, but it’s pretty easy to get to the highest level. He’s almost certain that Eret is still here, and he’s right about that, but on a second glance, it turns out that Eret is asleep. They’re sitting upright, their back to the most completed section of wall, but their head has lolled to the side, their glasses close to slipping from their nose. He can even see their eyes—closed, of course. They’re definitely asleep. Definitely a little weird, since it’s not even that late, but he has noticed that they’ve been looking a little tired lately. Probably because they’ve sort of been responsible for a lot of L’Manberg’s development, build-wise.

He should come back later, probably. Except, that can’t be comfortable at all, and it’s really not that late, and the tower’s not finished yet, so the whole place is kind of exposed. Not the safest area to be taking a nap in after dark. Mobs might be able to get in, and then where would Eret be?

And also, he’s been psyching himself up this whole time, and if he doesn’t tell Eret here and now, he thinks that he might end up waiting until tomorrow to tell anyone at all. Not because he’s nervous! It’s just—late, and he’s spent time getting up here already, so he wants to do what he came here to do. That’s it.

So he creeps forward, not too loud but not trying to be too quiet, either, and crouches by Eret’s side. As he moves, something glimmers, and he squints, but—no, it’s just Eret’s jewelry reflecting the torchlight. They’ve taken to wearing a good bit of gold, lately.

“Hey, Eret?” he says. “Eret? It’s your pal Fundy. Maybe wake up?”

Eret doesn’t wake up. But their brow has creased, so, encouraged, he continues.

“Not a great place to go to sleep, probably,” he says, and he reaches out to give their shoulder a tap. “I mean, I know you’ve seemed pretty tired lately, but yikes. Maybe not good. C’mon, wake up.”

Eret still doesn’t wake, but they start to breathe quicker, which is probably not because of him at all. Are they having a nightmare? If they’re having a nightmare, he should definitely wake them up, because friends don’t let friends have nightmares.

“Hey,” he says, and shakes their shoulder more vigorously. “C’mon, man, I wanna tell you something.” He glances at the sky; the tower doesn’t have a roof yet. “And it’s getting just a little bit late, so you should probably go sleep in your house and not here, and I still need to go by the office so I can tell Wilbur—”

Eret gasps, lurching forward, jamming their sunglasses back over their eyes in the same motion, and Fundy jerks back a bit on instinct. He has no idea why they wear those all the time. Maybe it’s a light sensitivity thing. Or maybe they just want to look cool. But now’s probably not the time to focus on that, because Eret’s breathing is still way too fast, and they were definitely having a nightmare, from that reaction, so he inches forward again.

“Hey, Eret,” he says. “Sorry about that. Are you good?”

For a moment, Eret doesn’t reply. And when they do, their voice is—kind of weird. He’s not sure how to describe it, except as off.

“He failed,” they say, between gasps. “He tried, and he failed. That has consequences.”

“Uh,” he says. “Who failed?”

“But I wasn’t there,” they say. “I wasn’t there, so how did I—but the universe itself shudders, with a thing like that. What were the consequences? Something like that shouldn’t be interrupted.”

This must have been some dream.

“Something like what?” he asks.

Eret looks directly at him for the first time, though he has the strangest feeling that they’re not seeing him at all. He can’t see directly behind their glasses, but around the edges, there’s something like a pale glow. But he must be seeing things, some kind of weird reflection. Of the moon, maybe, or the stars.

“Dream tried to resurrect him,” they say. “But he couldn’t finish. That’s a dangerous magic to tamper with. You never, ever start a spell that you can’t see through to the end. And it had its blood.”

“Uh,” he says. “Sure thing. What exactly are you talking about?”

Eret falls silent. And then, they say, “Fundy?” Their voice is normal again, though he still can’t quite put his finger on what the difference was.

“Yep, that’s me,” he says. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“I’m—fine,” Eret says, and then again, “I’m fine.” They sound far more confident the second time. “Sorry, I was—dreaming. I’ve been having a lot of strange ones of late. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“Dreams can be weird,” he agrees.

Eret laughs. “Quite.” They stretch, tilting their head to side to side, wincing when something cracks. “Thank you for waking me. I’m not quite sure why I decided that was a good position to sleep in.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” he says, and Eret smiles, bringing their knees closer to their chest and laying an arm across them, twisting their torso to turn toward him more. It makes something burn in his chest, a comfortable warmth, at being given their full attention.

“Was there something you’d like to talk about?” they ask, and that warmth grows. “I can’t imagine you came up here just to prevent me from getting a crick in my neck.”

“I mean, that was part of it,” he protests. “I wanted to be a good friend! But um, yeah, actually, there was something I really wanted to tell you.” He hesitates, and Eret nods at him, encouragingly. Now that he’s here, about to say it out loud, he feels like his whole body is buzzing. It is kind of a big deal, actually, doing something like this. But he lets himself blurt it out. “I’m going to run for president!”

There’s a beat, and then, Eret’s face breaks into a wide grin.

“Really?” they say. “That’s awesome! I’m really happy for you, man.”

His tail starts wagging. “Yeah?” he asks.

“Of course!” Eret says. “That’s a big deal. I’m really proud you’re going for it. Do you have a running mate? And a name?”

He grins. “Niki’s running with me,” he says. “We’re going to be Coconut2020.”

Eret laughs again. “Coconut?” they ask. “Any particular reason?”

“Coconuts are good,” he says. “We both like coconut. We’ve bonded over coconuts.” He narrows his eyes. “Don’t mock our coconuts.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Coconuts are good. Fair enough.” Eret tilts their head. “What did Wilbur say, if I might ask?”

And just like that, his euphoria dies down.

“Oh,” he says. “Right, um. Actually, you’re the first person I’ve told! Other than Niki, of course.”

“Oh!” He can hear the surprise in their tone, and he cringes away from it, a bit; he knows very well, of course, that Wilbur probably should’ve been the first to hear it. But it’s not like what he doesn’t know will hurt him, and he—he just wanted to practice. That’s all. “Well, in that case, I’m honored.” A pause, and then, “You’re not worrying about it, are you?”

“What?” He laughs, and he definitely sounds nervous. “No. No, why would I be nervous?”

“I think you don’t need to be,” Eret agrees, leaning toward him a bit. “I know Wilbur’s been busy these days, but he cares for you a lot. I think he’ll be quite proud that you’ve decided to take the initiative.”

“You think so?”

“I do. I wouldn’t say you have anything to worry about.”

“Okay.”

He feels a bit better, hearing that, and he knows that Eret is right. He’s never doubted his dad’s love for him, after all, even if he’s doubted Wilbur’s faith in him in a lot of other respects, and this is exactly the kind of thing he needs to do to make him stop doing that second thing. To make him see that he’s a man now, able to take care of himself, to do great things. If he goes far in this election, if he manages to beat him, even, then he’ll have to acknowledge how grown up he’s become. Will have to look at him with pride in his eyes.

“Okay,” he says again. “Thank you, Eret.”

“Of course,” Eret says. “I wish you the best of luck.”

It’s time for him to go, then. This practice went pretty great, actually. He feels like he can do this now. He feels good. Pumped. Hyped up.

“Thanks,” he says. “Are you gonna go get some actual sleep now?”

“I might stay up a while longer,” Eret says. They stretch, and then rise to their feet, and he follows their example. “I’d like to get a little more done with this tonight. And I’ll admit, my dreams haven’t been very kind to me lately.” They pause, and he’s not sure what to say to them; it always sucks, of course, to have nightmares, but he can’t offer much more than a basic commiseration. “I can’t help but feel like something’s missing.”

“From the tower?” he asks.

Eret smiles. “That too,” they agree. “I like it so far, but it feels a bit plain.”

He considers this for a moment. Eret’s not looking at him, is staring out at the lands beyond, visible past the incomplete wall. They’re absentmindedly twisting one of the bracelets around their wrist, and that gives him an idea.

“If you wanted to spice it up a little, you could always try some gold accents,” he suggests, and Eret jerks, turning their head toward him. “I noticed you’ve been liking gold a lot lately.”

He’s not sure why that makes them go pale.

“Maybe,” they say, softly. “Maybe.” They smile again, but this one’s a bit shaky. “I’ll bid you good night, Fundy. And really, good luck. But don’t get too worked up about it. You’ve got this.”

He nods, grinning. “I’ve got this! Goodnight, Eret!”

He leaves Eret to their tower. It’s to the office from here, and it’s definitely well into the night by now, but he knows his way around this nation like the back of his hand, even in the dark, and there’s plenty of torches to see by anyway. He considers, for a moment, that Wilbur might have already turned in for the night, but he casts that thought aside. Wilbur’s always working, even long past when a reasonable person would have hit the hay.

Tommy accosts him just outside the building that’s been serving for L’Manberg’s headquarters, sliding out of the darkness with a smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets. Fundy regards him warily. Not that he doesn’t like Tommy. He does, even if he’s been a little weird lately. But that’s an expression that screams trouble. And what is he doing out and about at this time of night anyway?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, and Tommy raises an eyebrow.

“What, can’t a boy look?” he says. “Do you need me to avert my gaze? Are you perhaps up to some crime and wrongdoing?”

“What? No,” he says. Trying to decipher Tommy is, on occasion, like attempting to navigate a parkour course blindfolded. “I’m just—” He bolsters himself. Stands straighter, puffs his chest out. “I’m running for president. So I’m going to go tell Wilbur.”

He speaks it like the challenge that it is. As much as he likes Tommy, he’s competition in this case, as Wilbur’s running mate. Tommy’s mouth forms an ‘o’, and something flickers in his eyes.

“Really?” he says. “Well, good on you, getting in on it early. Before election night.”

He frowns. “Yeah? Aren’t those the rules?”

Tommy nods, and then doesn’t say anything else, and this, this is why Fundy thinks he’s weird. It’s like sometimes, he just says weird things without elaborating, or even without realizing that it’s something that should require elaboration. Tommy’s just a weird guy overall, really.

“Okay,” he says, more to fill the silence than anything else. “Is there something you wanted to talk to me about? Or can I just go in? And I’m not moving out of my house, before you start that again,” he tacks on.

“I’m telling you, the real estate in that area is not good. Rather not poggers,” Tommy says. “It’s a dodgy part of the SMP, it is.”

“The only one anywhere near there is Punz,” he says, exasperated, and immediately berates himself for letting himself be drawn into this conversation again. That’s another weird thing; apparently, Tommy has recently taken offense to the location of his house, and has made persuading him to move somewhere else a priority. He can’t tell whether he’s serious, or whether it’s a long and involved bit.

Tommy nods sagely. “Dodgy,” he says. “But nah, you go on in. Wilbur’s still there, far as I know. Good luck.” Tommy steps away, and then stops, frowning, and turns back. “But maybe make sure Wilbur knows that you running against him isn’t, like, you disowning him or some shit. He wouldn’t take that well.”

“Why would that mean I was disowning him?” he demands. Wilbur wouldn’t think that, would he? Surely, even he wouldn’t jump to so drastic a conclusion. Unless he would, and him doing this is going to ruin their relationship, and he’s making a terrible mistake. But no, he’s not going to think like that. If Wilbur does have that attitude, that’s on Wilbur. Not him.

“It wouldn’t,” Tommy says seriously. “But, y’know, one thing leads to another.”

“How would that lead to me disowning him?”

“It shouldn’t,” Tommy says, and then grins again. There’s less light in this one, less levity. It’s actually a little unsettling. “Don’t mind me. Go talk to Wil. See you later, Fundy.”

“Okay,” he says. “Bye, Tommy.” He watches as Tommy walks away, and realizes, with some frustration, that he forgot to ask why, exactly, Tommy was hanging around here. Oh, well. He can’t let himself get worried about what Tommy’s doing, even if it’s always best to have half an eye on the guy. Trouble follows him.

But then, trouble kind of follows all of them.

He goes inside, and finds his way to Wilbur’s office. It’s not difficult; he’s been here before, though not often. The door is closed, and he hesitates in front of it, his nerves flagging. But then, he inhales, remembers Eret’s excitement and encouraging words, the way that Tommy didn’t make any disparaging remarks, and—he can’t expect a completely positive reaction, probably. He’s declaring himself as a political rival to his own father.

But he doesn’t need the reaction to be entirely positive. He just wants to look Wilbur in the eyes and see respect there.

He knocks.

Waits a beat.

“Come in,” comes the voice, and he slides the door open.

Wilbur’s at his desk, chin propped up on his hand, glasses slipping down his nose. His eyes are focused on whatever paper’s in front of him, narrow and squinting as they dart across the words, and his other hand grips a pen tightly, though he doesn’t seem to be doing anything with it at the moment. After a second, he glances up, and his gaze locks on Fundy, and Fundy suddenly feels very, very unprepared.

“Hello Fundy,” Wilbur says, and he sounds a little unsure, like he has no idea what he could possibly be doing here. He feels a little bitterness start to well up. “Is something the matter?”

Of course that’s his first instinct. That something has to be wrong. Because he thinks of Fundy as a child, always getting into scrapes, always needing help.

“No,” he says. “Nothing’s wrong. But can I talk to you for a second?”

Wilbur sets the pen down, sits up a little straighter. “Of course,” he says. “I’ve always got time for you.”

Then where have you been? he doesn’t say. Why are you always working? How come you almost never do anything else these days? And even when you’re around, why do you act like I’m still a little kid, like I didn’t fight in your revolution, like I haven’t been here the whole time?

“Great,” he says. “That’s great. Listen, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Alright,” Wilbur says, slowly. “Go on.”

He takes in a deep breath.

“I’m running for president,” he says.

For a moment, there is silence.

“I see,” Wilbur says, still slowly, like he’s working through it in real time, and he continues, feeling an odd burst of panic, like he needs to get all of it out now, before Wilbur can reply, can say anything, can shut him down or question him or anything like that.

“I haven’t marked my name down yet, but that’s my next stop,” he says. “Me and Niki, we’re going to be Coconut2020.”

“You and Niki,” Wilbur repeats, and he nods.

“Me and Niki,” he says, and then pauses. It’s out there now. He’s said it. And Wilbur’s just staring at him. He’s got no idea what that expression’s supposed to be. It just kind of looks—blank. Which, frankly, is not the reaction he was hoping for, and he shifts uncomfortably. “So, yeah. That’s what I was here to say.”

Wilbur is quiet for a long, long moment.

“Have you thought this through all the way?” he asks, voice quiet.

“What? Yeah, of course I have.” He crosses his arms. “This is what I want to do. You’re not gonna be able to change my mind.”

“But—why, then?” Wilbur asks. The blankness is finally fading, replaced by—Fundy’s not even sure what, but he is sure that it’s not anything good. Which makes anger rise up in him; honestly, who is Wilbur to deny him, at this point? Why does Wilbur think he gets a say in this when he’s barely spoken to him at all, these past weeks? “Why do you feel the need to—do you think I’m not suitable? Is that it?”

“Not everything’s about you, Wil,” he says. Even though this kind of is. But not in the way he’s thinking. “I think I’d be a good president, so I’m running. That’s all it is. It’s not that complicated.”

“I think it is a bit complicated,” Wilbur says, “considering you’re my son. I—I didn’t expect this from you.”

That’s the whole point, he doesn’t say. You never expect anything from me.

“It’s not,” he insists. “It’s not complicated. Don’t make it into something it’s not. I’m running. That’s all. This isn’t—my being your son doesn’t come into it.”

“I disagree,” Wilbur says. “I—you do realize what you’re doing, don’t you? I’ve never wanted us to be enemies, Fundy. But this—we’ll be opponents. I won’t hold back just because you’re my son. An election’s an election. Even if—and that’s a side of me you’ve never had to deal with. That I’ve never wanted you to deal with.”

Despite himself, doubts flit across his mind. Did he think this through? But then, he hardens his resolve. This is what he wants. To challenge Wilbur. To make him back down, if he can manage it. To force him to acknowledge him as someone to be reckoned with. And if that comes in the form of taking his country from him, then all the better, right? Wilbur won’t be able to ignore him then.

“I can hold my own,” he says, and before he can stop himself, he continues, “And why does this even matter so much to you, anyway? Why do you need to be the one in charge?”

If he’s not mistaken, he thinks Wilbur rears back a bit, at that question. But it’s difficult to tell. Wilbur never lets anything show that he doesn’t want to, making him frustratingly difficult to read.

“I founded this country, didn’t I?” Wilbur says. “Didn’t I lead us? I just want to continue to protect this nation. I want to be able to do what’s best for it. I want to see it flourish, and be strong, and—if it’s the people’s will that that happens under someone else’s hand, I’ll accept that. But if I can continue to guide L’Manberg, then I want to do so.”

“I mean,” he says, “it kind of felt like Tommy was the one who won it for us.”

Wilbur stills. And then, inclines his head, lips twitching up. It’s a smile, though for some reason, Fundy has a hard time seeing any joy in it, any happiness at all. But then, he’s probably reading too much into things, putting emotions into an expression that simply aren’t there. Because when Wil’s not being overbearing, he’s being distant. There’s really no inbetween.

“That’s true,” he says. “Tommy did.”

Silence falls again, thick and stifling.

“Um,” he says, after a second, “that was all I had to say. I think I’ll just go, now.”

“Alright,” Wilbur says, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to say anything else, so Fundy turns to the door, an odd emotion settling into his stomach. It might be disappointment—he’s not sure that he got what he wanted from it, though the fact that he was able to rile Wilbur up at all is an accomplishment. And he managed to hold his ground, and he thinks that says something.

Except then, Wilbur says something else, and it gives him pause.

“I am proud of you, though,” Wilbur tells him, and he stops before his hand closes around the door handle, fireworks going off across his skin.

“Yeah?” he says, and turns around again. Wilbur’s still looking at him, meeting his gaze evenly, though there is something tight about it, something off. But he’s smiling, and Fundy decides not to examine any of it too closely. Because the words rattle around in his brain, in his heart, and then settle.

“Of course,” Wilbur says. “I suppose I don’t say that to you enough, but I always am. And in this—I’d be lying if I said I liked the decision. I don’t want this to—” He stops, and swallows, an oddly audible break in the flow of his words. “But that’s me, isn’t it? Good on you for—for having the balls, I guess. For going after what you want. Just be sure that you can handle it.”

A double-edged sword, then. How many times does he have to say that he can handle something before Wilbur finally believes it? But still, he said he’s proud. That he always is. And that has to mean something. Has to mean everything, in the end.

“I can,” he says. “Thanks, dad.”

Wilbur smiles again. Oddly, it still doesn’t look happy. But it’s very likely that he’s stressed and tired anyway. He didn’t consider that before. Maybe he really should’ve waited for another time to bring this up, another time that wasn’t late at night. But what’s done is done, and he’s said his piece, and Wilbur wasn’t quite enthusiastic but he did say that he was proud of him, which all in all, is much better than it probably could have gone. His chest is buzzing, still.

So he smiles back at Wilbur, and exits his office.

And later, after he’s made everything all official and he’s meeting with Niki in her bakery, going over their plans and forming his own in the back of his mind—a last resort, just in case it looks hopeless—she asks him, “How did it go? Telling him?”

And he considers that for a moment.

“Honestly,” he says, “I think it went pretty well.”

#mcyt #dsmp #dream smp #fundy #eret #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #dsmp fic #/rp #cat writes fic #long post #time travel au #everything's fine :D

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sciencespies · 4 years

Text

When Michigan Students Put the Car on Trial

https://sciencespies.com/nature/when-michigan-students-put-the-car-on-trial/

When Michigan Students Put the Car on Trial

Gordon Lightfoot and the Broadway cast of Hair performed. Barry Commoner and Ralph Nader spoke. But the most bizarre event at the University of Michigan’s teach-in the month before the first Earth Day was a mock legal trial for a 1959 Ford sedan.

About 1,000 people gathered at high noon on March 11, 1970, on the grassy quad at the center of the Ann Arbor campus to watch the blue-and-white clunker face charges of “murder of the American public, crossing state lines to pollute, inciting traffic jams, creating physical and psychological dependence, and discriminating against the poor.” This last charge reflected newly urgent concerns about highways, which tended to be built in lower-income neighborhoods, and resulted in polluting and sometimes even bulldozing those communities.

The sedan had a lot going for it—powerful witnesses for the defense; a distracted judge, who spent the mock trial reading an issue of Auto Racing (such ruling-class complacency amid ecological crisis!); and a society increasingly built around cars as the primary form of transport.

“Rob Rockyfeller,” witness for the defense, testified that his (fictional) foundation had found that auto exhaust was only half as toxic as aspirin. His appearance lampooned the various foundations that supported business-friendly policy in the name of general prosperity. Another witness attested to the importance of cars to the American economy. But no witness evoked the country’s car mania more vividly than “Dr. Sigmund Ford,” who sat stiffly on the stand with his head tilted slightly back, looking down his nose at the crowd below him.

“The automobile is essential to the maintenance of the American’s psyche,” Ford shouted, urging the court to consider the emotional security a car gives to the American man. “You can’t take it away from him! How else could he know his power and virility? How can we show our neighbors we’re stronger and more powerful than they are without a Lincoln Continental?”

“But what would actually happen to [Americans] if you took away cars?” asked the prosecutor, wearing a plaid skirt-suit and, of all things, leather driving gloves.

“But you see, cars are very important,” Ford began, dodging the question. “They serve a function—”

“What would be the effect on people?” the prosecutor interjected. Ford couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer. “You just can’t take away their cars,” he shouted. “You can’t take away my car!”

The verdict was rigged, but hundreds of people gathered in Ann Arbor as the car was convicted.

(University of Michigan)

The judge, stirred briefly from his magazine, found Dr. Ford a compelling witness and ruled the sedan innocent before accusing a dozen activists of “conspiring” against the automobile. A handful of activists then unceremoniously debenched the judge and turned the trial over to the assembled crowd, who delivered a guilty verdict. The car was sentenced to death. Bystanders smashed it to pieces with sledgehammers.

The automobile was a common target for such stunts at environmental teach-ins that year. At a rally in February at San José State University, student-activists bought and then buried a new car; at Indiana’s DePauw University on Earth Day, one student arrived on campus on horseback with a sign that read “Ban the automobile.”

But the mock trial in Michigan was a bold move in a state whose economy was still very much tied to the auto industry. In 1970, forty-two percent of Americans employed in the manufacture of automobiles and equipment called Michigan home. Ralph Nader, author of the landmark 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, which would help force the auto industry to transform its safety standards, told audiences in Ann Arbor that corporations, not consumers, were responsible for the pollution from automobiles. Significantly, the rally wasn’t attended only by college kids, so often accused of being unfamiliar with the real world. Industry leaders attended, and Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, was on hand to demand environmental reforms from car companies. The UAW donated $2,000 to the national Earth Day teach-in.

“If you ask me, ‘Can we solve [ecological crises] within the framework of business-as-usual?’ My answer is no,” Reuther said in an interview at the teach-in. “We’ve got to create new instruments, new institutions; we’ve got to develop new approaches and new concepts to deal with these new problems.”

A filmed documentary on the University of Michigan 1970 environmental teach-in, asks the questions: Do teach-ins work? (The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan)

Reuther was adamant that cleaning up cars didn’t have to cost autoworkers jobs. “Because industry has for so long polluted the environment of the plants in which we work and has now created an environmental crisis of catastrophic proportions in the communities in which we live, the UAW will insist on discussing the implications of this crisis at the bargaining table,” he said at the UAW’s annual convention in Atlantic City in April of that year.

Indeed, pollution had finally become a national concern: In 1970, levels of common air pollutants were about 73 percent higher than they are today, and the automobile was the main culprit. “Nobody was talking about climate change at that time,” says Doug Scott, then a graduate student in the School of Natural Resources and co-chair of the group that organized the university’s teach-in. “But there was just a general perception that the freeways packed with one driver per car pouring out leaded gasoline was not a good thing.”

A program for the March 1970 event at the University of Michigan.

(University of Michigan)

Nobody expected the trial stunt alone to change policy. But the guerrilla theater was a way for the young generation to make a memorable point. “We tended not to reject ideas,” Scott says. “Someone, and I couldn’t tell you who, decided that an awfully good way to get this going would be to take sledgehammers to a gas guzzler.”

The teach-in helped shape the lives of some of the student activists. Doug Scott went on to lobby Congress on behalf of nonprofit advocacy organizations such as the Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club; one of his most notable achievements, he says, was helping pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which more than doubled the size of America’s national park system.

And a few months after the teach-in, the UAW joined environmental groups including Environmental Action and the Sierra Club in signing a resolution calling on Congress to make air pollution standards strict enough to force auto companies to phase out the internal combustion engine. Instead, carmakers developed and embraced the catalytic converter, which helped drastically reduce air pollution and allowed the internal combustion engine to live on.

As air pollution from automobiles dropped, their footprint on the ground kept growing. In the decades that followed, disputes about proposed highways that would cut through city neighborhoods continued across the country. George Coling, a member of the teach-in’s steering committee while a graduate student at Michigan’s School of Public Health, pursued a long career in ecological activism, and saw the toll of these freeway fights up close. “There were massive intrusions of interstates into urban neighborhoods, which meant displacement of whole areas, razing of homes and businesses,” says Coling.

To Coling, the car’s show trial and violent execution were about more than just pollution: They symbolized the need to move beyond a car-based transportation system toward one that offered better mass transit, which could be more environmentally friendly and cost users less.

Still, looking back after a long career in environmental justice, he acknowledges that destroying a car was not a wholly righteous thing to do. “The act of smashing a car is quite elitist,” Coling says, because it fails to consider “the very real need that people have for transportation.” Americans may not be as psychologically dependent on cars as Dr. Ford claimed, but they still need them to get around. Even the unnamed owner of the executed car admitted at the demonstration, over the arrhythmic clang of sledgehammers on metal, that he had donated the vehicle after purchasing a new car.

Vehicles today are greener, thanks to government standards and new technology. So why are climate-warming emissions piling up? —Ted Scheinman

Tailpipe exhaust is cleaner than ever, and fuel efficiency is up, lifted lately by hybrid and electric vehicles. Yet cars’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions aren’t falling because there are more Americans—and they’re driving more.

(Data analysis by Emilio Leanza; Sources: Pew Trusts, Edison Electric institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Information Administration, the Federal Highway Administration)

#Nature

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Rendezvous with Italian Doom Trailblazers Messa

~By Calvin Lampert~

As much as I enjoy retro-rock and old school doom (or whatever else you want to call it), I think you’d lie to yourself if you claimed that innovation was one of the biggest virtues of the genre. Usually it’s enough to do what is tried and tested well, but to do something new is rare. I remember a few years back when a band called MESSA and their music video for "Babalon" was making the rounds. Suddenly, there was this young Italian band that combined occult rock with drone metal, and heads were turning left and right.

Clearly, Messa was onto something with their debut Belfry, and it went beyond the fantastic songwriting and Sara's sublime vocals. Something Messa would reiterate with their excellent sophomore record Feast for Water last year, which boldly flirted with elements of doom-jazz and even black metal. So prior to their special set at Roadburn 2019, for which they had brought along their saxophonist Lorenzo, I sat down with Sara (vocals), Marco (guitar & bass), Alberto (guitar & keys), Rocco (drums & additional vocals) and Lorenzo to talk roots, plans, and what it takes to come up with a new sound in a traditional genre. The transcript of our conversation follows.

How are you?

We’re fine.

Where are you actually based? I know it’s somewhere in Northern Italy but I’ve got no details.

Sara: We live about an hour away from Venice, near the mountains. One of the closest mountains around us is Monte Tomba and one of the songs on our first record is named after it. A little bit of Messa trivia.

And how did you all get together? Is there an established music scene in that region?

Sara: We were all in different bands before Messa but knew each other through the local music scene.

Alberto: And we’re the same age.

Sara: Yeah, three of us were born in '92 and we went to school together. Knew each other since we were 14, but we never played in a band together before. And there’s a lot of bands in our area, everything from black metal, to progressive and stoner rock. We all have different musical backgrounds and different genres that inspire us.

So, could you talk about the different bands you were in?

Rocco: Well, I play black metal, and it’s also what I usually listen to. When I started playing for Messa I first had to get used to playing so slowly. But I wanted to try something new, experience something different, and I really enjoy what we’ve been doing.

Lorenzo: Well, I think I’m the alien of the group because my background is so different as a saxophone player. That being Jazz of course. The funny thing is that when I was young, I used to sing for a rock band. Had long hair and all.

Sara: I’d love to see some pictures of that.

And what about you, Sara?

Sara: Well, I’ve always played hardcore punk and fast music in general. I still play bass in Restos Humanos, which is a deathgrind band with Spanish lyrics, as our singer is originally from Colombia. And I’ve got a studio project called Sixcircles that’s psych-folksy kind of stuff. But my main background is playing bass in hardcore punk bands.

Alberto: I’ve been in several surf rock bands and I have a '70s prog band. I went to a conservatory to study jazz guitar. That’s also where I met Lorenzo. And I met the rest of Messa through a stoner rock band I was involved in.

Marco: I’ve always been in rock bands. I had a band called The Sade that was a mix of Danzig and The Hellacopters, you know that Scandinavian rock sound. Been doing that for 10 years and then Messa came about.

And when you first started Messa did you go into it with a concept in mind, or did the sound clarify itself through jamming together?

Sara: We had a certain idea in mind. We knew we wanted to play doom because it’s something none of us had ever done before. And the more we developed the music the vision developed with it. It went hand in hand.

Still, I’ve heard my fair share of old school doom bands and practically none have ever been as adventurous as you. I had always assumed there was some degree of deliberation behind that, but did it really just come about like that?

Marco: I think we’re very different minds with different musical interests.

Rocco: And we fully put ourselves into it.

Sara: And we work together very closely. We’re bound to each other when we work on songs. But at the same time, we don’t want to be held back by boundaries and get stuck into something. Like using the Rhodes Piano. We just went for it. Said “Why not, let’s do that.” There’s a lot of great '70s doom bands out there that we love, but we as musicians wanted to create something different.

Would you not wanting to get stuck in something also explain the slight shift in sound between 'Belfry' and 'Feast for Water'?

Marco: Well, for Belfry it was first just me and Sara wanting to do something different with doom. After a few months we shared our work with Rocco and Alberto and started jamming. And for Feast we had a similar approach, wanting to do something new, not be satisfied with the first shot, the first riff.

Sara: And I’d say it was natural that there was change. Belfry was composed rather quickly in a few months. Feast took more time to be developed. We got to know each other better as musicians in between the two records. And like I said, we’re very close and still are growing together, on an individual level, on a musical level and a spiritual level.

And how long was Messa a band before you went into the studio to record 'Belfry'?

Sara: As a serious band? Less than a year. We first got together in November, recorded in August 2015, and Belfry was released in 2016.

Marco: It was very straight forward. We went into the studio with the entire material written and recorded Belfry instead of playing the material live and see how people react to it and then try to make an EP and wait. No big demos. Just straight into the studio.

Put it in the can and you’re out again.

Rocco: One shot, one kill.

Marco: But yeah, straight into the studio, really low budget. But we were sure of what we had done, we believed in our work.

And were you already signed to Aural Music at that point?

Marco: We sent out some stuff and we made a Bandcamp that had a rehearsal recording with some black and white pictures as cover, really simple. And then Emiliano from Aural music wrote us. Said “Please, I want to hear more. It sounds really interesting.” He was also interested because despite being Italian himself, he’s only got like three Italian bands on his label.

Feast for Water by Messa

And what is the local music scene in general like in your region? You said that you were all based in pretty much the same area, right?

Sara: Well, three of us live a maximum of 10 kilometers away from each other. And we live in tiny places, there’s no huge city. It’s a five minute drive to rehearsals. For some of us it’s a bit longer, like an hour.

Rocco: And there’s a lot of musicians in our area, from all kinds of different genres.

Marco: As far as doom and stoner rock goes though, maybe not as much in our own region, but in the whole of Italy there’s some bands that we want to mention. There’s Grime from Trieste, who play sludge metal. There’s Naga from Naples, a great blackened doom band who are friends of ours.

Sara: Super nice guys, but devastating, especially live. One of the best Italian bands at the moment, in my opinion.

Marco: Thing is, you gotta drive at least one hour to get to most concerts in Italy. What’s happening music-wise is usually restricted to the big cities.

A bit of a thematic jump, but what are some defining records or bands for you?

Sara: I think for each one of us there’s gotta be some Led Zeppelin record in our lists.

Marco: Yeah, I think we gravitate more towards Zeppelin than Sabbath.

Sara: Well I like them both, but I’d say Messa is way more influenced by Led Zeppelin than Black Sabbath. As for other records, the first –- no, all records from The Devil's Blood. I think that goes for Marco, as well.

Did you catch the Molasses (the new band of The Devil's Blood vocalist Farida Lemouchi) set yesterday?

Sara: I loved it.

Marco: I think it was missing some of that darkness.

Sara: But I think that was intentional, it was going for something different. It’s a rib of The Devil's Blood. They can’t be the same. The concert was great. Farida's voice is amazing.

Marco: As a project beside The Devil's Blood it was super good concert. If you just treat it as its own thing and don’t think about it coming from The Devil's Blood. The drummer was great.

I really enjoyed the guitars and unusual structures.

Sara: And the Rhodes Piano and guitars. I love twin guitars. How can you not love them?

Alberto: Disraeli Gears by Cream.

Sara: So, we’ve got Zeppelin, The Devil's Blood, Cream. Ah, Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone.

Rocco: Oh, yeah. I used to listen to that one a lot when I was younger. It’s still good.

Lorenzo: I’d say the biggest influence for me was Lush Life by Joe Henderson. Best record I ever listened to in my life. But I love all the jazz greats and can listen to another one each day.

Marco: One band we haven’t mentioned so far that really changed how we wrote music was Bohren & Der Club of Gore. I cried the two times I’ve seen them live. We exchanged bands when we started writing and Bohren was one of them, and they really got us excited to experiment with music. So, that’s one of the central bands that gave us the push in the direction Messa was going.

Sara: It was game-changing.

See, I was almost waiting for you to name drop Bohren. If I have to explain Messa to somebody Bohren is sure to be mentioned, too.

Marco: Thinking of, there’s this band that also takes cues from Bohren who have released a new record recently. But they’re originally from the whole screamo/post-hardcore scene, and they mix a bit of that into it. They’re called Radare. They’re great, check them out.

I’ll be sure to do that. What was the preparation for Roadburn like? They must’ve approached you first to come and play, right?

Sara: Yeah, they asked us to play. We’re super happy to be here and being able to play at these great venues, work with professionals and play with a lot of awesome bands. It’s such a cool opportunity to be here.

Rocoo: Yeah, it’s quite surreal. I won’t really believe it happened until after the show tonight.

Marco: As for preparations, we rehearsed a lot with Lorenzo to get ready for the show.

So, will you perform more often Lorenzo in the future then?

Marco: We’ll see how it goes. It depends on his price. He’s an expensive dude (laughs).

Sara (to Lorenzo): Are you ready to sleep on a floor for five days and have no showers?

Lorenzo: Yeah, we’ll see how it goes.

Sara: We had a lot of rehearsals for this and we worked hard to arrange the songs and tracklist in way that it flows nicely. We’ll play material from both records as well as a song we never performed live before. We’re anxious and happy to get on stage.

Marco: And shortly after Roadburn, we've got a 10-day tour with Sabbath Assembly.

Sara: And we’re playing Hellfest this summer and after that we’ll see what happens.

And is this the first time you’re playing with the full line up?

Sara: Actually the second time. The first time was the release show for Feast for Water.

Marco: We did that show in our rehearsal space, which is in an old church. it was a friends only thing, no facebook event, just invitation by email.

Rocco: And we played together with Gorrch, which is a great black metal band and good friends of ours.

Belfry by Messa

So, what sets have you already seen at Roadburn and which ones are you trying to catch tonight?

Marco: Well, Gold is playing soon, so definitely them.

Sara: Triptykon. We saw Twin Temple.

Rocco: I’ll see Midnight.

Alberto: Heilung.

Rocco: Petbrick was fucking freaky.

Marco: AA Williams.

Sara: Craft is playing tonight but we’ll unfortunately miss them.

Yeah, I was thinking about watching them too, but alas there are clashes. What are your plans for the future? Can we expect some new music soon?

Sara: We haven’t really worked on any new music so far. We’ve been concentrating on preparing for Roadburn and the tour in general mostly. Of course, sooner or later the call for new music will come. I have some ideas I’d like to develop and I think the same goes for the rest of the band.

Last question. Which five objects would one have to lay in a pentagram to summon you?

Rocco: A beer. A piece of wood.

Sara: A burning fire.

Rocco: A burning fire for sure. Something from nature. So I guess water and sand.

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#D&S Interviews #Messa #Cittadella #Italy #Doom #Experimental #Metal #Roadburn Festival #Roadburn #2019 #Calvin Lampert #Doomed & Stoned

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ai-da-ice · 7 years

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[Fan Account] Da-iCE’s NEXT PHASE Live in Saitama!

Da-iCE hasn’t listed a tour date for Tokyo yet (which makes me think another performance might be added to the end of the tour, but of course this is just me guessing), so for my very first Da-iCE tour performance, I made the trip to nearby Saitama to see them perform during their second day of the tour at Misato Cultural Center. It was about an hour and a half from my apartment, but as I’ve mentioned before, Japanese performances don’t require you to line up early-- if it’s a seated venue, like this one was, you’ll have the same seat no matter how early you get there, and standing venues still have entrance order numbers written on the ticket.

Once inside, there were several vendors. One to encourage people to sign up for the fan club, one selling Da-iCE albums, one passing along info for signing up for a credit card with Da-iCE's image on it, and lastly the standard merch table. I'd already purchased the light stick, but this time I also grabbed a tote bag since my normal purse isn't big enough to carry around the giant novels I'm always reading >_<

For this tour, I finally broke my bad streak of lotto numbers and snagged a seat in the third row. Each row was divided into left stage, middle stage, and right stage. I was the leftmost seat in the left stage area, and based on the dance formations, we got a lot of visits from Yudai and Taiki in particular throughout the night.

Before the show, the staff asked us to take out our light sticks, and we were all surprised to find out that they have a special function! When they're in range of the current concert venue, they can be controlled to change colors from their standard purplish-blue shade. Throughout the night, they were frequently moved from red to green to yellow to aqua blue and so on. The staff did a really good job of matching them to the tone of the songs and stage lights.

After demonstrating the light sticks' magic power, there was a short, futuristic intro video, and then the boys stepped out of this cool, dice shaped construction made out of the video screens and the show began!

Breaking down the night by song:

NEXT PHASE: When the album came out, Da-iCE claimed this would be their new show opener to replace FIGHT BACK, and it really fills the role well! The boys were wearing different costumes than their Tonikaku HEY gear, but their looks had a similar theme-- bright colors paired with retro style jackets. They all looked amazing (Sota’s back to 100% red hair!) and kicked off the show with some very strong dancing.

Watch Out: Even though this song came out last year, it's really grown as one of my favorites, so I was psyched that this was their follow up. Once again, it was a great pick to bring up the energy, and the vocals were as on point as ever. I love the bouncy parts of the dance during the “Won’t you try it?” section of the chorus.

Step Back: This was our first use of prop/special stage design of the night, and let's just say CHAINS WERE INVOLVED. I'm not joking. The set design featured prison-esque bars and the boys danced with prop chains binding their wrists. And yes, it was as good as it sounds. This was my first time seeing this song live, and I have to say that the dance was stellar!

Noise: After Step Back, the boys had a short introductory MC (trolling Sota ensues) where they also asked everyone how many "Phase" concerts they've been to ever since Phase 0 kicked off. They transitioned into Noise, one of my fave songs from Fight Back, using headphone props. Every time one of the boys put on the headphones, a certain kind of music would play and they would dance to it. For example, when Taiki put his on, it was a really upbeat techno track, so he did an almost seizure-like dance to it, then close with one of his trademark funny faces when he pulled the headphones off. When it was Yudai's turn, the intro to Noise started, and the boys began the performance with the headphones on. Every time they pulled them off, the music would change to tinny and muted, in the radio-esque style the original song evokes. It was really well done! But as Yudai mentioned on Twitter yesterday, he did make a few mistakes in his timing of pulling of the headphones, but I wish he wouldn't worry too much since it was a really complex performance and overall they did a good job with it!

Free Falling: This was our second set design on the night. A table with several chairs and a round of shot glasses (and I think some Jack Daniels as well?) were brought out, and the boys delivered this more rock-based number with a smoky bar room theme. They made good use of the chairs and table in the dance routine as well, and the performance came across like a cool, movie-like moment.

Chocolate Sympathy: Since the chairs were out, it was time for Da-iCE's famous chair dance routine paired with one of their sexiest songs. Chocolate Sympathy should be illegal, that song paired with that dance is too much all at once T^T. As I was watching, I kept on thinking how badly I want a CS instrumental because that beat is jamming, and in a sense I got my wish, because after the performance was over, it was time for performance solos from the dance line to the tune of the CS instrumental (remixed slightly, naturally). They played a quick game of Musical Chairs to determine who would go first. Hayate lost (after Toru took his chair, causing Hayate to dramatically fall over), so he led off. His dancing, unsurprisingly, WAS DOPE. Following his solo, he dashed offstage, and it was Taiki's turn. After, Taiki and Toru did a bit of a duo dance together, then Toru wrapped up, and both he and Taiki left the stage.

Koigokoro: Immediately Koigokoro kicked off with a costume change, since Yudai and Sota had been backstage during the dance solos. They were now wearing dark pants paired with a white dress shirt with a simple design in black down the front paired with a black bow tie. VERY sharp. The two vocals started off, and since Hayate had also had enough time to change costumes, he led off the dancing solo. Taiki and then Toru appeared later in the song. This is by far one of my fave Da-iCE songs and one of my faves to watch live. The vocal line absolutely kills it, and the dance is beautiful and emotional. One of my faves of the night.

Reason: Since we were in slow song mode, they transitioned into Reason, paired with a background video of the boys walking through the streets of Japan. This is one of the most beautiful songs off the new album but I keep forgetting that, so this was a good reminder to have it on rotation more often.

Sugar High: While the Reason videos were playing, the staff had set up coat racks with blue velvet suit jackets behind the screens. When I saw them, I thought next up would be Kirenai Mama no Coat, but it was actually our new OT5 track from Tonikaku HEY, Sugar High! Dressed in their daper jackets, all five members participated in the harmonies in the track, and they did a FANTASTIC job. I really do hope Da-iCE continues this trend in the future. Taiki is already at a great level of vocal ability, and Toru and Hayate’s confidence in their abilities seems to have skyrocketed.

Setsunakute (acoustic): And continue the trend they did! As a B-side to a pre-debut single, this song doesn't get much play at concerts, but Da-iCE brought it back with all 5 members on vocals! Not only did the dance line sing, but they actually sang the majority of the song! I'm praying Da-iCE will release this in some form, because it was glorious. Taiki did the first chorus on Toru did the second, and both of them delivered beautiful.

Yudai darted off stage following this performance, leaving the other four members to handle the MC while he changed costumes. The members speculated what Yudai would talk about for a solo MC and decided on 'protein'. Sure enough, when Yudai emerged in the new costume (black, white, and red-- Da-iCE's colors!), he chose to talk about protein while the other members changed. Unfortunately, I have a very limited knowledge of protein vocab, so I didn't quite follow >_<

[at this point, I can't remember for sure which of the next two songs was performed first, but I'm making an educated guess here lol]

Into You: All the boys were now in their Da-iCE colors after the costume change. They looked great, but Taiki's black piece, a button down, had the misfortune of sporting Guy Fieri-like flames... Taiki, I thought you were the fashionista!

I wasn't expecting Into You to be performed, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was! This is Da-iCE’s killer cover, and they SLAYED it live. And the Hayate jump kick move from the music video was there as well. And Sota's iconic "A little dangerous my boy" :D

I'll be back: Since we got Setsunakute, we also got I'll be back! This will also slightly edited, so instead of the Sota rap(ish?) bits on the second verse, we got a dance break. I'm personally a huge fan of Da-iCE dance breaks, so even though the performance was a little shorter than the original track, it was an amazing watch.

Fantasy: Another track I've never seen performed before, and another track improved by adding a dance break to the live performance. It makes me wish the dance break instrumental was part of the original track, I think it really enhanced it!

Five: Our first pre-debut mini album classic! This is one of my personal favorites from the pre-debut era because I love how the lyrics represent their bond as five members. I'm hoping for them to turn this into an OT5 vocal song one day, but as for now, I was thrilled to see this live finally! Also, our section finally got a much needed dose of Hayate fan service when he visited left stage.

Tonikaku HEY: Before performing their latest single, Da-iCE did a mini competition to see who could get the loudest audience "HEY"... of course, it was Sota vs. the rest of the members :D All a-i are winners, so the boys didn't choose favorites in the end. This song is kind of like the new "Hush Hush" where the audience participates in the dance since the moves during the chorus are simple hand movements the audience can follow. It's such a fun live track and you can tell the group really loves performing it.

BOND: This is a pretty light hearted song, so the boys were mainly paling around during the performance. For the set design, three sets of big white steps (the symbol for NEXT PHASE) on wheels were brought out, and the members played around on the steps and wheeled each other around. As the audience, we were in charge of the "pa-pa-party party" vocals

Stand: Another pre-debut mini-classic! The boys had stashed autographed balls under their stairs, so spent a portion of this track pitching them to the audience. None came close to me, but a girl at the other end of my row caught TWO. Guess my luck could have been a little better, even though I got third row.

Kimiiro: After all their fun with the last song, the boys calmed down and directed our attention to the screens, which flashed the release date for the new single. They than had a full performance of the new single, which I LOVE. It's not quite in the same vein as their previous summer singles, though it is uptempo. If anything, I think its vibe is half way between those songs and Sora, which is a really good sound for them. Can't wait for the release!

TWO AS ONE: I saw this performed live at Tokyo Swish and their vocals and choreo combination was really moving moment at the time, so it was beautiful to see it again. I love the MV, but I really wish more of the choreo was featured so you all could see it. I really think the story it tells is beautiful, especially since it's a thank you song to the fans.

ENCORE TIME!

Everybody: We heard the opening words of Everybody, but Da-iCE was nowhere to be found onstage...we whirled around...and there they were, in the audience! The five members walked around the aisles and shook hands with fans as they passed, much to everyone's delight! A lot of areas were reached by all five members, but the staff kept blocking the group from coming to my area because it was a tight squeeze between the edge of the rows and the side stage. Toru didn't care and broke through anyways. I made good use of having two hands and got a double handshake from Toru as he passed. YES!

Osaka Lover: I love this cover from the new single and think it's perfect for summer, so I'm glad they included it in their encore line up. The dance was great, so I'm extra psyched that we're getting an MV for this on the upcoming single!

Paradive: Da-iCE's most famous single closed out the night in upbeat, towel waving style. It's such a fun song, and Hayate's dance part during the instrumental has become so beloved that the members shout out "HAYATE" before he starts it. It's a great way to close on a happy and exciting note!

The two girls sitting next to me had talked to me before the encore and found out my favorite member was Sota. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such generosity, but one girl gave me a Sota NEXT PHASE wristband, and the other gave me Sota postcards. I was really so touched! At every Da-iCE I've been to, people have come up to me and asked me about how I got into the group, which is really so amazing for me! I feel a little awkward sometimes being a foreigner who stands out a lot since I'm the kind of person who prefers people (members of Da-iCE excepted) not to focus on me, but everyone has really shown me kindness and helped me to become more comfortable. My first Da-iCE tour performance was a total blast!!!

#da-ice #fan account

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lullaandby · 4 years

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SECTION C.

JIZZ for Jesus 1 minute 15 seconds/ short.

My being single was a topic that has worried my 85 year old father.

a treasure chest of anxiety who had anointed himself my dating guru.

Every week he comes up with a new line of advice.

The first was that I should go to church and find a nice guy.

Ah ok, but Church is centered around redemption themed activities.

What am I going to do- tell someone

"hey. I ah just saw the way you placed your lips to that chalice- and it got something going down here

He thought about it some more and came back with-

["Hey Jo! You know what?"

That's the way my dad always speaks, in a tenor most people reserve for an extreme emergency, like a school evacuation.

"These guys are no good.

Nah. Not like how they used to be.

So you fuck 'em Jo. Take what you need and get outta there. Don't be a whore but just get what you need."

Okay dad. Very different types of advice but thank you.

So I figured out a way to combine the two bits of information. It's a little program I like to call Jizz For Jesus.

Just vats of cum in my face in the name of our lord and savior.

Just trying to be a good daughter. ]

Then he goes " HEY Jo"

That tone means he doesn't want my mom to hear.

What Dad.

"Are you a lesbian?"

No Dad.

"ok well I want you to know it's ok."

thanks.

"well.... do you know what they do?"

who?

"The LESBIANS!!! how do they do it"

Dad. We're done here.

ST HORROR

Catholic interior design is amazingly bold.

Where else would you be able to get away

With that focal point?

Imagine walking into the grocery store to get some ice cream

And you saw a statue of someone over the cereal aisle

life size

Just bleeding.

Then another one by the ice cream

Smiling while a gentle breeze rolls

Through his luscious locks

And sun illuminates down upon him.

And everyone else was like oh yeah.

That’s our good buddy Ralph.

He helped to make this place.

No worries just keep hoping for a good life and

Get all your groceries into a cart.

Or just rolling up to your first soccer game

And over the goal net

there’s a photo of your neighbor,

Mr. Gershon who served in Vietnam

And passed away last year.

Just bleeding profusely.

And everyone’s just like oh yeah.

He sacrificed for us.

No worries here’s an orange slice ad some high c fruit punch.

It’s just how you avoid hell.

Did you bring in money for team photo?

And how’s your fundraising going for the new jerseys.

FIREY PITS

The whole concept of hell gets so left behind.

It becomes this thought in the back of your mind,

To Avoid the fiery pit.

Really the church needs a revamp.

Instead of a fiery pit just start telling people

They will get zero likes on their posts

If they don’t comply.

Watch pews fill up.

GOOD TO KNOW the Bible

Dad the only person who invited in Jehovahs they multiplied.

The he…

Years later they still came to visit him so we had to do what I like to call reverse bible chats.

It always starts with a lead in question

“Do you know…” and they insert a bible verse.

It’s a trap like when your friend asks you if you know someone else-

Either they talked shit about you or you are going to hear shit talked about them.

But when it’s bible rhetoric it’s so easy to just listen

And hit them with

Dueternonmy

Corninthians and just put in random numbers.

Then conclude with your own opinion.

And they walk away.

OFFERING OTHER SALVATION

Just so odd

What other types of salvation?

Some like weird cheese

Do it out

BIBLICAL HERO

Take a quiz to see what type of biblical hero you are

Moses

Mary Magdalene cuz she’s a hoe

How did they have hoes in the Bible?

I’d like to see a Moses parting the seas of peers who are holding back orgasms

And older ladies shaming for wearing too short skirts and saying well you asked for it,nder their breath

And he just bellows out

“Let my whores go”

Then they walk to a land where

they create amazing porn for ladies and general

healthcare that covers all forms of birthcontrol

PORHN HUB THE WORLD

More than the bible, The answer is porn

if there were as many categories on porn hub

As there were ideas for world peace and conservation

We’d be all set.

LADIES NIGHT

We need more categories for porn by ladies.

Just liven it up make it more representative.

Less filthy next door neighbor taking big dicks

Reading a book and getting your nips tweaked

Getting your ass eaten while watching cute animals lick their faces

Finishing a craft while on top - look how cute his eyes are, and then you just go to outer space

Eating lasagna while anything

LADIES ARE MORE DANGEROUS

More outlets for female intelignece and for ladies to cum.

That combo creates a burtito cloud of peace with melted cheese around the female psyche.

This is essential.

Ask any dude who is pissed off a crazy eyes girl.

Who was just one two many break ups deep.

There are absoultely crazy guys

But they more start a ned narrative that didn’t happen

Or if something was wrong they just avoid and deny.

Pretty Much All Ladies will say-

Ok let me find your birth record,

Then trail onto you best friend from preschool

Take a flight to New Orleans- get a witch

Dig up a dead body and procure the two pinky fingers as payment

Rally up anyone else who hates you

Put their soul in a doll, send it to your house

Then around 10pm give you 3 hearts on insta to hide the evidence.

That’s day one.

STORY- ME

( How sexual repression makes you into a vengeful person)

FOR REAL REVENGE.

Girls who are all about the revenge you generally can find zero social media presence on them

And they like to do control based things

The girl in your office

Keep talking about going to sweet greens

Or paint night

They are the mid level managers of the world who Marshall over every event and

When you go out to dinner make sure that everyone is paying the exact amount

THE REAL REGINA GEORGRE

I have no idea why people are obsessed with teenager Regina Georges

Because the real assholes are

repressed, undersexed mothers with body image issues

Who feel as if their children have stolen their lives

BECUASE FAIR IS FAIR.

They begin to not even see it as revenge.

It’s just fairness.

Because they have been taught to be nice and they are seething.

COME A LONG WAY

We’ve come a long way sexuality from

Your aunt who has the solid Ronald mc Donald hair cut and a long short chino

With a polo shirt

[50k categories and several articles]

MONGOOSE.

VALIDATION STATION.

Repression in females comes from mis placed validation

The validation that seems promised from being nice and doing the right thing.

AND JEALOUSLY

AND WORRIED UR FMAILY WILL REJECT U FOR SPOILING THE GOODS

Jessica simpson?

Take most of the single males you know perhaps they are sad,

But they will general find a hobby, pussy, or both.

When the barrier to entry of pussy gets to expensive, psychotic, difficult or all three.

They will resort mc guyver like tendencies to find ingenuity.

Take most females who are single.

They will use the same ingenuity to gain validation from friends and family

Which includes carrier achievement and marriage.

When the Barriers to entry become challenging they become crazy.

THAT FRIEND.

If you have been single over twenty eight you have have 100 percent taken a turn

Into crazy town. Driven straight through then taken a right into county love town.

It looks so much more intense when it’s your friend doing it

There rare two options for yourself and that friend,

A) you’ll make it by having a life and randomly crying to ColdPlay

B) you will spend all your time trying to find someone like a person who has lost

A puppy.

MISPLACED.

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS

This is so insane.

DOWRY

This starts with our parents,

you chose in your family but I like to blame my mother.

But my dad is to blame to b/c his standards are just wanting me minimally taken care of he’d be like

do you have a car?

A job?

Ok here’s 10k

Remember she likes cheese.

Bye baby remember to turn the lights off.

MOTHER SHAME.

JENNER WORLD

Pretty soon moms will be fighting over how many likes their daughter gets.

(Play on how moms compete for girls getting career + marriage)

end on marriage

The moms who are exactly the same as Kris Jenner

And there’s a lot

Except

Kris is a narcissist who pairs her daughter up with dudes that aren’t great.

Or at the every least doesn’t encourage them to leave.

Lots of moms are like this- they loose their daughter and their daughters

“Wins” a happy marriage.

The only difference is these girls wear bikinis instead of a nice tailored slack.

But who is the influencer of the influencers?

Do the equation and you will always come up Oprah.

Just do it out. Oprah.

And she doesn’t even have instagram.

And who is her influencer? Maya angelou?

So strong black women. Mostly BBW.

PRECIOUS MOMENTS

Maybe there’s an age where repression just starts settling in

And people look at the people in their family

Who came before them

As precious moments statues.

Ummm just a quick refresh your moms

Vagina was once a beatiuous place holder for jizz.

And grandma probably took a load

And not just to the laundry

Why do you think she carries all those werthers?

Just our old friend science.

****

JESUS INVENTED BROS

FEMALE VERSION OF BROS

PRODIGY KIDS

*****

SECTION D.

KNOW YOUR READY FOR KIDS

You know your ready for kids because

Before when you didn’t get your period and you weren’t having sex

All you would do is just be like wishing your uterus fondnesses

Thinking that she finally quit,

Because you can’t blame her all you see around you is nonsense

Hopefully she is living out her dreams in tiajuanna on a donkey

Wearing a sombrero and partying with a small person,

Who she has to set boundaries with because she’d very into

Group sex and that’s not her jam

GROUP SEX

Steph and group sex

Have you ever had a friend who is either being very sexually curious

Or has a really specific thing that they want to try and they’d like

You to come with them so they just start injecting it into conversations?

FIND SOMEONE

You can’t seem to find anyone yet every single member of the Duggar family is married.

That’s a lot of kids and you still can’t get a date to last past month three.

BJs WHOLESALE

FIND U A MAN

There’s a lot of dating advice out there for ladies but the best is-

Find u a man who looks at you

And takes care of you like he does his own penis.

You’ll have

infinite protection

Generous massages

Fresh assortment of culture- movies and photos

Literature in the form of light reading

Long trips

Shelter

If you have sad emotions he’ll do anything to take care of you

And

Poetry.

POETRY

Found a website called Hogtied, part of a collection of websites called kink. All the women were tied up. Hot. They also all had clips on their nipples. Sure. The dudes fucking them had locks on their balls.

I'm young, I just assumed that's how adults fucked. So I found some bigass locks for a locker, locked my balls, and started rubbing. It was uncomfortable, but if that's how adults fuck, then I guess I'd better get used to it.

I'll never forget when I finally came. I felt warm inside, like my soul was being cradled by light, all emanating from my dick.

I'm just glad my roommates didn't happen to come downstairs and see me putting mustard on my dick illuminated by the gentle glow of the open fridge”

PEZ "Sat at the edge of my bed and catapulted starburst off my rock hard dick into the bobbing maw of a lovely lady I had harbored a crush for for many years. We are still in romance."

"I'm a grower not a shower so I like to take my scrotum and encase my penis with it. Then when I get an erection, it's like an emerging butterfly."

DIFFERNCE BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES.

WHY WE KILL THEM

Let him live.

Riffs on how ladies don’t listen

Like a dog in a cone

We are always trying to do most likely way too much

WHY THEY KILL US

He is constantly on a voyage to my boobie.

If I look inside his head it often times it will be like this:

Entry log number 654. I’m approaching the boob.

How men don’t listen

How they are so sensitive and we are so so mean

My husband is one of the most sensitive people I know

He bruises like a soft Carolina peach

OK he’s only that way with me b/c he loves me and same with me to him.

So why would I put it in that context?

How about

My husband is so sensitive he has a thick cock?

PHD. /// BOB

MEN ARE A LOT MORE SENSITIVE

Men ae more sensitive but if their values don’t align with yours

FORGET IT.

But we are the same we just keep seeking the validation from them that we don’t give ourselves.

MARRIAGE VS DATING

You stick around for varying reasons

You can’t talk shit behind your husbands back

Not only is it rude

It’s ineffective

Gotta do it right to their face but they are so sensitive

So like to give him the same petty sick burns I give to a female

He doesn’t quite get it which is amazing

When he tries to do it back he does it with sports or movies

And I’m like yeah but I still pulled in money

You my friend are giving questionable hand jobs in the back seat of a car

DAVIDS BIRDAL

BEST PART OF BEING SINGLE

Jelly bean jar/ hyptoenuse

You’ll never figure it out because couples lie

S- CAVEAT EMPTOR//Economy Model Husband

Black Lab

Story- TUNA MELT//BRIDGET JONES

Just don’t care

*****

SECTION F

OVERSHARE****

METH NANNY pt2. 20 seconds

My go to overshare detail

Is that I’m a nanny and graduated from college

Some people quickly catipult into concerned pity.

They'll go-

"ohhhhhh nooooo. what happened? {really dramtic sad face}

did you take a slipsy- slidey into the meth-em-phetamines?

it that what you did?

well you have all your teeth, so, it looks like you're on the upside of things"

TRYING 20

I want life advice from a person whose stumbling onto their own personal truth-

The guy in the office who does barely any work,

yet has taken it upon himself to give all the ladies in the office massages-

He's found own glory in caressing Edna's sciatica.

BUSINESS VENTURES.

Sending off used panties, Netflix dvds

ROCK BOTTOM

Some jobs feel like your own personal rock bottom.

In reality you're in an office watching an excel presentation

But in your soul you’re standing in the middle of Target holding a bag of sun chips and trying to move slowly because you just had an accident in your pants.

ASS THAT WONT QUIT 15

Some people have told me that I have an ass that won't quit,

which is strange.

I've never stayed in a job past a year.

So Historically I'm a quitter and I'm pretty sure my ass follows suit.

Stories- work

*******

****

SECTION F.

CANT HANG

FRIENDS (material. )

AFFIRMATIONS

The biggest cautionary tape is When a friends occasional affirmational FB posts turn into daily ones.

I called up one of my best friends after seeing her posts and asked if her marriage- which had been rocky for several years had finally ended.

How did you know? She said.

If I had strung a week’s worth of her posts together there'd be fantastic copy for a new anti- depressant commercial.

FRIEND BREAK UPS

TRUE FEMINISM

QUESTIONABLE INTENSITY

Friends who are Fathers can be slightly overprotective of their daughters,

And mothers can have a questionable level of intensity with their sons.

My friend pointed at her son as he was playing with Legos and said, "oh my God.

Isn't he soooo hot?"

I had to remind her, " ah at one point he relied on you for sustinance-

and that’s Nasty Caroline.

And she said, " I know. I know-

{caramel voice} But oooooh gurl if he didn't, Hey baby . I see you. Keep building that tower."

We then had a conversation on what voice intonations are available to nice white ladies from the suburbs-

That’s not one of them.

Not for you girlfriend.

Ditto to any snapping motions.

Twerking on a case by case basis.

SECTION G

MOCHA

OUTRAGE. 25 seconds

When a white Person stands up for issues facing people of color with such force-

It feels incredible.

Wow Luke. You really care. Super woke. Good job.

Then you see that same person display the equivalent level of outrage-

for an empty ketchup bottle.

And you realize just they're working out a wide array of anger management issues.

Not really. on. my team.

CRAFTS

Thank you. To the white people who actually do something.

Any show of support is great but I do have some questions.

To the people who went into their craft bins and got pins, to affix to their shirts and show solidarity.

ah- but you had a whole craft bin.

I’m not saying anything fancy but a little flare would have been appreciated.

A hat with a pom pom?

Story- affirmative action

****

SECTION H.

DIC PIC. 20 seconds

I've been working with kids for about 15 years, that means parents periodically send me unsolicited snapshots of their little cuties.

Which- is the same as a dick pic.

That little head pops up on the screen, {hand movement} and all life choices need to be reevaluated

DIC AS CURRENCY. 20 seconds

I heard a person say “that’s going to cost you a dick pic”

Hmm. Have things gotten so real with bitcoin we’re now using Dick pics as currency.

Starbucks girl:Venti iced coffee. Ok that will be two chodes and a a gagger

Me: ok, here you go.

Starcucks girl: Oh okokok. Sorry um that’s only one chode.

Me: Oh I’m sorry. I was trying to be generous.

Never gotten a dic pic :(

I have never gotten a dick pic.

Perhaps it’s because my personality is it’s own restraining order.

I used to be sad about that in my twenties.

The same way I was sad about having small breasts,

I mean let’s be mature and call them tiddies-

In my twenties.

But then you wake up at thirty two, the sun shining in your apartment and you go out for a ice cream sandwich without a bra and watch a couple looking miserable

And it all makes sense

DATING

Dating-stories

Cemetery guy//soap

Divorced guy with ring

BALTIMORE BUTTS. 50 seconds

Ladies have a tendency to set the expectations of themselves incredibly high.

Take body maintenance.

My friend gets electrolysis everywhere,

including. her butthole.

Which is not only fiscally rediculous-

It's a welcome statement.

NOPE. mmmmhmm not here.

I need my butthole to be COMPLETELY terrifying.

You're driving down a really pleasant residential street and you see that one house that gives you the chills and you have roll up the windows.

That's the aesthetic I desire.

A creaky step. Some chipped paint. Screams from the inside. Ace.

It's tricky though because of the close proximiity to my punash, which needs to be incredibly welcoming.

It's doable.

Have you ever been to Baltimore or Philly?

***tag

So, possible. Just give specific coordinates.

BB tag. Dinner party.

***

2. CAHTZ (differences between men and women)

3. Girls are always covering for cat’s poor behavior past or present

5. “Yeah well what did you do to the cat?”

7. Boys are always selling

8. At least one sports team’s merits even if they don’t like sports.

SUPERIOR SEX.

There is no superior sex

If men were the superior sex

They would tell ladies that if you swallowedjizz

You’d loose 10lbs

If women were the superior sex

They’d bottle up all the hope in a mans eyes

When you talk about blow jobs

And just place it in a jar.

Just unleash it like fairy dust

Or whatever they use to make Disney world so magical.

SECTION I

2. ARTISTIC INTEGRITY.

3. Brother is a nerd

5. NERDS

7. Valuing yourself for your intellect is no different than valuing yourself for your looks

10. Put you down for not knowing things

11. Ask about things they know you don’t know

12. Have side conversations with other people who know things and laugh at a person not knowing

13. Act like your like you’re stupid b/c they had certain training without talking to you

14.

15.

16. They don’t value.

17. Having athletic ability

18. Knowing about pop culture

19. Being able to socialize

20. Being able to build things in a blue collar way

21. Having a work ethic that doesn’t require “difficult” mental tasks

22. Being kind to people who don’t have influence

23.

24.

25. Things they do.

26. Being lauded for smart achievements

27. Knowing things in their field

28. Knowing niche culture things

29. Not caring if they are cool (but caring)

30.

31.

32. Things they get pissed off on.

33. If you don’t validate their knowledge

34. Making fun in anyway way

35.

36.

37. The kardashians of education.

38. Look at all this intelligence just look at it.

39.

40.

41. Reformed

42. Married a wife who dragged him away from his home base of friends

43.

44. Double down

45. Always ready to quiz you on arbitrary topics

46. Like doughnuts

47.

48. Dabbling

49. Until you hit a point of their area of expertise

50.

51. Professor

52. Debates and bows out when they loose

(The only thing we have in common is our insane parents. He doesn’t like religion I love it)

0 notes

sinceileftyoublog · 5 years

Text

Live Picks: 7/31

Nilüfer Yanya; Photo by Molly Daniel

BY JORDAN MAINZER

A band that’s been around for almost three decades and a new artist that just might.

Spoon, Huntington Bank Pavilion

When review aggregator Metacritic came out with their top music of the 2000′s piece, the best-reviewed band was, to the surprise of many, Austin indie rockers Spoon. Unlike, say, Radiohead, Spoon didn’t have any singular masterpiece (though Kill the Moonlight comes close). Rather, they were remarkably consistent, releasing four terrific albums that decade. Almost ten years and three albums later, and Spoon is taking a look back at their past two decades with Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon, a greatest hits compilation. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: Spoon doesn’t have any “hits” in the traditional sense. But they do have songs popular enough for presidential candidates to use to pander to millennials. More importantly, they have great songs and a diverse catalog, so in that sense, they’re ideal for a “starting point” retrospective that could win them new fans.

Likewise, in assembling the track list, lead singer Britt Daniel opted for songs that illustrate the band’s change and growth over the years. The title track and Moonlight’s “The Way We Get By” showed their rock minimalism. Though the first dancey song they did was probably Moonlight’s “Stay Don’t Go”, the band opts for Gimme Fiction’s way more known “I Turn My Camera On” to lead off the entire compilation. The next track, They Want My Soul’s “Do You”, is an interesting second choice--if you knew nothing about the band and heard the first two on the compilation, you’d think Spoon were a mostly upbeat pop band. Yet, we forget how catchy all of Spoon’s songs are, and “Do You” is one of their best, the song that let you know they were truly back to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga heights after the comparatively middling Transference. Soul’s “Inside Out” is an aesthetic outlier, its twinkling synth harp contrasting with the direct gravel of Daniel’s strained scream, one of the band’s most beautiful compositions. And of course, Ga Ga represented the point at which Spoon collided the worlds of schlubby hipster stylings with a chic sound, and it’s represented by the slinky, unassuming “Don’t You Evah”, horn-laden “The Underdog”, and Motown jam “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, the last of which I’ll always point to if anybody ever again calls the band “stiff.”

Naturally, with the curation, there are some bones to pick, mostly with representation. Of the three okay to very good albums released this decade, two have one representative, which is fine. But their first two great albums also have one-song representation, which is a bit maddening. Spoon has never made a bad album or arguably a bad song, but they have too many great ones to include newer highlights over beloved older classics. As such, I’d substitute “Black Like Me”, “Jonathan Fisk”, “The Fitted Shirt”, or “My Mathematical Mind” for the meaty but unnecessary “Rent I Pay” or acoustic lightweight “I Summon You”. (Though the latter is one of Daniel’s favorite Spoon songs.) Otherwise, what else from Transference would you have included besides the dark and chugging “Got Nuffin”? And the Hot Thoughts title track is probably the best representation of what that album sounds like even if “Can I Sit Next To You” or “Do I Have To Talk You Into It” are better songs.

Spoon embrace the tradition of closing a greatest hits compilation with a new song, “No Bullets Spent”. Appropriately, it’s not an entirely new direction, since you’ve come to expect a little studio experimentation even if not exactly what you’ve heard from them before. But it does combine the pop vocal effects of their post-Soul sound with the new wave minimalism of their first couple releases. “What we need is an accident / No one to blame, and no bullets spent,” Daniel repeats, trying to figure out the best way to overthrow an oppressive master. Once an underdog, always an underdog, I guess.

Album score: 7.5/10

The inimitable Beck & Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant co-headline. Psych pop band Wild Belle also opens.

Nilüfer Yanya, Sleeping Village

When I first saw the credits for Miss Universe, the long-awaited debut album from British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and composer Nilüfer Yanya, I thought it would be a case of too many cooks: There are nine different producers on the record (though no more than two on each song). Fortunately, the vision is singularly Yanya’s. Her malleable sense of composition and performance allows her to take even songs she wrote when she was 14 or 15 and make them totally new.

Miss Universe is, first and foremost, an impressive debut because it follows a high-level narrative that would be shaky in lesser hands. Centering around feelings of anxiety, isolation, and our constant desire for perhaps unattainable self-improvement, the record starts with “WWAY HEALTH™”, one of a few spoken tracks whose voice adopts the style of a company’s automated messaging machine. (In the world of the album, the full name of the company is “We Worry About Your Health”.) We know well that our options for what’s going on in our lives cannot be boiled down to cut-and-dry call center options a robot can solve, and so the world presented here to us, led by the album’s titular character, is disquieting. Fortunately, in contrast, Yanya lives in the imperfections. Her voice sways between creaky falsetto and deep deadpan in the charging, synth-washed “In Your Head”; during the verses, it’s layered with slight delay. She employs a similar style on standout “Baby Blu”, which combines elements of quiet storm with a steady drum beat. “Don’t tell me the truth / Tell me it’s alright,” Yanya begs of someone, perhaps a customer of the fictional company from the first track, but portraying her position of doubt as desirable because she’s actually feeling something. Similarly, the looseness of the music--the saxophone-soaked finger snaps of “Paradise”, grungy rhythm guitar and arpeggio electric of “Paralysed”, rushes of sparkling synthesizer on “Safety Net”--gives off an aura of rawness.

Miss Universe is filled with anthems for the flawed. “What a mess I’ll be,” Yanya repeats on the propulsive “Heat Rises”. “I hope you melt on the way back to your place,” she seethes at someone on “Melt”. “They all say I’m not okay / Such a shame, never felt so good,” she quips on “Monsters Under the Bed” before a climactic moment, repeatedly singing, “The feeling’s...good!”, increasing in volume with the thump of a drum beat that could just as well be her hitting her guitar. (You envision her experiencing exactly what she’s singing about.) And the wonderful “Angels” references an ambiguous experience so great it’s causing angels to nose-dive from the sky in jealousy of the earth dwellers, the most provocative image on the album.

While the glitchiness of the penultimate “automated response” track, “Give Up Function”, is perhaps meant to exude nervousness, its presented choices of “please give up or try again” are, really, the only choices any of us have. This makes album closer “Heavyweight Champion of the Year” so moving. The track’s about Yanya struggling to realize when she’s reached limits within herself, basically when to make the choice laid out in the previous track. What she does know is that the idea behind the title character, which reads like the crown of a fucked-up beauty pageant, is a non-existent entity, and the album’s thankfully filled with sly paeans to such a non-existence.

Album score: 8.3/10

Miss Universe by Nilufer Yanya

Pixx (singer-songwriter Hannah Rodgers) opens. Yanya also does a free in-store performance and singing at Shuga Records at 7:30 P.M.

Judah Friedlander, Hideout

For the majority of Judah Friedlander’s 2017 Netflix stand-up special America is the Greatest Country in the United States, he pretends he’s running for President and engages the audience on hot-button issues with the pretense of patriotism so absurd it constantly contradicts itself. The result is a set of clever, deadpan jokes, often one-liners and quick-thinking crowd-work, that brilliantly dissect the current political climate by, well, appearing a bit too close to it. It appears that two years later, Friedlander’s found a format that works on a night-by-night basis, allowing him to establish a base of responses to predictable audience answers while riffing on individual idiosyncrasies. His current tour, the Future President 2019 tour, purportedly has “new material.” Of course it does: The news gets more and more Kafkaesque every single day. Somebody’s gotta make us both get off our asses and laugh.

Political comedian Arish Singh opens.

0 notes

thoughtsicantshare · 7 years

Text

Update on my life

2/17/17

Hey guys!

So it’s been a pretty long time since my last post. I’ve noticed that this will be the third post labeled ‘update’ so obvi I’m very original.

But where am I now?

School: I’m loving school. I dropped Bio and decided that I just really do not want to be a science major. It was extremely hard coming to this decision, but I’m SO happy now. I’m taking a couple less credits bc basically EVERY class I wanted to take was full, so I feel like I’m slacking. The goal was to take at least 16 or 17 credits each semester, but that just wasn’t happening this time around. I’m taking 3 psych classes now: Adolescent Psych; Pscyh of Alcohol and Substance Abuse; and Reading and Writing about Psych. I’m really enjoying the adolescent and drugs and alcohol psychs. They’re both really interesting and my professors are really great. For the alcohol and drug class, we have to attend 2 meetings. They could be AA meetings or NA meetings or any other addiction based meetings. I went to my first one last week and it was awesome. The people were so nice and welcoming. It wasn’t much like I expected, but it wasn’t anything insanely different. I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to go to the next one. Last night I actually sat in on a grad level psych class. IT WAS AWESOME!!! My favorite psych professor from last semester reached grad classes at another college near by and asked if I’d like to sit in. Of course I jumped on the opportunity. Idk why, but going to that class honestly made me love psych so much more. I whole heartedly believe this is what I want to do career wise. I can see myself in this field so clearly. The second I left last night I wanted to go to another one. So, I’ll most likely continue on the psych track w my major. I have to talk to the academic advisor about double majoring and majoring/ minoring bc I have the ability to do that as a psych major. Work: I don’t think I mentioned this, but I work in retail. I hate retail, but who doesn’t. I’m not working too many hours because of school and because there just really aren’t that many hours available at my job rn. I love most of my coworkers, but I really think I want to leave. I really want to see if I can get some kind of job in a day care center or something revolving more toward my field. I know I’m only a freshman, but I really want to get a head start in things pertaining more to what I would want to do in the future. I’m still helping my mom babysit here and there when I can and I took on a little tutoring job on the side.

Friends: I love all my friends rn. The people I’ve met at school are honestly so incredible. Idk how I go so lucky, but I’m glad that I did. I’m still making new friends- I talk to someone new almost every day- but I have my core group too. One of my friend’s is going through a lot rn with medical issues and we’re really nervous it’s going to be something serious. So, I’m just trying to help her remain calm till test results come back and we know for sure what is happening. No matter what, Ik she’ll get through anything.

Theres this new kid I became friends with in the last month. He’s really sweet, but a little overbearing. We have a morning class together, the same break and then the same afternoon class together. So, we’ve been spending a good amount of time together recently. It’s nice to have a friend w me, but I used to LOVE that gap time to be alone. I would get lots of work done, or have breakfast, or nap. It was just a me time. But now he stays w me. Most of the time I don’t mind, but recently I’ve just been super annoyed w him. Like I said, he’s a bit overbearing. For instance, the other day I was exhausted and in a bad mood. I just wanted to take a little nap in the library and not do work for a little while. He came to hang out with me for the gap and I told him dude I don’t wanna do anything. I don’t even wanna talk. He talked the entire time. And just repeated the same things over about school and our assignments. I wanted to scream.

But a couple of us are thinking that he might have a little crush on me. I hope he doesn’t. Idk how I’d handle telling him no if he ever tried anything. I don’t think it’s anything major if he is crushing. But yeah, I’m praying that I’m over analyzing it.

Love: As we know, I have a super crush on one of my friends. BUT, we’re getting over it. We’re honestly really good friends. Before I liked him, we were friends only. Recently, we’ve been together a lot and its always just a good time. He’s probably 1 of the 2 people I’m closest with at school. An Ik, you’re probably thinking “ oh this is just bc you like him” but I promise, we are just friends. I found a bunch of tuff out about him. As I said, we’ve been spending a lot of time together so we’ve been getting to know each other a lot more. We basically have a “no boundaries” policy. Unless we really don’t want to talk about something, we put everything out on the table. It’s really nice having that kind of relationship with someone else. I can say or ask whatever I want and 9 out of 10 times, he’ll answer it honestly and bluntly. No boundaries. Of course, there are certain things we try to keep private. We also have a “I’m serious I don’t want to talk about it” policy. So if one of us says that we genuinely don’t wanna talk about it, we don’t. For a while I really thought he did like me. There were so many signs that pointed to that but now I really don’t think so. Maybe there was something there, even if it was little, but I’ve decided to get over him. It sucks so much. I’ll always have those “what if” questions-- what if I just told him; what if he does actually like me and is unsure about how I feel; what if we could actually be something great and I’m giving up too early? These stupid questions keep fucking me up. I’m extremely annoyed w myself bc I fucking cried over him. I never let boys get me that upset, but I let him. I think that’s what’s really bugging me too. For a week or 2 I was super upset, questioning everything about me. And that made me so mad. I’m strong, independent, and confident. I know my self worth! So why was a letting a stupid boy make me cry and question everything I believed about myself?

But I think for now, it’s best we just stay friends. It’s hard but I am getting over him. Slowly. When we hang out now, I don’t crave him as much as I used to. I don’t crave his attention as much. If he mentions other girls, I don’t get as jealous. I know I’ll always care for him, and I’ll probably always wonder if we could’ve been something great. But if it’s meant to be, then one day it will.

But over all, I’m real happy! I’m loving my school still, loving my classes, and loving my friends. Every day is extremely jam packed, so I’m constantly on the go. But I’m loving it!

#journal

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