disco elysium like game where you're jaime in the riverlands
BRIENNE, MAID OF TARTH- Ser Jaime?
EMPATHY [challenging: success]- She trusts you. Enough to call you Jaime. When was the last time someone called you by your name?
ESPRIT DES CHEVALIERS [medium: success]- SER Jaime. Can you be more than the Kingslayer?
BRIENNE, THE MAID OF TARTH: Ser?
EMPATHY [trivial: failure]- Even in soiled pink satin and torn lace, she looks more like a man in a gown than a proper woman.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [trivial: success]- WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?? YOU WANTED HER, YOU WENT AND GOT HER, BABY!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!
DRAMA [legendary:failure]- Are you into that sort of thing, sire? What would your sister think?
BRIENNE, THE MAID OF TARTH: I am grateful, but…
EMPATHY [formidable: success]- She hesitates. She is not used to kindness.
VOLITION [formidable: failure]- The world isn’t kind. She ought not get used to kindness.
DAMAGED MORALE -1
BRIENNE, THE MAID OF TARTH: You were well away. Why come back?
SHIVERS [godly: success] EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO HARRENHAL. YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT.
EMPATHY: [medium: success]- How could you not?
ESPRIT DES CHEVALIERS [legendary: success]- You saw her, standing against the darkness with a flaming sword, and called her a fellow knight.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [trivial: failure]- SHE WAS NAKED IN THE DREAM!
COMPOSURE: [trivial: failure]- Which could mean nothing. Don’t worry about it.
DRAMA: [medium: success]- Sire, you cannot let her know you care about her. At all. Lord Tywin’s son and heir does not jump into bear pits out of sentimentality.
1. Ransom money is always a worthwhile hustle.
2. [Esprit Des Chevaliers- Medium 8] Knights rescue maidens.
3. For the glory of House Lannister, of course.
4. I am in love with you because you are my narrative foil and we are going to restore knighthood to glory with our matching oathkeeper swords.
5. [Drama- Trivial 3]- Come up with the perfect insult to remind her that the world is as unkind as you are and belief otherwise is simply naive.
HIGH- 83%
+1 Internalized Lannister Ideology.
+1 It’s what she expects from you.
-1 Told her about Aerys.
-1 Bi-Sexual Underground.
-1 You dreamed of her.
⚀⚀
CHECK FAILURE
YOU- A dozen quips come to mind, each crueler than the last, but nothing comes out.
COMPOSURE [godlike: failure] You can only shrug at the other knight.
76,4% Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue - Whatta Man #134 - 15,1%
76,3% Johnny Cash - Hurt #81 - 35,6% *
76,3% Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside #92 - 8.2%
76,3% The Offspring - Gone Away #143 - 5,9%
76,3% The Longest Johns - Hoist Up The Thing #169 - 7,8%
76% Foo Fighters - The Pretender #111 - 14,2%
75,9% Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows #87 - 12,9%
75,7% Nothing but Thieves - Is Everybody Going Crazy? #113 - 3,7%
75,5% Tarkan - Şımarık #94 - 3.1%
75,4% Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire #188 - 8,8%
75,2% Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) #147 - 14,2%
74,9% Måneskin - Off My Face #151 - 7,9%
74,8% Måneskin - Zitti e Buoni #16 - 33% *
74,6% Nat King Cole - Nature Boy #09 - 7,2%
74,6% Within Temptation - Stand My Ground #165 - 6,4%74,6% Pink - Who Knew #166 - 8,4%
66,7% The Hives - Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones #58 - 2,7%
66,3% System of a Down - B.Y.O.B. #128 - 26,2% *
66% Texas - Summer Son #154 - 2,6%
65,8% Cliff Edwards - When You Wish Upon a Star #85 - 2,2%
65,7% Modern Talking - Brother Louie #50 - 4%
65,7% Ivan Campo - Dice Man #181 - 1,2%
65,4% Harry McClintock - The Big Rock Candy Mountains #131 - 6,7%
65,2% Eimear Quinn - The Voice #32 - 2,5%
65,2% 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman - California Love #121 - 8,3%
65,2% Radio Company - Drowning #172 - 2,2%
64,7% Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch #162 - 9%
64,6% Gorillaz - Stylo #61 - 15,8%
64,6% Duran Duran - The Chauffeur #133 - 7,1%
64,4% Alice Cooper - Poison #01 - 10,5%
64,4% Depeche Mode - It's No Good #101 - 9,1%
We've just hours to go before signups close for the 2024 FTH auction. In the history of FTH we've only had one fandom ever break 100 signups in a single auction — MCU had 100+ signups in 2020. Right this minute, however, we're only 3 signups away from having a second fandom crack that number. K-pop is RIGHT ON THE EDGE. Will you help it make it across that line? Or sign up for another fandom and bump them up the list? There's still time. Do the thing!
At the top of our listed fandom leaderboard, we have the top ten:
97 K-Pop *
83 Good Omens
55 Sherlock Holmes *
47 Harry Potter *
46 Marvel *
39 Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed
37 DC *
35 Avatar The Last Airbender
30 Star Wars *
29 Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
And falling out of the top ten (by just one signup) -
28 Red, White, & Royal Blue
Beyond that, we have several ties for various places -
5 Alex Rider, Arcane, Interview With The Vampire, Legend of Zelda, Nirvana in Fire, The Owl House, Pokemon, Witch Hat Atelier
4 Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun (The Husky & His White Cat Shizun), Hunger Games, Les Misérables, The Magicians, Miraculous Ladybug, Trigun, Welcome to Night Vale
3 Disney's Descendants, Elder Scrolls, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Gundam Wing, Hetalia, Leverage, Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Spy x Family, Super Mario Bros., Tian Ya Ke / Word of Honor, Wheel of Time, Young Royals
2 Benoit Blanc Mysteries (Knives Out, Glass Onion), Bleach, Disco Elysium, Encanto, Homestuck, The Last of Us, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Schitt's Creek
1 Assassin's Creed, Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, Diamond no Ace, Goncharov (1973), Stellar Firma, Wednesday / The Addams Family
Signups are STILL open. There are just hours to go. Wanna help set records? Do the thing!
Why? I thought it would be fun. Also I realized that I have 52 GuyLobo AUs and thought this would be a fun time to show them off.
As always Day 1 starts on February 16th. The event will run from 2/16-2/22 ending on my birthday. As always tag with guyloboweek or @ me.
Leading up to the event I'm going to be showcasing my AUs each day so that everyone can get a feel for them if they don't want to come up with their own AUs. Under the cut will be the full typed list of them and the unedited map of the GuyLobo Verse
EDIT: guylobo week is going to be postponed due to the global strike happening from February 18th through the 25th. the new dates for guylobo week is March 11th through March 17th. aka the guylobo anniversary.
Earth 13: Official Magic Guys earth
Earth 18: Official Justice Riders earth
Earth 26: Official home of Captain Carrot
Earth 27: Official home of the Jurassic League
Earth 47: Official home of the Love Syndicate
Earth 69: Leather Wolf/Leather Bunny
Earth 83: DnD Party AU
Earth 96: MLP AU
Earth 102: Cats AU
Earth 108: Flamingos AU
Earth 118: Muppets AU
Earth 134: Raising Arizona AU
Earth 148: Mamma Mia AU
Earth 156: The Nice Guys AU
Earth 205: Wrestling AU
Earth 221: LoZ BotW Princess!Lobo AU
Earth 222: LoZ BotW Zora!Lobo AU
Earth 223: LoZ BotW Ganon!Lobo AU
Earth 246: Bounty Hunters AU
Earth 247: Disco Elysium Parody
Earth 301: Ancient Greece AU
Earth 310: Buddy Thunderstruck AU
Earth 383: Pokemon AU
Earth 476: Knights/Medieval AU
Earth 506: Crabs AU
Earth 512: Fantasy Life AU
Earth 530: Mermay AU
Earth 566: Adventure Time AU
Earth 616: Venom AU
Earth 724: The Littlest Pet Shop AU
Earth 747: Raising Rip AU
Earth 843: Splatoon AU
Earth 942: Divorce Wars
Earth 1031: Halloween AU
Earth 1207: Star Trek AU
Earth 1225: The Nutcracker AU
Earth 1350: Lego AU
Earth 1441: Animal Crossing AU
Earth 1756: The Bastard and the Beast
Earth 1875: Old Man Guy AU
Earth 1952: Ducktales AU
Earth 1989: Teachers AU
Earth 1999: Neopets AU
Earth 2007: High School AU
Earth 2191: Cadet Courage AU
Earth 5475: Sentai AU
Earth 8248: The Borrowers AU
Earth 8410: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt AU
Earth 45827: Green Lantern the Animated Series AU
Earth 46773: Centaurs AU
Earth 228269: Catboys AU
Earth 437125: My Main DC AU
The official DC multiverse map section with the earths I'm using accidentally got deleted while I was making the big image so no copy of that but the relevant earths are completely in frame so...
Storia Di Musica #294 - Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Se in un ipotetico cruciverba la definizione chiedesse: Famoso gruppo rock scozzese degli anni '80 (10 lettere) la risposta è una sola. Simple Minds. Tutto comincia a Glasgow quando tre ragazzi, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill e Brian McGee fondano nel febbraio del 1977 un gruppo a tre, Johnny & The Self Abusers, nome in pieno stile punk. Pubblicano anche un singolo, Saints & Sinners / Dead Van Dals, ma l'insuccesso li porta a sciogliere il gruppo. Un anno più tardi ci riprovano, ma scelgono come nome Simple Minds, partendo da un verso di The Jean Genie di David Bowie, He's so simple-minded, he can't drive his module. Si uniscono le tastiere di Michael McNeil e il basso di Derek Forber, e firmano con la Zoom Records, una etichetta in orbita Arista. Suonano come gruppo di apertura a diverse band, come Siouxsie & The Banshees, gli Ultravox di Midge Ure, e pubblicano il primo disco, nel 1979, Life In A Day, dalla stupenda copertina. Vivono in maniera turbinosa il passaggio dalla scarna dimensione del punk all'arrivo imperioso dell'elettronica e della new wave. Nello stesso anno, desiderosi di fare grandi cose, pubblicano Real To Real Cacophony, un disco che vira con violenza verso l'elettronica, con atmosfere quasi spettrali e in vena di sperimentazione. Le vendite scarseggiano, e l'Arista concede un ultimo tentativo: Empires And Dance nel 1980 è un interessante incrocio tra Krafwerk e Joy Division, con canzoni che hanno un potere magnetico come Celebrate, ma nemmeno stavolta arrivano vendite, nonostante la critica apprezzi tantissimo il disco. Si dividono dalla Arista e firmano con la Virgin, ed iniziano con il botto: originariamente infatti pubblicano un doppio album, composto da due album separati, che la casa discografica prontamente vende separatamente, Sons & Fascination e Sister Feelings Call (1981), con Steve Hillage dei Gong in produzione, sono il primo tentativo organico di dare forma alle ritmica mai banali, alla chitarra ieratica di Burchill e a indirizzare meglio la appassionata e versatile voce di Kerr. Finalmente le vendite arrivano e gli album sfiorano la Top Ten degli album più venduti. Ma c'è il primo abbandono: McGee se ne va, e per un certo periodo c'è una rotazione di batteristi finchè, dopo un lungo tour, viene ingaggiato il batterista Mel Gaynor, formidabile, che subito viene mandato in studio per registrare del nuovo materiale.
Ciò che ne viene fuori, abbassata la tensione personale e ritrovato un approccio più spirituale alla composizione, parole di Jim Kerr, è il tanto atteso capolavoro. In regia c'è un giovanissimo Peter Walsh, che a 21 anni aveva lavorato con gli Heaven 17 e a 22 aiuta la band scozzese a produrre un disco che nelle atmosfere generali è sofisticato, etereo ma ricco di vibrazioni intense, suonato benissimo e che ha canzoni meravigliose al suo interno. Il titolo viene in mente alla Band durante un tour in Australia, nel 1981, in cui il promoter oceanico chiedeva se volevano già preparare un tour nel 1983 e 1984: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Il primo singolo è Promised You a Miracle, con il meraviglioso lavoro del basso di McNeil e il riff accattivante di Burchill, con un inaspettato ritmo funk, e con questa canzone debuttano persino in Tv nella storica trasmissione della BBC Top Of The Pops. Il disco ha canzoni che sono diventate famosissime: Someone Somewhere In Summertime, dall'atmosfera sognante e la ritmica innovativa, Glittering Prize che divenne una hit anche per il fantasioso video girato in uan camera tutta dipinta d'oro, canzone che come poche tra l'altro racconta la new wave degli anni '80 nelle sue tastiere a tappeto e nel beat elettronico. Del tocco elettronico dei primi dischi rimane solo Big Sleep, in una mutazione che trova però un perfetto equilibrio in musicalità e diventerà una sorta di pietra di paragone per qualche anno. C'è persino uno strumentale, Somebody Up There Likes You, nella meravigliosa Hunter And The Hunted c'è persino la leggenda del jazz Herbie Hancock a suonare un assolo al sintetizzatore, e New Gold Dreams (81-82-83-84) con il suo andare a salire diventerà una hit e un inno da stadio, anticipando il suono elettronico dei Depeche Mode. Il successo di critica e vendite è altissimo, tanto che la band sfrutta l'onda e pubblica nello stesso anno Sparkle In The Rain. Chiama a produrre uno dei nomi del momento, Steve Lillywhite, che aveva prodotto gli XTC e i primi tre dischi degli U2, per un suono più leggero ma che ha un alone di ruvidezza.
Nel 1985, Once Upon A Time diviene uno dei pochi dischi di grande successo più criticato dai fan. Il tutto perchè la band decide di fare una cover di Keith Forsey, Don't You (Forget About Me), che diviene una hit mondiale come colonna sonora del film Breakfast Club (canzone in primo momento rifiutata da Brian Ferry) e ritenuta troppo "pop commerciale". In tutta risposta, la Band è una delle colonne del Live Aid, con piena sorpresa di chi li aveva conosciuti come avanguardia nel 1980. Rimane tuttavia uno zoccolo duro di appassionati, tanto che hanno un record invidiabile di ben 21 singoli in classifica fino al 1998, anno in cui dedicheranno un disco a Napoli, Neapolis. I Simple Minds hanno avuto un percorso musicale del tutto particolare, e il loro ricordo è minore rispetto ad altri gruppi del periodo anche per scelte personali che li allontanarono dal pubblico (dopo Once Upon A Time, si presero una pausa di 4 anni per far uscire Street Fighting Years, che contiene due grandi inni della loro antologia, The Belfast Child e Mandela Day). Ancora oggi suonano, pubblicano canzoni e fanno concerti, probabilmente con poche nuove cosa da proporre, ma con una sfilza di canzoni inni che molti ancora ricordano, declamati tra l'altro con il meraviglioso accento di Glasgow di Kerr, che chiama propriamente la sua band Simple Mains.
give me more ford in 70s and 80s-era workout outfits
gimme ford taking a morning jog through the woods in the brisk Oregon dawn wearing nothing but too-short metallic gold running shorts shorts and a cropped sleeveless jersey for the Backupsmore Aardvarks that he just never had the heart to throw out (in fact he cropped it himself when the bottom started fraying)
i want to see ford getting into roller disco because "it's an excellent way to stay in shape, Fiddleford" wearing nothing but an open hawaiian shirt and denim cutoffs, glistening with sweat under a disco ball while Earth Wind and Fire echoes through the nearly-empty roller rink, because it's Gravity Falls, how busy could their rink be?
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, hand me Ford on a silver platter wearing a hot pink leotard with aqua metallic shorts, over hotpink translucent tights, with a matching aqua headband, clapping along with "Bess Motta's 20 Minute Workout" on VHS as she encourages him in her thick Jersey accent, "Two more! One more! You got it baby! Keep that smile on!" when he feels like his heart is going to give out 14 minutes in but we're almost to the cooldown (and you know, he almost went with "Jane Fonda's Step Aerobics" today, but he didn't feel like sitting through the rewind, and also no one keeps you motivated like good ol' Bess Motta) AND I KNOW BESS MOTTA'S SERIES DIDN'T RELEASE UNTIL JUNE OF '83 BUT IF THE SHOW IS ALLOWED TO PLAY FAST AND LOOSE WITH ITS TIMELINE, SO AM I-
In Defense of Jerry Lewis
— by Mark Simpson for Out Magazine, 2009
Forget hair whorls, genomes, amniotic fluid, older brothers, domineering mothers, or disco. I can reveal with absolute certainty the cause of my homosexuality in just two words. Jerry. Lewis. As a kid in the 1970s, I watched reruns of his movies—especially the ones from the early 50s with his on-screen boyfriend Dean Martin—with a level of breathless excitement that nothing else came close to until I discovered buggery in the 1980s. Films like Money From Home (1953), where he pins Martin to the bed wearing a pair of polka-dot shorts campier than Christmas in West Hollywood, and Sailor Beware (1952), where he is pricked by several burly Navy medics wielding ever-bigger needles until he squirts liquid in all directions and faints, made me the man I am today.
In February, after a lifetime of being ignored by a cross-armed Academy Awards committee that never gave him so much as a nomination when he was making movies, Lewis finally got an Oscar. But not for his charming films with Dean Martin or his solo classics such as The Disorderly Orderly—in which, memorably, he happily Hoovers with the appliance plugged up his own ass—but for his fund-raising for muscular dystrophy. Its a charity Oscar in every sense. Lewis is 83 and has been unwell for some time. The Hollywood gays, though, are Not Happy. They have a Hoover up their ass about Lewis. Some tried to block his Oscar because this ill old man, born in 1926, almost used the word faggot last year after hosting a 12-hour telethon. In effect, the gays are running down the street screaming Ma-a-a! Likewise, because he isn’t gay himself and because his nerdy, sissy persona has been deemed exploitative.
Lewis has been almost completely spurned by queer studies, when really he should have his own department. Certainly, though, his films should be set texts. But it was in his anarchic, early-50s TV shows with Martin that the 20-something Lewis was at his queerest and giddiest. Their heads were so close together in those tiny 50s cathode-ray tubes—gazing into each others eyes, rubbing noses, occasionally stealing kisses or licking each others neck to shrieks of scandalized pleasure from the audience. They were a prime-time study in same-sex love. And they were adored for it—literally chased down the street by crowds of screaming women and not a few men.
Their very first TV show opens with our boys arriving at a posh ball, full of Waspy straight couples being announced: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cordney! Mr. and Mrs. Walter Christiandom! And then: Mr. Dean Martin and Mr. Jerry Lewis! The Dago and the Jew same-sex couple. Setting the tone for their series, Lewis promptly trashes the place. The Martin and Lewis partnership was queer punk rock before even rock n roll had been invented. It trashed normality right in the living rooms of 1950s America, courtesy of Colgate. No wonder they’ve almost been forgotten. They should never have existed. True, the explicitness of their pairing depended on the official innocence of the times and perhaps a nostalgia for buddydom in postwar America, which allowed the audience to enjoy the outrageous queerness of what was going on without having to think too much about it. Literally, to laugh it off. But official innocence is a mischievous comedians gift horse.
A skit depicting the (fictional) meeting of Martin and Lewis—or Ethel and Shirley, as they called each other—climaxes with them being trapped in the closet together: pushed together mouth to mouth, crotch to crotch. In another skit our boys end up sharing a bed with Burt Lancaster, playing an escaped homicidal maniac. Boy, Dean, these one-night stands are moider! says Lewis. Moider was exactly what they got away with. In a skit set in prison, Jerry’s bunk collapses on Martin below. What are you doing? asks Martin. I felt lonesome, replies Lewis.
Lewis’ on-screen queerness may have been just a phase, but what a phase! It was so unruly, so indefinable, so crazy, so ticklish, so exhilarating that gays—and probably most people today—don’t really know what to do with it. It’s a bit scary, really. But that—in addition to the fact that it’s still piss-your-pants funny—is precisely what is so great about it. [And] why I still think Jerry Lewis is at least as much fun as sodomy.
i got tagged by @catboymisogynist and ty!!! it turns out i’m wearing my NO shirt on the right day-
1. How long have you been a New Order fan? i know it started after watching 24 hour party people in 2019 but i don’t think i really sat down and listened to an album until 2020
2. How many New Order concerts have you been to? sadly zero. maybe one day i will when i can get fix my fate
3. What was your favourite New Order gig? i absolutely love one of their very early tv performances in 1981 on Granada television in Manchester. i’ll add the link at the bottom cause it’s worth watching i promise
4. What is your fav New Order album? i always say PC&L and i still can’t refute it
5. Fav New Order song? judging by my most played tracks it’s Mr Disco but in my heart it’s Touched by the Hand of God
6. Favourite Member of New Order? giving a shoutout to Stephen for being there since the beginning and still remaining sane after all these years
7. Favourite Former Member of New Order? can i just say peter hook was kind okay during the 80s period so i guess i’ll say like 1983 hooky
8. How many NO albums do you own? currently i have 4(?) cds though ive had more in the past - a few were passed to other peeps
9. Do you own any Joy Division? still searching for a copy of Closer but ive got Unknown Pleasures and a Best Of cd
10. Least Favourite album? ngl, Waiting for the Sirens’ Call 🤷♀️
11. Do you have all the side project albums? definitely not because hooky’s band/thing from the 90s doesn’t appeal to me and Electronic + The Other Two stuff is so rare in the wild rip
12. Which is your favourite side project Electronic is my: babygirlmybelovedmybestfriendmyonetruelovethebestofbothworldsilovethemwithallmyheartandsoul
13. Favourite remix? The ‘90 Confusion mixes are honestly better than the ‘83 original to me
14. Favourite video? Touched by the Hand of God
15. Favourite cover? CHIRS LOWE DOES SUBCULTURE aka thank you Stop Modernists ur amazing
16. Should Hooky rejoin the band? fuck no
17. Do you like Barney’s dancing and fav dance moves? yes and whenever he spins in some way
18. How many times a day do you listen to NO? not as much as i used to but at least two separate times a day is set aside for NO listening
19. Is New Order your favourite band? unfortunately i suffer from a crippling addiction to the pet shop boys which hinders my full capacity to have them be my favourite and yes please pray for me
20. Should Steve audition for Dr. Who? id give him money to yes
21. Favourite Barney collaboration? i always think about him producing some things for the happy mondays which means he was practically a babysitter for strung out late 20yr olds which is something we should never forget
i just want to tag @blue-dreamers-eyes because i know you’ll have very interesting thoughts on this and you're a more dedicated fan than me by this point
lastly the Granada tv performance: https://youtu.be/48E74Lun7kA?si=G18zQK330C2jP5VA
83-Year-Old Ann-Margret Refuses To Give Up Her Harley.
Ann-Margret has a long list of prestigious accolades, but she's just a biker at heart.
Photo: Ann-Margret cruising on a chopper in 1971
Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer. She has won five Golden Globe Awards and been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and six Emmy Awards, winning in 2010 for a guest role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
She is known for her roles in Pocketful of Miracles (1961), State Fair (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Viva Las Vegas (1964), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Train Robbers (1973), Tommy (1975), Magic (1978), The Villain (1979), The Return of the Soldier (1982), Who Will Love My Children? (1983), 52 Pick-Up (1986), Newsies (1992), Grumpy Old Men (1993), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Any Given Sunday (1999), Taxi (2004), The Break-Up (2006) and Going in Style (2017).
Her singing and acting careers span seven decades, starting in 1961. Initially, she was billed as a female version of Elvis Presley. She has a sultry, vibrant contralto voice. She had a Top 20 hit song in 1961 and a charting album in 1964, and she scored a disco hit in 1979. She recorded a critically acclaimed gospel album in 2001 and an album of Christmas songs in 2004. In April 2023, she released her first rock album, Born to be Wild.
"I've always just looked at 100 miles as life in a day. You have all the trials and tribulations of a life in one day." - Ann Trason
I accomplished a very big thing this past weekend. It was one of the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but what a privilege it is that I was able to choose to do this hard thing.
The day started off at 8 AM along the buttery Pacific Crest Trail and winding back around Timothy Lake. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and the forest provided shade and some views of Hood through the trees. I saw Keiren around mile 7 at the first aid station and we did a little dance and hugged before I continued moving. The next 24 miles were spent listening to a throwback Thursday playlist @katherine-withak put together for me and talking with people on the trail. I went into the race with a goal of getting sub 24 hours (sub 14:24 min miles) which was ambitious but didn't feel impossible after speaking with Anna Mae. I started off conservatively, averaging 11:00-12:00 min miles, knowing that I would slow down later on in the race and also lose time at aid stations. I ended up running with a group of infectious disease docs/professors from Seattle for several miles before I landed at mile 31 to see Logan, Mom, and my uncle David again.
We spent a total of 13 minutes tending to my feet, refilling my pack, taking in some Tylenol and salt tabs, and slathering my legs in diclofenac gel before I set out again. Unfortunately, in the midst of all the chaos, I forgot my phone with Logan and couldn't listen to any more music until I saw them again at mile 57. This stretch was tougher (more ups and downs vert wise) but legs were still feeling pretty fresh and I was in good spirits. Passed a "Disco and Dad Joke" aid station, heard a few dad jokes that were just as bad as you'd expect. Saw an amazing sunset over Mount Hood National Forest. Didn't realize how low I was on water and ran out with about 4 miles to go before I saw my crew again. Made it through though and came into the mile 57 aid station at around 8:00 PM.
I was feeling much worse at this aid station. Getting ready to run for hours alone in the dark felt daunting. My feet had started to develop some nasty blisters and my shirt/sports bra were soaked with sweat from the day. I had packed a long sleeve shirt and spare sports bra, but had completely forgotten to pack a spare short sleeve shirt. My uncle David gave me the Under Armour shirt off of his back and it made all the difference having dry clothes on. We slathered my legs in diclofenac gel again, popped two Tylenol, filled up my bag with all the caffeinated things, and I set out into the night.
Miles 57-83 consisted of me going through most of the aid stations again (this part was an out and back). The climbs were hard. I was very tired, mentally and physically, and had been up for almost 24 hours at this point. I started getting paranoid about mountain lions following me while I was alone in the dark. Every shadow scared me. Every time my life hit a reflector on a course marking, my heart skipped. But another playlist that Kat made me got me through it and I kept repeating the mantra that Alli told me before the race- "It's not always. It's just right now." I said this to myself over and over and over.
By the time I got into the mile 83 aid station, I was still 40 minutes ahead of schedule for my sub 24 hour goal. Mom, Uncle David, and Logan were pretty dialed at this point, lightened my pack for the last 18 miles. Crew was very limited and so many of my friends couldn't be there in person. Logan showed me videos they all created to encourage me - Claire, Mindy, Kirsten, Alli, Dani, Kat, Tay, Bronwyn, Alex, Anne Mae. So much support, so much love. It was completely overwhelming. I was finally able to pick up Keiren at this time to pace me. She was so encouraging, distracting me with stories about her time in the Alps this past month and holding me steady as I went uphill. I had knots in my right calf and left quad that wouldn't go away and every step uphill hurt badly.
Once the sun came up, I got a little bit of a second wind and saw the end was so close. I thought rocks on the trail were potato sacks. I told Keiren that I missed malls because they're so nostalgic. I'm sure I said other very silly things.
I heard the screams at the finish line and ran as fast as I could down the hill, trying to hold it together until I crossed at a time of 23:44. As soon as I did, I broke down crying, hugging Logan and my family so tight. I hugged the race directors, who handed me my sub 24 hour buckle. I hugged Keiren, who was also crying.
I think the most overwhelming part of running 100 miles is how many people were willing to help me get there. Running 100 miles is innately very selfish. Time is suspended and you are solely focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Not to mention the time it takes to train for one. Friends modified their schedules to get in miles with me. They sent me care packages and encouraging messages. My family flew across the country and spent 2-3 days helping me prep for and complete a 100 mile race, all while sleep deprived and jet lagged. Logan made dinner almost every night as I put in the miles after work, walked Harper every morning because I was too tired and needed more sleep, adjusted our weekend plans around my long runs, crewed for 3 days at Wonderland while I ran around Mt. Rainier with friends. He did all of this and never expected anything in return. The most selfless, giving partner I could have ever asked for. I just feel so lucky and so loved.
I don't really know what's next for me. I'm taking a break from training for a while and just plan on doing what feels good for my body and soul. Whatever the future holds, I've taken so much away from this entire experience.
Here's a terrific collection of unmistakable disco classics from the 70s and early 80s that specifically highlights some of those years' most beloved women, be they constant forces like Donna Summer, or one-hit wonders like Cheryl Lynn.
Back in 1994, a budget imprint label under the Polygram umbrella that sought to highlight songs from bygone eras called Rebound Records launched their Disco Nights series. And in order to meet people where they were at during those mid-90s, they used some of that very popular global village coffeehouse aesthetic for their album art, trying to remind folks that in those then-current times, these tunes, from a genre that had long since died, still had plenty of juice left.
So, ultimately, this is a cheat code comp: you really can't go wrong if your release has a bunch of well-regarded hits on it. But by that same token, if you don't know anything about some of disco's greatest ladies, this also makes for a good place to start. Everything on here is undoubtedly surface level, but it's also just top-tier disco music. And none of these tracks appear to be shortened, radio-edit versions either; everything's of a pretty substantial length, although not of a super extended 12-inch variety.
And while most people will probably recognize the large bulk of these tunes, there's a couple that don't seem to be as remembered as others, like Grace Jones' "I Need a Man," which managed to top the US dance chart, but only made it to #83 on the Billboard Hot 100; and Stephanie Mills' "What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'," which topped out at #22 on the Hot 100. Neither of those songs are obscure by any means, but among this CD that's packed with absolute monsters, those two, I think, make for some of this release's lesser-known inclusions. Plus, these days people might be more familiar with Gloria Estefan's rendition of "Turn the Beat Around" too, rather than the original by Vicki Sue Robinson, but Robinson's version is the one that's on here 😊.
So, while absolutely no crate-digging went into putting this release together, it's still impossible to not enjoy over an hour's worth of these massively popular tracks, which were sung by the women whose own collective contributions helped to briefly displace rock from its throne as America's top genre.
Highlights:
Evelyn "Champagne" King - "Shame"
Donna Summer - "Heaven Knows"
Gloria Gaynor - "I Will Survive"
Alicia Bridges - "I Love the Nightlife (disco 'round)"
Yvonne Elliman - "If I Can't Have You"
Grace Jones - "I Need a Man"
Anita Ward - "Ring My Bell"
Cheryl Lynn - "Got to Be Real"
Vicki Sue Robinson - "Turn the Beat Around"
Irene Cara - "Fame"
Stephanie Mills - "What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'"
Donna Summer - "Last Dance"