#Hire Classical Duos

[duodamore]

Lake Louise Wedding Violinist Ensembles

Lake Louise Wedding Violinist Ensembles. Duo d’Amore is an award winning string ensemble, made up of professional violinists, violists and cellists. Together we have versatile string ensembles such a s solo violinists and cellists, string duos, string trios and quartets. We perform a wide variety of music including pop, Top40 and classical for weddings, special and corporate events. Whatever the…

[gattnk]

Raf and Sulfus, Sulfus and Raf.

I finally finished my AF main cast redesigns for my rewrite project! I've had these two for a while, but I didn't want to post them until the rest of the gang was also ready for some reason. Anyways, here's my design notes for the main duo:

I wanted to treat this entire project the way I would if I'd been actually hired to reboot the IP as a professional. With this in mind, I kept the designs simple enough for serialized production while also doing my best to make them "fashionable" like the original material.

The comic's motifs for both characters made me decide on the moon and star as their core design elements early on. I simplified these shapes even further to their most basic form: angels will be represented by/associated with circles, and devils with triangles.

I designed Raf with a crescent moon in mind: she's very curvy but there's still some pointiness to her shapes. Sulfus was modelled after a 5-point star instead: all points, sharp angles and straight lines.

Since both the comics and series had Raf characterized as a go-getter (she's the leader and main character), I dressed her in some casual but sporty clothes to reflect this; I envisioned her as the "speedster" of the group, someone who's quick to jump into action once a goal or "finish line" is set. This Raf likes running and jogging as much as flying, so she sports (ha!) a nice tan as well.

Sulfus is the quintessential bad boy: he listens to heavy music, rides a motorbike, his snake mascot's resting mode looks like a tattoo, he surfs lava just for fun... I took his hobbies into account more than his previous emo/scene or classic rockstar looks from the series/comic, and came up with a healthy mix of functional speed biker fashion with melodic/power metal band influences.

Raf's main colors are blue, gold and white, a high contrast to the red, grey and black colors of Sulfus. Since Raf has a bright red spot in her design, it was only fair to give Sulfus gold eyes and blueish black and grey tones in turn.

Since Raf is more romantic and very sincere, her red ladybug (symbol of luck, new beginnings and love) is very bright and eye-catching, contrasted by Sulfus' soft, cool hues. His ring-necked snake (which is much more subtle than his original green rattlesnake/coral snake) represents Sulfus' more secretive side.

I'd go into more depth about their updated personalities and backstories, but this post is long as it is :V If any of you is interested in seeing more of this pair in action, here's my AFapril comic challenge thing.

I'll Fly With You (rewrite fic) Art masterpost

[sootchild]

What's Rana's story? She seems like a classic Dnd-ish monk but in a Call of Cthulhu setting.

Out of all the character, you've asked about the one with the most drawings and the most gushing.

Rana Hassan is actually a Call of Cthulhu: Masks of Nyarlathotep investigator. She is Egyptian and a dancer by trade living in our 1920s.

IRL the game took like I think a year and a half to complete and during that time we'd have little hiatuses, and I'd go stir crazy for my game fix and would draw, and draw, and draw. Inevitably I started drawing AUs of the characters. Including a DnD AU:

In our game Rana and Everett (her eventual husband) had an antagonistic relationship.

There was a misunderstanding where Everett assumed upon meeting her at the Blue Pyramid Club that Rana was a prostitute. So she got petty and started to pick on him by hitting on him. She thought he was in on the joke and was enjoying the game, that it was just some fun courtship. Ends up he wasn't in on it and was offended that she'd play with his emotions.

So the DnD AU, Rana is hired as Everett's bodyguard as he is working on finding information on how to stop Nyarlathotep and his forces. They occasionally join up with the others on bigger quests but they stay as a duo mostly cause they can more easily get in and out of strongholds.

This isn't like strict DnD world, so the classes don't work out perfectly with like 5e or Pathfinder. I'd say that they start out at like lvl 8 together. In which case Rana starts out fully as a Monk but she soon after takes some Cleric levels with her goddess being Bastet, so she can heal Everett. In the CoC game she did make a deal with Bastet in order to give some of her own sanity to Everett because he was getting dangerously low towards the end of the game. This is also why their first borns, the triplets, are cats. As a fertility goddess, Rana's fertility was the best thing she could offer. In the case of DnD AU, it just means that their first borns will be Tabaxi.

Everett is a Wizlock so like Wizard (5) and Warlock (3), his patron is Nodens AKA "Water Daddy". Was a long running joke that Everett kept summoning his sugar daddy Eldritch entity. Everett's job in the guild is to find information about rituals and how to stop them.

Their relationship plays out similar to the original universe, except they do start out with a sexual relationship. When Rana expresses her love for Everett, he freaks out and fires her. Though a few weeks later when their own missions overlap they get back together. You can find the thumbnail comic about their fallout and reunion on my Ko-fi.

TLDR; Yeah it is basically a DnD world with a Call of Cthluhu setting.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The Harkles quest for relevance by u/alreadydoneit01

The Harkles quest for relevance The recent forum in Austin was interesting . For one, she/Archewell had to pay for it. So nobody asked her to participate. I think I realize her problem-she has nothing to back it up. She is the classic one trick pony. She has no substance, no talent to keep the interest of the masses.In today's world, you need new content, she keeps giving variation of the same thing about what happened in the bRF. YouTube creators, tiktok creators create a ton of good content or crazy content-but today's world has changed. You need new content to stay relevant. Rehashing the same thing over and over and over is not going to sell. I mean look at Jake Paul or any number of sinners on youtube.I think they know this and that is why they are pushing for reconciliation-so they can have new content. They desperately want new content. While now it is harry reached out to William , but no contact back articles are released-strategically before the Austin event, just imagine what kind of articles will be released-if William responded and said a cursory hello..I think by now, the duo know they are worthless without the BRF. For now all they have is stories from the past that they keep spinning-but to be relevant-they need new content.George pushed Archie down and called him a xyz. How racist of George. Catherine didn't let me borrow her car and I had to hire a taxi and face the paps blah, blah . Any contact and Hey Voila-new content-problem solved for the Sussexes. They are back to being relevant. I think Markles know they need new content to stay afloat and I think the BRF knows that they are viewed as content and not people for the harkles and so keeping at arms length. KCIII managed it beautifully-with him flying off in a helicopter and making it a point to release when the Harold came and left -after announcing every step of his gallant dash to see his father in the newspapers- and not giving him any royal property to stay.Until the harkles have access to the BRF again-they are left spinning their wheels spewing the same stories over and over and over again and hence will not be able to connect like they did with Oprah. Each story begins to vary a little and opens up more questions. So they have reduced themselves to content creators. What a fall! post link: https://ift.tt/n6RdTK7 author: alreadydoneit01 submitted: March 09, 2024 at 01:53AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[tiredemzz]

FIORA CARMICHAEL HCS ::

☔︎ - doesn’t remember much of her childhood, does remember that her family decided to leave her in the woods until the fish head found her.

☔︎ - vanya decided to teach Fiora about music and it made her feel comfortable and happy since Fiora would listen to classical music or rock to smooth her down since the demon herself has a bit of a anger issues.

☔︎ - her and five r the emeries to friends to lovers type duo, I love them alright?

☔︎ - probably would wear a shirt that saids ‘me and five r friends?? wat-‘ /j

☔︎ - gets along with klaus, vanya and sometimes five when he’s not a jerk lel

☔︎ - at first.. the umbrella academy members didn’t like fiona b/c they thought she was evil but as months went by.. one by one in private conversations they started to treat fiona like she was a normal person and like she was apart of the family :) (some members didn’t think she was evil like klaus and vanya -v-)

☔︎ - doesn’t really know about dolores, but pretty sure that she doesn’t wanna know about her b/c she’s none of her business lel

☔︎ - drinks rootbeer in her own time b/c she isn’t in a mood for alcohol or a margarita

☔︎ - secretly smokes cigarettes in her own time b/c she smokes when she’s tired of bullshit that’s thrown at her :p

☔︎ - she basically got her demon powers by a evil scientist that her adopted father hired to do dangerous experiments on her, she sadly died during one of the experiments and was brought back in her 13 yr old body. (so sorry if this doesn’t make any sense, she’s a work in progress. + she has more powers then her demon ones.)

☔︎ - pretty much cusses once in a while, can’t control it tho whoops

☔︎ - she secretly can shape shift and clone herself but she doesn’t show those two extra powers b/c she keeps them to herself

☔︎ - pretty much is bisexual, pronouns r she/they/her

☔︎ - doesn’t like when you yell at her, makes her upset and angry

☔︎ - doesn’t really like lila that much

☔︎ - likes to break the fourth wall >:)

☔︎ - can’t stand loud ass noises or sounds

☔︎ - loves animals sm, doesn’t like kids that much

☔︎ - can’t stand relationships or romance stuff, makes her throw up inside and makes her cringe

•

•

•

yall liked the hcs? I do too lel

what are your thoughts on Fiona? let me know in the comments lel

If you got any ideas on her, feel free to tell me :)

[kotaromita]

OOC Lore Post: KOTARO'S FRIENDS

After talking about them quite a bit here and there as Kotaro, I figured now would be a good time to do a big info-dump about my two Project Sekai OCs that server as Kotaro's friends and musical collaborators. "Kotaro's Friend" is a canon character who has 2 lines spoken to Akito regarding how Kotaro got into music, so I decided that was enough information for me to take it and run and make individuals based on it.

Introducing, Minoru Saiki and Kazuki Shimabokuro.

I'll start with Kazuki.

Kazuki Shimabokuro

2nd year, online student (17 yrs old)

170 cm tall

Born February 20th (Pisces)

An online musician who goes by the name “Kazukur0.” He makes chaotic and inconsistent music that can be described as “breakcore” or “alternative.” He utilizes Virtual Singers because he is self conscious of his nasally voice. He’s socially awkward and has a tendency to ramble on and on when given the leeway to. His younger sister creates his song cover images to post online. He has William’s syndrome.

He suffered a lot in junior high in a fashion not unlike Mizuki and Rui, which is why he does online school now that he's in high school. He has severe stage fright and admires Kotaro's bravery to perform solo a lot. He longs to be heard and admired but until he can overcome his social anxiety he will use Kotaro as both his muse and vessel.

Hobbies: Mimicking Western fashion trends, singing

Specialties: Making electronic music utilizing sound effects and the Kagamine duo’s vocals

Dislikes: Quiet

Favorite food: Takoyaki

Least favorite food: Kimchi

and through Kazuki, Kotaro meets...

Minoru Saiki

Graduate, unspecified university (19 years old)

178 cm tall

Born November 29th (Sagittarius)

A professional musician who prides himself on his ability to mimic the musical stylings of any musician exactly. He is mostly hired for classical music performances and cover bands but he is able to play most instruments and learns songs very quickly. Because of his capabilities his nickname among peers is “Shapeshifter.” He is unwilling to compromise when it comes to music. He has Jacob’s syndrome.

Due to dedicating himself to perfect recreations, he has left little room for himself to develop his own style and even his own personality. He has a makings of a talented composer but he never takes credit for anything original he creates as he doesn't want to risk being associated with something "imperfect."

Hobbies: Challenging his skills by learning incredibly difficult songs

Specialties: Translating songs from instrument to instrument

Dislikes: Change, being disagreed with

Favorite food: Fried tofu

Least favorite food: Tuna

Kazuki meets Kotaro first. Kazuki is Kotaro's fan! He didn't see RAD WEEKEND, akin to Toya and Kohane, but he's always found solace in music and came to love Kotaro and his independence and individuality rivaling his own.

He offers up his "services" making "beats" to Kotaro, who sheepishly accepts, unaccustomed to being spoken to with any sort of admiration. Rather quickly they become friends. Kotaro picks up on Kazuki's discomfort with crowds and comes to care about him in a way similar to that of an older sibling.

That's when Minoru encounters them. Minoru seeks out Kazuki, knowing him solely as his online alias. As Minoru's only pastime is dissecting music pieces. A friend of his (shockingly, Souma Miyata) oftentimes challenges him with pieces he thinks would be exceptionally difficult to recreate. Through Kotaro Arata learns of Kazuki and through Arata Souma learns of him too. Thus, he shares kazukur0 with Minoru and says "Try recreating this!"

Minoru listens to Kazuki’s music over and over again, struggling to comprehend it. He’s frustrated but excited as he can’t remember the last time he felt challenged. He tries for days on end and for the life of him he cannot make an exact recreation of Kazuki and Kotaro's music. Minoru seeks Kazuki out and insists he observe Kazuki’s work process so he can understand how it was possible for someone to make such hypothetically bad music sound good. He has to find Kazuki and he has to understand how his brain works so he can mimic him as identically as he can every other musician.

Kazuki hates this! Frankly, he hates everything about the way Minoru treats music. They're complete opposites in every way. And yet, they both massively admire one another as musicians.

Both of them quite like Kotaro. Kazuki adores Kotaro, in the way a fan loves their bias and in a way a little sibling loves their elder. Minoru respects Kotaro for all that he's endured as a musician and his willingness to suffer in the quest to better himself.

Even though Minoru admires Kazuki in his own strange way, they have massive creative differences. During rehearsals Kazuki changes things and improvises sporadically, making each performance vary slightly. Minoru dislikes it, insisting Kazuki play the song the way it was “intended to be.” Kazuki gives in but Kotaro steps in, forcing them to agree to explore their options. When Kazuki performs the song without any personal touches, Minoru does recognize that somehow it feels as though something is missing.

As a trio, they're all forced to face the parts of themselves they try to ignore looking them dead in the face. Kazuki has to decide if he's truly satisfied being an accessory to Kotaro rather than truly being his partner and working side by side with him instead of insisting he work for him, that he isn't worthy of being seen as his equal. Minoru has to address the fact that he has no sense of identity and that despite his insistence on always working solo that all of his performing up until now has always hinged on being someone he isn't. And Kotaro, of course, has to face his persistent struggles with self worth and feeling that it's okay to "burden" others by asking for help.

They end up all in a sort of friendship-colleagues situation. Kotaro calls them his friends, Minoru calls them his colleagues, and Kazuki calls him his allies.

Here's sort of what a relationship chart between the three would look like!

Minoru → Kotaro: I admire your drive and willingness to follow advice and experiement. You're so far from perfect, and yet…I don't particularly hate it. [Calls him Mita.] Minoru → Kazuki: You're difficult to get along with and understand, but I admire you and you've fundamentally changed how I view music. [Calls him Kazukuro.]

Kazuki → Kotaro: MITA-SENPAI! ♡ I'm your biggest fan, forever! It's an honor to collab with you, so you can rely on me whenever! I just sort of wish I had the guts to stand on stage like you. Kazuki → Minoru: You piss me off so much! Your music is so good, but there's no YOU in it. How can I understand YOU when you keep saying these conflicting things!? You don't have to keep pretending to be perfect around us… [Calls him Saiki-senpai or Shapeshifter-senpai.]

Kotaro → Kazuki: You've always got my back and I've always got yours! Let's keep working together for a long time. My 2nd little brother. [Calls him Kazuki.] Kotaro → Minoru: You're a pain in the ass, but God are you talented. There's a lot I could learn from you…and a lot you could stand to learn from Vivid Street! [Calls him Saiki.]

thank you for coming to my ted talk please support kotaro mita and his two fuck ass mentally ill friends

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Casey Affleck, swamp pop singer Rod Bernard, Sid Bernstein, Joe Besser, Cantinflas, John Cazale, Kid Creole, Del The Funky Homosapien,  Cecil B. DeMille, Leslie Duncan, George Hamilton, Roy Hay, Heintje, Mark Knopfler, Greg Langston (The Next, No Alternative), Ron Mael, Tiny McCloud, Pat Metheny, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Alexei Nikolaevich, Peter Ostroushko, Buck Owens, Marjorie Reynolds, Theodore Scaife, Erwin Alexander Schrödinger, Lakeith Stanfield, Matt Thiessen (Reliant K), Stefanos Tsitsipas, Mladen Vukic, Porter Wagoner, Deborah Walley, Wednesday 13, Jane Wyatt, and recording artist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Derrek Van Eaton. 

Classic rock-philes and deep Beatles fans will recognize him from the brother band Lon & Derrek Van Eaton. Prior to their association with Apple Records (the record label created by The Beatles), they were part of the eccentric New York-based folk rock band Jacob’s Creek. They shared a studio with Simon & Garfunkel and released one album on Columbia in 1969. Two years later, John Lennon and George Harrison “discovered” them as a brother-act duo and signed them to Apple. The Van Eaton’s music blended urban folk and dreamy rock with a blues-gospel undercurrent, which perfectly coincided with the sounds of Badfinger and latter-day Beatles. The Van Eaton’s excellent BROTHER album was co-produced by George with Klaus Voorman. The Van Eatons toured the USA to promote BROTHER. Their 1972 tour brought them to where I was living in Huntingdon PA, where they played Ellis Hall at Juniata College (I stood listening from outside, a lad with no ticket money).  

The BROTHER album launched a long association with George, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and other travelers in the Apple/Beatle legacy that unfolded in the 1970s. Then the Van Eatons became studio session players favored by producer Richard Perry, who hired them for recordings with Art Garfunkel, Martha Reeves, and Carly Simon. Perry also produced the Van Eaton’s 1975 WHO DO YOU OUT DO album. Following that era, the brothers created a non-profit film and music company called Imagine a Better World. 

The Van Eaton brothers since have released sporadic works (duo and solo), notably their acclaimed 1996 cover of “Apple of my Eye” on the COME & GET IT Badfinger tribute album. In 2013 they issued a career-spanning anthology with new recordings with contributions from Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, and Gary Wright, and the Van Eatons are still active in musical and spiritual pursuits. 

Some years ago I met Derrek some years ago at church we were both attending in Pennsylvania (where I picked his brains about that 1972 concert I heard but couldn’t see), and the last time we crossed paths was at a Monkees concert in Denver in 2011. Even in passive meet-ups I can see the creative spark in Derrek’s eyes. Here’s one of my favorite Van Eaton cuts “Sun Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5VSJmb2VI0...Meanwhile, HB DVE and thank you for your years of remarkable creativity and soul.

#derrekvaneaton #lonanderrekvaneaton #brother #applerecords #birthday #georgeharrison #ringostarr #klausvoorman #richardperry #peteham #badfinger

[tsunflowers]

I had a very powerful dream last night. this was the cast

max: heir to a huge fortune. bad guys started coming after him for his money ever since his parents died mysteriously. kind of a tono-sama type, kind and noble but insanely repressed. he was always going over documents late into the night while wearing glasses and then apologizing for being such a poor host

rei: your classic butler that’s also a bodyguard. passionately in love with max but planned to take that to his grave. I remember specifically that his mother was Swedish and his father was Japanese. him and max had mutual feelings but it was never going to go anywhere bc of Duty

prithi: bubbly and oblivious girl who went to school with max and basically invited herself over for the summer when she found out his parents died and he would be alone in his giant mansion. she had a huge crush on max but quickly started crushing on rei and emma too once she was living with them. she was the catalyst to turn the household from a sea of sexual tension to a functional polycule

emma: hired by max’s parents as additional security prior to their deaths. rei resented her bc he thought he could protect max on his own but emma correctly identified that he was gay and jealous. emma was a weapons expert who didn’t seem to feel fear and would sit on top of moving cars to shoot at people

there was another guy who slipped from my mind as I woke up. he was a duo with emma and the two of them were always joking around. I think he was a hacker type who was identifying potential threats in advance. him and emma were the first to start hooking up bc they could not stand living with whatever the fuck max and rei had going on otherwise

before prithi showed up especially the vibe was like

rei: *comes running through the back door soaking wet and disheveled* emma: hey king you look like shit rei: *silently stands straight to reveal that he was protecting max’s tuxedo jacket with his body and it’s pristine despite the rain* emma and the other guy look at each other like

[jellymellydraws]

TO DA RESCUE!

First off, lemme tell you that seeing new things popping up on my dashboard of yours makes me all fuzzy and happy inside. So cheer up buttercup.

SECONDLY!

What do you think RosexAsyarion would be like in a modern setting? Where would they live? Do they have a go-to Starbucks/local coffee shop order? Does Astarion never wear the same thing twice? Does Rose steal his clothes because of that?

GIMME DEETZ YO

this is so very sweet thank youuuuuu

Modern AU RoseStarion has a few routes they can go and all are just as fun for me to consider

High Class Crime Duo

The two of them steal expensive shit and sell on the black market. Heists where they can infiltrate high society using Astarion's skills as a high-in-demand musician to provide entertainment. Rose is, of course, the brains of the operations. She's got the blueprints, the security codes, and everything needed to pull off a successful heist. They enjoy living in a penthouse within the city, and Astarion's profits as a performer for the upper class is their official way of paying and sustaining that lifestyle. Despite the crime, they're still, in their own way, GOOD people. No they don't donate to charity....no they don't put those funds to GOOD things...but they got some kind of moral code and standards that they abide by. Despite the fact that they both want to live the high life, they're also very aware that high society is a club of assholes, so they don't have any qualms about stealing from them.

Musician and his Muse Manager

In this AU, the two of them travel across Faerun, so they don't really have a place that they live. Astarion is a classical musician who already had a positive reputation and was in demand. Early on there are issues with this. It was a bit of a scandal when word got out that he broke his partnership with Szarr Agency and hired an independent agent. That was the public scandal, at least. The private scandal involved Rose refusing invitations from "fans" who offered high sums to see one of his "exclusive" performances, as they were used to while he worked for Szarr Agency. The relationship is kept secret, due to the professional nature of their public appearances. But behind closed doors, they can't keep their hands off each other.

Generic/Regular Modern AU type of shit:

They live in an apartment in the city, hoping to someday, hoping to work their way up to a luxury townhome. Their professions can be a whole different assortment of things. Astarion can be a judge, lawyer, fashion designer, perfumer. Rose can be a private investigator, hired hitwoman, or generic business woman (probably management of some kind). I like thinking about this one in terms of sweet domestic life between them in a modern AU. Nothing dramatic, just that point where they can enjoy life with their several cats (and maybe a few exotic pets), see their friends in the city, and build a sappy sweet life together.

Now the OTHER detailssssssss Rose likes her coffee with a bit of sweetness, nothing too fancy. Usually vanilla syrup in her coffee for the most part and light on the creamer. Astarion doesn't have a regular order. He's the one who comes in and asks for something different just when the barista thinks they got it down. The only thing consistent is that Astarion gets a pastry with his coffee. Which pastry? Fuck, that one is ALSO changed up (because the pastry needs to pair with the coffee, darling. I can't have a lemon loaf with a caramel mocha-- I mean, I COULD, but it just doesn't do either of those things justice, now does it?)

Astarion loves the IDEA of never wearing the same thing twice. But he actually does get a bit attached to some of his outfits. Rose learned this early on, she keeps the clothes he INSISTS on getting rid of (because he WILL regret it later when he has JUST THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY for an outfit he dismissed MONTHS ago), and he's usually pleased when she pulls them out for him to have again. Rose stealing Astarion's clothes can be a bit tricky, mainly because she's got a large chest which don't fit in his slimmer shirts. If it weren't for that, she could probably wear most of his outfits but as it stands now, they're all a bit tight on her. BUT THE TWO OF THEM WILL COORDINATE THE FUCK OUTTA THEIR OUTFITS WHEN THEY GO OUT TOGETHER. They also go to the spa and get manipedis together. People watching too! Their favorite people watching thing to do is make up backstories about the strangers they're watching.

This was great actually, I really do feel better-- like, IMMENSELY BETTER

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Christina 'Licorice' McKechnie, born on October 2nd 1945 in Edinburgh.

This is always a difficult post for, I say Happy Birthday to Licorice, but in my heart I think she is dead, she was last heard from in 1990, and the last sighting of, "Likkie’’ as she became known, was hitchhiking across the Arizona desert.

Christina ‘Licorice’ McKechnie was born in Edinburgh in 1945, there is nothing about her early life online that I can find, her story starts when she was known around the folk clubs of Auld Reekie, reciting poetry, it was around this time she left home-and was set to marry, the late great Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. The banns had been called, (Banns were a legal requirement and were an intention of marriage, posted for people to see in their parish,) the wedding never took place, Jansch left Scotland for Morocco.

Likkie began a relationship with Robin Williamson who along Robin,Clive Palmer and Mike Heron had form The Incredible String Band, the group split for a time when Williamson and Likkie went travelling but reformed on their return as a duo with Heron. They later played on the same bill as Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, Likkie joined then as vocalist and they recorded the album, The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion.

The band went on to have success touring but had limited commercial success. They got involved with Scientology in the 60’s and it is said to have contributed to a decline in their music quality, they did however play Woodstock in 69, they were scheduled to play the first day and a fee of $4500 had been agreed, this would have been a huge sum for them back in the 60’s and you would have thought bigger things beckoned. The band didn’t appear on the film of the festival as they refused to play in the rain, their slot was taken by the fabulous Melanie (Safka) who later wrote “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” about her day. “String Band” played the next day on a mainly rock day, the world missed out and so did they.

By late 1969, they had established a communal base at Glen Row near Innerleithen, Likkie and Robin split around this time although she remained in the group till 1972. After a failed marriage to musician Brian Lambert she featured on an album with Williamson and his Merry men and an album with Woody Woodmansey’s band U-Boat. Beyond this, it's believed that she may have bounced around, living perhaps in Los Angeles, Arizona, and Sacramento.

The Diversity of Classic Rock website reports that McKechnie's sister last heard from her in 1990, when McKechnie had been recovering from surgery in Sacramento. The site is also one of many that claims McKechnie disappeared in the Arizona desert, but this has never been conclusively proved.

Time to hit the kitchen to grab a few grains of salt because Reddit has also weighed in on her disappearance, with unproven theories ranging from a Scientology connection to parsing the words of former bandmates who wish (emphasis on the present tense) her well.

Redditors also claim that McKechnie's family hired private investigators to find her, though they were unsuccessful. Others counter that she's been traced via a basic internet search to a small city in the States. The confusion is enough to make any casual sleuth hope that McKechnie just grew tired of the spotlight and is now happy in her anonymity.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Likkie is dead, or if she is living way off grid somewhere on the other side of the Atlantic celebrating her 78th birthday.

[kc-drama-fanatic]

Guess Who I Am (2024)

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller

Main Actors: Wang Zi Qi, Zhang Yu Xi, Ke Nai Yu, Han Dong Lin, Wang Jia Yin

Plot: Song Yan is a girl who can make rich men fall in love with her just by looking into her eyes, and she uses these powers for chaotic neutral (mostly to punish scumbags, as her team has been hired to). Qin Hao is scheming to act like the long-lost son of a CEO, weaseling his way into the business to find out clues from his own past and get revenge. The two meet and sparks fly, leading the duo to become an unlikely fake couple for their own separate purposes. Some parts were a little melodramatic or overly tropey but I believe the ending explains it nicely enough, and honestly I like a little self-aware fun being picked at tropes and cliches. (7.9/10)

Relationship: I was a little concerned at first and then remembered it was a fake relationship; they both deserved each other, being petty, vindictive enemies-to-lovers. Once they were actually lovers and not enemies cosplaying as lovers they had a decently healthy relationship (though of course they couldn't resist the classic hiding-things-for-your-own-good trope). However, once they actually worked together, they were a communicative power couple that slayed together. Their teams' relationships amongst each other and the other team's members were quite entertaining to watch as well. I wouldn't have minded more scenes focused on one of the side ships. (8.1/10)

Characters: The characters were interesting, flawed, and still entertaining. If there's one thing a C-Drama does right, it's giving the second love interest a decent character arc and growth beyond focusing on their crush. The second male love interest was annoying at first but really grew on me; I liked his arc by the end. I'm beyond curious what the two main villains' relationship was to each other and a little miffed that it wasn't explanded on more (likely gay). (8/10)

Favourite Quote/Scene: -

Final Thoughts: This was a pretty good drama. The communication cancelled out the miscommunication, and the scheming was great fun to watch. A nice short drama at only 24 half-hour episodes. (8.2/10)

[justforbooks]

The musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has died aged 71 of cancer, spent his life as a restless traveller, both personally and musically. “I was born in Japan but I don’t think I’m Japanese,” he said in 1988, two years before he moved to New York. “To be a stranger – I like that attitude. I don’t like nationalities and borders.”

A founder member of Tokyo’s pioneering computer-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose work between 1978 and 1984 has proved a lasting influence on hip-hop and electronica, Sakamoto was able to combine his skills as an academically trained musician with an aptitude for electronic music and an ear for countless musical styles. He sustained a lengthy partnership with the British musician David Sylvian after first working with his band Japan on the track Taking Islands in Africa from the album Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980), following which the duo collaborated on the double A-side Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music (1982).

In 1983, Sakamoto achieved a peak of commercial visibility by not only writing the soundtrack for Nagisa Oshima’s film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, but also co-starring in it (as Captain Yonoi) with David Bowie. The soundtrack, which won him a Bafta for best film music, contained the Sakamoto/Sylvian composition Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of the film’s main theme, which was a Top 20 hit in Britain.

Soundtrack work became one of the main planks of Sakamoto’s career. He won an Academy Award (along with his fellow composers David Byrne and Cong Su) for his soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), in which he also had an acting role, and worked with the director again on The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Little Buddha (1993).

Sakamoto scored the 1990 film version of The Handmaid’s Tale, Pedro Almodóvar’s Tacones Lejanos (High Heels, 1991), and Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes (1998) and Femme Fatale (2002). Oliver Stone hired him for the soundtrack to his TV series Wild Palms (1993). Alejandro González Iñárritu used some existing Sakamoto recordings in his 2006 film Babel, then recruited him to write the score for his multiple Oscar-winner The Revenant (2015). For the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he provided El Mar Mediterrani.

Sakamoto released solo albums regularly between 1978 and 2017, many of them reaching the Top 30 in Japan but not registering on charts elsewhere, as well as six live albums and a string of compilations. However, Sakamoto’s subtle, exploratory music earned him a charismatic reputation that drew international guest stars to his projects.

On B-2 Unit (1980), he collaborated closely with Andy Partridge from XTC, and the electrofunk track Riot in Lagos proved inspirational for the likes of Mantronix and Afrikaa Bambaataa. Thomas Dolby featured on the pulsating Field Work from Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (1986), the track accompanied by an ingeniously conceived video, while for Neo Geo (1987) Sakamoto enlisted Iggy Pop, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Sly Dunbar.

Brian Wilson and Robbie Robertson appeared on Beauty (1989), an album that spanned rock, technopop, flamenco and classical Japanese music. Heartbeat (1991), on which Sakamoto tried rap, funk and jazz, and lyrics in French, Japanese and Russian, numbered Youssou N’Dour, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Sylvian and John Cage among its contributors. In 1993, Sakamoto co-produced Aztec Camera’s album Dreamland.

Born in Tokyo, Ryuichi was the only child of Keiko (nee Shimomura), a hat designer, and Kazuki Sakomoto, a literary editor. While attending the same progressive primary school that once taught Yoko Ono, he was already writing music for the piano with their encouragement.

The American presence in postwar Japan introduced new western influences to the country, and Sakamoto was enraptured by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He attended Tokyo’s University of the Arts to study music composition, and felt a strong affinity for the compositions of Claude Debussy, in which he discerned an Asian influence. However, in addition he soaked up the work of contemporary composers such as Cage, Pierre Boulez, Györgi Ligeti and Stockhausen, as well as jazz musicians including John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.

His early compositions were in an avant-garde vein, while he also performed with free jazz bands and played keyboards with the folk singer Masato Tomobe. He graduated with BA and MA degrees, having studied classical and assorted world and ethnic music, and taken his first steps in electronic music by working with Moog and ARP synthesizers.

He formed Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 with Haruomi “Harry” Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, whom he had met when they worked together as session musicians. Combining electropop with stylish graphics and costume design, the trio brought wit and warmth to the use of electronics, which contrasted with the studied alienation of European counterparts such as Kraftwerk or Gary Numan.

YMO released eight studio albums during their original lifespan, all of them climbing high in the Japanese charts, and three of them reaching No 1. The group inspired Beatlemania-like hysteria in their homeland. “We were very big, that’s why I hated it,” Sakamoto said. “We were always followed by paparazzi.”

YMO’s albums made little chart impact outside Japan, but their influence was nonetheless widely felt, not least in their innovative use of electronic sequencers, drum machines and sampling. Firecracker, from their 1978 debut album, was itself sampled in Afrika Bambaataa’s Death Mix. In 1980 they had a Top 20 hit in the UK with Computer Game (Theme from the Invaders), which chimed with the craze for the Space Invaders game. Behind the Mask, first conceived for a Seiko wristwatch commercial and then included on their album Solid State Survivor (1979), became a Top 20 UK hit for Eric Clapton; a version by Michael Jackson appeared on the posthumous album Michael (2010).

YMO paused their activities in 1984, though the trio continued to collaborate on each other’s solo work, and they reformed to make the album Technodon (1993). They subsequently reunited several times for recording and live performances, their last shows being for the No Nukes 2012 festival in Chiba, Japan, and the 2012 World Happiness festival in Tokyo.

In his teens in the late 1960s, Sakamoto had been a hippy with leftwing political beliefs – “not 100% Marxist, but kind of” – but he gradually became disillusioned with the failure of political movements to effect significant change. He decided that his music was not the place for social or political messages, observing that “I’ve changed from an avant-garde person to a pop person,” though he would subsequently support causes he felt strongly about.

He campaigned for changes to music copyright law, which he considered outmoded in the internet era, and founded Commmons, a collaborative platform to assist aspiring musicians. He formed a group of musicians called NML (No More Landmines), which featured Brian Eno, Sylvian, Kraftwerk and the other members of YMO, and in 2001 they released the single Zero Landmine.

In 2006 he launched the Stop Rokkasho movement by releasing the track Rokkasho (by a group of musicians dubbed Team 6), in protest at the building of Japan’s Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and he campaigned to have the Hamaoka nuclear plant shut down to avoid a repeat of the 2011 tsunami disaster at the Fukushima facility. He and Byrne teamed up to record the single Psychedelic Afternoon to aid tsunami survivors.

His solo work continued to explore a huge variety of styles. In 1982 he had ventured into medieval and Renaissance music on the album The End of Asia, a collaboration with the Japanese early music group Danceries. Smoochy (1995) was a detour into easy listening, while Discord (1998) comprised an hour-long orchestral composition.

The album 1996 was a selection of Sakamoto pieces arranged for piano trio featuring the Brazilian cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, and Sakomoto reunited with him and his wife, Paula, a singer, for two albums in celebration of the bossa nova composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, Casa (2001) and A Day in New York (2003). In 1999, his multimedia opera, Life, was performed in Tokyo and Osaka.

Meanwhile, he struck up a fruitful collaboration with Alva Noto (a pseudonym of Carston Nicolai), which resulted in a string of electronica albums including Vrioon (2002) and Insen (2005), culminating in Glass (2018). With the Austrian guitarist and composer Christian Fennesz he recorded Sala Santa Cecilia (2005), Cendre (2007) and Flumina (2011).

In 2014 he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but by the following year was feeling “much much better”. His recovery from illness inspired the creation of his last solo album, Async, hailed as one of 2017’s finest forays into experimental electronica. Its making was documented by Stephen Nomura Schible in the film Coda (2018).

His final album, 12, was recorded during hospital stays in 2021 and 2022, and released in January. In December, he livestreamed a solo piano concert from Tokyo.

Sakamoto was first married to Natsuko, then to the musician Akiko Yano; both marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife and manager, Norika Sora, and their two children; and a daughter from his first marriage and another daughter from his second.

🔔 Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer, musician and producer, born 17 January 1952; died 28 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[reallunargift]

so uh.... vroom vroom Formula 1 AU?? Some notes on some of the latest team lineups! João left McLaren after 4 years, and Maarten will finally make his F1 debut alongside Arthur. Meanwhile Antonio left Renault after 2 years.

Francis has been at Renault for 5 years, and I need a name for Mona (Sophie? Suzanne? Michèle? Monica??) and Bel asap.

and because it's me.... you already know who I'll be focusing on more :')

This is a more introductory post, and I hope to draw actual interactions for the next one. But uhm well some more details under the cut for now, including previous and current team dynamics!

At the start of the story, João and Arthur are teammates at McLaren. Very calculating and strategic duo, they’ve been partners for 4 years. They’re polite with the press, with Arthur being more reserved. João is friendlier but more mellow and uses “no comment” often.

Their challenge videos on youtube show a different side, with Arthur being much more at ease and louder for it, and João being much more playful. They work great together, with João more often than not heeding team advice and driving defensively, which gets them plenty of 1-2 positions. But he eventually becomes disillusioned with McLaren’s favouritism and signs with Ferrari. His friendship with Arthur isn't affected by this move.

Toni and Francis are teammates at Renault (Alpine, but I'm not calling it that). Francis has a cleaner and more classic driving style, while Toni is more chaotic but just as ruthless. 

They love their screentime and journalists love them. Francis is more deliberate in his answers yet still quite theatrical, while Antonio is more of a blabbermouth (but only with stuff that doesn’t matter. Ask him about technical/important stuff and he’ll divert the conversation to how good his family’s olive oil is.) 

Their challenge videos are an extension of their interviews, with Francis being super dramatic for the camera when he loses, and Antonio being very extra to entertain the audience. They have a good racing partnership when they agree on strategy, but that doesn’t happen often and both are so set in their ways that it creates friction and issues for the team when neither will yield.

Ferrari hires João and Antonio because they’re both world class drivers, but also because they believe their styles and personalities will meld well. João has a reputation for strong teamwork and strategical driving, courtesy of his time at McLaren. Outwardly he seems less abrasive than Francis, so they expect that Toni will naturally be more willing to cooperate with him for the team’s benefit. Toni has always been very encouraging of his teammates throughout his career (especially at Red Bull when he was partners with Bel), and it’s hoped that this will also push João forward.

A great strategy...if these two get along. While driving for different teams they always take jabs at each other during interviews (João’s famous “no comment” goes right out the window anytime Toni’s done something stupid on the track). The usually sunny Toni gets huffy with reporters if they mention it, but always ends up taking the criticism into account and working on those aspects...

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[clevermird]

Review: Wolf Riders edited by David Pringle

I reviewed Ignorant Armies a few months ago and absolutely loved it. In fact, I believe it was tied with The Secret History for my favorite read of 2023. So looking at my TBR pile and finding another Warhammer Fantasy short story collection edited by David Pringle, I had high hopes. And while Wolf Riders doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, it’s still well worth the read. 

Like Ignorant Armies, this book takes place in the grim and perilous lands of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, a Tolkien-esque world with an early Renaissance flair. The eight stories cover a range of settings and topics and although the focus on the malevolent Chaos Gods is downplayed, there is slightly more attention given to non-human characters to balance it out.

“Wolf Riders” – The return of Gotrek and Felix, the Dwarf-and-Human duo from the opening story of Ignorant Armies, this time guarding a group of human refugees through a dangerous mountain journey as bad luck seems to stalk the caravan.

“The Tilean Rat” – A Halfling is hired by a mysterious Elven woman to look for the titular rat statue, supposedly of only sentimental value.

“The Phantom of Yremy” – A mysterious thief stalks the streets of a Bretonnian town, seemingly with a vendetta against the magistrate.

“Cry of the Beast” – A young man and his adopted father find an Elven girl washed up on the beach after a shipwreck

“No Gold in the Gray Mountains” – Bandits hiding out in an abandoned, supposedly-haunted castle abduct a young noblewoman and must figure out how to keep her alive long enough to ransom her

“The Hammer of the Stars” – A schoolboy and his friends suspect trouble when exotic strangers come to town.

“Pulg’s Grand Carnival” – Seeking a place where he isn’t outcast, a young albino is persuaded to join a carnival run by the charismatic but airheaded Pulg, but a local businessman is out to get rid of Pulg an his carnival by any means necessary.

“The Way of the Witchfinder” – A servant of one of the Gods of Law sets out on his first mission.

Of the stories, “Tilean Rat” was probably my favorite. In addition to homages to the classic film noir The Maltese Falcon, the story was just a lot of fun, with twists and turns and a brisk, lively pace that made it an easy read. The last two stories, however, are by far the weakest of the bunch, with “Pulg’s Grand Carnival” being too long and having an unimpressive climax, and “Way of the Witchfinder” being too short to properly develop the characters or action. 

Gotrek and Felix’s return offers a lot of new development to their characters and dynamic and while I preferred ” Geheimnisnacht”, it was also one of the more enjoyable stories in the bunch. 

This book was pretty solid. I doubt that it will become a great favorite of mine, but each story was engaging and several of them are well worth rereading. 

Warnings: As is typical for the setting, expect plenty of violence and some light body horror, as well as spatters of animal cruelty.

Rating: 7/10

[gimblegamble]

Gonna do another write up about a project I planned that never really went anywhere.

Welcome, friends, to the BTM band AU post

What is it?

Band AUs are definitely considered classics when it comes to fandom alternate universes and this one's... definitely a band AU i guess.

BTM is a band consisting of Grian (or Griande) on vocals, Impulse on drums, Pearlo on the keyboard, and Scar on guitar. There are a couple more stragglers sometimes but we'll get to that. As for their style it... varies?

Well, it depends. if its 'Grian' on the mic, they can range from the usual pop-punk or emo, maybe even rock if the mood calls for it-- but if its 'Griande' they usually go for ska or funk. This is when they get a couple more peeps to fill in the sound.

They get a brass section! Tango and Zedaph from Impulse's old college marching band "The Moonlighters" and they round it out with Gem, one of Pearl's old housemates when they tried living in one of those content houses with the Empires collective (they still collab tho). They play the trombone, the trumpet, and the saxophone (small stature, big lungs).

The band meets Mumbo after a gig. They were winding down in their favourite bar/cafe "The Hermit" when Scar very loudly and unabashedly asked who the "eye candy" was to the owner, Xisuma. Turns out, dude was just fired from his job and Xisuma took him in as a part-time bartender/barista, he wasn't the best at it but at least he stopped breaking Xisuma's fancy martini glasses a couple days in.

They asked if he was looking for a full-time job and he said yes. He asked if he knew anything about management and he said 'eeeeeeeeh' which they took as a kind of yes and hired him on the spot. With BTM's popularity growing, they needed a proper manager and not just rely on Grian (whose biggest problem would be his impulsiveness) and Impulse (who'd probably work himself to death if the mood was right).

So whats the plot?

It was supposed to be an ask blog first and foremost. Half of the information up there (and more) was supposed to be slowly drawn out by ask box questions. The format was supposed to look like members of the band being interviewed by the person asking, kind of like the latter half on that one mumriande gif I made (which is one of the stuff I made with this AU in mind lol)

There was supposed to be a mystery to uncover, then solve. There was supposed to be some drama and angst. Some moving pictures and animation memes, animatics even. I even have a playlist sorted!

So what happened?

Nothing really. It was nice thinking about making it but at the end of the day I am but a tired, easily distracted human being. I just made this post because there's a lot of nice details in this that I wanted to share, like the Hermitland post ages ago.

And not like I'm not gonna make things in the AU anymore but the ask blog's probably never going to see the light of day.

Some Fun Stuff

The fans never know what genre of songs they're going to walk in on, at least until they see if it's Grian or Griande holding the mic, but even then they sometimes do a double whammy and have Grian sing funk songs and Griande pop it up.

They're rivals with this experimental metal/electronic/acoustic fusion duo called Octagon. They play it up a lot on stage, but this one time someone from BTM really misunderstood something that made a good angsty bit.

There's this couple who met at a concert. One of em was really hoping for a night of funk while the other wanted some throwback alt rock. They talked before BTM's set started and really hit it off! They didn't even mind whoever came out to sing that night.

There was a group of fans who made a banner that said "We love you _____" and just had velcro patches with 'Grian' and 'Griande' embroidered on them.

There was supposed to be another, more secret ask blog for other more secret (👀) asks.

Conclusion

So yeah, band AU, that is all.

Thank you for reading!

[ariel-seagull-wings]

COMFORT MOVIE CHALLENGE: MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND

@thealmightyemprex​ @goodanswerfoxmonster​ @angelixgutz​ @moonbeamelf​ @world-of-puppets​ @princesssarisa​ @softlytowardthesun​ @the-blue-fairie​ @themousefromfantasyland​ @amalthea9​ 

Released in 1996, his is the second Muppet feature film directed by Brian Henson, based on a classic work of literature and released in partnership with the Walt Disney Company (before the aquisition of the Muppet franchise by Disney was really officialized in the early 2000s), after 1992′s The Muppet Christmas Carol.

This time adapting the famous children’s pirate adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, they cast the human actors Kevin Bishop as Jim Hopkins, Tim Curry as Long John Silver, Billy Connoly as Billy Bones, and Jennifer Saunders as tavern owner Mrs. Bluveridge, while the Muppet actors are Kermit the Frog as ship Captain Smollet, Miss Piggy as Smollet’s fiancee Benjamina Gunn, Sam the Eagle as Mr Arrow, Fozzie Bear as Squire Trelawney and the duo of Gonzo and Rizzo as eighteen century versions of themselves.

Meant as an energetic adventure and musical comedy movie for the whole family, the film is quick to extablish the characters of Jim Hopkins, Gonzo and Rizzo as three on their luck tavern workers.

Rizzo is sardonic and prefers a life of comfort, safety and plenty of food, while Jim (who here is portrayed as a young orphan of both parents) and Gonzo dream of excitement travelling trough the seas.

One of the clients of the tavern, former pirate Billy Bones, dies, leaving the map to find the treasure of Pirate Captain Flint to Jim, while pirates burn the tavern down.

So the trio goes to ask the rich Squire Trelawney a ship to search for the buried treasure. Squire Trelawney, a person of unconventional mind that confindes in an imaginary friend who lives in his finger, called Mr Bimbo, is excited with the idea, and presents to them the ship called Hispaniola, that shall be comanded by Captain Smollet and his right hand man Mr Arrow.

Among the crew that Squire Trelawney hires for the travel, Jim, Gonzo and Rizzo meet the ship cook Long John Silver, a charismatic man with a dark sense of humour, who becomes a close friend of Jim.

The young boy, naive and longing for a father figure, becomes trusty of Long John, while Gonzo and Rizzo, neglected by Jim, feel something is off with the cook, because before dying Billy Bones had warned them to beware of a one legged man, a description that fits Long John, who has only one leg and walks with a cane.

Jim is the normal every person who acts and is a surrogate for the audience, that gets emerged in the colorfull world of the port, the ship and the island.

You get a nice balance of chaotic meta humour of the 70s version of the Muppets with dramatic acting and character focus that would become strong in the 90s.

While the main cast of characters is firm in being their roles and invested in their emotional conflicts, you get little fourt wall breaking jokes like rat tourists visiting the location in modern atire right while the movie is being made, Statler and Waldorf as two wood ship figureheads who makes about the movie and a small cameo of the Swedish Chef dressed as a parody of an island native preparing to cook the imprisoned Rizzo, Gonzo and Smollet while the vegetables say to the audience “Well, how did you expected we would put him in the movie?”

And being a Muppet movie musical, you can expect well elaborated numbers presentings fun, beautifull, catchy songs the somber opening villain song“Shiver my Timbers”, the I Want song “Something There”, the epic “Sailing for Adventure”, the hilariously random “Cabin Fever”, the intimidating “Boom Shakalaka”, the romantic ballad “Love Led Us Here” and the dancing relaxing reggae “Lover Power”, courtesy of none other than Bob Marley’s son Ziggy Marley.

This colorfull, age of sail musical fantasy with Muppets gives a strong atmosphere that reminds of the joy of summer. 

There is an entertaining combination of character drama, action, a touch of a horror atmosphere, romance and the goold old comedy that only the Muppets can, and it now enters in the list of my favorite movies, that is probably the best pirate movie ever made.