#brilliant verve

[dk-thrive]

Writing is thinking, but it’s thinking slowed down — stilled —

... And that’s one of the arguments for writing well — for taking the time and summoning the focus to do so. Good writing burnishes your message. It burnishes the messenger, too.

You may be dazzling on your feet, an extemporaneous ace, thanks to the brilliant thoughts that pinball around your brain. There will nonetheless be times when you must pin them down and put them in a long email. Or a medium-length email. Or a memo. Or, hell, a Slack channel. The clarity, coherence, precision and even verve with which you do that — achieving a polish and personality distinct from most of what A.I. spits out — will have an impact on the recipients of that missive, coloring their estimation of you and advancing or impeding your goals.

If you’re honest with yourself, you know that, because you know your own skeptical reaction when people send you error-clouded dreck. You also know the way you perk up when they send its shining opposite. And while the epigrammatic cleverness or audiovisual genius of a viral TikTok or Instagram post has the potential to shape opinion and motivate behavior, there are organizations and institutions whose internal communications and decision-making aren’t conducted via social media. GIFs, memes and emojis don’t apply.

When my friend Molly Worthen, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a frequent contributor to Times Opinion, took the measure of the influential diplomat Charles Hill for her 2006 book “The Man on Whom Nothing Was Lost,” she noted that a principal reason for his enormous behind-the-scenes influence was his dexterity with the written word. He took great notes. He produced great summaries. He made great arguments — on paper, not just on the fly.

Worthen noted in her book that “transmitting ideas into written words is hard, and people do not like to do it.” As a result, someone who performs that task gladly, quickly and nimbly “in most cases ends up the default author, the quarterback to whom others start to turn, out of habit, for the play.”

Good writing announces your seriousness, establishing you as someone capable of caring and discipline. But it’s not just a matter of show: The act of wrestling your thoughts into logical form, distilling them into comprehensible phrases and presenting them as persuasively and accessibly as possible is arguably the best test of those very thoughts. It either exposes them as flawed or affirms their merit and, in the process, sharpens them.

Writing is thinking, but it’s thinking slowed down — stilled — to a point where dimensions and nuances otherwise invisible to you appear....

I think you can take the “pen and paper” out of the equation — replace them with keystrokes in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word file — and the point largely holds. That kind of writing, too, forces you to concentrate or to elaborate. A tossed-off text message doesn’t. Neither do most social media posts. They have as much to do with spleen as with brain.

What place do the traditional rules of writing and the conventional standards for it have in all this? Does purposeful, ruminative or cathartic writing demand decent grammar, some sense of pace, some glimmer of grace?

Maybe not. You can write in a manner that’s comprehensible and compelling only or mostly to you. You can choose which dictums to follow and which to flout. You’re still writing.

But show me someone who writes correctly and ably — and who knows that — and I’ll show you someone who probably also writes more. Such people’s awareness of their agility and their confidence pave the way. Show me someone who has never been pressed to write well or given the tutelage and tools to do so and I’ll show you someone who more often than not avoids it and, in avoiding it, is deprived of not only its benefits but also its pleasures.

Yes, pleasures. I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve praised a paragraph, sentence or turn of phrase in a student’s paper and that student subsequently let me know that the passage had in fact been a great source of pride, delivering a jolt of excitement upon its creation. We shouldn’t devalue that feeling. We should encourage — and teach — more people to experience it.

— Frank Bruni, from "A.I. or no A.I., it pays to write — and to write well" (NY Times, December 21, 2023)

[fashionbooksmilano]

The Shining Cloth

Dress and Adornement that Glitter

Victoria Z.Rivers

Thames & Hudson, New York 1999, 190 pages, 24,5x31,5cm, with 287 colour illustrations, ISBN 978 0500 019 511

euro 70,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Embellishment with glittering substances is a worldwide and ancient practice. Traces of textiles and other artifacts embroidered and embellished with gold were depicted in Assyrian bas-reliefs, frozen in the tombs of the Scythian nomadic horsemen, unearthed with the treasures of the Pharaohs, and preserved in the burials of Andean cultures' high priests and nobles. Cloth may glitter or shine because of its own lustrous qualities, as is the case with silk, or with the help of special treatments and dyes. Materials such as metals, sequins, beads, or mirrors may be used to embellish fabrics as decoration or to attract or deflect spirits in unseen worlds. Gifts from nature can also be cleverly manipulated into shapes and pieces to simulate more precious materials: for example, the iridescent elytra of beetles reflect brilliant metallic greens and violets as if they were gems.

Today these marvelous creations have gained an additional appeal beyond our fascination for lost and traditional civilizations―their visual verve makes them a fertile source of ideas in contemporary fashion and decoration. Victoria Rivers has spent more than a decade in the search for the most spectacular examples of a universally appealing phenomenon. Combining her artist's eye with an in-depth knowledge of textile techniques, she draws on an extraordinary array of specialist anthropological research from all over the world.

Sumptuously illustrated and superbly designed, this odyssey through the world's cultures will captivate those concerned with contemporary fashion and textile history as well as anyone interested in symbol and ritual in traditional societies. Illustrated throughout

30/04/24

[slutburn]

siantmiller: POOR DEAR PAMELA played by Carey Mulligan in Emerald Fennell's @saltburnfilm

•

Hair and Make-Up Design

•

Supporting Pamela's vaguely masked misfortune, uncomfortably dressed from breakfast through to bedtime, my start point was the hair.

•

It had to be red! Bold, out-there, a statement. Long enough, but not so as to compete with her clothes, soft but structured, kooky and eye catching. And it needed to work in the 'red' room when we first see Pamela in Saltburn.

•

Karen Elson sprang to mind, with a pinch of Kate Bush and Florence Welch. Via Zoom, I met Carey during her filming commitments to Maestro, and discussed my mood board looks, Due to availability, our 1st and final fitting would be the day before filming.

•

Carey's fabulous wig maker Jessica Lalande, sent me some colour samples to try out in the sets and against the costumes from Costume Designer, Sophie Canale. Once chosen, the wig was made, uncut, with plenty of length to work with.

•

The make-up look was partly inspired by a Chanel campaign from 2007, our story setting. Further to this; looks with similar tones, which defined the eyes plus a hint of the 30's. Adding a wine coloured lip stain and super dark wine nails, which were pre-prepped and stuck on. I wanted Carey's brows to be well defined below her mid-forehead fringe, and with a touch of over extension. The roundedness of the eye makeup lending itself to her wide eyed, naive, doll like and slightly sorrowful demeanour.

•

The tattoo designs have a deliberately hand-drawn quality, done by me using a Blackwing Matte pencil on cartridge paper, developed for in-house printing with ProCreate.

•

These were inspired by many things including, Amy Winehouse, Russian mob ring tattoos, and nightmares of losing her teeth - which I took from Pamela's historical drug dependency. The Damien Hurst Pharmacy-era capsule tattoo, stems from a back story Carey and I devised, which references a past relationship Pamela had with a rock star from The Verve 'R•ash'. The 'Lucky' horseshoe is my nod to @luckychap

•

Brilliant application by

@andrewsimonin wig & cut ❤️@sarakramer_makeup ❤️

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for March 4, 2024; #370.

Nico: “The Fairest Of The Seasons”

Velvet Underground, The: “Who Loves The Sun”

Stooges, The: “Dirt”

T. Rex: “I Love To Boogie”

Public Image Ltd.: “Annalisa”

Birthday Party, The: “The Red Clock”

Gang Of Four: It Is Not Enough”

English Beat, The: “Ranking Full Stop”

Talking Heads: “Moon Rocks”

Kinks, The: “Living On A thin Line”

Husker Du: “Hardly Getting Over It”

Love & Rockets: “Kundalini Express”

Smiths, The: “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”

Jesus And Mary Chain, The: “Nine Million Rainy Days”

Fall, The: “New Big Prinz”

Galaxie 500: “Strange”

Pixies, The: “Hey”

Primal Scream: “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”

Concrete Blonde: “The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden”

Slint: “Good Morning Captain”

Machines Of Loving Grace: “Burn Like Brilliant Trash (At Jackie’s Funeral)”

Dinosaur Jr.: “Start Choppin’”

Blur: “Hanging Over”

Oasis:”Columbia”

Manic Street Preachers: “Archives Of Pain”

Replacements, The: “Can’t Hardly Wait”

Radiohead: “Fake Plastic Trees”

Elliott Smith: “Coming Up Roses”

Paul Weller: “Broken Stones”

Placebo: “I Know”

PJ Harvey: “Naked Cousin”

Morrissey: “Piccadilly Palare”

Verve, The: “Bittersweet Symphony”

Brian Jonestown Massacre, The: “Let’s Pretend That It’s Summer”

Pulp: “Sorted For E’s & Wizz”

Le Tigre: “Friendship Station”

Jay Reatard: “Let It All Go”

Future Islands: “Like The Moon”

Mountain Goats, The: “Blood Capsules”

Weezer: ”Everybody Needs Salvation”

Bonus marquee and five-star edition.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Let's talk about Shoma...NHK edition...

Two 2nd places and Shoma is in the GPF. He had a much better free skate than at CoC. So it should be something to be happy about. But clearly I am not.

If you have seen my post from CoC you know that I am not upset about Shoma getting 2nd, I am upset about the way he got 2nd. Fight me on this but in any other tech panel of the season he would have a 195+ score for his skate, if not even 200. (And if you looked at the tech box it was 106 TES and that would have given him a 198 score even with those PCS) I don't want to speculate about any political games or anything, for now I simply want to believe Shoma was simply disliked by the tech panel ppl.

(And btw I like Yuma a lot and I am happy he is back! Iif one is winning over Shoma, I am happy if it's Yuma just not like this and this isn't Yuma's fault ofc, so nothing against Yuma.)

What's most sad about Shoma's silver today is that it made him question competing and his abilties. 😭😭😭

He felt good about his performance and then tech panel completely deflated all positive feelings. His comments are so defeated. Ofc he is Shoma so his reaction is still polite and everything and he smiled at Yuma and interacted like normal. But still this is a new low. He perfomed good, he did all combos, landed the 4F and Axels that he was insecure about in the practice, even yoloed a 4T which alone shows his superiority bc who else can do that??? And yet it wasn't enough for the fcking judges to give him high scores.

We all knew Shoma wasn't gonna skate forever and I always knew that it could very well be his last season, but his comments didn't sound so final, so I thought there was maybe a tiny bit hope he'd still continue. But today I am not even sure he will not retire after Nats. I have my doubt he would neglect the opportunity if he's selected for Worlds but if you'd ask him today he probably won't go. Pulling a Tatsuki Machida never seemed more real...and part of me wouldn't even mind. I would lie if I say I won't be sad about Shoma's retirement, but all I really want is him happy and if competing isn't making him happy anymore...better retire on own terms than the Jfed and ISU waving you goodbye by lowballing you...

I hope though that while his comments now are negative, that he will rethink the attitude bc it's not him who has reached a limit or who isn't capable of better scores, it's a fcking judging mishap. Keiji said his 4Loop was brilliant and rotation clean, Shoma himself said he was surprised about the 4Lo and 4T being called (as he could see his landing), Stephane shook his head at the score, no it's not your fault Shoma. And I hope he gets the prep talks of his life by his surroundings!

There are two ways this could lead to, Shoma being on the verve of retiring and motivation for competition is completely lost or Shoma is fired up and rebounds stronger than ever from this disappointment with new fire. As Shoma fans we have seen many ups and downs of Shoma and usually Shoma always came back stronger. Ppl saying that's the end for him after IdF 2019 -he went on to win JNats, ppl saying he is done at WTT 2021 proceeds to win an Olympic medal and World Gold 2022, let's see what happens now...atm a positive way seems impossible but after a few days the world may not seem as dark...

I am truly furious for his 2nd place and petty me who thought I could stand seeing Shoma in 2nd is now completely on skating gods pls let Shoma win all Gold medals from now on as perfect revenge arc 🔥🔥🔥

[therecordchanger62279]

18 NEW PLAYLISTS

     I’ve been building more playlists for my iTunes file so that I can get more use out of my collection. It enables me to listen on the computer when I’m working, or at the exercise room when I’m working out. And it’s a great opportunity to mix and match artists, albums or styles so that all the music sounds fresh, and new. Context matters. And most music fits together far better than any radio programmer or Spotify algorithm would lead you to believe.

     Here’s the latest. The number of tracks is in parentheses.

1971 (283) 1972 (317) 1973 (377) An overview of each entire year in popular music. Most of it is Rock, Pop, and Soul but there's a sprinkling of Jazz, and Country as well.

Beg, Scream & Shout (144) The complete box set of the same name – a Rhino set of 144 great Soul singles of the 1960s.

Bill Evans (31) Sourced from The Complete Riverside Recordings box set, and The Best of Bill Evans on Verve. Three of Evans’ classic albums for Riverside along with an overview of his recordings for Verve.

Dexter Gordon (27) A collection of 70s recordings sourced from The Complete Prestige Recordings box (four of his best albums on the label), and closes with his Manhattan Symphonie album for Columbia.

James “Blood” Ulmer (50) A mix of 40 years of his recordings as a solo artist, and including the Music Revelation Ensemble, The Odyssey Band, and The Thing band recordings. His first album, Revealing, from 1977 kicks it off.

Jefferson Airplane (79) The first five albums complete, a selection of tracks from Bark, Early Flight, and the live Thirty Seconds Over Winterland, too. It closes with the 1989 self-titled reunion album.

John Wetton (80) Sourced from the excellent The Studio Recordings Anthology Vol. 1, along with his work with King Crimson, Uriah Heep, U.K., Asia, and the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited project.

Laswell Mixes (18) Collects all three Bill Laswell remix albums of the works of Miles Davis, Panthalassa, and Panthalassa: The Remixes, and Carlos Santana, Divine Light - Reconstruction & Mix Translation.

Miles (Circle in The Round) (10) Straight recreation of the Miles Davis anthology Circle in The Round – a brilliant overview of Miles’ career with Columbia from 1955-1975.

Miles (Directions) (12) Another recreation of another Miles anthology from Columbia spanning his first 20 years with the label. This is not available on CD, nor is it available to stream, but all the tracks have been issued elsewhere since its 1981 release. I just brought them all together to recreate the album.

Miles Live (41) One of my better ideas, I think. This collects five editions of live recordings from The Miles Davis Quintet spanning the years 1960-1965. What makes it unique is that each of the quintets features a different saxophonist – none of whom is John Coltrane. Stockholm 1960 features Sonny Stitt, In Person Friday Night at The Blackhawk (1961) features Hank Mobley, Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival has George Coleman, Miles in Tokyo (1964) showcases Sam Rivers, and Highlights from The Plugged Nickel (1965) is with Wayne Shorter. Great opportunity to hear how the quintet evolved through the years, and how each of the saxophonists changed Miles’ sound.

Monk on Riverside (75) 12 Monk studio and live classic albums sourced from the massive 15 CD The Complete Riverside Recordings Box.

Northern Soul (124) Sourced from the Northern Soul box set, and The Decca Scene: Northern Soul CD. The best music from that uniquely British club scene.

Sonny Rollins (14) A trio of Rollins albums beginning with The Freedom Suite from 1958, The Bridge from 1962, and the Live in Graz, Austria November 12, 1966 trio set. Rollins in three different settings playing at his best.

Tacocat (25) Until a couple of weeks ago, I’d never heard this band. I picked up their first two CDs after hearing about them on a music podcast. Three girls and a guy with a girl group/pop/punk/alternative bent. Lots of hooks, and lots of fun. Reminded me of the 1980s indie scene before everything turned serious, and dark. NVM, and Lost Time are available direct from Sub Pop at very reasonable prices.

Virtuosos (132) Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Vangelis, John Paul Jones, Brand X, Steve Howe, Phil Manzanera, and Anthony Phillips – all great players collected in one place in a music clinic free for all. I wanted something different, so I brought great players together who really didn’t fit elsewhere.

I also split The Bangles playlist into a group list (89), and a side projects list (137). My two PJ Harvey lists are now three – the original albums (86), the demo albums (68), and a live only playlist (55). The 1969 (300) and 1970 (370) playlists were expanded by nearly double. The 1969-1973 playlists now total more than 1600 songs. Large playlists are best for genres, or year in music lists, and best heard on shuffle. Shorter playlists work better for artists, I find. The larger lists are films, the shorter ones work as snapshots.

[cherrylng]

UK ROCK BEST 100 ALBUMS - The 90's [CROSSBEAT (August 2006)]

90's The Britpop explosion that restored British pride

By the start of the 1990s, Madchester was already spreading across the country. The UK was in a frenzy, not only with bands from the local suburbs, but also with Primal Scream and many other non-Manchester bands mixing dance grooves and rock. At the same time, 'shoegaze' (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, etc.), with its roaring guitars and fantastically beautiful melodies, flourished. A wide variety of guitar music flourished and many bands made their major label debuts. In 1991-92, as these booms came to an end, British rock entered a period of stagnation, which was replaced by the grunge/US alternative craze, which was driven by the global success of Nirvana. The massive encroachment of US culture into the UK. In reaction to this, there was a gradual urge to sound rock that reflected the British temperament and traditions, and Brit-pop was born.

Digesting the British beat of the 60s, the British rock and glam of the 70s and the New Wave of the 80s, Britpop blossomed into a national movement, driven by the irony and flamboyance of Blur, with their cheeky sarcasm, and the straightforward, rugged Oasis. The public's attention turned to bands from their homeland, with albums by Pulp, Supergrass, Suede and Ocean Colour Scene all becoming big hits. The musicians became so popular that they became regulars on variety shows and in the popular press. Helping to put British pride and identity back into the hands of the people, Britpop became a social phenomenon involving all industries and political circles, and UK rock enjoyed its greatest glory yet.

However, this movement also waned after the following year of maturity, culminating in the singles showdown between in 1995. The young bands that had been bought out of the boom were weeded out one by one, and the public's interest turned again to pop and dance music, especially "dance music that rock fans can also enjoy" such as Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers.

In 1997, Radiohead and the Verve, both of whom had been out of step with the boom, completed their own epoch-defining albums to great acclaim. The mainstream scene was becoming more mellow, melancholic, brooding or gritty, with Manics, Oasis (who had become one of the UK's leading international bands) and Spiritualized® all having hits. It was also around this time that Welsh bands such as Stereophonics, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals, all from the same country as the Manics, came into the limelight.

However, as the end of the 1990s approached, rock music once again lost momentum as dance idol groups and R&B dominated the charts. Apart from a few 'lyricists' such as Travis, many guitar bands were forced to go underground, and the 'death of UK guitar rock' was whispered about for a few years. -Sumi Imai

Mind Bomb The The (1989) One of the bands that supported UK rock in the "rock barren" late 80s. Their progressive dance moves, reverence for ancient music and caustic attitude towards modern society require re-evaluation. -Sawada

Bizarro The Wedding Present (1989) The pinnacle of 80s UK indie guitar rock. The high-speed guitar cutting that symbolises the album is full of thrills. The sense of speed is irresistible. -Otani

Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches Happy Mondays (1990) Rock fused with Chicago house enthralled the youth of Manchester, an industrial city with no hope for the future. This is the masterpiece of their charismatic existence. -Kuroda

The La's The La's (1990) The only work by The La's, by Liverpool's brilliant Lee Mavers, Noel Gallagher's spiritual mentor. Timeless melodies with a 60s flavour overflow. -Koguchi

Nowhere Ride (1990) Ride's quintessential mix of roaring guitars with powerful chord strokes and whispery, faint vocals. In 1990, the band symbolised a new beginning for the UK scene. -Koguchi

Blue Lines Massive Attack (1991) First wave of trip hop from Bristol. Shara Nelson's 'Unfinished Sympathy' became their signature tune. Horace Andy and Adrian "Tricky" Thaws joined [at this time]. -Yamashita

Loveless My Bloody Valentine (1991) Fans of their daydreamy guitar noise have been waiting 15 years for a new album, and their followers are still making imitations of it. Such a sinful album. -Kuroda

Screamadelica Primal Scream (1991) The euphoria of acid, the magical appeal of black music. The mixture of these elements produced a masterpiece that symbolised the era. At the time, there was still a glimmer of hope in the world. -Kuroda

Bandwagonesque Teenage Fanclub (1991) In the early days of their activities, the band often resonated with US alternative groups such as Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr. Their second album, also noisy guitar pop, is still highly regarded as a masterpiece. -Koguchi

Generation Terrorists Manic Street Preachers (1992) This was the first step for the Manics, who made headlines by declaring that they would break up as soon as they debuted at No.1. The fusion of literary, esoteric lyrics and popular, sweet melodies is still the same basic principle. -Sawada

Emergency on Planet Earth Jamiroquai (1993) The first album by Jamiroquai, the most successful acid jazz group. Jay Kay became a star with his uniquely white voice and big hat. His lyrics on environmental issues were also a hot topic. -Yamashita

Rid of Me PJ Harvey (1993) A strange and exquisite marriage of hard, noisy Albini-produced sound and boiling female emotions. Here is a true 'female rocker' song, not an imitation of a man. -Mima

Suede Suede (1993) The most flamboyant band of British newcomers ever, with controversial lewd sounds and immoral lyrics. The gender-bending view of eroticism is unique to UK rock, the fabric of glam. -Mima

Parklife Blur (1994) One of the milestones of Britpop with its catchy melodies and twisted pop sensibility. Damon's songwriting ability and well-honed sense of the times shines through. -Yamashita

Definitely Maybe Oasis (1994) A wealth of songs that extract the best parts of the past's musical legacy. Rugged guitar rock is full of life. The fruitful era of 90s British rock began here. -Hirose

Dummy Portishead (1994) The first album by the band featuring rare singer Beth Gibbons. The dark, cinematic sound, incorporating jazz and hip-hop, made them a worldwide hit beyond the boundaries of trip-hop. -Yamashita

Different Class Pulp (1995) A huge hit that became a social phenomenon after 16 years of incubation. Pop songs full of humour and pathos, rooted in people's 'everyday life', captured the hearts of the masses and made them a national band. -Mima

I Should Coco Supergrass (1995) A masterpiece that rode the Britpop wave to the top in the UK. A great line-up of great songs, including the eternal youth song "Alright". It has great energy and nostalgia at the same time. -Yamashita

K Kula Shaker (1996) Groovy sound with plenty of oriental mysticism and psychedelic sensibilities. The energy and intensity of the performance are 'scripture' level rock. -Mima

Moseley Shoals Ocean Colour Scene (1996) Second album from 1996. This is a great album that shows the band in their element, having made a name for themselves touring with Oasis and backing Paul Weller. Austere, sincere rock that digests elements of black music, with a gourmet taste. -Hirokawa

[auburniivenus]

❛  sometimes, there are more important things than me. you, for example.  ❜

I   LOVE   THE   WAY   THIS   BEGAN.   Twilight,   where   the   sun's   last   murmur   graced   the   horizon   and   shadows   grew   long,   her   soul   was   comprised   of   an   unfathomable   fortitude.   Across   the   lacquered   dreamscape   of   their   shared   existence,   she   saw   in   him   an   adamantine   bastion   against   the   abyssal   depths   of   sadness   that   attempted   to   contaminate   her   spirit.   The   ambrosial   notes   of   his   laughter   rang   resplendent   in   her   ears   and   stimulated   within   her   heart   a   blossoming   longing   to   envelop   him   in   a   gossamer   shroud   of   affection.   “Don’t   utter   such   a   thing.   You’re   important,   and   I’ll   uphold   you.”

She   stood   as   a   defender,   determined   to   stave   off   every   scion   of   strife   lest   they   dare   cast   aspersions   upon   his   luminous   HEART.   In   the   pristine   pool   of   her   devotion,   he   was   reflected:   an   exquisite   brilliant   star   whose   radiance   outshone   all   rival   luminaries   in   the   firmament   above.   Such   was   her   commitment   that   the   welkin   itself   grew   envious.   To   stand   beside   him   was   to   inhabit   amidst   halcyon   tranquility,   whereby   burden   and   worry   wilted   like   autumn   leaves   beneath   their   entwined   fingers.   Susurrus   of   twin   breaths   served   as   a   sacred   anthem   to   their   union,   a   paean   to   love's   transcendent   apotheosis;   for   she   would   bear   each   vicissitude   if   only   to   preserve   his   effulgent   essence.   Orihime's   resolute   vow   echoed   with   unyielding   verve.   A   shield   maiden   forged   from   fierce   zeal.

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: The American Gun by Jessica Femiani

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/the-american-gun-by-jessica-femiani/

The American Gun is a #poem in ten parts delving into the modern phenomenon of mass shootings in the United States. It’s a narrative account of a young teacher in NYC wrestling with the reality of #American #gun #culture. From the classroom to the subway platform, The American Gun is a meditation on tragedy and what it means to live in a country where domestic terrorism is a constant threat. Femiani’s poetry illuminates what the media cannot: the residuals of monumental loss, months and years after the fact, in the face of an unyielding “democracy” unable to protect the lives of its citizenry and its children.

Jessica Femiani is the granddaughter of immigrants. She received her PhD in English and creative writing at Binghamton University (SUNY) May ’21. Her poems and essays have been published in the Paterson Literary Review, Labor: Studies in Working-Class History, #MeToo, Anch’io, and Mom Egg Review. She lives in Binghamton, New York and is an adjunct lecturer at SUNY Oneonta.

PRAISE FOR The American Gun by Jessica

“Jessica Femiani‘s American Gun confronts gun violence in language that weaves a distinctly American tapestry with verve and tenacity. From the Italian grandfather who hauls cast iron tubs up flights of stairs, to the child looking for a safe place to hide during school shootings, I trust this poem’s steadiness, the solid ground from it rises.”

–Melissa Tuckey, Editor, Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology

Jessica Femiani holds space in her poetry for the people and memories that would otherwise be lost to the cruel conditions that are a reality of being and becoming American. The way her experience of stories about her great-grandfather and grandfather melt into her experience as a teacher in a country rife with mass shootings is achingly honest. The poems are alluring but aren’t afraid to wound you. Her writing is artful yet accessible and absolutely necessary.

–Cammy Pedroja, author of Notes on Vanishing

Jessica Femiani’s American Gun is a brilliant, expansive poem that explores the subject of guns, hatred, and mass shootings in America and the personal toll these horrific events take on our individual and national psyche. She unpacks the statistics to expose this stain on the soul of our country, this shadow over our daily lives.

–Jim Daniels

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

[omegaradiowusb]

MARCH 4, 2024 (#370)

Nico: “The Fairest Of The Seasons” Velvet Underground, The: “Who Loves The Sun” Stooges, The: “Dirt” T. Rex: “I Love To Boogie” Public Image Ltd.: “Annalisa” Birthday Party, The: “The Red Clock” Gang Of Four: It Is Not Enough” English Beat, The: “Ranking Full Stop” Talking Heads: “Moon Rocks” Kinks, The: “Living On A thin Line” Husker Du: “Hardly Getting Over It” Love & Rockets: “Kundalini Express” Smiths, The: “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” Jesus And Mary Chain, The: “Nine Million Rainy Days” Fall, The: “New Big Prinz” Galaxie 500: “Strange” Pixies, The: “Hey” Primal Scream: “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have” Concrete Blonde: “The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden” Slint: “Good Morning Captain” Machines Of Loving Grace: “Burn Like Brilliant Trash (Jackie's...)” Dinosaur Jr.: “Start Choppin’” Blur: “Hanging Over” Oasis:”Columbia” Manic Street Preachers: “Archives Of Pain” Replacements, The: “Can’t Hardly Wait” Radiohead: “Fake Plastic Trees” Elliott Smith: “Coming Up Roses” Paul Weller: “Broken Stones” Placebo: “I Know” PJ Harvey: “Naked Cousin” Morrissey: “Piccadilly Palare” Verve, The: “Bittersweet Symphony” Brian Jonestown Massacre, The: “Let’s Pretend That It’s Summer” Pulp: “Sorted For E’s & Wizz” Le Tigre: “Friendship Station” Radiohead: ”Fake Plastic Trees” Jay Reatard: “Let It All Go” Future Islands: “Like The Moon” Mountain Goats, The: “Blood Capsules” Weezer: ”Everybody Needs Salvation”

A new broadcasting season, a new five-star edition of Omega Radio. For tonight's midnight slot, we kickoff our first Springtime show with three hours of marquee music full of awesome standards, unanimous favorites, and top-shelf songs. We play these familiars for all of our listeners to enjoy, and also to have more time assembling future deluxe broadcasts.

A big thank you to @tewz for contributing much of the sounds heard on this morning's show. We have more new, current, and favorite sounds and artists on the way in the coming weeks. See you then.

March 18, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): deluxe Omega.

April 1, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): deluxe Omega.

April 15, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): deluxe Omega.

April 29, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): deluxe Omega.

May 13, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): deluxe Omega.

May 27, 2024 (Midnight-3AM): final deluxe Spring '24 Omega.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The Door to Their Dreams: Arista's 1988 Black Music Month Collection 1988 Quiet Storm / Soul / R&B / Adult Contemporary

Yikes. Y'know, it really sucks how so much R&B and soul had just decided to fold itself into the quiet storm format during the mid-to-late 80s, when things proceeded to get so boring, formulaic, and safe. Quiet storm was always meant to be a smooth, relaxing, and intimate type of black-made music, and some of it was indeed both deeply satisfying and incredible, but at a certain point, a lot of people in the music industry had also managed to convince themselves of this awful idea that it was actually perfectly fine now to produce almost every single sound with just keyboards instead, and as a result, the always-intertwined genres of R&B and soul, which had previously been so defined by such verve and unbridled passion, had largely drifted towards something that felt overly cheapened, dull, listless, and disposable 😒.

And unfortunately, despite the fact that Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Jermaine Jackson are all featured on this ephemeral Arista sampler from 1988, which directed its proceeds to the United Negro College Fund, it still ends up making for about fifty minutes' worth of pure, yawn-inducing monotony 🥱.

The only remotely interesting song in this entire batch to me is Brooklyn hip hop trio Whodini's "One Love," which was later interpolated by Q-Tip when he softly chanted its chorus on Nas' brilliant 1994 song by the same name. Released as a single in 1986, "One Love" managed to hit #10 on the Billboard R&B chart, and it features some familiarly tingly synth work on it that smacks of the group's most popular hit, "Friends," which was also sampled by Nas for "If I Ruled the World" in 1996. But what seems to mar this tune, in particular, is just how mind-numbingly basic some of its own rapping is 😞.

So, really, this is just a very unremarkable comp from what was probably R&B and soul's most uninspiring era, overall. A simply bad dispatch from an extremely low point for a couple of genres that had otherwise proven in both times before and after to have been so good. Ultimately, not even some of the world's most gifted singers and performers were able to make this album feel the slightest bit worthwhile 👎.

No highlights.

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

oh! oh! another great 90s guitarist we need to talk about is bernard butler!!

Of Suede! Spent a few days with The Verve too, in I think '95 or '96. He's brilliant and an extremely underrated guitarist (producer as well)!

[ainyan]

10, 13, 17 kiss prompt and any paring you think it fits : D

As you wish. ;)

Thancred awoke to an unfamiliar weight against him and froze, uncertain. Then the scent of wild roses and green growing things filled his lungs and he closed his eyes, burying his face against Kal’istae’s throat, his lips pressed flush to her pulse. She murmured in her sleep and he felt her legs twist with his, her tail wrapping over his hips as she burrowed into his embrace.  “Good morning,” he murmured, inhaling again.

“Morning,” came her sleepy reply, and he felt the moment she recognized his voice, felt her tense. “Oh. Uhm. Thancred,” she murmured, trying to draw away and finding herself trapped by his arms. “I’m sorry…”

(More under the cut; warning: slightly sexual >.>)

He raised his head, brushing his lips against her forehead, tracing down across the scales that dipped between her eyes. “For what? Mmm. Gods, you taste divine. Let me…” He trailed off as he hauled her up, taking her mouth with his and feasting at it. He could feel her sleepy confusion, feel the slow stir of her muscles as she awoke from her sleepy haze into a sexual one. By the time he rolled her on her back and slid between her thighs, she was wide-awake and wide-open for him.

Afterwards, she lay sprawled upon the mattress and he rolled over on his side, lifting himself upon one elbow to gaze down at her. She met his eyes, her expression languid, and lifted a hand to touch his face. “So pretty,” she murmured, then laughed at his expression. “Very well. So handsome. Better?”

He grunted. “Is that all I am to you? A handsome face?”

Her smile slid away, her fingers still stroking his jaw. “No. You’re a peerless warrior, a brilliant tactician, a silver-tongued scoundrel. You are,” she admitted, dropping her gaze away, “my inspiration.”

It drove the breath from his lungs. “I’m your what?”

Her cheeks grew dark as she flushed, embarrassed. “My inspiration. You’re the reason I learned to do so much - if you could do it, so could I. You were the bar I set for myself.”

Despite his bardic training, Thancred floundered to find the words to respond to her. She stared up at him, growing more and more purple, then began to roll away. He reached out and stopped her, holding tight despite her struggles. “Just wait a minute,” he snapped. “I’m not upset. I’m… flabbergasted. That you of all people would think me inspiring…” He gave a wondering laugh. “When all this time, I’ve only been trying to meet your lofty example.”

“Mine!” Kal’istae shot up, twisting to stare at him. “You must be kidding.”

He shook his head at her, sitting up as well. “I swear, you are the only paragon in the world who has absolutely no conception of her worth. My dearest Warrior of Light, since the moment I first began to notice you, making your mark in Ul’dah, I aspired to be like you - to match your verve, your confidence, your desire to help. You were the ultimate Scion, and you weren’t even among us - yet.”

She stared at him, then bit her lip, looking away. “I am not worthy of your admiration, Thancred.”

He reached out, tangling his fingers in her hair. “I disagree,” he said gently. “But that is neither here nor there. Inspiration is subjective - after all,” and he grinned, “you find me to be inspiring.”

She gazed at him thoughtfully for a long moment, then leaned in, brushing her lips across his. “I do,” she agreed softly. “Even moreso now than I ever did.”

Swift as a striking snake, he caught her in his arms, bearing her down to the bed. “And what, precisely, do I inspire you to now?” he purred, laying his long, lean body along hers, and her eyes widened to find him already ready for another round.

Laughing, she reached up to twine her arms about his neck, her legs hitching up and over his hips. As she impaled herself on him, her back arching with her groan of pleasure, he laughed, long and low. “You inspire me,” she panted, “to come.”

“Then, my own lady,” he murmured as he began to move in swift, steady rhythm, “allow me to inspire you again, and again, and again.”

Original Ask Meme

Thank you for the ask!

[tripleaxelrose]

Canadian Toller Cranston Takes Bronze in Innsbruck With Innovative, Cinematic Program

Mar. 4, 1976 — Innsbruck

Ontario’s Toller Cranston took the bronze medal in men’s Olympic figure skating this evening at the Olympic Eisstadion in Innsbruck.

Though he struggled in the compulsory figures portion of the competition, his brilliant short program and free skates guaranteed him a spot on the podium behind Great Britain’s John Curry and the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Kovalev.

Known as a superior artist on the ice, Cranston brought the 10,000-strong crowd to its feet in the free skate with a program set to the original score from the 1973 film Goncharov, which starred Robert De Niro.

When asked about the program ahead of the games, Cranston told the Montreal Gazette that he chose the music because he felt that it suited the moment. “To me, it said something powerful about right now — our sense of disconnection and unrequited longing for each other. It felt like something beautiful to bring into the world,” said Cranston, adding, “Although I’m not sure enough people have seen the film to really get it. I guess we’ll see.”

The judges seem to have gotten it. Technical marks for the program ranged from 5.6-5.9, with stronger scores, mostly 5.8s and 5.9s, in artistry. This is no surprise for Cranston, who has won six Canadian national championship titles by displaying his sense of verve and style on the ice…

[wine-porn]

White Dreams

A wine of shocking spirit and verve: where the grassy lemon leaves off and the brilliant floral begin is a vague region on the palate, with each crescendoing onto the other in masterful balance and flavor-packed decisiveness. At warmer temperatures it is rich and round, filling the nose and tongue with solid thrusts of butter and sprite–cooler it churns acid into the fruity fray, the shriek of…

[ursineknight]

Cassandra Edwards is a graduate student at Berkeley: gay, brilliant, nerve-wracked, miserable. At the beginning of this novel, she drives back to her family ranch in the foothills of the Sierras to attend the wedding of her identical twin, Judith, to a nice young doctor from Connecticut. Cassandra, however, is hell-bent on sabotaging the wedding.

Dorothy Baker’s entrancing tragicomic novella follows an unpredictable course of events in which her heroine appears variously as conniving, self-aware, pitiful, frenzied, absurd, and heartbroken—at once utterly impossible and tremendously sympathetic. Cassandra reckons with her complicated feelings about the sister who she feels owes it to her to be her alter ego; with her father, a brandy-soaked retired professor of philosophy; and with the ghost of her dead mother, as she struggles to come to terms with the only life she has.

First published in 1962, Cassandra at the Wedding is a book of enduring freshness, insight, and verve. Like the fiction of Jeffrey Eugenides and Jhumpa Lahiri, it is the work of a master stylist with a profound understanding of the complexities of the heart and mind.

I'm now polishing off "The Unbroken" by C. L. Clark (started partway and had to put down, but now I'm back), but "Cassandra at the Wedding" by Dorothy Baker's my next physical book read because 1960's queer unhinged cringefail female narrator? I'm in.