#conor sots

[buttercup-barf]

happy father’s day

what better way to celebrate than doodle every iteration of that one character in every cartoon saloon movie that is always my favourite

[atarahderek]

Song of the Sea: A Criticism of Bronagh

Bronagh is probably my second least favorite character in the entire Irish Folklore Trilogy by Cartoon Saloon (nothing can beat Oliver Cromwell, but at least him we're supposed to hate). It's not that I hate her, but I do think she's a terrible person who didn't deserve her family, because the only reason she had them was to use and lose them. So in this essay I will explain how Blue Diamond pulled a Pink, but in Ireland and with pinnipeds.*

Who is Bronagh? A Recap

For those unfamiliar with Cartoon Saloon's Song of the Sea, Bronagh is the mother of Ben and Saoirse, the protagonist and deuteragonist of the film respectively. She is a selkie, which is basically the Celtic version of a mermaid. She can shift between a seal and human form, and is considered to be part of the fairy (or fae) race. She wears her seal coat at all times, which allows her to move between land and sea at will.

On the night her second child, Saoirse, is born, Bronagh falls ill while in labor and is forced to permanently return to the sea, allowing her newborn to wash ashore for her father, Conor, to find. Bronagh's departure traumatizes both Conor and Ben. Conor believes his wife has abandoned him and has no idea why, and he's left in deep depression, especially on Saoirse's birthday. Meanwhile, Ben develops aquaphobia because he believes his mother drowned at sea. He wears a lifejacket wherever he goes for this reason.

Bronagh remains absent for six years, until one Halloween night when Saoirse, embracing her selkie heritage, sings the titular Song of the Sea, opening a pathway for all fairy kind to travel to Tír na nÓg, the land they originally came from. Bronagh does not stay long, however, and bids her family farewell for the final time, taking Saoirse's seal coat so that the girl can stay with her human family. They never see Bronagh again, and are honestly happier for it.

As they should be. Because frankly, Bronagh is a grifter.

Selkies

The legends surrounding selkies typically involve either humans or selkies seducing one another (usually men of either species seducing women of the other species), resulting in an inter-species marriage. If a selkie woman marries a man, this is usually because the man found and hid her seal coat, preventing her from transforming back into a seal. When she finally finds the coat, she returns to the sea forever. In one legend, a selkie maiden willingly takes a human husband, and when he goes out to sea in a storm against her warnings, she's forced to rescue him. But because of the specific rules established in her legend, she is then unable to transform back into her human form, and has to remain at sea, separated from her family. In some forms of the legend, the selkie is able to hide their identity from their lover, out of fear they will lose their seal coat and be trapped on land forever. But in these legends, the selkie is always forced to return to the sea by one circumstance or another, thus having to abandon their lover.

The gist of all this is that selkie-human marriages always end in a broken family. And the selkie frequently leaves behind children.

Bronagh's Secrets

Now, in SotS, it's established that Bronagh and Conor are happily married, with seemingly no coercion from either party. Bronagh is free to wear her seal coat all she likes, and Conor knows she's a selkie. It's only when Saoirse is born that Conor makes a habit of hiding away the seal coat for fear of losing her like he did her mother, resulting in Saoirse becoming mute without it. It comes as a shock to Conor when Bronagh returns permanently to the sea, abandoning him and their children. Obviously he was previously unaware that Bronagh could not continue living both on land and at sea, and that she would eventually have to return to the sea.

But this isn't the only secret Bronagh kept from Conor. As one party in selkie-human marriages is wont to do, Bronagh was using Conor for her own gains.

We learn from a group of fairies that a selkie is needed to open the way to Tír na nÓg by way of her singing. Saoirse specifically seems to be the selkie required to do this. Because Saoirse is half human, she thus represents a connection--a bridge--between the human realm and the fairy realm. Ben did not inherit Bronagh's selkie magic, so even though he is technically half selkie himself, he's unable to become that bridge. There's also an implication that Bronagh knew that in order to assure that Saoirse had selkie magic, she would have to birth her at the expense of her life on land. Saoirse is the product of Bronagh's real goal; to create a bridge and open a pathway for her kind to their realm. For this she needed herself a patsy.

Enter Conor.

The Grift

Conor is a gentle lighthouse keeper. He is strongly introverted, has a love of the sea and doesn't let his overbearing mother dictate his life. He is well aware of the legends of selkies and is determined to not be that kind of husband. But he doesn't know everything he needs to know about them, and that suits Bronagh just fine. What he doesn't know can't hurt her, right? So Bronagh tells him all about where she's from, and together they dream up an idyllic life split between sea and shore. But what she doesn't tell him is that she wants him for his DNA, and once she gets what she wants, she's outta there. She leaves him bereaved and confused, with two children to raise on his own, both of whom can be read as having special needs because of their trauma and/or the circumstances of their birth. And one of those children she only produced to be a tool, just like Conor.

All this, of course, leaves poor Ben in the painful and unfair position of having to repair his entire family practically by himself at ten years old.

While I can understand that Bronagh would be hesitant to tell Conor exactly what her mission was, the fact is that by not telling him, she was exploiting him and their children. Conor was just a cog in Bronagh's machinations. She didn't marry him out of love, and she basically captured him and held him captive. Which makes her no different from any other selkie legend, except this time it's the wife doing the exploitation rather than the husband.

Basically, Bronagh is not a good person.

Consequences and Conclusion

If Conor had known the truth about Bronagh's mission, there's certainly a decent chance that he would've opted out. But what if he hadn't? What if he was so in love with this seal maiden that he agreed to help all her people? Had that been the case, he could've better prepared his children for not only the day Bronagh had to leave, but also for the day Saoirse would fulfill her purpose and open the path to Tír na nÓg. And he would've been better prepared himself. Bronagh could not have foreseen that her actions would ultimately lead to the main antagonist Macha's redemption, and the fairies whom Macha had turned to stone being set free after Ben was forced to confront his own trauma and the emotions that came with it. So Bronagh pretty much just traumatized her son because she wanted to keep her secrets. The trouble and pain she caused did ultimately have a greater good come out of them, but that was certainly not her doing.

Now, while I don't think Bronagh is a good person, I do think she is an effective character. As I said, her actions ultimately lead to all of the fairies being freed and Macha being redeemed and reunited with her son MacLir. Had Conor been completely on board with Bronagh's plans, there might not have been as important of an impact on Ben, and he wouldn't have been in a position to help Macha. So from a story writing perspective, Bronagh works quite well. But as a wife and mother, Bronagh fails utterly. As a selkie, she's so typical it hurts.

Moral of the story: Don't marry a selkie unless the contract includes an ironclad absolutely-no-secrets clause. Or just...don't marry a selkie, period. Save yourself the heartbreak.

[imfbsl]

Sónar 2017 megalist

Minden evben van ez a nem tul halas feladat, miszerint a fesztival utan osszeszedni, hogy mikor merre jartunk, mit hallottunk, es mennyire volt az jo. Annyira nem halas ez, hogy evek ota nem is csinaltuk: tavaly asszem egesz egyszeruen elhagytuk reszegen a jegyzeteket, a tavalyelotti meg valahol megvan felkeszen, de az utolso konkret poszt amit talaltam hirtelen, az 2014-bol valo. Na de 2017 meg a feng shui naptar szerint is a tudatos fesztivalozas eve, szoval hacsak negyed oran belul ossze nem kressel a szamitogepem, akkor iden bizony ki fog kerulni az internetre ez a lista! Tehat, ha minden igaz, az alabbi a 62 koncertbe neztunk bele az idei Sónar-on. Megprobaltam tetszesindex szerint nagyjabol sorbarakni, a vegen vannak a legjobbak, de a preciz sorrend azert elegge esetleges. Viszont egesz sok videot is talaltam iden a youtube-on, szoval azok is be lettek linkelve. Na akkor csapassuk: --------------- 999. Craig Richards: Kezdjuk is az egyetlen szarral. Ugy latszik minden evben becsuszik egy ilyen geci hires dj a kora esti fomusoridobe, aki nagyon nem erzi a dolgokat, a multkor a Richie Hawtin volt az, most ez a Craig. Annyira fogalmatlanul nyult a sliderekhez ez az ember, hogy komolyan a seggszorommel is jobbat dj-zek, pedig papiron nem is ertek hozza! Biztos szanaszejjel is volt itokazva / akarmizve, de ez kurvara nem mentseg, tekintve hogy a valamennyire is tehetseges dj-k mind sokkal de sokkal jobban jatszanak reszegen mint jozanul. Nem linkelem be, aki akarja, megtalalja a youtube-on az egeszet. Viszont sok mindent elarul az altalanos szinvonalrol, hogy ezen kivul mas rosszat nem igazan hallottunk. 61. Arca & Jesse Kanda: Erre egyaltalan nem emlekszem hogy lettem volna rajta, de az van ideirva hogy "majdnem jo" :). Ja igen, ezek voltak az operaenekesek. Majdnem. 60. Telmo Trenor: nem emlekszem ra, "so-so" jeloles szerepel a jegyzeteimben.  [full video] 59. BSN Posse: erre sem emlekszem annyira, valami ilyen trap-es dolog lehet, azt irtam fel hogy "vegulis nem rossz" 58. Cashmere Cat: ez is valami trap volt, sajnos a bena szinpadon, nem is nagyon emlekszem a reszletekre 57. Bejo: Spanyol nepinemzeti hiphop rap-et! A celnak teljesen megfelelt. 56. Christian Tiger School: "Nyugis de nem rossz" - ezt irtam fel. Nehez felidezni. Ha minden igaz, ilyen instrumentalis house-os valami 55. Boris Chimp 504: Beloluk szerintem csak nagyon keveset lattunk, de asszem van egy fotom a kivetitorol, ahol mindenfele erdekes vizualok mentek a toksotetben.  [full video] 54. Bawrut: Erre sem annyira emlekszem, de ugy remlik hogy valamennyire tetszett.  [full video] 53. Sofie Winterson: Ennek a szegeny fiatal pop-enekesnonek a repulotarsasag elhagyta az osszes hangszeret, ugyhogy csupa kolcson hangszerrel leptek fel, ennek megfelelo technikai problemakkal. Azert par perc kesessel sikerult elkezdeni, aranyos volt 52. Nicolas Jaar: slageres techno dj, biztos hires is! Gondolom csak futtaban. 51. BFlecha: Ez a csaj 3 eve azert jobban lenyugozott minket. Szerintem a problema gyokere az lehet, hogy jobban szeret enekelni mint szintizni, viszont jobban szintizik mint enekel :) 50. Tommy Cash: Eszt rapper fiu, amennyire feher a bore, ahhoz kepest egesz negeres hangja volt!  [full video] 49. Princess Nokia: ezt a csajt csak kajalas kozben hallottuk, de jonak tunt.  [full video] 48. Julian Mayorga: Egy fiatal srac, akirol megtudtuk hogy 12 evesen kapta az elso gitarjat, es azota nincs megallas. Jok voltak a kezzel rajzolt/festett vizualjai. 47. Conor Thomas Azt irtam fel hogy "ugyes". 46. Matmos: Ezek egy ilyen experimentalis Hurra Torpedo-klonzenekar. Volt egy aram alatt levonek tuno mosogepuk, amibe neha beleontottek parszor 10 liter vizet, aztan doboltak rajta, vizes kezzel simogattak, ilyesmi; ez az egesz eleg profin be volt mikrofonozva, meg volt azert egy lelkes dj is mogottuk (pontosabban mellettuk). Nyilvan ok is eltoltak a kotelezo techno slagert, mint ahogy kb mindenki mas is. Azert szerintem ez elsosorban show volt, es csak masodsorban zene. 45. Diego Armando: A Maradona-rol elnevezett fiatal,  szoke  dj viszonylag jo szettet tolt kora delutan, kar hogy az "ACID" feliratu rozsaszin poloja ellenere nem sok acid volt benne.  [full video] 44. Floorplan live: Az oregkorara megtert fekete house dj a lanyaval kettesben duoban, akinek a zeneje allitolag elsosorban istennel valo kapcsolatarol szol. Ehhez kepest elegge dongolos house-himnuszok mentek, ideje lenne hogy a kdmp-be is beszivarogjon ez a fajta vallas-ertelmezes!!! 43. Carl Craig presents Versus synthesizer ensemble: ebbol nem hallottunk nagyon sokat, egyreszt mert rovid volt, masreszt mert keson ertunk oda; es nem is lattunk sokat, mert a hosszu es keskeny (olvasd: hasznalhatatlan) szinpadon volt, es sokan is voltak. Ja meg lemaradtunk a "raadasrol" is. Alapvetoen ilyen nyugodtabb zene ez, nem az itt ejszaka szokasos veretes. 42. DJ Bus Replacement Service: a legjobb felleponev idei* toronymagas nyertese egy Kim Jong-un maszkban tolta vegig kisse provokativ, viszont nagyon eklektikus szettjet, eleg vicces volt, na!

(*vö: feher europaiakbol allo, "nigga please" neven futo rapzenekar)

41. Roosevelt: Pop-bandanak tunt, akik teljesen nyugodtan jatszhatnanak mondjuk a sziget nagyszinpadon, de itt kicsit kilogott a sorbol. Nagyon sokat nem hallottunk belole mondjuk. 40. Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals: Anderson .Paak egy fiatal neger rapper srac, nagyjabol ennek megfeleloen elvarhato rappelessel, de a zenekara az elegge kurvara rendben volt 39. Kablam: ez a szoke sved csaj ilyen trap baszataskat tolt, jo volt ez is asszem 38. Fira Fem: Gitar + szinti felallasban jatszottak ilyen csilles, (mino meglepetes) gitaros-szintis zenet majdnem delben, nem volt rossz egyaltalan.  [full video] 37. Nadia Rose: Ez egy kb 20 eves rapper csaj, valoszinuleg nagy bulit csinalt, par percet kaptunk csak el belole futtaban 36. Lunice: Ezen csak E. meg C. voltak, szoval en nem tudom hova tenni. Allitolag benyomta a playback gombot, de ennek ellenere eleg jo volt :) 35. Veronica Vasicka: kemeny techno jott az erto noi kezbol 34. Prins Thomas: Megint csak messzirol hallgattam, de az alapjan nekem tetszett  [full video] 33. Jacques Greene: Ugyesen baszatta a technot / house-t (nem emlekszem mar pontosan mit) a Jon Hopkins / Moderat utan kellemesen kiurult nagyszinpadon, jot ugraltunk ra 32. Nosaj Thing + Daito Manabe: E. sokat vart toluk, en meg nagyon nagyon faradt voltam. Ehhez kepest en hallgattam belole tobbet, szoval igy oke volt, de nem vilagmegvalto. Valoszinuleg a korulmenyeken (heringkonzverv) is mult az elmeny. 31. Masters at work: Ok ugye 6 orat toltak megallas nelkul ejszaka, biztos kurvajo volt, de kibirhatatlan ez zart helyen, meg hat annyi mas program is van ugyanekkor, nem erzem en ezt a koncepciot annyira magamenak... 30. Nina Kraviz: Nina Kraviz-rol nem kell tul sokat mondani szerintem. Vicces momentum volt, amikor hajnali utolso fellepokent meg kikonyorgott egy utolso utani szamot a hangmernoktol, es amikor megkapta hogy na jo, akkor lehajolt a pultrol es adott egy cuppanos szajrapuszit az emlitett hangmernoknek :)  [full video] 29. Juana Molina: idosebb enekesno, ilyen kicsit folkos cuccokat jatszott, teljesen jo volt  [full video] 28. Clara 3000: Ez a fiatal parizsi dj lany eleteben eloszor rogton a Justice elott lepett fel, es most is ez volt a szituacio. Nem rossz, nem rossz.  [full video] 27. Soulwax: ezen E. + C. voltak, en nem mert a Derrick Carter-t hallgattam inkabb vegig, allitolag ok is nagyon jol toltak. Sok dobos sok dobot utott.  [video extract] 26. Joe Goddard - A vip-bol hallgatva eleg jonak tunt, ilyen szintis-modularisszintis-popos liveact, enekesnovel, nekem ez mar kicsit tul pop, de amugy teljesen korrekt  [full video] 25. Heidi: "a no aki nem ijed meg a nagyszinpadtol" - valami ilyesmi volt a leiras, kulonbozo okokbol csak felfullel hallottuk, ment a veretes, jonak tunt [full video] 24. De la Soul: Kover negerek rappelnek lelkesen, nem volt rossz. Szerintem az egyik ficko a kovetkezo 3 koncertbe is belerappelt, de ezt nem ereztem bajnak, sot. 23. Thundercat: nem neztem volna ki ebbol a funky-s basszgitaros fickobol, hogy tobbek kozott a Suicidal Tendencies-ben is jatszott, pedig de! Nahat, ez nagyon nem olyan volt, de ez egyaltalan nem is baj :) 22. Tutu: Ez az kedves lany nyitotta a fesztivalt, a szuperoptimista "everything going wrong at the same time" feliratu polojaban, ennek megfeleloen az elso fele eleg sotet zajokkal operalt, de a vegere azert mar mosolygott is meg a zene is tancolhatobbra fordult 21. HVOB: Kicsit homalyosak az emlekeim, meg csak az utolso negyed orat hallottuk (?), de asszem ez elegge tetszett, E.-nek kulonosen! Nyugis elektronika, enekesno, mi kell mas?! [17 min video] 20. Crystal/Sparrows: Egy eleg vicces fiatal japan ficko, ilyen blip-blop-blutty cuccokkal kezdett, aztan tul sokat akadt a macbook es mar nagyon hisztiztek a hangmernokok, szoval igy a szett kozepen az N+1-ik akadasnal mondta hogy akkor o most ujrainditana a szamitogepet, ami 5+ perc nema csendet jelentett, de a kozonseg ennek ellenere nem ment el! A vegere kicsit tancolhatobbra valtott, nekem elegge tetszett az egesz alapvetoen! 19. Suzanne Ciani: Az olasz szinti-magus neni egy (Buchla, west coast style) modularis szintit csavargatott es dugdosott live, es eletkora (71!) ellenere borzasztoan boldogon es nagyokat ugralt amikor a kozonseg megtapsolta! 18. Little Dragon: ez elegge kurvajonak tunt, csak megint a szar szinpadon, meg megint nem teljesen kristalytisztak az emlekek 17. Pan Daijing: A kinai csaj ilyen neha dj-zos, neha elszalltabb eneklos live szettet tolt, nekem elegge tetszett! 16. Optimo: Skot duo, eleg jol nyomtak, sajnos csak keves es homalyos emlekeim vannak 15. Marie Davidson presents "bullshit treshold": Sajnos csak a legveget hallottuk, kar, mert abbol itelve eleg jo lehetett! Na majd legkozelebb 14. Miiin: Koreai csaj, szupereklektikus szettet baszott le az asztalra, rendesen rajatszva kozben a kozonseg gyerekkori elmenyeire is, mukodott! 13. Etyen: Ez a szereny libanoni srac nagyon ugyes es erdekes live szettet csinalt, mindenkinek nagyon tetszett 12. DJ Shadow: nana hogy nyilvan kurvajo volt, sajnos csak a vegere ertunk oda, meg nagy volt a tomeg is, na majd legkozelebb.  [22 min video, bad sound] 11. Jon Hopkins: altalaban Jon Hopkins is kurvajo, most sem volt ez kivetel 10. Justice: Gondolom a Justice-rol sem kell tul sok szot ejteni, sajnos a hatalmas tomeg levett az elvezhetosegbol, ugyanez tizedennyi emberrel biztos komoly elmeny lett volna  [40 perc mobilkamera] 9. Eric Prydz: nagy show volt a sok lezerrel, jol is szolt, buli is volt, tokeletes  [1 ora mobilkameras video] 8. Derrick Carter: Mosolygos chicago-i house dj, sok szaxofonszoloval, nekem nagyon tetszett  [full video] 7. Fat Freddy's Drop: Egyertelmuen a legnagyobb show-t ez az uj-zelandi zenekar csinalta, a harsonas frontember meg konkretan teljesen orult, ettol aztan a kozonseg is teljesen megorult, csak ugy repkedtek az uszogumik, kerekesszekek, kerekesszekben ulo emberek, stb!  [full video, daytime] 6. RP Boo: meg egy (raszta) neger chicago-i house dj, ledobta az atomgigaslagerbombat, nagy buli volt!  [2 min video] 5. Seth Troxler & Tiga: ok ketten megint egy 6 oras szettet toltak le, raadasul egy viszonylag zart helyen, szoval ezt nyilvan szinten teljesen keptelenseg meghallgatni, de az a kb fel ora amit hallgattam belole (kicsit almosan) az nagyon jonak tunt, egeszen elmerultem benne.  [12 min, allo telefon, hatulrol, szar hang] 4. Star Eyes & Jubilee b2b: ez a ket fiatal dj csaj szuperlelkesen, mosolyogva tolta a baszataskat, egy pillanatra sem lankadva, szuper hangulatot csinaltak, ennel jobb egy fesztivalon nem is lehet! 3. Forest Swords: Ezt sejtettem hogy jo lesz, es valoban jo is volt. Gitarossal es zenekarral, abban nem vagyok biztos hogy dobos is volt-e, vagy csak kepzeltem a sotetben.  [2 min, mobil] 2. The Black Madonna: nem veletlenul kaptak fel ezt a not mostanaban annyira, tokeletes fesztivalzaro szettet tolt, valtozatos volt, porgos volt, jo volt. Kar hogy nem esett az eso! [full video] 1. Lena Willikens: ez a nemet no, a szajabol logo elmaradhatatlan cigivel (majdnem annyit dohanyzik mint a Gesaffelstein!!) gecire adta az obskurus acid-es technos dolgokat, mindenkinek nagyon tetszett, nekem meg kulonosen!  [full video]

[societyresource]

Lithuania: Russian fighter that beat Conor McGregor in 2008 auctions boxing shorts

Lithuania: Russian fighter that beat Conor McGregor in 2008 auctions boxing shorts

Russian-Lithuanian Artemij Sitenkov, the first man ever to defeat Irish lightweight boxing champion Conor McGregor in 2008, has put the shorts he wore during the fight up for auction, Thursday. The proceeds will go towards raising money for a local orphanage in Lithuania.

SOT, Artemij Sitenkov, MMA fighter (Russian): “I found the old shorts in my wardrobe, then I realised that I’d won against…