#harry's house is also up for a sound engineering award

[larrylimericks]

15Nov22

Grammy noms — Harry got a sextet! (With three from the main Big Four set!) We hope that the mantle In his House can handle One or two or six more statuettes.

[hldailyupdate]

Songwriter and producer Tyler Johnson has told Music Week that the success of As It Was represents the strength of the relationship between Harry Styles and his collaborators.

Johnson, who is signed to Pulse Music Group, was speaking to Music Week for our latest edition of Hitmakers, in which he told the story of As It Was, which was written by Styles, Johnson and Kid Harpoon (real name Tom Hull). Hull won our Songwriter Of The Year Award in 2020 and told the story of Watermelon Sugar in a previous edition of Hitmakers.

Styles has been working with Johnson and Hull since his self-titled first album, which hit No.1 in 2017. Johnson worked across that record, while Hull co-wrote Two Ghosts before contributing more significantly to Fine Line. The trio worked on the bulk of this year’s Harry’s House (369,734 sales) together, and Johnson said their closeness helped contribute to the album’s record-breaking performance.

“There’s something very fluid about the song as a representation of the three of us having made records together for almost six years,” said Johnson. “As It Was shows us – and the whole album represents this – in a really good zone where we’re just doing our thing. There’s a lot of trust between us.”

Speaking further about the evolution of his relationship with Styles, Johnson described Styles as “fearless”.

“Harry really allows Tom and me to have a voice in the music and in that way, it’s reflective of being a band,” he said. “He’s very, very intelligent and he fully gets album making. Our fearless leader was truly confident and that mattered for all of the people around him. It’s a very real thing when somebody who is the figurehead of a creative process feels confident in what they want and knows what they’re doing, it makes everyone involved feel free and do their little bit to make it right. Now, he’s just a full-blown force.”

Mitch Rowland, guitarist in Styles’ live band, has also contributed to all three of Styles’ albums, and Johnson noted that his playing on As It Was helped add the finishing touches to the song.

“Really, the record was about where it’s at now after three or four days,” he said. “It didn’t go through a lot of [changes], there was never anything drastic. I had a guitarist friend, Doug Showalter, add electric guitars and some transition sounds. Then we got the tubular bells – Harry’s idea – and I’ve got a video of him playing those. We then had Mitch come in to do some live drums and we chopped those up for the ending to give it a more bombastic feeling.”

As It Was was the product of writing sessions at Sony Music Group CEO Rob Stringer’s house, where the trio holed up for a time during the pandemic.

“Harry was sitting on the Moog One and I liked what he was playing, so I sat down and played as he started to write the melodies and the lyrics,” Johnson said. “I said to Harry, ‘We need a lead line’ and he just came up right away with the ‘Dah, dah, dah...’ part. He didn’t hesitate. Then he started writing the second verse and referring to himself in the third person. So much of this song just came from Harry’s heart. And then Tom, with this magical sense of hooks that he has, came up with the idea of doing, ‘You know it’s not the same…’ after the chorus, which I was very impressed with. That turned out to be a very smart move.”

They were working in the living room at the house, with Styles, Johnson and Hull working with engineer Jeremy Hatcher.

“It’s definitely the most British lifestyle I’ve ever lived,” said Johnson. “We had a lady there that helped us prepare food and she would make delicious treats and Sunday brunch. Getting away for a second and getting that space allowed us to get into a new side [of ourselves].”

Johnson explained that Styles’ vision for As It Was immediately clear.

“It’s got such a mellowness to it and it doesn’t really go for any big moments,” he said. “Harry had the vision for it to be the lead single. I’m very impressed at how he saw that it was what his audience wanted, and also people in general – it’s not just his fans who have taken to the song. When it came out on Spotify and I pressed play I got a good feeling in my stomach like, ‘I like that people are hearing this song.’”

The co-writer also noted the importance of the video, which has now racked up 328,490,374 views.

“I got to see the video with the rest of the world, I’ll be honest, I didn’t know he could dance like that!” he said. “It’s a continuation of him being one of a kind and providing an experience for his fans that is unique, fun and engaging.”

Meanwhile, Pulse Music Group CEO Scott Cutler was effusive in his praise of As It Was.

"Tyler and Harry have had a lot of hits together, but this song really stands on its own as one of the very best songs written," he told Music Week. "I played it at least a hundred times in a row when I heard it and was truly moved."

[pritishsblog]

BEST DIRECTORS IN CINEMA- 7

Hi everyone! This blog is going to be the 7th part of 8 part series of who I think is the Best Directors Cinema has ever seen

And today I will be talking about

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Alfred Hitchcock (born August 13, 1899, London, England died April 29, 1980, Bel Air, California, U.S.) was an English-born American motion-picture director whose suspenseful films and television programs won immense popularity and critical acclaim over a long and tremendously productive career. His films are marked by a macabre sense of humour and a somewhat bleak view of the human condition.

(Early Life)

Hitchcock grew up in London’s East End in a milieu once haunted by the notorious serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, talk of whom was still current in Hitchcock’s youth two decades later. Although he had two siblings, he recalled his youth as a lonely one, with a father who was a stern disciplinarian; it is said that he once ordered Alfred to appear at the local police station with a note saying that he had been misbehaving, whereupon the sergeant on duty (at the request of Hitchcock’s father) locked him up for a few minutes, a sufficient length of time to give Alfred a fear of enclosed spaces and a strong concern for wrongful imprisonment, both of which would figure in his later work. When he was not being disciplined, he was cosseted by an overly watchful mother, who used food as a balm—to which he would later trace his trademark paunch.Hitchcock went to St. Ignatius College before attending the London County Council School of Marine Engineering and Navigation in 1913–14. He worked in the sales department at W.T. Henley’s Telegraph Works Company until 1918, when he moved to the advertising department. Giving in to his artistic side, Hitchcock enrolled at the University of London in 1916 to take drawing and design classes.

(His Famous Works)

A string of successful films followed, including Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Notorious (1946). Rebecca won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Hitchcock nominated as Best Director.He also received Oscar nominations for Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), Rear Window (1954) and Psycho (1960). Hitchcock's other notable films include Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964), all of which were also financially successful and are highly regarded by film historians

(Filmmaking Style)

The "Hitchcockian" style includes the use of editing and camera movement to mimic a person's gaze, thereby turning viewers into voyeurs, and framing shots to maximise anxiety and fear. The film critic Robin Wood wrote that the meaning of a Hitchcock film 'is there in the method, in the progression from shot to shot. A Hitchcock film is an organism, with the whole implied in every detail and every detail related to the whole.'

(His Filmography)

Hitchcock made his directorial debut with a silent movie named Number 13 which is rumored to be lost. He has made more than 20 silent movies including Number 13 (1922),Always Tell Your Wife (1923),The Pleasure Garden (1925) and etc.

He has made more than 40 sound films including Blackmail (1929),An Elastic Affair (1930),Juno and Peacock (1930),Murder (1930). Some of his most famous movies which are still praised are Vertigo (1958),Psycho (1960),The Birds (1963). The last movie which he directed before his death was Family Plot (1976)

Hitchcock's star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

English Heritage Plague at 153 Cromwell Road, London

(Awards & Honors)

His movies have won 2 Golden Globe Awards, 8 Laurel Awards, 5 Lifetime Achievement Awards. His movie Rebecca was also nominated for 11 Academy Awards winning the Best Picture Award. His movies are now housed in Academy Film Archive in Hollywood,California. 9 of his films have selected for preservation by the US National Film Registry.

(Sources)

And that's it for this part folks, I'll meet you with the last and final part of this series. Until then

CIAO

[tcm]

Overlooked Bernard Herrmann Scores By Jessica Pickens

His name is synonymous with staccato violin notes that remind audiences of knife stabbing and have made many reluctant to take a shower. Composer Bernard Herrmann is the master behind iconic scores for films like THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (’41) and PSYCHO (’60). The Academy Award-winning composer scored the two films that are often argued to be the best of all-time: CITIZEN KANE (’41) and VERTIGO (’58). His work continues to be reused in pop culture, from his whistling TWISTED NERVE (’68) theme used in Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL: VOLUME 1 (2003) to Lady Gaga using part of VERTIGO’s prelude in her “Born This Way” music video.

Known best for his collaborations with directors Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, other works of Herrmann’s often go overlooked. Below are a few of his scores that are less often discussed.

JANE EYRE (’43)

In this adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine), who is hired by the wealthy Edward Rochester (Orson Welles), works as the governess for Rochester’s daughter which leads to her discovering secrets in the house. “On a project like ‘Jane Eyre,’ I didn’t need to see the film beforehand. One just remembers the book,” Herrmann said in a 1975 interview, discussing this film’s score.

JANE EYRE was Herrmann’s first project with 20th Century-Fox, which started a 19-year partnership with the studio and a long friendship with composer and Fox music director Alfred Newman. Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck initially sought composer Igor Stravinsky to score the film, but negotiations fell through. Producer David O. Selznick and Welles were the driving force behind hiring Herrmann for the project, according to Herrmann’s biographer Steven Smith.

Herrmann’s score has a dark, gothic feel that matches the theme of the novel. New York Herald Tribune composer critic Paul Bowles described the score as “gothic extravagance and poetic morbidities. It contains some of the most carefully wrought effects to be found in recent film scores,” Bowles wrote. According to Smith, Herrmann called it his first “screen opera.” The score foreshadowed work on another Brontë project — his “Wuthering Heights” opera that didn’t see a full theatrical performance until 2011.

ON DANGEROUS GROUND (‘51)

Directed by Nicholas Ray, an adaptation of Gerald Butler’s book Mad with Much Heart. The film follows a rough city police officer, Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan). After Jim is too violent with a suspect, he is sent to a rural area as punishment. His job is to help with a manhunt for the murderer of a child. A blind woman, Mary Malden (Ida Lupino) is the sister of the murderer, and she tries to convince Jim to protect her brother.

ON DANGEROUS GROUND is one of Herrmann’s few film noir scores. Film noir expert and host of TCM’s Noir Alley Eddie Muller said, "Herrmann's score is one of the most distinctive crime scores of the era." In a June 2019 introduction of the film, Muller noted “Herrmann’s score is unlike any other music written for film noir. A dramatic clash of brass, strings and percussion that goes a long way to unify the film’s unusual — almost schizophrenia — structure.”

Herrmann admired Ray’s storytelling and engineered a creative score that illustrated good and evil. For Lupino’s character, Herrmann used the viola soloist Virginia Majewski, who Herrmann advocated to have on-screen credit. Herrmann also had the rare freedom to compose, orchestra and conduct the entire score. The most notable cue is “The Death Hunt,” that has a driving, frantic tempo and can be compared to his later NORTH BY NORTHWEST (’59) score. Muller noted that to make sure “The Death Hunt” cue was effective, Herrmann fought to have the sound mix corrected during the scene so that the barking dogs wouldn’t drown out his score.

THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (1952)

Based on an Ernest Hemingway short story, Gregory Peck plays Harry, a novelist who uses his earnings to travel. While on safari in Africa, Harry suffers an injury that results in a deadly infection. As he lies dying, he thinks back on his life and past romances, and his safari companion Helen, played by Susan Hayward, nurses Harry through his illness.

While some of Herrmann’s most famous scores drive thrillers and adventures, scores like THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO show he can create beautiful, gentle and charming tunes. His cues are dreamy and wistful, matching the mental state of the ill Harry, whose mind travels to the past while on his death bed. Herrmann’s cue entitled, “The Memory Waltz,” is particularly dreamy. Herrmann said he tried to create music of “a highly nostalgic nature” as a man dies and deals with his “emotional past.”

On the film’s release, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther praised Herrmann’s score. “For it is Mr. Herrmann’s music, singing sadly and hauntingly, that helps one sense the pathos of dead romances and a wasted career. A saxophone and a piano in a Paris studio, an accordion on an old Left Bank bar and an arrogant guitarist in a Spanish café—these are also actors in the film. Perhaps they come closer to stating what Hemingway had to say.”

MARNIE (1964)

Marnie (Tippi Hedren) is a thief who suffers from psychological trauma of her past, which comes to a head after she marries a widower (Sean Connery) from a wealthy Philadelphia family who does not readily accept her. MARNIE was the end of an era. It marked the last of seven films that Herrmann collaborated on with director Alfred Hitchcock on, beginning with THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (’55).

Much had changed for both Herrmann and Hitchcock by 1964, including how they were both viewed by Hollywood executives. Herrmann and Hitchcock were being pressured to be more “hip” for 1960s audiences. The studio even urged Hitchcock not to hire “old-fashioned” Herrmann. But if Hitchcock did hire Herrmann, they encouraged him to also have a title pop song, according to Smith. The film was a box-office failure — Hitchcock’s first failure in many years. Today, the film is now appreciated by audiences, but Herrmann’s score still is often overlooked when compared to other Hitchcock titles.

The main title of MARNIE features blaring horns, which sound haphazard against more melodic violins — illustrating the mix of trauma and beauty. A notable cue is “The Foxhunt,” which begins with a jaunty, almost cheerful, tune filled with horns and violins. But the cue turns more haphazard and frantic as it continues. While this was Herrmann’s last completed score for Hitchcock, Herrmann started work on TORN CURTAIN (’66) but was replaced due to artistic differences.

IT’S ALIVE (’74)

The Davies family (Sharon Farrell and John P. Ryan) are expecting their second child. But when their baby is born, he is a monster who kills anyone in his path. The 1970s marked a new era for Bernard Herrmann. He began working with younger filmmakers who appreciated his work of the past. These included Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma. One of these collaborations spawned a friendship with director of IT’S ALIVE, Larry Cohen, who cited Herrmann as a major influence in his career up until his death in 2019.

Herrmann enjoyed the experience with his film because he enjoyed working with Cohen. To add to the eerie, creepy vibe of the film, Herrmann incorporated a Moog synthesizer into the score. He also uses a viola for a mournful note, according to Smith. Herrmann also had fun naming his cues, such as “The Milkman Goeth” when the baby kills the milkman.

Herrmann was set to work with Cohen again for the film GOD TOLD ME TO (’76), but Herrmann died in 1975 before he could begin.

[harryknowsme]

Variety

Producer Jeff Bhasker faced a daunting task several months ago. After having worked with Kanye West and winning Grammy Awards for producing Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” and Fun.’s 2012 album “Some Nights,” he had to decide whether to take on a new project: the debut solo album of One Direction member Harry Styles.

“I’d just had a baby, and I was kind of like, ‘Eh, I don’t know if I’ll jump into this,'” Bhasker tells Variety. He agreed to have Styles come over to “just talk,” and proceeded to put him through the Bhasker home sniff test. “My dog tends to bite people, and he was kind of scoping Harry out,” Bhasker explains. Styles “did this move — like a little shoot the gun with his finger, and my dog walked over and started licking his finger. That’s when I was, like, ‘This guy has something special.'”

Once music came into the mix, Bhasker was sold. “He started playing references of what he wanted to do, which sounded like a cool rock band. I got it, and could see where if we pulled this off, it would be one of the coolest things ever. But he needed a buddy who plays guitar like he’s Keith Richards.” The insinuation being: Styles is the Mick Jagger in this scenario.

Adds Bhasker: “I’m so proud of the album itself, and also of Harry for being so brave, and committing 100%, and writing the kind of vulnerable lyrics that he wrote, and not pandering to what people thought he would do. People have no idea that this is what Harry Styles is like. Just like I didn’t know. He’s obviously very famous and beloved, but people don’t know the depths of what an amazing personality and artist he is.”

Variety spoke with Bhasker about the recording of “Harry Styles” ahead of the album’s May 12 release:

You went old school for the recording of the album, sequestering Harry and the band in Jamaica for a stretch. What was Harry’s main role in the sessions? Harry got to lead the room. It’s very much Harry’s album and the music he wanted to make. And he was very specific what kind of ideas turn him on. He’s pretty clear, in the coolest way, about what he likes and doesn’t like, so it really got the album off on the right foot and finished on the right foot. In the first week, they did, like, 10 songs, half of which ended up on the album.

How was the writing process? Everyone was involved in the writing. It was a really small team — Me, Tyler Johnson, Mitch Rowland, Alex Salibian, and Ryan Nasci, the engineer — and we stuck with that team all the way through the album.

Was there a lyric you were particularly impressed with? I was pleasantly surprised at how witty, clever, and well-read Harry was. He actually turned me on to some poetry and literature that I hadn’t been aware of. We dove into [Charles] Bukowski, which is some pretty gritty dark s—, so we’d say, “Let’s make sure we go that direction and stay the course; let’s not bail out and go with something safe.” I think I did push him in a lot of ways, but then I wanted him to have complete ownership of it and to sing what is really in his heart.

There have been lots of comparisons of Harry to Jagger…

I think the charisma and the energy he has is on level with that, but he’s 100% Harry. It’s easy to make a comparison early on, but as people absorb what this is and who he is, they’ll see that he’s his own thing. Obviously we’re trying to push the envelope of being a boy band, so early on, I was, like, “It has to be super edgy,” but then it was about knowing when to pull back up against the edge and be real. Which is ultimately what I think we landed on.

How is Harry as an instrumentalist? I’ll tell you this much, the first time I saw him pull out the guitar, I was, like, ‘Oh damn, he can play!’ He has a nice stroke. He has a feel and a sound and an emotion. He’s a real musician.

Clearly there are nods to Bowie and Queen on the album. Have you found his musical taste to be distinctly British? You know, we did not once go listen to Bowie or the Rolling Stones or Queen. We didn’t even mention them one time. But one thing that did come up was a song that felt a little like Led Zeppelin, and he was, like, “I never really checked them out.” So we watched [Zeppelin documentary] “The Song Remains the Same,” and he was, like, “Yeah, they’re kind of weird.” I was actually happy that we were not creating some pastiche of all these influences that he knew backwards and forwards, it was more of his gut.

Releasing “Sign of the Times,” a six-minute-long song as a single, was surprising as it breaks from pop radio norms. Who played a part in that decision? That was kind of out there. And by the way, the song was made in four hours, from writing it to tracking it. That’s part of the reason why it’s so long because Harry just freestyled it towards the end. We tracked it like that and it was kind of awesome. Once we had it, we knew it was a winner. It starts out with Harry’s voice sounding so great and then you hit them with [the next verse] and you’ve got ’em. It is a hit in that sense, but it was so long that we weren’t sure if it could be the single. Thank God, [Sony Music CEO] Rob Stringer said, “I think you go with ‘Sign of the Times.'” Then, we tried to do major surgery on it to try and make a radio edit and presented it to him and, he was, like, ‘That’s cool, but I think we should push the full-length.’ We were looking at each other, like, what planet are we on that the head of the label says, ‘Yeah, let’s release a six-minute single.'”

Do you have another track you’re especially proud of? “Meet Me in the Hallway” draws from this rich tradition of the past and of rock music but it’s totally new sounding. Nothing out right now sounds like this song, I always love when I’m a part of something like that. It’s minimal and it’s magical. It takes you to another world. When they played it for me, I was reminded of when I was a kid and first dropped the needle on a Pink Floyd album I had never heard before. I’m not a big [pop] music listener. I listen to KLOS and KCRW and maybe the hip hop station. I’m kind of a classic rock dude. And Harry made a classic rock album. But that’s hands down my favorite on the album.

One producer, one band, all cut in one studio. How did you know that going to Jamaica was the right situation for Harry? I didn’t, necessarily. He’s the one that wanted to do that. Of course, having had the experience of working with Kanye in Hawaii and experiencing the isolation, I thought it would be a good thing for us. It’s never bad thing to focus, isolate, and go a little island crazy. It wasn’t a hard call.

What was the daily routine like? It was a 24/7 music fest: wake up, do some exercise, go to the studio all day, come home, eat dinner, write songs back at the house, go try out some ideas, maybe get excited and go back to the studio at 2 a.m. It was just a nonstop flow of creative ideas, which was great.

Of the artists you’ve previously produced — be it Kanye West or the Rolling Stones — who does Harry remind you of? It’s so f—ed up, because I want to squash all these comparisons between Mick Jagger and Harry, but he really does have that energy where he’s, like, the coolest guy in the room. After working with Mick, there’s a similarity there. There’s only one Mick Jagger and there’s only one Harry Styles, but they both have that kind of charisma. It’s like what life should be — be cool, man. Love one another.”

This album is certain to appeal to the over 35 crowd. You’re a first time father, was there an intent to try and bridge the musical gap between parent and kid by going with this sound? I mean, a little bit. Of course it’s in the back of your head. Maybe daughters will be, like, “Damn dad, your music is actually kind of dope,” and fathers will be, like, “Man, that Harry Styles album is pretty great, I like that.” Maybe we’ll bring fathers and daughters together.

[theswiftarmy]

#12 - Swiftie House: A phone call with Joe Alwyn, The Lover’s Lover

“Swiftie House!” One of the two Swiftie Soldiers guarding the door to Taylor’s hotel room barked at the other. “I want to be in Swiftie House!”

“Well, this isn’t Harry Potter!  It doesn’t work like that—you can’t just pick a house!”  The other yelled back escalating their quarrel.

“Why not?  I want to be in Swiftie House!”

“Because it just doesn’t work like that.  And besides, if it WERE like Harry Potter, you couldn’t pick anyways, The Sorting Hat picks the house.  You sit on the chair and The Sorting Hat is placed on your head, then the hat picks FOR you.”

“Swiftie House, I WANT to be IN Swiftie House—“

“Well, you are in Swiftie House OBVIOUSLY —So, just calm down.“   He pointed towards Taylor’s room.

“Woo hoo! SWIFTIE HOUSE!!!”

“We’re all in Swiftie House.  Taylor is The Sorting Hat and SHE picked us to be in Swiftie House because SHE is The Lover.”

“Love her.  She’s The Lover.”  The first soldier said staring straight ahead in a hypnotic gaze.

“Yes, I know, that’s The Swift Army motto.”  The second soldier rolled his eyes.

“I LOVE being in Swiftie House!”  He said, breaking out of the hypnotized eyes.

“Well, technically we’re in a hotel right now and not a house—So, it’s Swiftie Hotel, but yes, we all love being in Swiftie House.  I love it too.“

“Guys, I’m on the phone with Joe!  Can you keep it down please?”  Taylor called out from inside one of the bedrooms in the opulent hotel suite.  She was lying sprawled out on a king-size bed in The Ritz-Carlton Suite at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Los Angeles.  It’s amazing how quickly she was able to travel back to LA from Nashville and still make it in time for her preshow rehearsals for the American Music Awards after storming The Big Machine Records offices—Which by now was completely surrendered to the Swifties—One could say that she’s quite the SWIFT traveler.  Eh?  Eh? Anyone?  No?  Okay then. I guess laughs weren’t allowed on this flight.

Taylor had a private plane complete with chirping crickets to keep any and all jokes related to her last name company since, unfortunately the laughs were not allowed to board the flight as they were considered checked baggage and were forced to ride in the cargo hold below, their “ha-ha” and “he-he” sounds muffled by the barrier that separated the passenger cabin above and baggage area below, additionally the sound of the engines droning away were enough to completely block out the laughs leaving only the chirping of crickets and the inflight music choice, every Taylor Swift song ever made, on shuffle, and on repeat.  And one Hanson song… MMMBop, because that song was catchy, and also why not?  You gotta problem with Taylor Swift’s music choice? I didn’t think so.

The taking of the Big Machine headquarters was her Fort Ticonderoga, an early win in the Big Machine war, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold’s ghosts would approve.  She stared at the leftover eggs benedict platter she ordered earlier, the coffee now cold, and her thoughts meandered.  The platter sat on a cart beside an Ethan Allen chair.  As she chatted with Joe Alwyn, her lover, she wondered if one day far in the future, the ghost of her name, Taylor Swift would become nothing more than a furniture collection, or perhaps a clothing line.  Historic battles fought and won, and now all people know is that catchy marketing jingle associated with a holiday sale event, or brand bearing the same name.  Funny how her lover would have been on the opposing side of a war all those years ago—If she were born at that time period, my how their current Romeo and Juliet love story would be different, although, her entire life would be different. In 1775 a woman didn’t even have a chance of being what Taylor Swift is today.  Times they are a changing… She was certainly no Margaret “Peggy” Shippen.

Although, as an interesting parallel with Peggy Shippen, yes, Taylor was born into a fairly well to do family in the same state of Pennsylvania, and much like Peggy, she longed for something more in life than to be courted off by a good looking boy—but unlike Peggy she had a choice over her own fate, she was no loyalist spy for the British army, instead, she commanded her own damn army.  That’s right. What women can achieve when you peel away the patriarch.  Am I right? Hold on Beyoncé is on the other line, she has something to add… Who run this world?  Girls.  That’s right, and you’ll like it.  Partly because you’re under Taylor’s mind control from her music and you have no choice but to like it.  But also, because times they are a changing…

The Swiftie Soldiers stood in a foyer by the suite entranceway, they were suppose to be practicing their dance moves as they were also background dancers for Taylor tomorrow night in the American Music Awards performance.

“Sorry Taylor!”  They hollered back.

Taylor looked over at the full size grand piano she would use to practice on. Lover had to be perfect, just like the lover on the other end of this phone call was.  She needed every second of her performance to shine so the whole world would be on her side.

“God, these backup dancers are driving me up the walls—I can’t take it Joe, ugh, I miss you so much.”

“And I miss you my dear.  Would you like me to say a bunch of British words for you with a British accent?”

“You’re already talking to me with a British accent.  But, oh, I love it when you talk British to me.  You’re my lover you magnetic force of a man. You London Boy, you.”

“I still don’t get why I can’t just pick my own house.”  The backup dancer Swiftie soldier guards began to bicker again.

“Because it does not work like that.”

“Guys!!!!  ON. THE.  PHONE.”  Taylor yelled.  “You’re supposed to be keeping a look out and practicing for tomorrow night.  Less talky, more walky and dancy.  I’m expecting that Tuna will be here any minute and then I’ll need to make another call to a certain someone to make an offer for an exchange for a certain SOMETHING.”

Sushi meowed from Taylor’s side.

“Well YOU can talk all you want.  That’s right.  Cats are an exception to the rule, to my rule, as queen of this Swiftie army.” She waved a stick with a feather at the end of it in front of the cat, and the cat reached for the feather, taunted by Taylor.  Sushi the cat was unable to get ahold of what it desired, but unable to stop trying. Whatever Taylor wanted the cat to do, it would have no choice.

“How come the cat gets to talk and we can’t?”  One of the dance guards said to the other in a lower voice trying to keep his question from reaching Taylor’s ears.

“Joe, my lover, can you hold on a second?”

“Yes dearest lover.  For you, I would walk around the world for your love.”

“Well, I appreciate that, but that’s not necessary right now, I’m just going to put you on hold.”

“Taylor, I will wait for all eternity.”

“I only need about thirty seconds.”

“Or thirty seconds, I’ll be here my Lover.”

“Oh, I know you will.”  She smiled and thought to herself, because you don’t have a choice.

Taylor placed the phone down and got up from the bed letting her hand run along the linens.  Plush 400-thread count linens—400 thread count!  What a waste she screamed in her mind.  400 thread count!  And my lover isn’t here with me to share this.

She picked up a sonic blast attack device and walked into the other room. She set the device to low and placed it on ‘auto’.  The device began to play a series of Taylor Swift songs mashed together and layered on top of one another.  She placed the device on a small table in the foyer near the two bickering Swiftie Dance Soldiers, and stared them both down.  She smiled sweetly.

“Guys… I need you to be quiet for the moment.“ She said soothingly. “Okay?”

The solders didn’t say a word, they simply nodded.

“Listen to my music, love my music.”  She sang out.  They continued nodding back.  “When the KatyCat Kitty Cat Guard cat convoy out on mission returns, you come get me. Until then…”  She placed her index finger over her lips, “Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“Yes. Taylor.”  They said, in a Siri like voice.

She patted them on the head.  “When The Lover is on the phone with her lover… She needs everyone to be quiet.”

They continued bobbing their head to the beat of the music in perfect synchronization.  

“Good.”  Taylor felt a surge of power pulse through her from head to toe.  She pivoted on her feet, and went back to her conversation with Joe.

@taylorswift

[larriefails]

First off, I’m not a rad nor a larrie, I’m a louie who hates both. I was just commenting on that because I’ve been in the fandom since 2013 and the de facto leader comment not only came from the boys but also during a billboard interview. In the billboard interview, they highlighted how Louis was the one taking the business calls and talking to their team about certain things. Also it’s not completely impossible to believe that once the 1d train ran out the big producers/names didn’t care to +

Work with him, because he was no “harry styles” liam is the same he even said that Simon didn’t want him on his label as a solo artist despite him having a great rapport with him. But there were other times louis’ business contacts were brought to light such as when he went to the Brits in 2016 and a reporter commented on how he was constantly on his feet to greet big name record executives and businessmen. He has the connects in the business that’s all I was trying to state.

Look, 99% of the time when I reply to an anon “you sound like a conspiracy theorist” it’s not because I think they believe in Larrie or because they’re rads, it’s because they fucking reason like conspiracy theorists

And your reasoning here is just… conspiracy theory mess. I don’t care which parts of it you believe or not, I don’t care what your personal feelings on these specific sets of conspiracy theories are. It doesn’t matter, the point is that you’re reasoning like a conspiracy theorist

I was gonna put this in a separate post, but I think it fits here very well (I might still make a separate post about it who knows)

A few days ago, I saw this video on twitter of a woman talking about her own death like it was nothing in a very matter of factly way, wearing a wig and using a very funny tone. Someone in the replies linked to her IG page so I went to look at it, and when I saw comments telling her “thank you for accepting my follow request” I realized she was usually on private and I’d just been very lucky to find her profile to be open, so I followed her just in case with the intention of watching her funny videos later

Since she was a new follow she continuously appeared on my recent IG feed and I soon realized how relevant what she was saying was to my interests

This is the woman

One day she posted this, and my alarms went off

Let me clarify that I don’t care if she’s a professor or a therapist or not, I followed her because I thought she was funny and that she’d go on private soon, this was all a complete surprise to me. The DM rang close to home to me, seeing as I’ve read Larries for a while now, it was all too familiar, her reply was too

Then she posted this

Once again, I said it before and you can read it here X it doesn’t matter if she’s a professor or not, if their suspicions are real or not, if she’s lying or not, because going through UCLA’s professor roll call is a step too far, and confronting her about it, even more so. And the way she presents it.. she’s right. She just linked the website, she never claimed to work there. If you go to her page, she’s very careful with the information she provides, so the people that want to prove she’s lying have very limited resources. They go with the preconception that she’s lying so they try to find ways to prove their preconception

You have the preconception that Louis was the de facto leader of 1D, so you’re working your way backwards to prove it. You’re looking at bits and pieces of interviews that will prove your theory right, but that’s just not what reality is

“The de facto leader comment not only came from the boys” .. no it didn’t, though? They didn’t say this. Do you know where the “the boys say Louis is the leader” comments come from? Stuff like this

Context for that interview? The Hot Desk, August 2011 X

One Direction had exactly ZERO songs out, this interview was recorded before they even released WMYB. All 5 of them had written on 3 songs of their first album that would come out in November. Savan Kotecha was still running the show. Louis was still 19 and he hadn’t been in show business for a year. How much of a leader that conducted business meetings do you think he was? I’m not gonna watch the entire interview to see the context, but this is not Zayn saying Louis was the de facto leader, this is Zayn kidding

What to even say about this, which is from the video diaries in X Factor?

Or this?

What? No, no they’re not, like, they’re just not, they’re standing in a circle and looking forward

This is just ridiculous

Does the person that created this gif set not realize that this is the performance where Louis doesn’t sing at all? It’s Torn at judges’ houses. It’s infamous for the fact that only Liam Harry and Zayn sang. This is all for dramatic effect because X Factor was a reality show

Louis liking motivation chants means he’s the leader? That he goes to business meetings? I’m so confused

That’s not because “he’s the leader” that’s because he’s the class clown

If accepting an award means he’s the leader then I guess this meme fits 1D very well

They all accepted awards, Christ

Anyway….

And that’s an entire gif set that was solely engineered to show that Louis was the leader and that “the boys said so”…. but they actually didn’t? The only two times it comes up they answer jokingly and it’s before Louis could do anything remotely leader like. But that gif set is so popular, created by a Larrie but that spilled out to the general fandom enough that I saw it on my dash reblogged by non CT blogs X

And it created this notion among some people, especially those who have Louis as their fave, that the other members of 1D had in fact said that Louis was the de facto leader, when they didn’t. It’s conspiracy talk, scouring through hundreds of MILLIONS of milliseconds of footage to pick 9 of them and put them in a gif set to prove a point they’d already decided on

There are also three news articles linked (copying and pasting directly from the source, sorry for the weird formatting idk how to take it off)

1: That’s the number of hotel rooms in Mexico City used for dance rehearsals. The guys locked down a room for three hours. Louis took control of the rehearsals and even helped conceptualize some of the routine.

That’sabout 1D learning the choreography for Best Song Ever

How exactly does it prove that Louis is the de facto leader for him to take over 1 dance rehearsal when everyone in 1D had confessed they couldn’t dance a million times at that point? Louis had some musical theater experience, so that’s that..

Harry: Louis is still loud and mischievous - he likes to test the boundaries. He’s quite outspoken. You need someone like that, because he’s great at standing up for us as a band.

That’s perhaps the most “leader like” comment any of them have ever made about Louis, and it’s not really about him being a leader once you put it by itself instead of surrounding it by “look at all the times they said he was the leader,” right? It’s just more of a testament about the fact that Louis was louder than the rest, which we already knew. If someone had asked me six months into my journey in the fandom who I thought was the loudest in band meetings I would’ve said Louis. That doesn’t mean he’s the leader. A leader has SO many more characteristics than being loud and outspoken. In fact, a lot of leaders aren’t loud or outspoken at all

The last link they put is once again, what How I Met Your Mother explained as the cheerleader effect X which taken away from the time period sounds quite misogynistic but let’s not dwell on that. Basically, it’s when a group of women appear hot when they’re all together but not individually. When you have the gif set all together, it looks like “wow, these are hot arguments as to why EVERYONE thought Louis was the leader,” but look at them individually, see their context and they’re not as hot now, are they? Especially when you realize, once again, that these are very very small morsels of time taken from very very large portions. That’s how Larries operate

Several people in your management and inner circle have described you to me as the unofficial businessman or leader of the group. Is that a fair assessment? I’ve sometimes felt like that, but to be honest most of the time I’m the immature one who needs to be told to get focused. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I have to be kind of be on board with every minor detail and [I’m] quite opinionated.

And that last link is also the Billboard interview you mention in your ask. Do you know when it’s from? December 2012. One Direction had just released Take Me Home, their second album, which according to the interview that Larries love the most to base their sabotage conspiracies, didn’t very much involve 1D’s input at all

Savan Kotecha: I think by album 3 (Midnight Memories), yeah, not all of them, there was definitely one or two-one especially-that was like, kind of bitter about the fact, that, you know

Ross Golan: They were a boyband?

Savan Kotcha: And he was not the talented one. He wasn’t the singer, and he wasn’t the star. And you know which one I’m talking about…

Ross Golan: Of course.

Savan Kotecha: And he then started having something against me and against that process, I think. And, you know, maybe we could have been more inviting in the creative process during album 2 (Take Me Home) and not been so…authoritative.

At that point, Louis STILL wasn’t in a position where he could really be the leader. None of them were because the creative process wasn’t inviting still. It wouldn’t be until the third album

The conclusion here isn’t that Louis isn’t outspoken, or that he didn’t care about business or that he didn’t defend the band, or that he didn’t want to write more, or that he didn’t want to make connections. No one here is arguing that he didn’t care at all or not giving him credit for anything. The point I‘ve been making for days now and that people don’t seem to get (one way or another, because I’ve gotten very unpleasant messages about how he’s not equipped to be a businessman and shit like that that I’ve just decided not to publish at all), is that things don’t have to be black and white

I don’t think ANYONE was the leader of 1D. I think that Louis’ personality made him stand out more in certain aspects (such as meetings with their team), and because people need to label everything all the time, instead of describing it as it was, it took the position of “de facto leader”

The problem here isn’t even that people believe he’s the de facto leader, that wouldn’t concern me at all in and of itself because who cares? It’s not hurting anyone… The problem is that it puts an excessive amount of weight on Louis’ shoulders, I also explained this. It’s this dichotomy of a person who basically carried the whole band during its five years but that also is completely defenseless and at the mercy of binding contracts to even choose the socks he wears

These sort of preconceptions aren’t harmful by themselves, they wouldn’t be harmful in a normal band. I wouldn’t have a problem with this preconception if Louis was Calum Hood and this was 5SOS, my problem is that this is One Direction and preconceptions and conspiracies have tormented these guys for YEARS. No conspiracy and no preconception is innocent, they all have to be dismantled, we have to examine EVERYTHING that leads to absolutes if we want a chance at healing the fandom, and I don’t mean the 1D fandom because that’s gone now, it’s never gonna heal, I mean Louis’ specifically

If we want a chance at him being left alone from Larries these things have to go. Stop seeing him as this commodity that you can just paint over and start seeing him as a person, not a caricature

That interview also doesn’t say anything about him taking any calls business or otherwise. I don’t think anyone has ever said it and I have no idea where it came from because I’ve found zero sources. The interview doesn’t mention him “talking about certain things“ either, it’s just what I pasted here. That’s all of it. Everything else comes from years and years of stretching this one question out of this one interview done when Louis was still 20 and 1D had less than 2 years in the music industry. It’s no exactly the smoking gun y’all think it is, guys. Same with the Savan Kotecha podcast

Then the rest of what you say is just noise, man. IDK what to tell you. It’s just noise. If Louis had ran the show BTS for five years, then he’d have access to the best producers and writers on speed dial, why would he not being Harry Styles hinder how he’s perceived by the people that work backstage? They’d recognize the person that was “the backbone of 1D” for who he is because those things spread in the business. If LOUIS said that wasn’t happening, then it’s because your preconception was wrong and you took a bunch of things out of context to create a “narrative” that simply wasn’t real. Louis was dedicated to the band and wanted to write for it and involve himself in the creative side and he GENUINELY WAS IMPORTANT for the band, but he wasn’t its backbone or its de facto leader

Simon didn’t wantt Liam on his label probably because he couldn’t afford him, btw. He decided to stick with Louis because they’ve been thick as thieves since 2014 and those contracts cost money and Syco is a very small label with very limited resources, so they couldn’t offer anything to more than one member. I’m  aware that I’m making assumptions here, but they very much align with reality, especially now that Syco lost so many other acts and now that Fifth Harmony disbanded and Syco landed only Lauren (Camila being like Zayn) and having to leave Ally, Dinah, and Normani go to other labels. That doesn’t mean they saw no value in them (in fact, I think Lauren is the one faring the worst), it’s just that they can only afford so much

And how much can you grin on one report written by the HUFFINGTON POST in 2016?X I’m talking about the “Louis hugged industry people that one time” comment you made. Once again, I’m not saying he doesn’t know anyone. I’m saying I BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS. If he says he can’t easily get the producers and writers he wants, then I’m going to believe him. And that one report doesn’t really change anything for me. It’s, once again, very conspiracy theorist behavior to put more weight on an isolated report from an untrustworthy source three years ago than on Louis’ own words. If he really had enough reach to be friendly with everyone in the industry, then he’d be able to get any producer he wants

You can’t have this dichotomy that you present in this very ask of “they’re not picking up the phone because he’s Harry Styles” but he was the de facto leader of the biggest band on the planet for five years and everyone in the music industry knows him. It just doesn’t mesh together. You’re placing him in the same impossible position Larries are placing him and that’s harmful. He needs fans that see him as a person and you, I’m sorry to tell you, do not. You see him as a caricaturesque figure that can both be incredibly important and incredibly subjugated

“He has the connects in the business is all I was trying o state” 1. no that’s not all you were trying to state. 2. According to himself, he doesn’t have all the connects. He’s clearly close enough to be friendly with Rob Stringer, but that doesn’t mean that Rob Stringer will lift a finger for him and according to Louis, he’s not.. But that doesn’t mean that Louis can’t get ANYONE or that he’s being sabotaged. As always, truth lies somewhere in the middle. The only reason it’s harder to spot in this case is that people stretch it on every possible side so much

I know this is long as fuck and I probably lost any person that was willing to read my drivel in the first place, but I just really think it’s important that you start taking what LOUIS SAYS ABOUT LOUIS as fact, instead of twisting it around to present alternative facts that would present a reality that will please you more. It starts at “Louis was the de facto leader” and it ends as “he’s been faking fatherhood for three years and lied about his mother’s last few days” Sick..

[stylinsonlibrary]

JEALOUS HARRY FIC REC

Always make sure to read all tags/warnings/author’s notes before reading!

Now That It’s Over (8k)

“What are the odds we would both be at Mariano’s on a Thursday night?”

Louis’ shoulders tensed. What the hell was he doing here?

“Harry? Hi? The odds are pretty crazy, yeah.”

Harry smiled down at Louis the way he used to, but there was also a glint in his eye that Louis absolutely did not like. Harry was also dressed in his favorite black and white striped women’s jeans and a printed shirt only he would ever be able to pull off. It was quite rude of him to come and interrupt Louis, particularly while looking so good. Louis hadn’t seen him since he’d finished moving his shit out of what was once their shared flat, so this being the first time seeing him wasn’t exactly providence in Louis’ mind.

Or the one where Harry and Louis broke up two months ago, and Harry just might be sabotaging Louis’ dates.

Forever, Uninterrupted (8k)

Harry finds a mysterious picture in Louis’ bag one night and drives himself crazy over it. It’s definitely not what he thinks.

can’t go without you anymore (10k)

Harry Styles was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. This was award season. He wasn’t even nominated for anything, still everyone wanted a piece of him. But Harry was lonely. And a stressed and lonely Harry did no one good. What if one night his friends and his manager just ran into the most fitting boy for their friend? And what if maybe they set him up as Harry Styles personal assistant. It already sounds like the beginning of a disaster.

or Personal Assistant Louis Tomlinson is going to be the end of actor Harry Styles. This was a given.

We Can Be Greater (10k)

Louis, Harry, Zayn, Niall, and Liam, were simply five run away teens, desperately seeking a safe haven from their foster home. When they discovered an abandoned building, they entered it, their lives ceased to remain the same because they entered upon a different realm. A new universe, one in which they were superheroes.

The moment they reached this new world, they were desperately needed to defeat a villain; sounds cool right? Except they had no clue of their powers, this new world, the villain, or how to get back home. This is the story of how five outcasts turned from hooligans into heroes.

See Clearly Now (11k)

“My eyes are up here.”

What? Was— was Louis flirting with him?

Harry looked up — much too slowly, probably — and saw Louis watching him, his mouth quirked up on one side, a grin threatening to steal the pretty curve of his mouth.

“What?” Harry squeaked.

Louis put his hands on his hips, almost challenging Harry to look again, “I said...my eyes are up here.”

Harry felt something electric pass between them. He felt the need to take a step forward, call Louis’ bluff, see if he was more bark than bite.

Biting sounded really fun right about now.

OR a five-times fic where two guys, one college dorm room and a faulty door lead to a few embarrassing situations and finding out more about themselves and each other than they ever bargained for.

No One Else Will Do (13k)

Harry visibly takes a deep breath. “I’ll do it. I’ll…help you through your heat.” He looks more determined now as he stands up straighter and his eyes look at Louis more intensely.

“Yeah?” Louis doesn’t mean to sound so surprised but he’s sort of in a state of shock. He’s never been with an alpha before, and the fact that his first time is going to be with Harry— his best friend— well, he couldn’t really ask for anyone better if he’s honest.

It takes Louis’ early heat for Harry and Louis to figure things out.

End of the World Tonight (12k)

“You remember when you told me that you wanted to live with me for the rest of your life?” Louis asks. His voice trembles a bit, exposing exactly how much he hates what he’s about to do. How much he wishes that he wasn’t about to do it.

“I remember,” Harry says. His expression is a little lost, like he thinks that they’re about to have a fight and he’s not sure what they’re supposed to be fighting about. Louis closes his eyes because he has to, has to take a second to regain his courage. He can’t keep doing this. He can’t keep suffering, can’t keep killing himself trying to hide this. He’s ready. He’s been ready for a long time.

one more for the stars (16k)

It's different, and Louis knows that, because Harry's got so much riding on this - a career and a future and his whole life. There's talk of him going first overall in the draft, of entering the NFL after only two years in college, of going to New York or Seattle or Green Bay, and Louis wants to be there for him, wants to support him and help him make decisions, but he also kind of wants to pin him to the bed and cry and scream, What about me what about me what about me?

(au. Harry's the star quarterback and Louis is about to graduate. It's a heartbreak waiting to happen.)

ain't going backwards, won't ask for space. (17k)

They've been best friends for eight years, but have never acted on the sexual tension that's existed between them. And when they do, it's completely impossible to stop the feelings that arise from denying themselves of what was always meant to be.

or the one where two idiots fall in love after years of being just best friends.

kiwi (24k)

With a stuttered mixture of a laugh and a groan, Harry lets his head droop, pushes his forehead against Louis’ chest and leans into him, fingers curled around the railing.

"You’re driving me crazy,” he breathes.

Louis lets out a puff of laughter, and when Harry lifts his eyes, the look in Louis’ gaze is one he knows too well, so distinctively coy and mischievous and gently charming, his lips quirked up with a smirk. Harry’s heart falls into the palms of his playful hands. “You’re into it.”

AU. Harry plays on Saturday nights at The Motley. Louis bartends on Saturday nights at The Motley.

It’s a thing.

Counting The Steps Between Us (24k)

AU. So, yeah. That year abroad helped Harry establish that he is in love with his best friend. Now, if Louis would stop treating him like a little brother, that would be awesome. (Additional ingredients: a collapsing tree house, a lot of pining, the other three boys as Louis' new best mates from university, and a camping trip. Serve hot.)

everything comes back to you (29k)

Louis lets out a shuddering breath. “I love you,” he says.

“Fuck you,” Harry replies.

“You know that I’ve always loved you,” Louis continues, not stopping to acknowledge what Harry’s said.

Harry shakes his head. “I know, but sometimes I wonder if that ever went past us just growing up together. We were never apart Louis, never for so many years, and the minute we were you just left me. So sometimes, when I let myself think about it, I think maybe that’s why we don’t work. You were just so used to loving me because you didn’t know anything else.”

Louis and Harry, best friends since before either of them can remember, broke up four years ago. Louis has achieved his dreams of becoming the next big thing while Harry has stayed back, dedicating himself to his studies. Both are content to forget what they had together, until a tragedy brings them right back into each other's lives.

Show me wealth, I’ll show your heart (30k)

Harry knows the value of money. He knows how to negotiate numbers, knows its worth in engines, and knows the amount he needs to secure for his business. What he didn’t know was that, if spent wisely, money is the one thing he really doesn’t need.

Or AU where Harry has more money than he can handle, Louis can’t handle not having any, and they both find out the greatest wealth isn’t countable.

the beginning of everything (30k)

“How do you take it?” Harry asked, pouring tea into a cup.

“Just a dash of milk, please,” Louis cast a look over the small table, filled to capacity. “They’re very fond of you.”

Harry ducked his head, grinning. “They’re trying to impress you.”

Louis smiled, shaking his head. “Why would they want to do that?” he asked as he took the cup Harry passed to him, their fingers brushing for an instant.

“Empathy,” Harry said under his breath.

A Belle Époque AU set (mostly) in Paris in which Harry is a struggling artist, in more ways than one, and Louis is a successful theatre critic and a failed writer, more or less.

You’re the Light (31k)

Before beginning a new graduate school in the fall, Louis Tomlinson decides to spend the summer working in Chicago as an editor’s assistant for the Chicago Tribune newspaper and staying with his old college roommate. What he finds on his first day of work is a tall, gorgeous editor named Harry who has the most beautiful green eyes he’s ever seen—and who also happens to be his new boss.

Follow Your Heart (32k)

“What do you mean exactly?” Harry asks. Louis’ heart is threatening to beat out of his chest. His stomach is sinking, and he’s holding his breath waiting for the words he knows are coming.

“We think it would be best to market you guys as a couple,” Simon tells them. The tone in his voice makes Louis think there’s no wiggle room to even try to argue about it.

Louis’ heart stops and his breath hitches. This cannot be happening. This has to be some sort of dream. Actually this has to be some sort of prank, really. He absentmindedly looks around the room for any evidence of hidden cameras or microphones to no avail.

“You’re kidding,” Louis says flatly. Louis is pretty sure a lot of the music industry these days likes to hide the fact that an artist isn’t straight, afraid that it might affect record sales and now he’s sitting in the middle of an executive label meeting being told he had to be in a relationship with his best friend–who’s a boy he’s been secretly in love with for most of his adolescence–in order to sell records? What kind of alternate universe level bullshit is he living in?

(your heartbeat) rang true inside my bones (32k)

Harry goes as Louis’ date for a weekend wedding. He ends up taking the role a bit too seriously.

“Hey,” Harry hears himself say just as Louis climbs back into the car. He ducks down, holding onto the roof to look at Louis who cocks his brow at him and says, “What?”

“I meant it,” Harry starts. “Like, I’d do it. I’d be your date for the wedding. If it’d make you feel less awful about being there and if you want me to, I’ll do it. I promise I’ll be good.”

you burn with the brightest flame (42k)

Harry frowns, thinking that he shouldn’t have to be glad about what gender he is, just like omegas shouldn’t have to be scared and nervous that anyone they meet might want to hurt them. He wonders why none of this occurred to him before, how he possibly could’ve just sailed through life before this without realizing how fortunate he was being born a beta. That seems a bit too serious of a conversation for Simon Cowell’s waiting room, though, so Harry puts an arm around Louis’s shoulders and teases, “You say that like you’re old or something. Two years isn’t that big of a difference!”

“Tell me that when you’re eighteen and looking back on this conversation,” Louis says.

“Well that’s - that’s different, isn’t it? We could be anywhere in two years, we could be famous.”

Louis’s eyes light up, his smile widening. “You think so?”

…or, the X-Factor Era A/B/O fic.

Cupid’s Chokehold (35k)

But - naively, stupidly, blindly - Harry holds out hope for a love that’s written across the stars. He can’t give up the feeling that there’s someone out there, waiting for him.

He’s just going to have to wait for them, too.

Or: Louis is a Cupid who tries to match up Niall and Harry. It doesn’t work out as planned.

Wonderwall (43k)

Taking the sheet cluttered with times available for the next few weeks, Louis notices a pattern in the list. The name of the person Perrie had just mentioned: Harry Styles. It’s written at least seven times, and three of which are during timeframes Louis wants.

“Who the fuck is Harry Styles?”

“You’re about to find out,” she answers, pointing over Louis’ shoulder.

Or a Love/Hate College AU where Louis Tomlinson is the lead singer of The Rogue - the most popular band on campus - and Harry Styles is the talented Freshman unknowingly challenging all that.

Let Me Touch You Where Your Heart Aches (46k)

Alcohol was all he could taste. Alcohol and Harry, and he didn’t mind one bit. Harry kissed him back with just as much fervent heat. He pushed Louis against the taxi door and pulled his head back, breathing hot and heavy against his lips. “Let’s go, yes?”

Or a Friends with Benefits AU, in which Louis falls in love and Harry is jealous. There is some Karaoke singing somewhere in there, because how do you write a romantic comedy without a Karaoke scene?

Some Things Take Root (50k)

AU. Louis’ ex doesn’t get jealous of anyone besides Harry. Harry helps Louis use that to his advantage.

Love's On The Line, Is That Your Final Answer? (53k)

Harry can’t believe it when Louis, the boy he’s always had a tempestuous rivalry with, asks him to be his boyfriend. Well, pose as his boyfriend, that is—for a new television game show in which young couples are quizzed on how well they know each other for a jackpot of thirty grand.

Reluctantly, Harry agrees—because he's got student loans to pay off, hasn't he? What's the harm? And he can totally deal with keeping his secret thing for Louis under wraps too. This is all just to win some money. It's fine. No big deal. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, everything. Obviously.

Amazing Sin (56k)

Gears started turning in Louis’ head. Purely mischievous gears that had Louis formulating a revenge plan against Taylor. He’d had enough of sitting around and taking it. If she was going to call him a whore, then fine, he’ll act like one for real. “I’m going to say something, and as my friends you are obligated to love me anyway.”

“This can’t be good,” Niall said, Zayn just groaned.

“So I know we have this strict ‘no lashing back at Taylor’ rule with me, but what if I can get press revenge a different way?” Louis asked. He wasn’t expecting an answer, because they knew by now to just go with it. “What if I stole her boyfriend?”

Or, the story of Louis ‘Steal Your Man’ Tomlinson.

Strawberries & Cigarettes (71k)

Harry looks up and immediately freezes. Next to Ms. Archie stands the boy from just the other day. The boy with the leather jacket and chipped black nails, that might or might not be sketched in the very book Harry has just placed on the table in front of him. The leather jacket is missing today, probably because they aren’t allowed as part of their required uniform attire, but Harry can still see the fading black nail polish on his nails, and eyeliner around his eyes. Harry’s mouth goes a little dry. This boy is so intriguing to him.

“Ye-yes, Ms. Archie?” Harry tries to play it cool, but he’s almost positive that his cheeks are burning red, and he’s relieved neither of them can tell how fast his heart is beating in his chest.

The boy seems to also recognize Harry, because his lips curve into a knowing smirk.

“Harry is at the top of his class. He’s your best bet at getting familiar with things around here.” She explains.

Louis nods, his smirk still very prominent on his face. “Thank you Ms. Archie. I’ll be sure to take advantage of young Harold here.”

Two stories, eleven years, and the two boys that never stopped loving each other.

Pinkies Never Lie (83k)

“I just think if we’re both into it and neither of us is looking for something serious, why not?” Harry asks, eyes soft and voice sweet. He pauses and gives Louis a moment or two to answer.

There are countless reasons why Louis shouldn’t agree to this, but in the end, none of them really matter. This will end with Louis in pieces, but he’s been in love with Harry for four years. There was only ever one answer.

“Yeah,” Louis answers finally, hoping his voice sounds normal. “Why not?”

AU in which Louis hates his job and loves Harry, Harry just wants a distraction, everyone else wants them to get their shit together, and Louis learns the hard way that new beginnings are only possible when something ends.

You Drive Me Crazy (but it feels alright) (102k)

Bridget Jones’ Diary AU.

“Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”

Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.

“You’re mocking me. Again.”

Harry smiles and it’s a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them.

A Taste of Desire (104k)

“As forward as I have been with you this evening, I am also aware this dinner party isn’t the place to conduct business.” Mr. Tomlinson chuckles quietly to himself, shooting a subtle glance across the table towards their hostess. “And besides, I am sure our hostess would be horribly disappointed to learn that we went away this evening with a business agreement and not a mating one.”

Harry, who had been sipping his wine, coughs harshly at this. He splutters, unaccustomed to such blatant statements about mating.

Mr. Tomlinson continues to laugh quietly, clearly pleased at Harry’s reaction.

“Mrs. Humphreys promised that there was an alpha attending the dinner tonight that I would certainly get on well with,” Mr. Tomlinson continues, voice teasing. “She assured me that we would have much in common since we both work with mills.” Mr. Tomlinson glances at Harry, eyes flashing with mirth. “Little did she know that would be where our mutual interests began and ended.”

Or, a Victorian ABO where Harry is the owner of the most successful cotton mill in Manchester, and Louis is an opinionated social activist about to disrupt Harry’s world.

falling into you (143k)

In the grand scheme of adolescence and boyhood, Harry was still working himself out, so far with little luck. But four things he could say for certain: 1) he'd been at the top of his class all through primary and secondary school, 2) he was the shittiest alpha to ever walk the earth, 3) Liam Payne never let him forget it, and 4) he’d been in love with this boy, Louis Tomlinson, ever since he was fifteen years old.

He kissed my lips, I taste your mouth (290k)

When Louis moves into the flat next to Harry’s, neither of them thinks it will change their lives. Louis is stuck in a relationship with his controlling and overly possessive boyfriend who he loves too much to break up with. Harry is content, seeking refuge from the snobby world he grew up in and forging a new path for himself. He does happen to have a habit of wanting to fix people though and when he meets Louis, the gorgeous man with a prat of a boyfriend, he finds himself trying to do just that. While Harry tries to avoid getting tangled in a messy situation, Louis tries to deny that there’s a niggling voice in the back of his head that prefers Harry to his own boyfriend. While both determinedly refuse to let change come, they fail to notice that exact force wrapping around them and pulling them tighter together until there just might be no escape from the feelings brewing within.

[super-mario-girl]

Ocean Moon, a Steven Universe fanfic - Chapter 6: Cheer Up

Ao3 Link

After the concerns brought to light that day, the gang tried to stay positive about the situation in hopes that everything was going to be fine. Right now, everyone was telling stories about their childhoods to lighten the mood.

“Then, she put a bunch of red bath tablets in my wings to make it look like they were made of blood instead of water.” Diana told the others. “The look on Peridot’s face was priceless!”

“I think I still I have the video!” Betty laughed.

Harry noticed that she made an obnoxious sound when she laughed, but found it quite cute. However, he soon remembered the situation they were in.

“So, guys… what are we going to do about this?” Harry asked, laying down on his blanket. “If there is another Gem living here that we don’t know about.”

“How can we even be sure there’s another Gem here anyway? A broken engine and communicator isn’t really solid proof.” Betty pointed out.

“And besides, we can’t be too quick to assume they’re bad.” Mara suggested. “Maybe they just happened to crash land on the same moon as us.”

Harry sighed. “Mara, I don’t know how much those other Pearls told you about Gemkind.” he told her. “But not all Gems are nice. Hell, some still believe in the old ways.”

“Old ways?” Mara asked. “You mean like Era 1 and 2? Old Homeworld?” The other Pearls didn’t really go into detail with her about their lives on Homeworld, but Mara knew what Pearls were originally made for during those days. They often told her that she was lucky for being half human because she would never have to experience being treated the way they once were.

“It was messed up, I’ve heard.” Diana added. “Hey Eyeball, you’re Era 1, right? What was it like?”

“More brutal than you could possibly imagine.” Eyeball explained. “You hybrids and Era 3 Gems have it easy, but back in my day, every Gem was assigned a role and they had to fulfill it perfectly, or else they would be shattered.”

“I remember when I was a kid, Mrs. Garnet told me about how she became a fusion.” Diana said. “How it was once not allowed.”

“Who the hell’s Mrs. Garnet?” Harry asked.

“Oh that’s right, you and Mara aren’t from Beach City.” Betty replied. “Garnet’s a friend of ours. She’s really cool.”

Suddenly Mara became really interested. “Wow, a fusion?”

“Have you never fused before, Mara?” Diana questioned.

“I fused with Gingham once, that was pretty fun.” she said, and then looked down. “But if I’m being honest, the only Gems I knew before meeting you guys was her, Velvet, and Cashmere. Oh! And also this one Aquamarine who visited whenever I got really sick.”

“Wait, you know Dr. Marine?” Diana and Betty got excited all of a sudden.

“Dr. Marine?” Mara looked at her confused. “The one that visited me was named Dr. Campbell, but she let me call her Abby-Marie.”

“That’s her real name.” Betty explained. “But everyone in Beach City calls her Dr. Marine.”

“I have no idea who that is.” Harry commented.

“Only the best doctor ever.” Diana explained, flying up above everyone. “She knows all sorts of things about human biology and she’s an expert on Gem hybrids.”

“And that husband of hers?” Betty added. “He’s just a ball of sunshine! So polite! Unlike Harold here.”

“I have ears and feelings , you know!” he replied, annoyed.

“Oh really? I thought that massive ego took up all the room in that pretty little head of yours.” Betty retorted with a smug look on her face.

“You think my head is pretty?” he countered with an even bigger smirk.

Betty blushed in frustration. “That’s not what I meant you… you…”

“Take your time, Farm Girl.”

“Grrr!”

“Don’t you two start, now.” Diana interrupted. “You’ll only make our situation worse.”

Mara looked down, her face starting to look upset. “I miss the Earth.”

“We all do, honey.” Betty said, scooting closer and putting a hand on Mara’s shoulder.

“Don’t get me wrong. I have been enjoying this place, it’s beautiful, especially the beach and ocean.” the blonde haired half Gem explained. “But I keep getting this feeling that we shouldn’t be here.” She sighed, messing with her hair. “I’ve been trying to cheer myself up, collecting shells and exploring and whatnot. But I could have done that at home.”

“Mara, it’s going to be okay.” Diana assured her.

“But what if it isn’t?” she asked. “I’m not as independent as you guys. I’ve always had Velvet, Cashmere, and Gingham taking care of me. That’s the whole reason I came on this trip in the first place. But it’s a lot harder than I thought.”

“But that’s a part of growing up, isn’t it?” Eyeball asked. “I may not be human, but one thing I’ve learned about them is that sooner or later, they grow to become independent.”

“You’re right.” Mara told the Ruby. “But I didn’t think it would be this drastic.”

“Well most humans aren’t half Gem.” Betty reminded them.

”That’s true.” Diana noted, landing back down next to the group.

”Whatever happens to us, we’ll be fine as long as we stick together.” Betty said. ”The rescue will come for us soon, I’m sure. We already lasted this long, haven’t we?”

”Yeah…” Mara agreed in uncertainty. ”I hope you’re right.”

”Whoever is on this moon with us, I’m sure they’re not as big of a problem as we think if there’s five of us.” Eyeball told them. ”Assuming it’s just one Gem or even anyone at all.”

The five of them laid back down, watching the starry night sky from the base’s glass ceiling.

”We’ll be home soon, I just know it.”

Betty closed her eyes. She imagined herself back at the barn with Diana. Taking care of her chickens and hanging out with the Famethyst.

Diana thought about the barn, too. Helping out with the crops and preparing for this year’s Together Banquet and hanging out with Peridot and Stevonnie.

Harry imagined himself back in Empire City with his father. Looking at his collection of awards that he won over the years and living in his fancy high rise apartment with electricity and air conditioning.

And Mara dreamt of her home, the little house where she would spend hours making clothes for the Pearls’ dress shop. She promised herself she would make a nice new dress once she got back to Earth.

[independentartistbuzz]

Indie 5-0: 5 Questions with Reggie Harris

A teaching artist in the Kennedy Center’s CETA program (Changing Education Through the Arts) and a fellow for the prestigious Council of Independent College lecture program, Reggie Harris also serves as Co-President and Director of Music Education for the Living Legacy Project—an advocacy group that sponsors Civil Rights pilgrimages throughout the South and online education seminars worldwide. His new album On Solid Ground is about all healing and inspiration in the face of injustice and dissension. From love songs (“Come What May”) to protest songs (“Standing in Freedom's Name”) to the album-closing tribute (“High Over the Hudson”) to his friend and mentor Pete Seeger, On Solid Ground has a little bit of something for everyone. Harris is the 2021 recipient of Folk Alliance International's Spirit of Folk Award and is a DJ on the new program Prisms: The Sound Of Color on SiriusXM’s The Village. He was recently featured on CNN’s Silence is Not An Option with Don Lemon and in The New York Times.

Listen to Reggie Harris via Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0HWFtZHIDLRaW9POYMsAtp

1. At what age did you realize that music was the career you wanted to pursue? What was your ‘ah-ha’ moment? Wow. It came late. I mean, I’ve been singing since I was three or four years old, but I never really had any reason to think of music as a possible career. No one in my family or for that matter, in my social circle, did anything of the sort. People asked that question “What do you wanna be?” all the time but I saw music as just something you did in church or at school or in family sings around the piano. I always loved music and I was always good at it. I learned to harmonize really early and I sang all through high school but never gave any thought to it as a profession. I thought I’d be a teacher. But the “aha moment” came when I heard James Taylors' "Fire and Rain" on the radio one night in 12th grade. Something about his guitar and his expressive voice lit a fire that burned inside until I got a guitar in my hands in 1974. That happened when a young woman I was dating dared me to learn 3 chord on the guitar. That event unleashed something inside of me that had gone untapped in all my years of singing in choirs and groups and at school. I now had the ability to accompany myself with music that I heard from within. I bought the album Sweet Baby James and played the grooves out. That opened the door to Gordon Lightfoot, Don McClean, Cat Stevens, Kenny Rankin and the singer songwriters. I started watching shows like The Midnight Special or Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert and I started going to concerts. And around that same time, I met another young woman named Kim who played guitar and loved the same artists I did. She and I started meeting up and practicing songs, then we began writing songs and quickly became singing partners. Eventually we got married and I’d say, we pushed each other out the door and onto the stage. We were both passionate about making music and helped each other learn and grow and we were both willing to struggle to make it work. We did that for forty years and then separated and I became a solo act in 2016. I love the way it feels to spend hours making music and I really love how it makes other people feel when they hear it. It also gives me a voice to express what I see in the world. My passion for creating music and connecting the dots is stronger than ever. 2. Who are your musical inspirations? What artists inspired you to start your career and find your musical passion? My musical inspiration started early and there have been so many streams. Hearing the “old folks” in my church sing spirituals and hymns was formative and Sunday afternoon church events where 6 or 7 or more church choirs would travel around and have a gospel song fest at another church was exciting and grounding. All those amazing singers covering those great songs. I remember hearing Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke and others on my mother's radio in the morning as she got ready for work. Their voices just made you feel emotions like nothing else in the world. Our teachers in elementary taught us the songs of Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan and we sang “Blowing in the Wind” (The Peter, Paul, and Mary version) and "If I Had A Hammer" for 6th grade graduation. I remember standing on the steps of my house in Philly with three of my friends, in the summer of 1964, singing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” at the top of our lungs. We all took different roles as The Beatles. I thought I was Paul of course! That strikes me funny now… four little black boys in inner-city Philadelphia thinking they were English rockers? Why not The Temps? Or Smokey and the Miracles? There was also Aretha Franklin and The Stones in 1965 with "Satisfaction." Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder fascinated me and all those great Motown artist’s voices came floating down the hall to my room as my sister came of age. I paid attention to the musicians and the arrangements too. Years later, after I discovered the guitar, I met Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton and Ritchie Havens and other folk musicians and started to find a groove that combined what they were doing with other music I loved. My inspiration stream crosses genres, race, decade and style. Stevie Wonder to Pete Seeger, to Bach to Dolly Parton to Joan Armatrading to the Yellow Jackets to Beyonce. Listening across genres gives me more information to process which I can incorporate in melodies, harmonies or language for lyrics. 3. What inspired you to write & record On Solid Ground? I got home on March 8, 2020 after my tour was abruptly ended by COVID-19 shutdowns. For 3 weeks, I sat watching the news, talking with friends, feeling the world come apart as concert dates disappeared from my calendar for months and months into the future. Since concerts, lectures and school programs are the major ways that I get to sow seeds of hope in the world, I felt at a great loss. Like everyone else, I saw tensions building and protests against the various issues of hate and division exploding in the streets and felt that I needed to make sense of it all.

Music is the place I go when I need the world to make sense. So I started doing online concerts and that helped me to see how hungry people were for music and connection. My answer to the desperation and fear that I saw rising all around was to write the song "On Solid Ground." It’s written in the style and frame of the spirituals which are songs I grew up singing and that I still sing now. They are songs composed by people who endured slavery…people who were suffering through devastatingly tough times and still found ways to persevere through music and community. So my message? We can get through this time of challenge and change if we pull together and face ourselves.

Then the floodgates opened. I watched people flood into the streets to protest the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killings and the growing acts of election suppression and wrote “Standing in Freedom’s Name” and “Let’s Meet Up Early.” I also arranged Malvina Reynolds' “It Isn’t Nice" as a tribute. Inspired by articles about workers who were being put in danger by callous factory owners and government officials, I wrote “My Working Bones.”

In the isolation of missing my girlfriend, who lives 10 hours away, I wrote “Come What May.” Then, watching street scenes on TV in 2020 that mirrored C.T. Vivian’s classic stand-off with Sheriff Jim Clark in Selma in 1965, I was inspired to write “It’s Who We Are.” It’s my challenge to the avoidance of questions of race, inequality and disenfranchisement that we as a nation are still struggling to face. But the protests showed a possible willingness to change?

I wrote the song "High Over the Hudson" about Pete Seeger in 2014 but never put it on a CD. And "Maybe It’s Love" was a fun writing exercise about the nature of romance.  Song after song was born as a timely reflection on what was on my mind every day and as I would finish one song, another would rise up.

Soon I had 9 originals and 4 songs that I was inspired to arrange as covers and I thought, ”Looks like a CD to me.” 4. What was the process like bringing the album to life, and who did you work with to create it?

Recording this CD was both supremely challenging, deeply therapeutic and also the most relaxed I’ve ever been in the studio. The project gave me an outlet for stress. We had to be very careful about COVID-19 protocols and close proximity at all times. Travel was weird and in a few impossible moments, we worked remotely. I was also wondering if I’d ever get to go out and perform the songs once they were done or if anyone would ever buy physical music again since that has been decreasing for years. But as I called on musicians who were not only good friends but who I knew would respond to my vision, the way to proceed got clearer.  My core co-contributors, Greg Greenway and Dave Schonauer, have been critical collaborators on my last three CDs. Greg and I have known each other for over 30 years and were born three days apart. So we have a language that just flows. We met and did pre-production in August and then hit the studio in September. Dave, the engineer at Morningstar Studios, is just brilliant. He makes things possible that most people don’t think of. Pat Wictor is my improvisational exploration brother as is Tom Prasado-Rao. Pat got up from a bout with COVID-19 and a recovery from tearing a tendon in his arm and played his newly retrained fingers off. Tom came out of a major bout with cancer and simmered with vocal ideas. They were all amazing at helping me chase my vision and “letting me be me" while adding brilliance and calling me on things didn’t quite measure up. We work at a level of trust that transcends words. I met bassist Chico Huff and drummer Matt Scarano when I recorded the CD Ready to Go in 2017-18 and they both play my music like they were there when I wrote it! Eric Byrd is a friend who is an amazing musical force and funny as hell. And Colleen Kattau, Mark Murphy and Ken Ulansey are longtime friends who just find the right temperature and vibe all the time. Everyone did what I love: They came in the door with passion and flexibility, brought their “A” games and didn’t leave until we got it right. And now Kari Estrin, Sarah Bennett and my friend Joann Murdock are helping me get it out to the world. 5. What do you have in store for the rest of 2021? I’m looking forward to continuing to unveil these songs, first during online concerts and then, as things begin to open up, with the start of whatever the new in-person performing landscape will become. I’ll continue to provide education videos for schools and doing lectures and residency work with colleges and universities on my own and through the Council of independent Colleges. The pandemic also gave me the time to work on a memoir which I’m trying to finish with a friend who is co-writing. And I’ll continue my work in civil, voting and human rights with the Living Legacy Project organization as we work to extend awareness and social activism. In my spare time, I hope to go to a few baseball games, see fully vaccinated friends for visits and hugs, watch a few movies and hopefully see my 76ers win the NBA championship. And I think I also need to get some rest.

[architectnews]

University of Brighton spotlights 16 architecture and design projects

A secret subterranean factory for Extinction Rebellion and a timber-framed sandwich forum are included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at the University of Brighton.

Also included are climate protest meeting points disguised as birdbaths and a proposal for a Museum of the World.

University of Brighton

School:  University of Brighton, School of Architecture and Design Courses: Architecture, Interior Architecture and Product Design Tutors: Terry Meade, Rob Vinall, Tom Ainsworth, Jeff Turko, Nate Kolbe, Lucy-Ann Gilbert, Omid Kamvari, Carlos Peralta, Michael Howe, Tony Roberts, Stephen Ryan, Asta Sabaliauskaite, Ian McKay, Sarah Stevens, Anuschka Kutz, Kris Scheerlinck, Garteth Owen, Nat Hunter and Dr Tilo Amhoff.

School statement:

"The School of Architecture and Design at Brighton offers courses in architecture, interior architecture and product design at undergraduate level, together with a suite of courses at MA and research degree level.

"Post-graduate courses include Architecture (MA and post part two), architecture and urban design, sustainable design, interior design, town planning and management and practice and law in architecture.

"At the end of the academic year, several prizes are presented to students across the school. These are awards that have been generated within the school or are provided by external sponsors. The prize-winners are featured in the following work."

The Undertree Odeum by Imani Qamar

"The brief to culminate the foundation year was a site-specific project determined by a programme derived from three pieces of given information; playing an instrument, at night, in the summer.

"The desire to be outside amongst people, unincumbered and dancing together on a summer's night, lead me to the dreamy, hypnotic and trance-like sound of the handpan drum.

"I utilised the natural contours and existing features of the area and developed an intervention which conveys the relationship between material, programme and spectator."

Student: Imani Qamar Course: SoAD Integrated Foundation Year Tutor: Rob Vinall Award: Foundation Course Award for Design 2021 Email: imaniqamar.i@gmail.com

A Chemist of Shadows by Solange Leon Iriate

"Movement has been principal to my practice. Throughout the MA in sustainable design, detailed observational moving landscapes have given way to more abstract gestural art pursuits, a form of embodied research in response to ideas. These explorative pieces inform and initiate, in turn, further research in an ongoing material conversation.

"Societies apart and economic inequality is rising with the present crisis. We remain concertedly divided and perpetually adapting. This work examines division, borders and movement in the sustainability framework, ontological complexities, collective and individual notions through art and design.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted isolation and division while demanding a cohesive humanitarian ensemble to trust and move in a certain distant togetherness. These bluescapes were born intuitively as a way of visualising and exploring concepts of social mobility, equality and interdependent relations, and the opaque and perpetually shifting nature of borders."

Student: Solange Leon Iriate Course: Masters in Sustainable Design Tutor: Tom Ainsworth Award: Experimental Design Practices Reg Prize 2021: Movement Email: s.leon1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Museum of the World by Anna Rose Hague

"If it is to be known as a 'museum of the world,' the British Museum must admit to their wrongful possessions over stolen artefacts, as well as celebrate world cultures and expert knowledge of its renowned pioneers.

"I have peeled back the walls of the Reading Room to allow the space to feel open, transparent and shared. In a world of online meetings, this space will be a catalyst for face-to-face shared thinking between 'the expert' and the 'non-expert.'

"There will be workshops, lectures and activities for all. The architectural environment of this space will impact human behaviour; by initiating conversations about post-colonial practices in modern museums."

Student: Anna Rose Hague Course: Masters in Interior Design Tutor: Terry Meade Award: Winner MA Interiors Will and Partners Prize 2021 Email: a.hague2@uni.brighton.ac.uk

The MakerMat by Toby Brown

"The MakerMat proposal offers a way to enable The Tide Mills project to achieve their aims of collaboration between members of the public such as artists and students. The makerspace creates a social condenser that brings people together through making and embracing the Tide Mill landscape with its rich history.

"It presents a methodology for developing on land that is at high risk of flooding. The proposal offers a current use as a makerspace and future use as a new ground level for wildlife, therefore maintaining habitats and green routes when the site floods."

Student: Toby Brown Course: Master of Architecture Tutors: Jeff Turko and Nate Kolbe Award: Winner Will and Partners Prize 2021 and Nominee for the Architects Journal Sustainability Award 2021 Email: t.brown16@brighton.ac.uk

Extinction Rebellion HQ by Matilda Swift-Barnard

"In this project, Extinction Rebellion HQ is a secret subterranean factory disguised as two normal houses. Underground in the arch vaulted basement, they are producing recycled plastic bricks. These plastic bricks are being used to build a network of protest meeting points around Brighton, disguised as birdbaths and connected to the HQ via a tunnel.

"The birdbaths give Extinction Rebellion supporters somewhere to meet up while also create nature corridors for Brighton's bird populations which are declining. Excavating these tunnels will leave them with a lot of material, which will be moved back to the HQ and added to the brick mixture, so nothing gets wasted."

Student: Matilda Swift-Barnard Course: BA (Hons) Interior Architecture Tutor: Lucy-Ann Gilbert Award: BA Interiors Studio B.A.D & Chora Award 2021 Email: m.swift-barnard1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Welcome to the Minnegård – the Tower of Memories by Zuzanna Maria Murzyn

"Does the modern city give the time and space for the act of remembrance to happen? Can a city's architectural framework enhance the creation, conjuring and depositing of memories through the typology of a new cemetery?

"What begins at the Bank of England, the eye of the City of London, is a transformation of the place where the material currency is held. In this scenario, memories act as the valuables that we ought to care for and protect. To discover what's hidden within this high-rise, you're invited to take a stroll down memory lane."

Student: Zuzanna Maria Murzyn Course: BA (Hons) Architecture Tutor: Omid Kamvari Award: Winner Feix and Merlin Architects Prize 2021 and Chalk Architecture Award 2021 Email: z.murzyn1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Thinking Like a Tree by Benjamin Davies

"Human beings are losing their connection to the natural world. Thinking Like A Tree is a campaign to help challenge the human-centric mindset. Viewers of the short film, posters and mural can begin to empathise with trees and develop a stronger connection to the world around them.

"To 'Think Like A Tree' is an explorative activity to understand better the way trees support symbiotic relationships, and how as humans, we can experience and learn from them. To tackle environmental problems such as the biodiversity crisis, ocean and atmospheric pollution, humans must learn from trees and become a regenerative species."

Student: Benjamin Davies Course: BSc (Hons) Product Design Tutor: Carlos Peralta Award: Winner Product Design Ambitious Project Award 2021 Email: b.davies11@uni.brighton.ac.uk

The Timely Proxemics Of A Post-Human Social Condenser Phalanstery by Harry Harwood

"The proposal embodies the idea of being a flat ontology through new epistemological and ontological speculation of a Constructed Chimaera. The chimaera is about the readable transformation of one known object into the next.

"Not a collaging but a smooth blending of objects. What exists? The proposal attempts to move beyond general envelologicics and toward specific figuration. Tectonics has been identified for too long with either material phenomenology or literal expression of performance. Instead, I argue that the beauty of tectonics is its ability to create post-human fictions, confounding expectations of material or scale for chimaera programme."

Student: Harry Harwood Course: Master of Architecture Tutors: Jeff Turko and Nate Kolbe Award: RIBA South East Part 2 Winner and Architect's Journal Nominee Email: harryharwood22@gmail.com

The Sandwich Forum by Amber Elliott

"Agriculture and cities are bound together through the supply and demand of food. 17th-century grain markets shaped the streets of London with longstanding names such as Cheapside, Cornhill and Bread Street. However, food is no longer at the centre of the city, and it is expected quickly and with little consideration of process or origin.

"The timber-framed sandwich forum holds all the necessary functions to grow, harvest, package and sell sandwiches to a fifth of the city of London's workers per week. That's 100,000 sandwiches! There are 24 aquaponic circular wheat fields within the building to produce bread and 20 floors of observable hydroponic rotating growing pods, where leafy greens and other vegetables are grown.

The sandwiches are available 'to go' or enjoy one of the many public platforms, observation decks or roof gardens. This building is intended to provide locally (in-house) grown food to the public while encouraging the pace of city life to pause momentarily using farming and green spaces."

Student: Amber Elliott Course: BA (Hons) Architecture Tutor: Omid Kamvari Award: Winner of the James Latham Prize for Innovation Timber Engineering 2021 Email: a.elliott9@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Holborn School of Ceramics by Peter Garfath

"The contemporary scene of Central London's architectural landscape is far from stagnant. The skyline is almost continually littered with cranes and scaffolding as the pricy fight for urban space skyrockets, often at any cost to the already deteriorating environment. At the heart of this project is the ethos of reappropriation in the name of being carbon conscious, with the more specific aim of retaining and utilising as much of the existing structural framework from the deemed 'unsalvageable' building on site.

"To further extend the proposals, carbon efficiency, ambient and direct natural light was the most significant variable when considering form, as passivity meant less reliance on fossil fuel amenities. In addition, the project is largely led and moulded by its positioning in the very pedestrianised part of Holborn, with the underlying connection of community altering the threshold of public and private, as a pedestrian path cuts the corner of the block and meanders through the proposal."

Student: Peter Garfath Course: BA (Hons) Architecture Tutor: Michael Howe Award: Nominee for Architect's Journal Part 1 Award 2021 Email: p.garfath1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

A Way Village by Hao Han Wong 

"A Way Village is located at London Road, Brighton, between the main road and a residential area, 0.7 miles away from Brighton Train Station. A village that sits above the ground, approximately 40 metres in height, acts as a hill in the middle of Brighton.

"With the help of the community, we created kiosks and spaces in between the platforms. People can enjoy walking up the hill without feeling alone. They meet friends, make conversation. Together, we create memories. This village is a place that not only provides people with nature in this current situation but also allows us to slow down our path and enjoy every little thing, appreciate ordinary happiness, which we call rì cháng zhī měi in Mandarin."

Student: Hao Han Wong Course: BA (Hons) Architeture Tutor: Tony Roberts Award: Winner John Andrews Drawing Prize Undergraduate 2021 Email: h.wong4@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Travelogue: a Long late Journey; Towards a Cathedral in the Art of (the) Living by Olly Maxwell

"My project is based on a poem I have written:

Imagined… Over the past solitary year, I, the traveller, have found myself making a journey. Dreaming of a place beyond. Of monumentalism, upon the Isle. Of meeting and exchange, of sincerity and passion, and delight, and of meaning… Managed… Once a month, when the tidal waters of the flooded River Ouse subside to reveal an ancient causeway, a gathering, of individuals. Everybody is invited… Meeting the World."

Student: Olly Maxwell Course: BA (Hons) Architecture Tutors: Stephen Ryan, Asta Sabaliauskaite and Ian McKay Award: Joint Winner of the RIBA Sussex Branch Part 1 Prize 2021 Email: o.maxwell1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Common 165 by Ollie Howell

"Common 165 is imagined as an extension of residency for those in Lewes. Residency is treated as an act performed by those that will come to occupy the site. For all in Lewes, and to all those that chose to visit, the common is as much theirs as it is anyones.

"The resulting space is conceived as an architectural landscape garden, specifically about the 18th century, as means of a continuing conversation with ruin. The landscape is formed of a single piece of furniture, a continual surface through which acts of residency are performed."

Student: Ollie Howell Course: BA (Hons) Architecture Tutor: Sarah Stevens Award: Joint Winner of RIBA Sussex Branch Prize 2021 Email: o.howell1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Pookchurch Common of Broxmead Lane by Vanessa Malao Nkumbula

"Designed around the 12-month farming rituals of farming peasants, this spatial intervention appropriates current farming technologies and peasant's craftsmanship to create a new common and foster socio-cultural social stewardship of the countryside. They each represent the loss of traditional facades, craftsmanship and stewardship regarding farming.

"The rituals and self-sufficiency honour and remind people of their duties and responsibilities in common and aims to be constructive in dealing with the frustrations of privatisation and commercialisation. The fragile relationships within the community are strengthened with a year-end goal of the Harvestival where all their contributions can be seen. The common tackles and highlights the interplay among the population, economic subsistence, contemporary technology, and the environment that it is situated."

Student: Vanessa Malao Nkumbula Course: Master of Architecture Tutors: Anuschka Kutz and Kris Scheerlinck Award: The Make Architecture Post Graduate Prize 2021 Email: v.nkumbula1@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Framemaker | reduce by Mungo Chambers

"In our throw-away society, we need more adaptive products that can be disassembled and reused. This year, I have focused on sustainable and circular design. My initial project looked at taking advantage of waste materials, reprocessing old corks into various products. This delved into the climate emergency, drawing attention to the Ash dieback disease and associated waste.

"A modified retractable washing line measuring tool enabled foresters to quickly identify uses for mid-sized timber, preventing the burning of good resources. Framemaker sought to reduce waste by providing a modular kit that is adaptive, designed for reuse and long life. Utilising parametric software ensures the right amount is purchased. The proposal uses a distributed manufacturing network to encourage a second-hand market to avoid downcycling."

Student: Mungo Chambers Course: BSc Hons Product Design Tutors: Gareth Owen and Nat Hunter (Other Today) Award: The Waste House Award for Circular Design 2021 Email: m.chambers3@uni.brighton.ac.uk

Observing the City Via Novel and Film by Yue Xin (Joy)

"My inspiration comes from Italo Calvino's Invisible City Continuous Cities two. Calvino mentioned the fantastic similarities of cities, such as identical houses, squares, streets, and even commodity furnishings.

"Everywhere you go, you see the same scenery, even the exact details, and the days seem to be the same. These are the so-called continuous cities; it seems that we can never get out of constant similarity. However, in my drawing, I used the simplest form of structure and a single tone to express the urban landscape.

"At first glance, the impression of each city in the pane seems to be very similar, but if you look carefully, in fact, the urban landscape penetrated by each glass is different, high and short, the shape is different, the combination is different, and light is different, clarity is different and so on. We can find many subtle differences – the difference is everywhere, as is similarity."

Student: Yue Xin (Joy) Course: PhD Architecture and Design Tutor: Dr Tilo Amhoff Award: Post Graduate Winner John Andrews Drawing Prize 2021 Email: y.xin1@brighton.ac.uk

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of Brighton. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post University of Brighton spotlights 16 architecture and design projects appeared first on Dezeen.

[blackkudos]

D'Angelo

Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (pronounced dee-Angelo), is an American, Grammy Award winning R&B and Neo soul singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of a Pentecostal minister, he began teaching himself piano as a very young child, and at age 18 he won the amateur talent competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater three weeks in a row. After briefly being a member of a hip-hop group called I.D.U., his first major success came in 1994 as the co-writer and co-producer of "U Will Know".

His debut solo album, Brown Sugar, released in July 1995, received rave reviews and sold over two million copies. Along with artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, and collaborator Angie Stone, D'Angelo became part of the Neo soul movement. Following this D'Angelo went on a hiatus before releasing Voodoo in January 2000, which debuted at number one. Its lead single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," was a smash on the R&B charts and won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal; likewise, Voodoo won for Best R&B Album.

Following the release of "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," D'Angelo became more uncomfortable with his growing status as a sex symbol. This was followed by numerous personal struggles including alcoholism, and a fourteen-year musical hiatus. D'Angelo released his third studio album, Black Messiah, in December 2014, although it was originally set for release in 2015; the album was met with critical acclaim and fared well on music charts, peaking at number five on the US Billboard 200.

Early life

D'Angelo was born Michael Eugene Archer, in Richmond, Virginia on February 11, 1974, to a Pentecostal preacher father. He was raised in an entirely Pentecostal family. Archer's musical talents were discovered very early on. At 3, he was spotted by his 10-year-old brother Luther, playing the house piano. Following the formation of his native-Richmond, Virginia musical group, Michael Archer and Precise, and its success on the Amateur Night competition at Harlem, New York's Apollo Theater in 1991, the 18-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist dropped out of school and moved to New York City, as an attempt to develop his music career. The group previously enjoyed some notice in Richmond, evenly dividing their repertoire between soul covers and originals, while D'Angelo accumulated compositions of his own and developed his songwriting skills. The group's turnout on Amateur Night resulted in three consecutive wins and cash prize, after which, upon returning home to Richmond, D'Angelo was inspired to produce an album and began composing material, after a brief tenure as a member of the hip hop group I.D.U. (Intelligent, Deadly but Unique).

Career

1991–1995: Brown Sugar

D'Angelo signed a publishing deal with EMI Music in 1991 after catching the attention of record executives through a demo tape, which was originally by the group. After an impressive audition for EMI execs, a three-hour impromptu piano recital, D'Angelo was signed to a recording contract in 1993. A&R-man Gary Harris was primarily responsible for his signing, while manager Kedar Massenburg helped negotiate the contract as well. Massenburg became D'Angelo's manager after hearing of him through "the buzz on the streets". He had previously managed hip hop group Stetsasonic and formed the artist management-firm Kedar Entertainment in 1991, which he diversified into production, music publishing and publicity.

In 1994, his first significant success came in the form of the hit single "U Will Know". D'Angelo co-wrote and co-produced the song for the all-male R&B supergroup Black Men United, which featured R&B singers such as Brian McKnight, Usher, R. Kelly, Boyz II Men, Raphael Saadiq and Gerald Levert. D'Angelo composed the music for "U Will Know", while his brother, Luther Archer, wrote the lyrics. Originally featured on the soundtrack to the film Jason's Lyric (1994), the single peaked at number 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for "U Will Know" featured D'Angelo as the group's choir director; he reprised the role for the live performance of the song at the Soul Train Music Awards. That same year, he wrote and produced the song "Overjoyed" for the Boys Choir of Harlem, which appeared on their studio album The Sound of Hope (1994). The success of "U Will Know" helped build the buzz surrounding D'Angelo, which was followed by a number of highly promoted showcases, and added to the buzz among music industry insiders.

Brown Sugar was released in June 1995. Although sales were sluggish at first, the album was eventually a hit. The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart in the week of July 22, 1995. It ultimately peaked at number four in the week of February 24, 1996, and spent a total of 54 weeks on the chart. Brown Sugar also spent 65 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 22 on the chart. It sold 300,000 copies within its two months of release. The album had been selling 35,000 to 40,000 copies a week through to November 1995, and by January 1996, it had sold 400,000 copies. With the help of its four singles, including the gold-selling Billboard Hot 100 hit "Lady" and R&B top-ten singles "Brown Sugar" and "Cruisin", the album reached sales of 500,000 copies in the United States by October 1995. On February 7, 1996, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the U.S. The album was certified gold in Canada on May 9, 2000. Its total sales have been estimated within the range of 1.5 million to over two million copies.

1996–2000: Sabbatical period and Voodoo

Following the success of his debut album Brown Sugar (1995), D'Angelo went into a four and a half year absence from the music scene and releasing solo work. After spending two years on tour promoting Brown Sugar, D'Angelo found himself stuck with writer's block. On the setback, D'Angelo later stated "The thing about writer's block is that you want to write so fucking bad, [but] the songs don't come out that way. They come from life. So you've got to live to write." During his sabbatical period, he generally released cover versions and remakes, including a cover-collaboration with Erykah Badu of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet song "Your Precious Love" for the soundtrack to High School High (1996). D'Angelo also covered Prince's "She's Always in My Hair" for the Scream 2 soundtrack (1997), as well as the Ohio Players' "Heaven Must Be Like This" for the Down in the Delta soundtrack (1998). He also appeared on a duet, "Nothing Even Matters", with Lauryn Hill for her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). He also spent the time lifting weights, smoking weed, and making music.

The much-delayed follow-up to Brown Sugar, Voodoo, was finally released in 2000 on Virgin Records after the EMI Records Group was absorbed by the former label. Voodoo received rave reviews from contemporary music critics. who dubbed it a "masterpiece" and D'Angelo's greatest work. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 320,000 copies in its first week. It entered the Billboard 200 on February 12, 2000 and remained on the chart for 33 consecutive weeks. As of 2005, the album has sold over 1.7 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2001, Voodoo won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 43rd Grammy Awards, which was awarded to D'Angelo and recording engineer Russell Elevado.

Its first two singles, "Devil's Pie" and "Left & Right", peaked at number 69 and number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The latter was commercially aimed at R&B and hip hop-oriented radio stations due to the prominence of rappers Redman and Method Man on the track. According to Rich Ford, Jr., producer of the "Left & Right" music video, both the single and the video went commercially unnoticed due to MTV's refusal to place the song's video in rotation, serving as punishment for missing the deadline for its initial premiere. The fifth single "Feel Like Makin' Love" was less successful, reaching number 109 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. "Send It On", the album's fourth single, achieved moderate chart success, peaking at number 33 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart. The album's third single, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", became its greatest chart success, peaking at number 25 on the Hot 100 Singles and at number two on the R&B Singles chart. Its infamous music video helped in boosting the song's appeal, as well as D'Angelo's. Billboard wrote of the video, "It's pure sexuality. D'Angelo, muscularly cut and glistening, is shot from the hips up, naked, with just enough shown to prompt a slow burning desire in most any woman who sees it. The video alone could make the song one of the biggest of the coming year". It earned three nominations for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best R&B Video, and Best Male Video.

2001–2013: Second sabbatical, struggles and delayed album

Towards the end of his worldwide tour in support of the album that same year, D'Angelo's personal issues had worsened, affecting performances. He became more conscious of and uncomfortable with his status as a sex symbol, and after the tour D'Angelo returned to his home in Richmond, Virginia, disappearing from the public eye. Several of D'Angelo's peers and affiliates have noted the commercial impact of the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" music video and The Voodoo Tour as contributing factors to D'Angelo's period of absence from the music scene. His former music manager, Dominique Trenier, explained his disappointment in the music video's impact in a 2008 interview for Spin magazine. Trenier was quoted as saying that "to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude".

According to tour manager Alan Leeds, the experience "took away his confidence, because he's not convinced why any given fan is supporting him." Following the suicide of his close friend, MTV-affiliate Fred Jordan, in April 2001, he started to develop a drinking problem. As his alcoholism escalated, plans for a live album and a Soultronics studio effort, both originally set for after the tour, were scrapped, and impatient Virgin executives cut off funding for the expected 2004 solo album.

By 2005, D'Angelo's girlfriend had left him, his attorney had become displeased with him, and most of his family was not in touch with him. He also parted ways with manager Dominique Trenier and tour manager Alan Leeds. After a car accident and an arrest on DUI and marijuana possession charges, D'Angelo left Virgin Records in 2005 and checked into the Crossroads Centre rehabilitation clinic in Antigua. In 2005, his recording contract was acquired by J Records, following rumors of D'Angelo signing to Bad Boy Records. Despite no solo output, D'Angelo collaborated with some R&B and hip hop artists during this period between albums, appearing on albums such as J Dilla's The Shining (2006), Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006), Common's Finding Forever (2007), and Q-Tip's The Renaissance (2008).

D'Angelo's subsequent solo work was extensively delayed. Production for a full-length follow-up to Voodoo was stagnant, as he was working on and off mostly by himself during 2002. D'Angelo attempted to play every instrument for the project, striving for complete creative control similar to that of Prince. Russell Elevado described the resulting material as "Parliament/Funkadelic meets the Beatles meets Prince, and the whole time there's this Jimi Hendrix energy". However, those who previewed its songs found it to be unfinished. In the years that followed, D'Angelo's personal problems worsened, descending to drug and alcohol addiction. In January 2005 he was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine. Various mugshots began circulating around the time, showing the singer looking overweight and unhealthy, in stark contrast to the muscular D'Angelo seen in promotion for Voodoo. In September 2005, a week after being sentenced on the drug charges, he was involved in a car accident, and was rumoured to be critically injured. However, a week after the crash a statement was issued by D'Angelo's attorney stating that he was fine continuing to say "He is anxious to finish the recording of his soul masterpiece that the world has patiently awaited.

No more was revealed on the new album until 2007, when Questlove leaked an unfinished track on Triple J Radio in Australia. Entitled "Really Love", the track was an acoustic flavored jam with a laid back swing feel. The leak apparently soured relations between the two. D'Angelo released a CD/DVD compilation album entitled The Best So Far…, first released on June 24, 2008 on Virgin Records. The compilation features songs from his two previous studio albums, Brown Sugar and Voodoo, as well as rarities and a second disc, a DVD of previously unreleased videos. Around the same time, the compilation was released digitally without the Erykah Badu and Raphael Saddiq featured songs, under the title Ultimate D'Angelo.

In late November 2011, D'Angelo announced a series of 2012 European tour dates. The tour kicked off January 26 in Stockholm, Sweden with its final show on February 10. The tour featured a selection of hits from his two previous albums and songs from his upcoming album, which was close to completion. He premièred 4 new songs: "Sugah Daddy", "Ain't That Easy", "Another Life" and "The Charade" which were well received. On June 9, 2012, he joined Roots drummer ?uestlove for the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival's Superjam. Although he didn't play any of his original material, this marked the first time in nearly 12 years that he performed on stage in the US. On September 1, 2012, D'Angelo performed at Jay-Z's Made In America festival where he again performed the new songs, "The Charade" and "Sugah Daddy". On October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was disbanding J Records, Arista Records, and Jive Records. With the shutdown, D'Angelo (and all other artists previously signed to those labels) would release his future material on RCA Records.

2014–present: Black Messiah

D'Angelo released his third studio album, Black Messiah in December 2014, D'Angelo originally wanted to release Black Messiah in 2015, but the controversial decisions in the Ferguson and Eric Garner cases inspired him to release it earlier. On December 12, 2014, Kevin Liles, D'Angelo's manager, shared a 15-second teaser of the album on YouTube. Two days later, the track "Sugah Daddy", which had been part of D'Angelo's set list since 2012, premiered at 3am EST and 1,000 downloads were available on Red Bull's 20 Before 15 website. After an exclusive listening party in New York, Black Messiah was released digitally on December 15 through iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify. The album's unexpected release was compared to Beyoncé's self-titled release in 2013. On January 13, 2015, "Really Love" was released to urban adult contemporary radio in the US.

The album was met with universal acclaim from critics and it currently has a 95/100 mean score on review aggregator Metacritic. In its first week of release, Black Messiah debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold 117,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album dropped to number twenty five on the chart and sold another 40,254 copies. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 47 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 7,423 copies. D'Angelo is supporting Black Messiah with a tour called The Second Coming. His band, The Vanguard, includes drummer Chris Dave, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarists Jesse Johnson and Isaiah Sharkey, vocalists Kendra Foster, Jermaine Holmes, and Charles "Redd" Middleton, and keyboardist Cleo "Pookie" Sample. The European leg commenced in Zurich on February 11, 2015, and concluded in Brussels on March 7.

In June 2015, D'Angelo confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was working on more material for a new album, calling it "a companion piece" to Black Messiah. In 2016 Black Messiah won Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards as well as Best R&B Song for "Really Love" which also was nominated for Record of the Year. Black Messiah, Beyoncé's self-titled (2013), Run the Jewels' Run the Jewels 2 (2014) and Kendrick Lamar's, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), were noted as laying the groundwork down for the political charged releases that happened in 2016, which included Anti, by Rihanna, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and Beyonce's "Formation".

D'Angelo performed Prince's "Sometimes it Snows in April" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April 2016 accompanied by Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum as a tribute to the late musician, appearing 'overcome with emotion' at the passing of a major influence.

Artistry

In a 1995 interview, he discussed the influence that musician Prince had on his approach to recording his debut album, stating "I was one of those guys who read the album credits and I realized that Prince was a true artist. He wrote, produced, and performed, and that's the way I wanted to do it." According to D'Angelo, the hip hop influence present on the album "came from the Native Tongues movement - Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr and Main Source." In a February 1999 interview with music journalist Touré, D'Angelo discussed his original inspirations to produce music, stating "The sound and feel of my music are going to be affected by what motivates me to do it". On his visit to South Carolina, D'Angelo stated that he "went through this runnel, through gospel, blues, and a lot of old soul, old James Brown, early, early Sly and the Family Stone, and a lot of Jimi Hendrix", and "I learned a lot about music, myself, and where I want to go musically". In the same interview, he cited the deaths of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. as having a great effect on him during the period. During the production of his second studio album D'Angelo recorded numerous hours of unreleased, original material, as well as covers of his influencers' material. Collectively referred to by D'Angelo as "yoda", these influencers included soul artist Al Green, funk artist George Clinton, and Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti.

Personal life

In the 1990s, he dated soul singer Angie Stone and helped produce her debut album Black Diamond in 1999. They have a son, also named Michael, born in 1998. Following the suicide of his close friend, MTV-affiliate Fred Jordan, in April 2001, he started to develop a drinking problem. By 2005, D'Angelo's girlfriend Cannelle Santos had left him, his attorney had become displeased with him, and most of his family was not in touch with him. He also parted ways with manager Dominique Trenier and tour manager Alan Leeds. After a car accident and an arrest on DUI and marijuana possession charges, D'Angelo left Virgin Records in 2005 and checked into the Crossroads Centre rehabilitation clinic in Antigua.

In the years that followed, D'Angelo's personal problems worsened, descending to drug and alcohol addiction. In January 2005 he was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine. Various mugshots began circulating around the time, showing the singer looking overweight and unhealthy, in stark contrast to the muscular D'Angelo seen in promotion for Voodoo. In September 2005, a week after being sentenced on the drug charges, he was involved in a car accident, and was rumoured to be critically injured. However, a week after the crash a statement was issued by D'Angelo's attorney stating that he was fine.

Discography

Studio albums

Brown Sugar (1995)

Voodoo (2000)

Black Messiah (with The Vanguard) (2014)

Tours

Brown Sugah Tour (1996)

The Voodoo World Tour (2000)

Occupy Music Tour (2012)

The Liberation Tour (2012)

The Second Coming Tour (2015)

Wikipedia

[blinkerfluid93-blog]

The Fall of Subaru (as we know it)

There are some car companies that make me happy. Kia for example. A name that has been scoffed at and pushed in the mud for years, finally silencing the naysayers with the Stinger GT. A truly fun and cool car to combat the evermore boring and expensive Japanese car market. Alfa Romeo is another example. While always maintaining their reputation as sexy and exciting, they’ve recently lacked the performance of their competitors. A man that while draped in gold jewellery and Armani, you suspect may conveniently disappear when the bill comes around. But now that the Giulia is blitzing M3’s and RS4’s around the Nurburgring, it seems old mate has the wallet to back up his chains.  

Subaru is not one of these companies. Subaru always used to be a bit of an outcast. He didn’t wanna play rugby with the other kids at lunchtime and his mum always packed him weird foods for his lunch. But once you went over to his house, you realised he was quiet and disciplined because his dad taught him spin-kicks in the backyard, and that weird hummus stuff he eats? Well, it’s actually goddam delicious. Can I take some home?

Now though, Subaru has given up its unique charm in exchange for some beige slacks and a healthy dose of The Big Bang Theory. I’ll make an example of the Legacy. In the 90’s, while the base models were little more than boring but practical runabouts, the top end GT and GT-B models were absolute machine guns. My dad took me for a test drive in one when I was about 6 years old and I was scared to death. Scared, but in love. The car sticks to the road like it's on rails thanks to Subaru’s always awesome AWD system. But my favourite part of old Legacys is the engine. A fairly weak 2 litre with 2 beastly turbos slapped on bringing it up to 280bhp. A very average man, on steroids. There’s not much that can beat the sound of these engines, and one of the only things that can is the sensation it gives you. Thanks to massive lag, the feeling is comparable to hitting light speed in the Millennial Falcon. All the blood slingshots to the back of your head and you’re left questioning whether that truck you overtook ever actually existed in the first place. They were never the fastest on the road but they sure felt like it.

From the turbo’s and the AWD to the brutal hood scoop, old Legacy’s were constantly reminding you that they had one foot in everyday practicality and one foot in their rally heritage.

Not anymore though! I recently had a chance to drive a 2015 Legacy and there isn’t actually much I remember about it. It was just….boring. I do however remember that it looked like it had recently won the highly coveted Rental Car Styling Award and I also remember how it drove. The inline 6 was pretty good actually. Sounded alright and had plenty of torque. It was however mated to one of the biggest giveaways that a car company is going soft, a CVT gearbox. Oh, how I dread the CVT. Not since the introduction of paddles has fun motoring taken such a blow. It’s like you never sold the 50cc Scooter you had when you were 15, and instead, it just grew up with you. The interior I can’t even recall. I think it seemed tough and durable, but it wasn’t even interesting enough for me to register it. Old Subaru interiors were never beautiful, but they were at least interesting. “I like this turbo gauge and what mad bastard came up with this seat pattern?”. Modern Legacys definitely still have one foot in everyday practicality, but now the other is firmly planted in the grave.

The same is across the board I’m afraid. The WRX and the Forester have both lost their edge in trade for mass appeal. I actually quite like the Levorg to be honest, but for the sake of this argument, I’m going to choose to childishly poke fun at its name. Boo Levorg! Go teach a Potions class to Harry and the gang! (Seriously, whoever came up with that name should be fed to a dog of the same name).

In all, the car industry is on the rise at the moment. Cars are getting back to fun in all ways shapes and forms. With Tesla and the 2 cylinder Fiat 500 to the Ford Raptors and the Focus RS, but Subaru is taking a different approach. And maybe that’s a good thing? Maybe Subaru has grown up with its clients. To me though it’s like watching a rock star hanging up his chains and leathers for the mundane.

Look out, everybody! There’s a new Geography teacher on the scene and he’s having a tuna sandwich for lunch.

[mastcomm]

It’s Time to Ask What Africa Needs

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The ideas just keep coming. From Europe’s leading clubs: a proposal to expand the Champions League, to squeeze four more lucrative matchdays into the competition’s format. From UEFA: a whole new trophy to win, but one for countries that feel (rightly) excluded from the Champions League.

From FIFA: another new tournament, this one in the summer and based on the Club World Cup — the one that was, in itself, an expansion of the old Intercontinental Cup — but bigger, richer, and more in China. And, as my colleague Tariq Panja reported this week, from Stephen M. Ross and his Relevent Sports team: a version of the International Champions Cup that is conspicuously more than a meaningless preseason moneymaking exercise.

They are all, for now, under consideration, despite the endless warnings from FIFPro — the global players’ union — and from a number of leading managers, not least Jürgen Klopp, that players are already facing the risk of burnout, that soccer is in danger of strangling its golden goose. The meetings still go on, in locked rooms and hushed tones in five-star hotels, the workshopping, the brainstorming. There is no such thing as a bad idea.

Last week, it was confirmed that this year’s African Cup of Nations — Africa’s equivalent of the Copa América, or the European Championship — would, in fact, be next year’s African Cup of Nations: Cameroon, the host, has noted that it is far too hot to play the tournament in June and July, and so it has shifted it, quite understandably, to January. (The fact its summer dates would have clashed with the new Club World Cup was a factor, too).

This is, in many ways, not a new idea: the Cup of Nations always used to be played in the (European) winter, until it was decided in 2017 that it should be played, instead, in the (European) summer.

The thinking was flawed — it did not require a meteorologist to work out that temperatures would rule out a swath of countries as potential hosts — but the logic was simple: pretty much all of Africa’s highest-profile players work for clubs in Europe. Switching it to the off-season made sense for them, and for their employers.

The switch back, then, is not exactly popular: Everyone in the corridors of power might be willing to contemplate almost any other proposal for new tournaments or ruining existing ones, but the restoration of a historic, important competition to its usual dates is universally seen as A Bad Thing. Have the African authorities not thought about what effect they will have on the integrity of the Premier League at all?

There will come a point when this Eurocentric thinking has to stop. Yes, that is where all the money is. Yes, that is the economic engine financing the global game. But it is not the limit of soccer’s horizons. It does not own the game.

Making sure everything works well for Europe will, eventually, have damaging consequences elsewhere: in terms of attendance and interest in local competitions (which has already happened across Africa) and, possibly, down the line, in the development of players. Europe has to start thinking of itself as the tip of the pyramid: the summit, yes, but in quite a bit of trouble if the rest of the edifice is not secure.

There is one idea for a new competition that appeals. It came, back in November, from an unlikely source: Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the concept that a stopped clock is right twice in a day fitted out in a finely-tailored suit. On a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Infantino suggested that a Pan-African league should be under consideration.

His theory was, obviously, based on money: he thought that such a competition might be able to command revenues of $200 million a year. But there is a sound logic behind it.

Africa is home to a couple of dozen major clubs: Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in South Africa; Al Ahly and Zamalek in Egypt; Espérance and Étoile du Sahel in Tunisia; DR Congo’s TP Mazembe; and Ghana’s Asante Kotoko, among others. A league of 20 teams, as Infantino suggested, would be of a far higher standard than any of the national competitions they currently call home.

That would be beneficial, of course, for players, and the prospect of selling continental broadcast rights would help improve facilities and infrastructure. It might, even, enable teams to hold on to some of their brightest prospects for just a little longer, delaying the exodus for Europe.

It might, in other words, provide the basis for another pole to emerge in soccer’s firmament: not enough to compete with Europe, but to rebalance things just a little. Soccer is weaker if western Europe has a monopoly on talent, on wealth, on power, as it does now. It is healthier if Africa — and Asia, North and South America and the rest — can make decisions without having to think how Europe will react. This might be a step on that road.

United’s Problem Is Not the Glazers’ Wallet

The ire at Old Trafford is mounting. Two defeats in the space of three days — first, painfully, at Liverpool, and then, humiliatingly, at home to Burnley — have brought Manchester United’s fans to the brink of mutiny. They want Ed Woodward, the man who runs the club, gone, and they want the Glazer family, the owner that employs him, out as well.

That neither will happen encapsulates United’s problem. The complaint against the Glazers has long been that the club would have been able to spend far more in the transfer market, strengthening its squad, if the Glazer family had not continually drained its finances to service debts and pay off interest.

And yet, since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United has spent more than £1 billion on transfers. That is an eye-watering sum, and not just because it has been so consistently wasted. United’s recruitment in the last seven years has been so bad it’s a leap to believe that all it needed was another few hundred million pounds.

No, the issue is not the lack of spending, it is the lack of culture. The Glazers will not fire Woodward because he is good at making United a commercial powerhouse, at keeping the money rolling in.

They have created a club where sporting decisions have a secondary importance to financial ones, where the rapid decline we have seen in the last few years can be tolerated if the balance sheet remains healthy, and where nobody has the expertise or knowledge even to recognize the causes of the slide, let alone halt it. United lacks a clear on-field vision and a defined, modern off-field structure. It has invested money in players, but not in itself.

A Basic Understanding of Causality

At the risk of taking something that is supposed to be lighthearted fun rather too seriously, allow me to address one of the worst developments of this Premier League season: the rise of the League Table Without VAR.

You will, I suspect, have seen one, either on your social media feed or in a variety of publications, both major and minor. The premise is simple: this is how many points each team would have if English soccer had not introduced a video assistant refereeing system at the start of the season.

The premise — and, yes, I know it’s meant to be nothing more than curiosity-as-content, not taken to heart — is also, sadly, deeply stupid, and for two reasons. One is that VAR is merely a method for enforcing the actual rules. It has mostly made decisions correctly (even if we do not always like how correct those decisions are). Would anyone think to publish a league table if the offside rule did not exist? A league table if you were allowed to pick the ball up and throw it? A league table if everyone on the field had a sword? No, they wouldn’t.

The second reason, though, is that this kind of thing encourages a fundamental misunderstanding of causality. Let’s use, as an example, the penalty Manchester City was eventually not awarded against Crystal Palace last week. If it had been given (and scored), it does not necessarily follow that City would have won, 3-2. Maybe Palace would have shut up shop more effectively. Maybe City would have won by 6-1. Maybe Sergio Agüero is not in position to score either of his subsequent two goals.

What’s the phrase? Oh yes. Goals change games. Or, as analysts put it, they affect the game-state. Does any of this matter? Yes and no. That it is intellectually vapid is not important, but the fact that it adds to an atmosphere of suspicion and credulity and conspiracy is not helpful at all.

In Case You Missed It

Writing about Mario Balotelli a few weeks ago, one of his former coaches mentioned one of those age-old tropes you tend to get about players who develop physically more quickly than their peers. Goals had always come easily to him, the coach said, because he was bigger and faster and stronger than everyone else; he never needed to learn the actual craft of the game.

Writing about Adama Traoré this week, an alternative explanation occurred. Traoré, like Balotelli, was always the biggest, quickest kid on his teams. It is what made him stand out as a teenager, what built his early reputation.

But speaking to those who have worked with him, I wonder now if the problem isn’t that he never needed to learn, but that his unique skill-set made it hard for coaches to work out a way to deploy him. Soccer is really good at identifying talent; it is less good at working out how best to accommodate it, especially if you do not fit a pattern. And Traoré, with his sprinter’s speed and powerlifter’s build, really does not fit a pattern.

Correspondence

Last week’s mention of Harry Kane, and Tottenham’s difficulty in identifying suitable cover for him, brought a cascade of opinions, ranging from Steve’s view that “they don’t need a backup, they need a replacement” to the suggestion from Wesley Jenkins that the solution might already be in-house. “What about Troy Parrott? Every commentator I follow has been singing his praises for a year now. Why not let him take the reins while Kane is hurt?”

Nick Adams points out that all of this is entirely predictable. “Every year Harry Kane is injured,” Nick wrote. “As he ages, he clearly needs some respite. Wouldn’t it be sensible to drop him for the F.A. Cup and some Premier League fixtures? Harry Kane should want this, too.”

There’s a degree of merit in all of these suggestions. I think selling Kane is a little drastic, but those funds could, as Steve said, rebuild basically the rest of the team. Parrott is certainly worth a shot — if you’re not familiar with the name, he’s a very talented 17-year-old Irish forward — but asking him to lead the line is a major leap. And yes, Kane should want rest, but part of the problem is that Kane does not want rest.

I was intrigued, too, by an idea from Bruce: “Why do both teams get a point for a game that finishes goal-less? Why not zero? Make the teams earn a point by scoring at least once each.” Generally, I think the point-scoring in soccer works well, but I could be persuaded, I think, that a goal-less draw might be worth one point and a goal-scoring draw worth two. I wonder what the table would look like if that rule applied now?

That’s all for this week. I’m on Twitter, as ever, and if you prefer your opinions in audio form, feel free to try the Set Piece Menu podcast. All correspondence to askrory@nytimes.com is more than welcome, and feel free to send this link to everyone you have ever met.

Have a great weekend.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/sport/its-time-to-ask-what-africa-needs/

[vfxserbia]

Klaudija Cermak (born in Rijeka, former Yugoslavia) has over 33 years experience in VFX Compositing on high-end commercials, broadcast programmes and feature films and has worked at all the major post-production houses in London’s Soho including MPC, The Mill, Millfilm, Framestore, Double Negative and Glassworks. Her feature film credits include ‘Gladiator’ that won an Oscar for the Best VFX, ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, ‘Captain America’, and ‘Jason Bourne’. Klaudija is a member of VES and the author of the Kindle bestseller ‘How to Get Into and Survive Film, Advertising and TV Post-production – The Alternative Guide’.

Klaudija will share her insights through her CGA2019 talk How to Get Into and Survive Film, Advertising and TV Post-production on 2. November. (sold-out) and “Nuke Industry Workflow” Workshop (still some places left)

  Welcome back to VFXSerbia! Last time we had so much fun talking with you. 

Thank you for having me again! I love your site and now recommend it to everyone. The last interview was only 4 years ago and sooooooo much has happened since, I have to update some of the answers from last time.

First time in Belgrade and at CGA conference. What are your expectations?

Huge! Hahahaha… And on so many levels: 1: I am very much looking forward to all the talks from my amazing colleagues from all over the World and meeting everyone. 2.  I have been watching some of the work coming from Serbia, and from the Serbian artists scattered around the World, and expect to be bowled over. 3. I am giving a talk at the Yugoslav Film Archive, one of the five most important film archives in Europe and one of the ten largest in the world. Wow! Just the thought that most of my childhood and youthood films are stored there fills me with excitement.  4. Belgrade! So much looking forward to visiting the Paris of Eastern Europe. Indeed, I have only been to Belgrade once before, and just to catch a plane so this will be my first proper visit.

On a more personal note, my grandfather had Piano shops on Terazije and Knez Mihajlova before the Second World War and we hope to stumble across one of the Cermak pianos. Also, I can’t wait to take my 24 year old daughter who was born in London to the Yugoslav Museum and prove that  ‘Once upon a time there was a country’ wasn’t just in her mother’s imagination. Hahahaha…

Can you describe your role in Escape Studios/Pearson College?

For the last two years I have been teaching the classic 12 week full time and 20 week part time VFX Compositing courses (Foundry Nuke and now BorisFX! Silhouette) that have been feeding the VFX industry with new talent since 2002. Full time course has 5 hours of teaching a day, 5 days a week and we expect students to work hard outside classes to create a Showreel demonstrating  the core Compositing skills soon after completing the course (within a month). 

The aim of the Showreel is to get them an entry Roto/Prep role in the industry. This particular course is also part of the MA that is run by Allar Kaasik. MA includes another 6 weeks of Advanced Compositing which can be taken as an independent course too. 

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  Part time course is 2 evenings or 6 hours a week teaching and attended by students who either want to top up their skills, change career or are moving to Nuke from another software. A lot of VFX facilities send their staff to our courses so in the last part-time course we had 8 students already working in the industry. Both courses are filled with students from all over the World, who normally have a degree already, and classes are full of fun. 

We get involved in outside Productions too. My whole class worked on a lovely short film ‘Turning Tide’ that won Best Post-production at the London ‘Lift – Off Film Festival’ this year. Last year we created VFX for a charity film ‘Superheroes’ for the Great Ormond Street Hospital and this year we are doing Production on it too.

Of course I also get involved in the development and have to keep up with the technological advances and new techniques, and that’s a full time job in itself. Hahahaha… I find teaching exhilarating, rewarding and really fulfilling, and while I sometimes miss large productions (my last project was Black Mirror for Netflix) I am really enjoying being organised and knowing when I will finish work. Hahahaha…

Warner Bros studio Harry Potter Exhibition with film crew names on the wand boxes, including Klaudija

  Soon I will be moving to teaching BA/MArt The Art of Visual Effects which is a 3-4 year course headed by Davi Stein. On that course we make short films from concept to delivery. This year our Undergraduates won tonnes of awards for their short films. You can check them out on our Animation Blog.

What are the ways for young people to get into the VFX industry in the UK?

Since we spoke last time there have been some developments on that front. Traditionally it was either as a runner or taking an independent course or like me, by accident. Now a lot of VFX companies have their own Academies too. However you still need a Showreel to get into any of these. From our last Full time Compositing course all the students got a job in companies like ILM, MPC, Bluebolt, Jellyfish and Union and one got into one of the Academies. Some of them got Roto/Prep roles and some went in as Junior Compositors.

From the Evening Course some students got jobs as Runners but were within less than 3 months promoted into Roto/Prep or Junior Compositing roles. Escape Studios is very good at preparing students for the industry as the Lecturers are all from the industry and know all the workflows. We don’t just teach software but industry etiquette too. Our students also get the opportunity to go on the shoot, experience different filming roles and learn how to collect shoot data for VFX, with our DOP Clement Gharini. You would be amazed how many people work in the industry who have never had the opportunity to go on the shoot. 

We are also increasingly aware of the challenging times we live in and its effects on the young people so we are incorporating more and more ‘soft skills’ into our courses. Andy Brassington  is very active on this front and organises extra talks and workshops on the transferable skills. And we have very supportive Student Services who will assist students with any life challenges they may face too.

What is the advice you give to students when they start and when they finish your course? 

I give a lot of work and life advice to my students throughout the course. They even know the quickest Harrods entrance (door 5) to the Deli counter and Hungarian salami. Hahahaha… One of my classes produced as a goodbye gift a booklet with the caricatures of me and my quotes. Hahahahaha….

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At the start of the course I still recommend Stella Cottrel’s personal development book ‘Skills for Success’ as we are increasingly losing the ability to stop, think and reflect both about ourselves and the World around us. 

How do you see VFX in the present and how in the near future?

Well, a lot has been happening since we last talked. VFX is thriving at the moment. London is extremely busy and there are a lot of opportunities for all roles at all levels. This is greatly thanks to the streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon. A lot of Film and Commercials VFX facilities have opened TV departments, ILM, Dneg, Glassworks, then The Farm that specialises in Editing, Grading and Sound for TV has opened a VFX department, The Mill has reopened MIllfilm and there are a lot of new companies like Untold Studios being set up by ex employees of larger companies. Technicolor bought The Mill and MPC! 

However some of the issues we mentioned last time, highlighted by Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy after winning the Oscar for Life of Pi, have not been resolved. The facilities’ thin profit margins due to flawed business model (especially in Film) while having to constantly reinvest into new technologies and R&D, artists not being paid overtime, short rolling contracts, no benefits etc. Let’s face it, the industry thrives thanks to the creative and passionate people like us willing to donate tons of overtime to keep it going.

Interesting article on the theme is here: VFX VOICE: GLOBAL VFX: STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 2019

Ha. The future. Technology wise we can expect the merging of real time and VFX. Epic’s Unreal Engine is shaking things up. So much so that I have started learning it. Hopefully the interface will be improved for people like me. Hahahaaa… Luckily there are a lot of experts around me as we are  Unreal Authorised Training Centre.

Trends in animation and VFX at FMX 2019

What advice would you give to a young woman starting out in VFX?

Find a wife or marry a banker! Hahahaha… Sorry, joking again.  Look, I come from a family where women made it happen with or without men so I would give the same advice to everyone, young men too, be kind, keep learning, develop wide skills, be flexible and do the best work you can. I never felt different because I was a woman. And luckily, when my daughter was growing up we didn’t have such strict Health and Safety and NDA’s so she could come with me to work, even sleep on the sofa when I had to work through the night and when my au-pair was ill, Runners would pick her up from school and bring her to work. That’s why she decided to study Maths as she saw nothing exact in the clients’ feedback. Hahahaha…  Now I know I was different as we found out few years ago that women in the industry were paid up to 30% less than men. Last time we spoke the ratio of men vs women in the industry was 20:1. I think the problem arises when one becomes a parent. So how can one make it more appealing to mothers? Flexible working time, Creches etc. I know that Double Negative for example offers some flexible working time to parents. There is a lot of talk about inclusivity and diversity, and not just in gender, in VFX. Access VFX and some other organisations are making a great effort on that front so there is an increasing awareness of the need to make VFX more accessible. However this is a wider issue. To be truly inclusive you have to have a more even education system in Primary and Secondary Schools. I am talking here about class societies where there is a huge difference in resources between schools. 

WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN VFX : AN APPROACH TO ENCOURAGING DIVERSITY IN FILM

I found your career incredibly fascinating while digging into your immense experience listed on LinkedIn page. How does your life as a Freelance VFX in London look to you when you look back?

I have been very lucky that I have somehow sailed from job to job for the last 35 years and when life threw some extraordinary events my way I was able to adapt and steer my career. If I had to pinpoint what helped me the most it was my upbringing and the ideas from the Pioneer’s Oath ‘to study and work diligently, respect parents and my seniors, and be a loyal and true friend.’ That’s the best advice one can get to survive VFX. We live in the times when we are constantly bombarded with the ideas of individualism and having to stand on our own feet but in VFX, and greatly in life, we can achieve very little on our own. It is all teamwork or a collective. Hahahaha…All in all we are lucky because the industry is filled with a lot of nice people.

https://vimeo.com/368367308

  What inspires you these days?  

I must admit I have a serious problem. Everything inspires me and I am always bursting with ideas. That is an incredible burden as those lacking ideas and then having one just pursue it and accomplish it. Hahahaha…

I paint, write and constantly think of the next thing I should learn. 

So, I can tell you what I found inspiring today: Zivkovic’s ‘Playgrounds Berlin’ Titles and the wonderful Yugoslav Film Archive website. And the realisation that I can read Cyrillic as well as Latin writing because my father always bought me Политикин забавник in Cyrillic. 

Isn’t life amazing? 

My mother used to say “The purpose of life is a life with purpose”. I am a dreamer. I live in a bubble. I am the same girl that stood outside the cinema at the age of 7 and vowed to change the world after seeing Winnetou.

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What can our eager readers expect to hear from you on CGA2019 stage?

Good question. Who knows? Hahahaha… Joking again.

So, I have rewritten the talk few times already, as I want it to be informative, relevant and fun and different to anything I said so far. New and fresh. I have had an unusual career of moving constantly between film, TV and commercials. I have survived against the odds and I have learnt a few things along the way in the form of ‘soft skills’ that I would like to share with the audience and which I think are especially valuable in the Liquid World we live in that requires total flexibility.  

Nadja Regin, Yugoslav Actress

  But first we will remember Nadja Regin, a wonderful Yugoslav actress and author from Serbia who died this year in London and share behind the scenes story from ‘From Russia with Love‘ that she recorded for BELhospice last year. And the Yugoslav Archive is the most appropriate place to remember her. She will be delighted to be coming home.

Klaudija will share her insights through her CGA2019 talk How to Get Into and Survive Film, Advertising and TV Post-production on 2. November.

Klaudija Cermak – CGA2019 Interview Klaudija Cermak (born in Rijeka, former Yugoslavia) has over 33 years experience in VFX Compositing on high-end commercials, broadcast programmes and feature films and has worked at all the major post-production houses in London’s Soho including…

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Episode 45: Amy Adams, China & Two Compounds

It is almost time for the Christmas music to stop playing in the shops, and the return of the normal drone of unintelligent selection of dribble. Yes, I like Christmas music and Christmas it is a fun time of year when we all try to be nicer for a change. Also that time of year we watch John Maclean run around Nakatomi Plaza welcoming us to the game pal, and for watching the Muppets Christmas Carol. So to one and all, Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year, we thank you for listening and hope we see you all next year.

            This week’s episode the DJ tells us that Amy Adams might be finished with playing Louis Lane for the Superman franchise. Which starts a debate over who was the best Louis and who should replace her; Buck loves Margot Kidder still, but believes Elizabeth Henstridge would be a great replacement for any reboots. What do you think?

            The second topic for discussion is China banning games, some of which are from China. The laughs you will get from this are fantastic, particularly the reasons for why the games are banned. Want to know which games will be the biggest surprises for being banned? You will have to listen, but trust us, it is epicly awesome.

            Buck brings us news about two compounds found in coffee that show interesting promise in preventing and fighting Parkinsons disease and Dementia. Talk about an awesome show, right? The science behind this is solid and has many other possibilities, and Buck is excited. Things like this is why he likes science, also science-fiction, breaking down the barriers and limitations and boldly searching for new and better ways to do everything.

EPISODE NOTES:

Amy Adams thinks she is done with the DCEU

- https://au.ign.com/articles/2018/12/11/amy-adams-thinks-shes-done-playing-lois-lane-and-that-dc-movies-are-being-revamped

China banning games

- https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/a4w3ux/chinas_ethics_board_reviews_20_popular_online/

Two compounds in coffee vs Parkinson’s disease

- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210122851.htm

Games currently playing

Buck

- Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered - https://store.steampowered.com/app/667720/Red_Faction_Guerrilla_ReMarstered/

Professor

– Cragne Manor - https://rcveeder.net/cragne/

DJ

– Darksiders 3 - https://darksiders.com/

Other topics discussed

Jason Mamoa

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Momoa

Margot Kidder

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margot_Kidder

Amy Adams

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Adams

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_v_Superman:_Dawn_of_Justice

Justice League: The Movie

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_(film)

Man of Steel, Women of Kleenex

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_of_Steel,_Woman_of_Kleenex

Emma Watson

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Watson

Elizabeth Henstridge

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Henstridge

Caffeine helps premature babies

- https://vector.childrenshospital.org/2014/05/caffeine-helps-premature-babies-breathe-a-little-easierbut-how-much-and-for-how-long/

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-15/benefits-of-caffeine-for-premature-babies-long-lasting/8709772

Early Dementia in Teens

- https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=172604

Hole in the Ozone Layer healing

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-07-01/hole-in-the-ozone-layer-is-finally-healing/7556416

Guy eats lunch everyday at the base of Eiffel Tower

- https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/20/priority-french-writer-ate-lunch-everyday-base-eiffel-tower-place-paris-not-see-2/

Doom 25th Anniversary mod : Sigil

- https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/11/18135751/doom-sigil-the-ultimate-doom-5th-episode-mod-john-romero

Famous Birthdays

12 Dec 1881 – Harry Warner, Polish-American businessman, co-founded Warner Bros and a major contributor to the development of the film industry, born in Krasnosielc, Congress Poland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Warner

12 Dec 1970 – Jennifer Connelly, American actress (Labyrinth, Dark City, Requiem for a Dream & Alita: Battle Angel), born in Cairo, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Connelly

12 Dec 1975 – Mayim Bialik, American actress (Blossom & Big Bang Theory), author, and neuroscientist, born in San Diego, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayim_Bialik

13 Dec 1929 - Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor (Sound of Music, Doll's House), born in Toronto, Ontario - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Plummer

13 Dec 1967 -  Jamie Foxx, American actor (Ray, Dreamgirls, Django Unchained, Baby Driver, Collateral & The Amazing Spider-Man 2) comedian and musician, songwriter, record producer, and comedian, born in Terrell, Texas American actor, singer, born in Terrell, Texas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Foxx

15 Dec 1832 - Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect who designed and built the Eiffel tower, born in Dijon, France - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Eiffel

15 Dec 1852 - Henri Becquerel, French physicist who discovered radioactivity (Nobel 1903), born in Paris, France - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Becquerel

16 Dec 1770 – Ludwig Van Beethoven, German composer (Symphony No. 3, Symphony No. 5 & Symphony No. 7, Symphony No. 9) and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Classical music, he remains one of the most recognised and influential of all composers, born in Bonn, Electorate of Cologne - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven

16 Dec 1928 – Phillip K. Dick, American science fiction writer known for his works such as The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ubik and A Scanner Darkly. A variety of popular films based on Dick's works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall (adapted twice), Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, The Adjustment Bureau and Blade Runner 2049, born in Chicago, Illinois - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick

Events of Interest

10 Dec 1936 - Britain replaced King Edward VIII stamp series with King George VI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_postage_stamps

10 Dec 1936 - Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis

10 Dec 1993 – Doom a First Person Shooter by ID software was released - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_(1993_video_game)

10 Dec 2018 – Doom celebrates 25 years - https://www.cnet.com/news/doom-anniversary-trailer-celebrates-25-years-of-gore-crazy-mods/ 

11 Dec 1936 - Edward VIII announces in a radio broadcast that he is abdicating the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson - http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/edward.htm

11 Dec 1950 - British Physicist Cecil Frank Powell awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for his study of nuclear processes and the discovery of the pion - https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1950/summary/

11 Dec 1967 - "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1968, premieres in NYC - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_Who%27s_Coming_to_Dinner

11 Dec 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_17#Moon_landing

12 Dec 1901 - Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland, Canada - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marconi-sends-first-atlantic-wireless-transmission

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title –  Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

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