#here's hoping everything cooperates for Psyche launch!

[deep-space-netwerk]

I assume you're in Cali, but if you're willing to vacation to the East Coast you should attend a launch at Wallops if you can survive the mosquitoes

You are so right, I absolutely should! I've seen launches out of Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral, but Vandenberg is basically just Falcon 9s these days, and for most Cape launches you're so far away there isn't enough PCHHOOOO. Wallops launches weird stuff.

I went to school on the east coast and try to visit every year or so, so this could actually be feasible! Some good friends of mine recently moved to Maryland....maybe it's time to finally pay them a visit 🤔

Bonus pics of the Cape Canaveral Falcon Heavy launch I got the chance to see up close! We got to see the boosters land and everything!

[monratarot]

Hello Moni re sending my ask

Myself Asteria

Here's my big 3 : Libra sun, Scorpio moon and Sagittarius Rising

Wanted to know how's my career going to look like in the next 6 months.

* very tensed tbh not sure wtf should I do. I wanna do psych but it seems like doing law sounds better and I'm not sure whether I can do it or not *

Thank you so much and hope that you're having a fabulous day 😊

Hello, dear @mysteriouslyweepingasteria! Thank you for your request and being a part of my community. I hope that my reading will help you and bring clearance to your situation. 

Feedback is very much appreciated and if you consider tipping me, you can do so on my ☕️ko-fi

Count of questions/requests and answers 05/15.

Without wasting any time, let's get into your reading!˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

Tarot free readings rule⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆

Tarot payed readings rules 𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒₊˚*ੈ🎀⸝⸝🍓✩‧₊˚

I can see that you are feeling trapped and under pressure right now. This is making you feel exhausted emotionally and financially. You are kinda carrying too much on your shoulders right now(so be careful with the multitasking). The only way you can become successful is with careful management of time and resources. Now is the moment to say no to any future requests and decide which projects or jobs you can focus on and everything you think is not for you of course you can hand it to someone else. You won't know which path to go on until you don't do something and what you need to do right now is to focus on yourself a little bit and clear your mind. Try to relax a little bit before making a decision. If you are looking to find a stable job question yourself what thoughts/chores you are doing right now that stop you from attracting work because you are too emotionally overburdened. You won't be able to think clearly a decide if you don't clear your mind. You can bring heaven down on earth. Go with the flow but don't rush in making a decision. There are signs that you will begin a new project, and a lot of good things are ahead for you. Dreams and visions are the key words so I think this can help you a little bit when it comes to the job you will choose. The good news is that you have signs of a new job and career and you will do a good job. You will deal with productivity, continued progress, teamwork, and cooperation. You will be ready to let your talents shine and can even launch a business. A creative project will cause you to stand head and shoulders above both friends and your enemies. You can even deal with some jealousy but it is fine, it won't harm your progress. The only thing you need to understand when choosing your job is that right now or until the end of the year you won't have success on your own, you need to find the right team to get the job done. So my dear my advice is to try to calm down a little bit, keep your mind calm and after that you will be able to do everything you want. You have the power inside you, you just need to learn how to make it shine. Also, this doesn't mean that you can't choose both options later on, now is just the time when you focus on one, and for doing that you need to start believing in yourself. It's not going to be easy, but you can do it as long as you let yourself shine. Angel message: Angel wisdom suggests that you visualize yourself in the violet flame and invoke Archangel Zadkiel to help you. Place your troubles and difficult relationships within the flame so that all negativity is transmuted. You are blessed to have drawn this energy for it indicates that you are ready to walk the path of light.

Affirmation: I am cleansed within the violet flame. I wish you only the best!🍀

Moni🧚‍♀️

[sunfish-exotics]

Hey guys! I’m having some issues with my psych keeping on top of my refills so I haven’t been feeling too social the past few weeks, I’m hanging in there though! The animals are all doing great, just haven’t been up to taking a ton of pics or talking about them frequently. I’m hoping to be able to transition the 2021 breeding snakes to brumation around the first week of December as long as the weather cooperates. Just as a reminder I’m going to have 1 corn snake pairing, 4-5 western hognose pairings (in a perfect world anyway lol) and 2-3 leopard gecko pairings. I scaled back my plans a little bit for 2021 just because of covid which is affecting pretty much everything unfortunately. It has encouraged me to be a little more self-sufficient when it comes to breeding my own (invert) feeders though since they can be difficult and expensive to source quickly now.

Expo plans- (BIG disclaimer being this is contingent on covid remaining stable here- it’s not severe here at the moment and Repticon has proticols in place that were followed strictly at the last show I worked in August but it’s going to depend heavily on what happens after thanksgiving..) Now that that is out of the way, I will be working the Charlotte / Concord Repticon December 12th & 13th. I’ll have one table for animals (2020 western hognoses, 1x 2020 corn snake, and sub adult and adult leos)- price wise they’re going to range around $40-$500 so a good range and selection, albeit fairly small since I have sold most by this point from 2020. No isopods at this show, I need to let my colonies replenish. My other table will be all art. I will be debuting the 2 posters I teased earlier (they’re still not here yet and I will post pics and prices as soon as they arrive!) and I have some more 8x8 print designs joining the lineup. I’m unsure how many vinyl stickers / decals I’ll have, I definitely need to get started making some new ones but I need to check my vinyl stock before making immediate plans. It’s too late to get more vinyl for this show but I am looking forward to offering the stickers online soon as well. I am not planning on shipping anymore until the spring so any animals that are not sold will be staying here after the show until shipping weather returns. I can offer them for (paid) holds though if anyone has interest in them.

My art commissions will close for December (and I will hopefully be finishing up all November comms by the first week of December) so I can focus on some personal projects I’m looking to launch in 2021, including my first Kickstarter campaign for the first planned set of enamel pins which will hopefully become a series of pin sets if it goes well.

I’ll also get started on a blog post for my thoughts on how 2020 went (REPTILE WISE lol, the year majorly sucked in general for me like most of EVERYONE else in the world lmao) and my plans going forward for Sunfish Exotics and my life plans in general. I really need some clarity and writing always helps me with that. I also really need a new pen tablet and I think I’m going to go for a cintiq (I’ve never had a pen display before and I think it’s time) and focus on updating and improving my art equipment (printers, etc)

My cage building projects are moving along, a bit slower than I hoped but I’m going to be working on the turtle build first before buying the lumber for the new cage stacks. Since my AP cages (well, hatchling racks) finally arrived I will be selling some old caging soon which will help fund the lumber and acrylic bill. I already have all the supplies bought for the turtle build which is why I’ve been working on that off and on.

Anyway~

Hope y’all are doing well or at the very least coping! Life is tough but we got this 🙌

I’ll try to be more active soon but I gotta get my meds straightened out first!

[moremusic]

Luke Penman(play pause play)

This week I talk to Luke Penman. Luke is the mastermind behind Play pause play.

Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m 36, and my wife and I have two dogs, [Clover and Cooper].

I’ve been going to local gigs since I was 17 and one day just made a conscious effort to seek out more local music and couldn’t believe how much great stuff I was finding that was generally just going unsupported and unheard outside of the tiny local scene.

What is the history and why did you start play / pause / play?

play / pause / play is essentially a brand under which I’ve run a bunch of stuff.

It started probably around 2008 when I wanted an online place to promote local gigs, and host free MP3 downloads of artists performing in Adelaide soon. My theory was that if we made the music easier to discover – made it easier for people to learn the songs – then people would be more likely to come to the shows.

In 2011 I launched a local music podcast. Again, the intent was to make it easier for people to discover new local bands. I thought that if I could convince my mates to listen to the podcast occasionally, it’d be easier for me to get them out of the house and into the city to see these bands live.

I ran a couple of gigs under the ‘play / pause / play’ banner that tied-in with the podcast. They went well – pulling around 150 people – but because I was bringing in extra production and wanted to make sure everyone got paid decently, I was generally making a small loss on the shows.

I was made redundant from my job, and therefore lost the ability to cover those losses and couldn’t afford to keep running gigs.

That original podcast run went for 50 episodes, but I didn’t have permission to use the music. While I never had any complaints, I knew I was putting myself in a risky legal position and decided to put the podcast on hold while I volunteered in community radio.

I volunteered and worked at Radio Adelaide for five years, initially producing and presenting Local Noise as a weekly show with bands performing live-to-air before eventually changing the format to be a daily show, though funding pressures meant my role was made redundant and I was looking at starting again, again.

Through working in radio, I’d looked at automated radio playout systems and started thinking about launching an internet radio station that was focused on Adelaide’s live music scene.

While there’s no blanket umbrella music license for podcasts [you need to get approval from each artist, record label and/or publisher directly] there is an umbrella license for internet radio, so it’s much easier to do legally.

In 2018, I launched a crowdfunding campaign to make play / pause / play radio a reality: a 24/7 internet radio stream of 100% Australian music, with a big focus on artists performing in Adelaide soon.

That campaign was successful, and I was lucky enough to obtain a partnership with the City of Adelaide to get more funding, but ultimately it mostly just covered the costs and couldn’t afford to pay myself out of it.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been keeping the radio stream ticking along while trying to find work that will cover my bills and give me enough spare time to keep play / pause / play running.

COVID-19 has had a big impact on that, with some potential work drying up, venues unable to host gigs [and therefore unable to advertise on play / pause / play], and with artists unable to perform, I felt that it would be unethical to run another radiothon crowdfunding campaign in 2020.

Thankfully the Government of South Australia, which runs a contemporary music grant program through the Music Development Office, changed its grants program to better suit the current landscape, which allowed me to apply for funding to make a new podcast series.

Now I have the time, and funding for licensing fees, I’ve been able to create a new play / pause / play podcast series. Across 10 episodes, the new series will introduce listeners to 50 South Australian artists that I reckon they should hear.

The focus is definitely on getting South Australians to make local music a part of their lives, but music is inherently international, and these artists deserve to be heard around the world.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the music scene in Australia and Adelaide?

It’s certainly been painful.

I think that South Australia has done extremely well and we’re managing the pandemic about as well as anywhere can be, but the sudden shut-down massively impacted cashflow at every level of the industry.

All venues closed for a period of time. Some have started hosting sit-down gigs. There was a brief moment where it looked like we’d be able to have gigs featuring simultaneous standing and drinking, but a spike in cases meant things tightened again.

It has, of course, inspired innovation, with Sunny Side Uploads launching a high-quality livestream platform with donations for performing artists [and eventually being allowed to host a small crowd at their events as well], Knock Off Sessions streaming performances almost as soon as lock-down began before teaming up with local venue The Wheatsheaf, and Space Jams running virtual festivals with local artists which they’ve already parlayed into live gigs.

Due to requirements of having punters seated at gigs, capacities in our venues are massively reduced, so while many shows are “selling out”, it’s very unlikely to be sustainable.

Much of this has been possible due to the federal government’s JobKeeper program, which has provided businesses [and sole traders, which many artists will be] with funding to cover staff wages and is scheduled to reduce in amount and add stricter eligibility requirements in October before ending in March 2021.

Once that happens, the sector will likely struggle further.

I don’t believe we’ve had any gigs from touring bands as yet – even interstate Aussie acts – though many tours continue to be announced for future months where everyone hopes they’ll be able to go ahead.

I can’t speak too much for the rest of the country, but much of our music industry is based in Victoria, where our biggest outbreak of COVID-19 has caused the strictest lockdown. That’s currently due to end in October, but what things will look like at that point is still anyone’s guess.

Who are the local Adelaide bands we should know about?

That depends what you’re keen on!

We’ve got some great indie rock bands, from Towns to Teenage Joans, The Montreals, Oscar The Wild and heaps more.

There’s some brilliant pop being made here lately, from Electric Fields, George Alice, Stellie and Alpha Street.

If hip hop is more your thing, you should definitely check out Tkay Maidza, DyspOra, Oc3aneyes and Argus & The Liar.

If you’re into more experimental stuff, I reckon Lonelyspeck is one of the most intriguing artists in the world, plus we’ve got some great psych-rock from Sons of Zöku and Lost Woods.

If you’re more into dance, we’ve got acts like Motez, Strict Face and Faint One.

On the heavy side, I’ve been loving the hell out of The Daily Chase lately, plus there’s been some great stuff from Horror My Friend, Young Offenders and Madura Green.

If you’re looking for singer-songwriters, artists like Alana Jagt, Naomi Keyte, Kaurna Cronin and Max Savage will fill your cup.

Of course, you can’t go past some classic Australiana rock from bands like Bad//Dreems, West Thebarton and Dead Roo.

There’s 50 South Australian acts to be featured on this series of the play / pause / play podcast, and that’s really only scratching the surface of the great stuff we have here.

I’ve played more than 250 current South Australian acts on play / pause / play radio in 2019 and even that doesn’t cover everything. I only wish I had more time to devote to showcasing it all!

Who is the biggest band to come out of Adelaide in the last Decade?

The Hilltop Hoods are arguably the kings of Aussie hip hop, and inarguably the biggest band to have come from [and stayed in] Adelaide, and they’re still going strong, releasing their latest album in February 2019.

Other than that, Tkay Maidza has been making huge waves in Australia and the USA. Bad//Dreems have been hitting the road and turning heads all over the world, along with hosting the Fire Aid festival in Adelaide earlier this year which raised more than $200,000 for bushfire relief.

Teenage Joans are a quite new band, but play with the confidence of a band that’s been on the live circuit for decades. They came #1 in the play / pause / play Heaps Good 50 countdown for 2019 after they played more than 50 gigs in their first year as a band. They’ve just won triple j’s Unearthed High competition, so expect to hear a lot more from them soon.

What is your favourite venue to see bands in Adelaide, or SA?

I’m someone who absolutely prefers the more intimate shows, so while many people would point to Thebarton Theatre or The Gov, my most special shows have happened at the smaller stages, at places like the Ed Castle [RIP], Crown & Anchor, Jive and the Grace Emily.

I remember growing up in Adelaide and big touring bands bypassing the city, have you seen a change in the last few years and more bands touring Adelaide? I haven’t been out in Adelaide for a few years.

It’s a bit tough to answer because I’m so focused on those smaller shows and local acts.

I do remember that period in my early-to-mid-twenties when it felt like everyone was skipping Adelaide. You’d see someone wearing a tour t-shirt for an international band and scanning the dates on the back, you’d see that they played Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne before flying over Adelaide to play in Perth and it hurt.

I think it got better for a while there, particularly in our peak festival period of Big Day Out, Soundwave and Parklife festivals bringing some huge acts to town before the bottom fell out.

The upgrades to Adelaide Oval meant a few more stadium shows could happen, and we’ve had a few major artists play in the parklands over the past few years.

It will be very interesting to see how that changes in a post-COVID-19 world, though. If touring acts need to quarantine for two weeks upon landing in the country, will they add more shows [and therefore more cities] to the tour in order to make it more worthwhile, or will they just skip Australia altogether?

My guess [and hope] is that we’ll see a new era of festivals with a big focus on Australian artists, and the various lockdowns will see punters hungrier to get out of the house and get to more gigs.

Finally, what are your plans for play / pause / play going forward?

Honestly, it’s quite up in the air at the moment.

The dream would be to get access to a physical space to record podcasts, radio and video content, as well as getting back into hosting gigs and expanding the offerings on the website and maybe releasing some local music vinyl, but that all takes so much time and simply won’t happen without real funding investment.

The podcast series will run for 10 episodes, and at a cost of $500 per episode just for music licensing, it’s not something I can cover myself after that.

I’m still hesitant to run another radiothon crowdfunding campaign because of how much everyone’s still hurting from COVID-19, so I’m not sure the best way forward.

At this stage, I’m focusing on making and promoting the podcasts. Once the series is done, I’ll have a moment to catch my breath and hopefully work out where to go from there.

https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCn9On5xnxcJAvwDmSLwV?si=SBTCD_WNS229fw6VY-FvvA

https://instagram.com/playpauseplayadl?igshid=2frst1khbydf