#just as much as it is in america and canada

[hellonerf]

sorry decided to just post these together

[deep-hearts-core]

The Competitive Barbershop Music Explainer, and Why More of Tumblr Should Be Obsessed With It.

I've been threatening this for now almost a year, so here it is. You probably have an idea in your head of what a barbershop quartet is: maybe you’ve seen The Music Man, or possibly the Louie Zong Hatsune Miku song. But barbershop exists as a hobby these days, too, and there are parts of it that are deeply cool and nerdy. Some of you--gasp--might actually enjoy it. 

What the hell is barbershop music?

Barbershop music got its name from the Black barbershop social space out of which it evolved. In the early 20th century, groups of guys would get together and harmonize as a way to pass the time. The style later got appropriated into white culture (I’m going to come back to this, keep reading) and evolved into what most people think of when they hear the phrase “barbershop quartet”. 

Barbershop got a lot less popular after the 1960s or so, but it’s not gone! Today, it’s overseen primarily by the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly the Society and Preservation for Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, but… that’s long…), which organizes contests and codifies the “rules” of what barbershop is and how it’s different from other a cappella. Those rules are mostly music theory stuff, which I won’t go into here for fear of boring people, but if anyone is curious my askbox is open :D 

It’s not just quartets, either. There are also choruses that sing in the same four-part style, following the same music rules as the quartets, and they compete too. This is how I got involved.

Why is Tumblr supposed to enjoy this?

Reason #1: The competition. I’ve been on Tumblr for several years, and do you know what we love? Ranking things, picking favorites, and watching talented people do their thing. It’s actually kind of similar to Eurovision--there’s a jury and a points system, and people get mad about it every year; there’s a qualifying round and a nerve-wracking calloff; it’s even international! BHS operates in the US and Canada, and most competing groups are from here, but there are sizable scenes in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and Aotearoa, as well as smaller organizations across Western Europe and beyond. The Japanese organization held its first ever competition this year! Regional contests happen all over once or twice a year, culminating in the international competition the first week of July, where quartets and choruses battle it out to be the best of the best. People have favorite groups and try to guess where people are going to place each year. If you’re me, you can even do the Eurovision fan thing and overanalyze the running order. 

Reason #2: The talent. Listen, many of these people are incredibly talented singers. Take The Clementones from Denmark, for example, who delivered amazing Addams Family character work this year. Or Smoke Ring, the New York City-based quartet trying to singlehandedly make barbershop sexy again. I could give you so many examples of singers who can hold long notes forever and ever, but I’ll show restraint and only link two: Vocal Spectrum and Midtown. And of course I have to link this fucking amazing Hunchback of Notre Dame medley. Many singers also arrange songs specifically for their own groups. If you’re a music nerd in any way, this is for you.

Also, if you enjoy niche subcultures or #hobbydrama, there’s so much to rotate in your brain. This is part of what hooked me initially. 

But it's racist/culturally appropriated!

Well, you’re not wrong… but so are a lot of things. Bear with me for a second. I'm not going to come out and blindly defend the history and say oh there's nothing wrong with the organization we can't blame them. The organization was segregated for a long time. Women were only allowed to join as full members in 2018. The Black origins of barbershop singing were actively obscured by SPEBSQSA for decades and have only recently become well-known to most members. Hell, when the BHS went co-ed a splinter organization formed to try and keep the hobby all-male. There is bad history.

BUT. People are trying. There's a sizable contingent of young queer people who do well and become well-connected within BHS--including Smoke Ring, who I linked above. They’re causing a nonzero amount of controversy and are visibly queer and something new and unapologetic about that. More and more nonwhite people are joining and finding success competitively. Academics on the subject actively spread the history that barbershop is a Black genre, and this is increasingly common knowledge especially among young barbershoppers. The most successful barbershoppers in Aotearoa (BHNZ) are predominantly M��ori and Pasifika. The BHS board, while they do not have any real understanding about how to execute this at all, does at least want to reckon with the history and is, in theory, trying. For all its many, many faults, there are good people here who are making change.

Ok fine, you've got me. Now what?

Go click on all the links in this post and then let the YouTube algorithm do its work. Also, send me asks! I can go on about this shit forever and ever.

Here are some more suggestions for you:

the chorus performance that first got me interested

Panic! at the Disco but it’s barbershop

these guys also do Spiderman! 

girls who will step on you and you will like it

the air raid warden song from that one tumblr post

air raid warden guys sing about ducks

totally not never gonna give you up. what? what are you talking about?

the first ssaa group to medal in bhs have since changed their lineup but this performance reigns eternal

And if you like to sing, see if there's a chorus (click here for SSAA only) or chapter nearby. I won't get preachy and say you'll have a great experience no matter what. Sometimes people suck; I have the luck to live in a major city on the East Coast and I can say with reasonable confidence that not everyone is going to be as chill as my people are. However, this is such a small space that everyone will be excited about a new person coming in and will likely give you a little leeway. 

I've only been doing this for a year and a half, but I can easily say that I love it and it's changed me. So, even if you scrolled to the bottom of this post rolling your eyes because I should just shut up about this already, thanks for listening. <3

[jewishbarbies]

Me again.

Fwiw I also think JK Rowling is a scumbag.

What with her being a bigoted TERF and an antisemite, she has embraced brain-rot (apparently she also talks shit about autistic folk like me).

I’d say she has also forgotten what she came from.

I’d leave the old crone with her money and bitterness. And nothing else.

JRR Tolkien can write far better than her and his ass has been dead since 1973!

honestly, jkr wrote her bigotry into the books and they’re just not good. like, objectively, the writing is horrendous. people are like “jkr was rejected this many times and look how popular her books are now!! don’t give up!!” yeah sometimes they reject work because it sucks y’all. jkr has always been a british white woman obsessed with controlling scotland as a sign of england’s power and has hated minorities most likely her entire adult life. we like to gloss over racism/antisemitism/general bigotry in europe so that we have an alternative to america (like how we romanticize canada) but no, none of those things stopped the second WWII or slavery ended. it’s not anywhere outside the realm of possibility that she’s like Like That because of the racist and bigoted culture that still remains among white Europeans.

I, personally, would like to see her shot off into space or something, but she’s simply the head of the snake of a much bigger problem within Europe.

[ivansocute]

AmeCan doodles. They are just like childhood lovers

[ask2ps]

I love your art so much. I need to throw them all against a wall and watch them bounce off like gumdrops.

BONUS:

ENGLAND: Bounces off with a whimsical sound. CHINA: Bounces off whimsically, but with a slightly unsettling reverb.

FRANCE: He is a rotten egg. SOUTH ITALY: Begins to sizzle and fry as he hits the ground...?!

GERMANY: Every time he flops another inch down, you can hear a deadpan "ow." JAPAN: Tries to pretend like he doesn't care, but he's drenched in sweat.

RUSSIA: You throw him hastily after he stabs your hand. CANADA: Totally nonplussed about the whole thing. Super casual, even.

AMERICA: His explosion comes with cheap VFX and a Wilhelm scream. NORTH ITALY: He emerges from the explosion completely fine.

[vyoru]

idk I was thinking about how similar ame and japan is and then weuf.. amepan

I’ve been wanting to draw japan and korea for a long time I wanna draw more of em soon tbh.. funny bro ideas when it comes to em

[unhetalia]

Based on this post. FACE and their skill and interest in the various arts.

VISUAL ARTS:

Arthur's skillset is in sketching and painting people exclusively. He's incredibly skilled, and some his discovered artworks (under Anon) are the subject of a lot of discussion in the art world. There's a gorgeous sketch of Alfred in a gallery that people have been obsessed with for a hundred years, titled by art critics as Beloved, because people (rightfully) believed Anon must have been in love with the subject.

Francis is an all-rounder in this area. Painting, drawing, ceramics and sculpture. Draws and/or paints beautiful men and women he meets throughout history. As a gag gift, every year, he chooses a random Nation and gifts them a giant nude painting of another Nation they've had a crush on.

Alfred prefers architecture and sketches the lead to inventions or building things. He is, however, amazing at capturing landscapes. TERRIBLE at drawing people. He's also a very skilled photographer.

Matthew has no interest in the arts, but does love it when Alfred gifts him little watercolours of the Canadian wilderness.

LITERARY ARTS:

Francis loves discussing and literature, but doesn't dabble as much in writing.

Arthur is the writer, and has published a lot of critically acclaimed works under a pseudonym. Mysteries, romances, fantasies - even poetry and a play or too. Ironically has been referred to as the modern day Shakespeare.

Alfred writes mostly research papers BUT does a great short story or general non fiction. He's also a great humourist in a very David Sedaris style sense wherein he's good at observing and writing about how people act without judging them - for example, he will recount a story about someone stripping in a New York subway and write something along the lines of "If I had decided to strip on the subway, I would have decided to do in June as opposed to December, just so I could give me fanily jewels the best chance to shine. His looked incredibly shy in the winter cold."

Matthew - once again doesn't have any interest, unless you count having a sharp tongue a type of literature.

PERFORMING ARTS:

Francis loves theatre and has acted a fair bit. He's also second only to Austria on the violin. Plays several other instruments, and taught both Canada and America how to play piano. Good at any dance you do at a ball.

Arthur goes to a lot of performances but doesn't partake (a big fat lie - he was in band and played lead guitar and wrote the lyrics. He also did backing vocals - he's decent.) Like France, good at any dance you do at a ball.

Alfred is so good at piano that Austria himself once gave him a standing ovation. He also plays the guitar and has a beautiful voice, though is weirdly stage shy. He loves going to the ballet and orchestras and musicals, and goes a lot with Francis. He loves swing dancing but can't dance anything else (refuses to learn to spite England, who started teaching America just as their relationship was souring).

Canada is an AMAZING dancer. It started as a way to prove that unlike his brother, he was NOT a troublesome student, and grew as he soaked up the attention and praise from England, but it also became something he truly loved. Was also taught piano at a young age but didnt really care for it. Good singer, but will only do it drunk or in the shower.

[staralite]

I’ve always thought about why Francis taught Matthew to called him “papa” while Arthur told Alfred that they were brothers.

I suppose once personifications get colonies they have the power to create whatever relationship they want with that colony. And remember, they’re still “human” in a way. So most of them decide that they want their new colonies to have a sort of familial relationship with them.

Arthur went down the “older brother” path with his colonies because of his own older brothers. He grew up the youngest and wanted to be the older one for once. He was probably picked on when he was little and was under the impression that he would be a “so much better and nicer” older brother.

Also throughout history he was pretty terrible and cruel to his older brothers. So he kinda screwed up his relationship with them. I can see Arthur looking at Alfred, thinking that this would be his “second chance.” Ya he ended up screwing that up as well. Nice job Arthur.

Idk as nations familial relationships are just complicated. Imagine being someone’s older brother while also being their literal colonizer. But as beings who outlive any humans they meet, they’re really only able to make that sort of connection with each other. Because getting that close to any human will inevitably just lead to heartbreak.

I can go on a whole nother rant about how the nations are probably always battling with what it means to be a personification—with what they feel is their duty to their own people and country—and battling with just being human. Like humans they want to experience love and friendship and want families.

Arthur viewed Alfred as his little brother, but he also viewed Alfred as his colony. America was this child he loved cared for and America was this piece of land that he colonized and controlled.

Anyway I’ve made myself sad now.

[jackhues]

i am so so proud of this team- like i love them. i love them so much for bringing so many ppl together, even ppl who don't watch this sport. i love my toronto fc players repping their country now, i love the international players making a name for themselves overseas, i love the players who play for other mls teams in and outside of canada, i love those who play in any league in any country in the world - who're so happy to come home and rep their own country. i love every single player - those injured, those back from injuries, those who're supporting the injured teammates. i love this team for playing their heart out the full 90 every single game so far, no matter what. i love this team for putting canada on their shoulders and showing the world that the hate and underminers won't stop us. i love how far they came and i cannot wait to see how much further they'll go.

i'm so proud of this team. i love them.

[knights-unwelcommentary]

A pet peeve of mine is how the internet at large and a lot of countries took to using the term baby boomer for a generation wordlwide like it wasn't in a niche demographic of countries that in summary fought in ww2, got an economic boost and started making tons of babies

[goldenstarprincesses]

ok ok I like and prefer older brother America

But i love and am obsessed with older sister America

[starriva]

[billowingangel]

Day 3 - Horror Movie - AmeCan

Chapters: 3/7 Fandom: Hetalia: Axis Powers Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: America/Canada (Hetalia), Canada/America Summary - watch no one will save you because that's what this is based on and it's a really good movie 10/10

Content Warning - Accidental Death, Blood, Murder (does killing aliens count?)

[aeolianblues]

I'm not an extrovert. At all. In everyday life, I'm a yapper, sure, but I need someone to first assure me I am okay to yap, so I don't start conversations, even when I really want to join in sometimes! It's just the social anxiety acting up. God knows where from and why I lose a lot of my inhibitions when it comes to talking to people about music. I don't know where the confidence has suddenly sprung from. I've made a crazy amount of friends in musical circles, either just talking to people about common music or (since it is after all in music circles) talking to bands about their own music. I let out a sigh of relief any time an interaction goes well, because in truth it's going against my every instinct. I wish I could do that in everyday life

[ladyimaginarium]

from mikjikj-mnikuk/turtle island to inuit nunangat to kanata to kalaallit nunaat to anahuac to abya yala to alkebulan to the levant to moananuiākea to sápmi to éire to bhārata to zhōngguó to nihon to aynu mosir to siberia to niugini to nusantara to bandaiyan to aotearoa, from coast to coast to coast to coast, from sea to sea to sea to sea, none of us are free until all of us — men, women, enben, children, queer people, disabled & neurodivergent people, elders, animals and the land and the sea and the sky — are free!!!!

[betty-bourgeoisie]

Not to be sappy but I'm thinking about how every dialect of French still spoken in the U.S originates from Acadian, and how ASL, which originates from French sign language, is still the official sign language of Canada even though the creation of ASL and the first American Deaf school was specifically an act of rebellion against the British Empire post revolutionary war when Canada was still a part of it and just like.... Matt and Al taking their Papa Francis' languages and making them their own and using them with each other, and just sharing a very specific aspect of French diaspora culture in that way. I am so soft for these boys 🥹