#max and bradley comparison

[maxleyrosebud]

Max and Bradley Comparison FINAL - Part 7 : What Max and Bradley have in common. 

This is the final part. Part 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 will give better context but here ya go :)

Similar insecurity 

When it comes to Max and Bradley as character’s , they both seem quite different on the surface due to their different backgrounds , reputations and personal choices. 

But one fundamental thing they do share in common with each other is their desire to be valued. 

When you compare the two , Max Is a nobody trying to be a somebody. Someone who is trying to find his own worth to other people.

He thinks he has to stand out and do something great to be noticed/accepted and that being rich and famous will let him be valued by other people. Hence why Max seeks out external validation. 

Bradley on the other hand is a somebody trying not to be a nobody , who wants to maintain his worth and stay relevant. 

He thinks that being the best and having high status will keep himself being valued by others as it’s the only way he has known to be loved. Hence why Bradley believes his sense of worth comes from his status. 

So despite having different life experiences to one another , they both have issues based on their self worth. It's pretty poetic really.

And despite them being rivals , it just goes to show that you may have more in common with your arch rival than you think as their both the closest the other will have to someone understanding how the other feels when it comes to them both wanting to be valued.

Both want what the other has

Seeing each other in AEGM

When Max and Bradley both see each other , it’s not a coincidence that they both see each other outside of the frat house on two separate occasions.

This is because they both get scenes dedicated to themselves where they witness the other experience what they truly want. 

When Max first see’s Bradley for the first time in person , Bradley has everything that Max wants. He is receiving external validation, his a College X games winner , his being rich and famous and not being seen as inferior to anyone else. His basically living the life that Max wants to have. 

When Bradley see’s Max for the first time in person , it's a similar situation.

As Bradley watches him, Max is shown to be super talented as a skateboarder and is truly the best athlete on campus, something Bradley truly wants to be seen as. Max is also expressing himself freely without any restrictions or limitations and is simply living in the moment.

On a subjective level  , these scenes show that Bradley is adored by everyone but stays in place, restricted and confined to this life of status.

Whereas Max is able to go into any direction he wants and is shown skateboarding freely into the distance as he has more freedom than Bradley does. 

Why would Max envy Bradley?  

Bradley was born into the very top of high society and comes from a very wealthy family. He also gets a lot of admiration and attention for being born a somebody.

Max as we know didn’t grow up rich , grew up unpopular and didn’t get the best of everything.

He also had to come up with ways to get people to notice him positively and would do anything he could set his mind to so he could become famous.

Max would therefore see Bradley's life as better in comparison and could probably believe that Bradley is spoilt and has had everything handed to him without no hard work, which isnt the case.

Why would Bradley envy Max? 

Other than being a more talented skateboarder than Bradley, Max has a father who shows him unconditional love and has people in his life that like him for who he is .

Max also gets a lot of freedom and didn’t grow up with high expectations and conditions.  

Bradley on the other hand doesn't have this. He grew up in a society and family that demanded a lot from him and he is loved by others based on his status and for meeting certain conditions to be the best.  

If he wasn’t Bradley Uppercrust the Third , Gamma president or the College X game King , he wouldn’t garner so much attention for himself. And Bradley having the opposite kind of relationship with his dad would make him envy Max even more. 

Aftermath of the College X games.

Since the College X games , both Max and Bradley would probably have gained life lessons from the experience. 

Max

Max learned not to let his own ambition get in the way of his relationship with his father. But what we don't know is how winning in the College X games affected Max going forward in his life at College. 

He was seen to be happy and bashful when he won in the College X games and I think it would be safe to assume that he would gain popularity from winning , just like Max set out to do since the beginning of the movie. 

But it’s up to debate on whether or not Max is still going to try to become rich and famous in the future and still seek out External validation. 

Would Max be even more self conscious and aware of the fact that everyone at college suddenly likes him more because he won the College X games or would he not care as long as he is receiving positive attention? We just don't know for sure.

Bradley

With Bradley , he knows he messed up big time with Tank and realized too late the extent of his actions. But because of the extent of his actions, he had to learn the hard way that he needed to change.

Ultimately , Bradley would be facing way too many repercussions from the College X games to not have some introspection or want things to change for the better.  

At the College X games he got a black eye , lost a tooth , got slingshot into a blimp where he probably got injured like the other competitors , lost his winning streak , lost his position as the Gamma Mu Mu president , and was shown as the culprit behind the fire in front of not just everyone in the stadium but by everyone watching on Tv. 

And after the X games he's going to have to pay for the damages , deal with Chuck the Tv presenter and the cameraman as they were still inside of the blimp when he was thrown into it , will have to face the Gamma’s again , won’t be as popular with everyone when he goes back to College and most importantly he will have to deal with his father who will not be happy by their families sudden bad reputation. 

So Bradley has too much going on for him to just ignore or deflect from his problems. He's going to have to confront the aftermath head on and really reflect on everything that he's dealing with.

If things aren't working out for him then Bradley isn't the type of character to just do nothing. He will want to do something about it so he can make things better for himself. So if making amends, taking accountability and thinking of others more is what it takes , then so be it. 

Before he had no good reason to change or question himself  , but what happened at the X games was the catalyst for change and the status quo is different than it was before.

In a way , the whole situation is a blessing in disguise for Bradley as if he kept going down the path he kept walking on , then things could have got a lot worse and its given him the chance to have clarity.

But at the end of the day it’s up to Bradley to choose what path he wants to go down going forward. 

Potential 

I think whether or not you like Max and Bradley platonically or romantically , I think them becoming friends would actually be a very good idea. 

Bradley needs people who don’t use him for his status , wont be enablers towards him and would encourage him to get out of his comfort zone.

So if he became a part of Max’s friendship group , status wouldn’t be a factor as to why Bradley is their friend and they will certainly put their foot down if they think Bradley is making a mistake or is spiralling.

They can also teach Bradley to loosen up a bit and to do things he normally wouldn't do.

So being friends with Max and his friends would essentially allow Bradley to have real human connections and to express himself more freely with no high expectations.  

With Max , it would be good for him to have someone who challenges him. Bradley can also be someone who questions Max's plans and authority, as PJ and Bobby will usually go with the flow with whatever Max says.

Bradley may even be able to encourage Max to have more back up plans in case his plans don’t always work out the way Max intended.

And due to Bradley’s business like mentality, he can help Max be more pragmatic and give him business strategies to help Max be successful in whatever career Max wants in the future.

Max and Bradley can also teach each other valuable lessons that tie in with both of their insecurities. 

Max to Bradley 

From Max’s perspective he has only seen the advantages that people gain from being rich and famous but Bradley can show Max the down sides to being rich and famous such as 

only being loved for your status and wealth  

Exploitation from others  

stalkers and kidnappers 

trying to always stay relevant and be on top 

Constant scrutiny 

Lack of privacy 

Pressure to maintain a certain image 

As in, the grass isn’t always greener. It would then allow Max to question if being famous is really what he wants.

And with Bradley being in the upper class , he can show Max how he has lived a life full of  restrictions , high expectations and conditions.

Bradley can also compare his relationships to Max’s and make Max appreciate his dad more and the life that he has been given even if he grew up unpopular. 

Bradley to Max

From Bradley’s perspective , becoming a nobody would be the worst thing to happen as all he knows is that you need status to be loved. 

But Max can show him that if you're a nobody then you can be anybody that you want to be and could encourage Bradley to have more freedom and question the values he's been brought up with. 

He can also teach Bradley to explore passions without needing to be the best or to only pursue things for academic purposes.

For example If Bradley liked to paint , do photography, cook or let's say figure skate, then Max can encourage him to pursue those things just for their own enjoyment and not for status. 

BONUS 

When I decided to make this Max and Bradley comparison series , it was with the intent of just exploring what similarities they shared when it came to their insecurities.

But just as an added bonus , I'll make some brief points about what they share in common in general. 

They are both witty and both share an Ego. It’s what makes their back and forth dynamic so entertaining to watch. 

Both got anger issues. Max has pent up frustration whereas Bradley tries to keep his anger in to handle things he can't control until he explodes.  

Both take leadership roles in their own social groups and are the ones coming up with the plans/strategy's  

Both like skateboarding and a ray of sports. 

Conclusion

So that’s pretty much the end for this analysis series.

It was fun to explore these characters and I hope it was at least a good read :)

[mysticprincess01]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: RFID 3-in-1Crossbody Bag, Exuberant Floral.

[the-firebird69]

They really made their own car and the essence is not Bradley GT and it doesn't look good but I comparison and it's not right and it's not the same thing and it's not what we like and my son and daughter say it's pretty cool and they get one it's just not the essence of the Bradley meaning it's a kit it's supposed to evolve over time with help from your friends and it didn't happen that way they're demanding stuff and it's just a few banking crowd and they're being Church everyone and I think they took over still and they're all dying and they think that's what it's like and that's not what it is and they see the reports and they see the scan and they see the data from Mac people a question and still don't get it so I'm upset with them they're losers I get this idea this one's fire others to build things and it will weed out very extreme losers those who are wanting to run around say it's over because they're injured and stupid it's a good idea we're going to go ahead and deploy it and we're going to use it for things that can come and go with the release here and there I'm putting it in and they'll be reserved for companies that are big problems one group of these high-powered cars and a lot of people tried to make it cars and a lot of them are more locked and they wouldn't let them and they are a few different groups no mostly Max and Mac Daddy's flowing his hair out and been out Ben Arnold they can't get the stuff so my husband says that all these dragons will be dragged out and be seeking them out and it's the right thing to do because they have nothing to do but bother regular people eventually they'll be gone and if the max want to be brave they're going to get messed up and Uncle Phil there and Dr Phil is a Mac and he didn't want this Idea and we get it. Ime doing the whole time. And really this is antiquated and we definitely know it here. I do think this is a good idea and I want to start on our cars cuz it won't let them let us make any and people will start copying it because it creates a craze and they'll copy the kits and we don't care if they copy the kids I like his idea too you have a drop point and you have people coming to convoy and we help the escort the convoy and they do too who started it sounds awesome

Hera

This idea is impossible we mean to just make a plant and make the kit car nobody wants us to make it that has money and we getting pushed down and the pseudo empire is not going to be able to anywhere. So we do see and we wish you luck and he says I wish you luck too cuz you're coming to board Brad and that's terrific I like your idea like 2 weeks on and then another crew and then you can catch another ride and get stuff to your people it sounds like a lot of fun

Brad

No way this is my idea and now he's thinking about it and he says the spaceships won't work underground in the midwest the trace it there and start coming in and it's the max so it has to be in our area in the tunnels and we want to get around and this is terrible it could make it worse there but really it's going to draw them out and we need information it's not going to have millions we might have a few of stuff that they don't want and he listed a few whiskey really cheap beer and kit cars. I have a bigger list but he wants me to hold on to it and even like electronics for video games and to get that going you have a video games complex is set up ramshackled or whatever in the city where people go to train and we were doing that and we have to do it again then we'd be forced or compelled to make the games and you make him like games and we need his entertainment centers and they were bare to put in they said and we're going to have to try and do it and he wants to I like the idea of drilling in it's very unique and is really cool and weird they just spin around and then you ramp it up and you put roads you have a toll booth and some walls and if it doesn't work you move we're trying to laugh that's weird but here we are having a lot of problems and it looks like it turns into a nightmare and the scallywag Trump will not do his own thing and just wants to try and take stuff and it exposes it and we have a war and he f**** it all up at least one of them he says it's not really that big such a mile and it's just the it's probably the command post and it probably is and that's what sucks though he's he's an a****** who does that and he's doing it for the empire. I got to get going on this this is a good idea I might just make cigars and it says it too you can grow them there when does wonders if the vibration still have the plants grow faster or slower and what we know is they grow slower no they grow faster they're stimulated I'm going to get going on this it sounds like a good idea and we're going to move on it and our hidden places are getting pulled open these people suck

Tommy a

We might make consortiums that are temporary so each group gets some stuff and then you might start trying to build things and the pseudo empire too we might have different groups with them so you don't fight and different stuff like Rolls-Royce the new one that's the smaller one so it's like a regular car so it doesn't look really crazy far away and they get and they get inspired they're a bunch of Nazis they start laughing at those that's a great idea but really we're going to try and do this for the stuff they say is an absolute no go and see what they have and see what happens cuz there's a lot of stuff they say no go and we need it for our people

Thor Freya

We have to have another one of those meetings to try and figure out if we should do it and what he says is I want you to have a meeting to figure out if you should do it but to also allow test if you don't test it forever hold our peace if I'm right and it's the right thing to do and we don't test it we can be out on our butts I mean that's how bad it is and that was him and her and our father and mother I agree too we need to test this so we should get together and talk about it and get a test going and boy this will be fun zig zag wants to get involved and he suddenly hears something he likes and he says how did you think about it then I can't figure out where to put anything there's nowhere to put it so it has to move around and here's this movie and and my uncle is saying it's his idea and I said it was his idea but back then I said you're going to make it impossible at this point and I heard it too he said I want to so we're going to go ahead and do it but we understand what you're thinking he's going to be someone who we can use and he needs stuff here anyways and we do see that and he can't really build anything yeah he's having problems

Zig Zag

That's very funny Chris may I call you Chris and I guess so he calls me dempster or zabo and yeah we're going to be sleeping and go by and we'll shake and we'll wake up and I'll be over and Trump will go by trying to find you you're right in front of him. Yeah that'd be a little bigger but that's fun

Bja

You boys have fun now I'm going to try and do this the stupid assholes won't let us make anything we need food and we need water and their Max are here dwindling and they're taking off and we need to make stuff we need to be able to defend it and if it gets too hot we have to move and it gets hot with ourselves it blows there's a mix in there though so I'm going to try one I know what I'm going to make it's not Budweiser thanks though

Mac

Olympus

[maxleyrosebud]

I liked your comparison to both Roxxanne and Mona’s style of clothing. Neither character would necessarily wear what the other wears as they both have their own individual style that suits their character’s personality. So style wise to me , Roxxanne and Mona do have different tastes in fashion and aren't similar in that regard. 

When it comes to Mona and Bradley’s style however , I do agree that their sense of style in clothing is quite similar. Both of their clothing styles seem upper class to me with Bradley being preppy and Mona being classy and like you mentioned they both wear sweaters. 

In terms of appearance , I also agree that Bradley and Mona share a similar colour palette in their design when it comes to their eyes , hair and skin. They're both quite slim too. 

Unfortunately , Mona doesn't get a lot of dialogue in the short so it's hard to say what her personality is really like overall. Obviously she’s nice but not a fleshed out character due to time and being treated like a plot device. However , like you said just looking at her clothing, her body language and the way she laughs a lot , those things can give you a bit of an indication of what she could be like. 

But even though I do think Bradley and Mona do share similarities , I agree that they should be treated as their own character’s and that no matter what ship is more popular or canon to people , everyone should be able to ship Max with whoever they want whether it’s Bradley, Roxanne , Mona or even Yakko warner. 

You actually make a good point about Bradley having a beauty mark . That other girl he swapped clothes with didn't have a beauty mark before or after during that scene and yet when we get a close up of Bradley he suddenly has one XD It could be an animation error but he does have a foundation mirror so that is something interesting to theorize about. 

Mona is more like Bradley not Roxanne (aka I’m delulu)

So as you may or may not know there’s popular headcanon that Mona (Max girlfriend from „Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas”) is based of Roxanne and was supposed to be her all along to which I just wanna say -NO.

And it’s not just because of my very clear bias but also because this fandom likes to put Roxanne EVERYWHERE even when it has nothing to do with her which makes me (and probably much more people) very angry and discourages from engaging with wider fandom of „Goof Troop” so here I go and present to you why Mona is her own separate character and actually is much closer to Bradley than Roxie.

The looks

I just want you to look at her personal style okay? Sorry for lack of better pics

As we can see it is very demure, very mindful. She’s definitely into classy and elegant stuff. Now - who would faster wear that outfit? Who already has similar style?

Hmm????????? HMMM?????????

I know, I know „it’s not fair! It’s probably much warmer during „Goofy Movie” you can’t compare it like that.”

Max is in short sleeves all the time. Everyone during AEGM is in short sleeves. Bradley and Silvia are choosing to be fashion icons in long shirts. And for christmas special - Max and Goofy are in sweaters, it can’t be that cold. Also cartoon logic everyone.

Both Mona and Bradley share love for sweaters and darker colours and slay in it okay. Something we won’t see in Roxanne which is more into light colours and safe, basic outfit combo. Can you imagine Mona in safe T-shirt + shorts combination? No. She is not safe girlie vibe. She’s a model and world is her runway. Now - can you imagine Roxanne in this layers and boots? Nope. She would probably wear something more loose, one layer like warm sweatshirt or comfortable jacket with jeans accompanied by sneakers.

Appearance

When we have style out of the way it’s time for her features. Let’s see..

Short brown hair, small nose, grey/green eyes (@maxleyrosebud told me it’s actually blue. Maybe, eyes are weird. I actually was twice at eye operations as a student and had ophthalmology last semester do you know ho-) going back to Mona. She’s also more pale and has sparse make up.

Who else has brown, short hair, light coloured eyes, fair skin and small nose? Oh if I could only pin point one exact person hmmmmmm

Wha? No waaaayyyyyy. The only difference is gender and brows (and maybe face proportions. Brad is so slavic-coded with them).

But do you know what also this cutie patootie has?

These pretty teeth. Max is so lucky that he found this woman (although their potential kids won’t have much choice with dentition).

Our dude has a taste. Not to go into speculative/ship territory but Roxanne seems more like a preteen crush because she’s a sweet girl while around Mona Max is… just better. I’m bad with words, sorry. These two have a stronger and more mature chemistry in my eyes. Also yes- I also ship maxley alright, I also think there’s more going on between them than between Roxanne and Max mostly because they have much more screen time together.

Character

Okay, there is one argument Roxanne lovers love to throw and this is the fact that Mona has the same VA as Roxanne.

Now I want everyone to spell this with me:

👏JUST 👏BECAUSE 👏YOU 👏HAVE 👏THE 👏SAME 👏VOICE 👏ACTOR 👏DOES 👏NOT 👏MAKE 👏YOU 👏THE 👏SAME 👏PERSON👏

Is Bradley Uppercrusts the IIIrd Ted (Man in Yellow hat) from „Curious George”? NO, he’s not.

Mona is her own separate person with her own different personality and I’m tired of reading stuff like „Oohh they have the same VA, it totally was supposed to be Roxanne but they didn’t know how to animate long hair.” It’s Disney. If they wanted they would put Roxanne there. Jimmy Neutron movie and Shrek came out in the same year. They really had tools and talent to animate long hair.

With that out of the way - Mona doesn’t have that much time to show her personality (Let’s be honest - she’s sadly a background character), but we still have a glimpse of it.

Right of the bat it’s clear she’s keen on to meet Max family and later has a nice time with Goofy. Overall sweet, lovely girl. Although her body language... oh God the body language. Animators didn’t had to go that hard with her smug and girl-bossery.

Like look at her in this pic. Pure „Kay man, stop overreacting”

Her looking at Goofy’s car. Like - okay girlie, stop giving me bi panic alright?

And that’s the look she gives Max just before the kiss???? Like Oh My God. Roxanne would never. Mona is literally „oh, you like what you see? It’s nothing”. Flirty, confident queen. She delivers okay (I did NOT had a crush on her. STOP) ///’<’/// (<- it’s blushing face teehee. No one will believe I’m fully functioning adult).

Also

She threw a sign

I know what you are.

I don’t see Roxanne throwing this expressions casually like that. She made similar face only once and because Max couldn’t spend time with her, not because she is a diva (affectionate). She’s not flirty or confident like Mona. Roxanne is way softer with her expressions, more „girly” let’s say. Roxie’s body is also more tense and she’s overall much more timid.

Mona is also definitely not Bradley, but they both are much more confident and I can see this man throwing looks at Max when he starts complaining or spiraling. Also we still remember the sign okay, that’s not delusion, that’s important. There actually is maxley animatic from „Christmas Maximus” on YouTube and let me tell you - Bradley fits into Mona’s behavior. As I said before - I don’t see Roxanne acting like this at all, but Bradley would be capable of some… heh… smiles. I guess he would be different towards Goofy (they have some things to work between each other heh) but he would be diva in front of Max.

Conclusion

Am I obsessed with this one not important character? Yes. I have tendency to love the most niche, specific characters.

Did it change anything? Idk, maybe I’ll be someone’s rage bait, maybe someone will say „Oh, that actually makes sense. They are different characters!” Maybe nothing will come out of it, I don’t care, I just like making pointless analyses.

Tbh - it’s mostly my vent and excuse to simp and make more people remember the Queen👑 but also my frustration with flood of comments „WhaT aBoUT rOxAnNE” or „MoNa tOTalLy WaS SuPPoSeD to BE RoXAnnE” or „RoxAnNe iS mAX Gf”. Stop it guys okay? Nobody is policing your ship, also let others ship what they want and understand that Maxanne is not THE ship. People are allowed to have different love interests during very long life, yes - also fictional ones. It’s easy to find at least 10 reason why they are not end game ship in the sequel and christmas special (unless you believe these two are still dating during sequel to which I say - you make Max a terrible cheater). Are those two cute together? For most people yes, there is a reason why Roxanne is so popular in the first place. Should you behave like it’s the only possible option out there? No, let me and others ship things which are more in our taste. You can also be multishipper you know that, right? Don’t limit yourself and others.

Ending my very long thirst rant about Mona and Bradley I just wanna say - she is her own person. Stop making her into other character who has nothing to do with her except (ex)boyfriend and beauty mark (which Bradley also is theorized to have, because he has it in one scene and walks around with powder box, so you see. Argument about nothing). Maybe we should start cherishing characters because they are unique; not turning them down because your fave is not them.

(beautiful dividers by @saradika-graphics. You have such great talent with these)

[honeysuckleharringtons]

"Family Video" ~ S. Harrington

GIF by @acecroft

Summary: When Steve's daughter, Lori offers to help him close up shop, the two run into a rather pretty customer. Lori is determined to make Steve talk to said pretty customer.

Pairing: Single Dad!Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1,018

Content Warning: mentions of food, honestly i think that's it but as always, lmk if i missed anything!

Genre: v domestic, fatherly Fluff 🥺

Extra Notes: none that i can think of!

Based On: nothing in particular but the idea of a series like this was initially sparked by my read-through of @luveline's "Eddie and Roan" series 🫶🏻

Originally Written: 10/12/2022

Beta Read By: @dungeons-are-too-cold

honeysuckleharringtons main masterlist can be found here!

single dad!steve blurbs masterlist can be found here!

The jingle of the front door bell of Family Video rang loudly, prompting Steve to let out an aggravated sigh.

Normally, it wouldn't have irritated him that much, after all it was his job, but the fact that it was only seven minutes until closing was enough to agitate him beyond comparison.

"Welcome to Family Video," he said, managing to sound much more polite than he felt.

"Daddy!" a high-pitched voice rang throughout the store, accompanied by the pitter-patter of tiny feet.

Steve's agitated expression from before melted away as he squatted down. The tiny girl sprinted toward him, landing directly in his arms.

He left a kiss on her hairline, lifting her up to his chest as her tiny arms wrapped around his neck. "Mwah," he chuckled against her head. "How's my Lori-girl?"

Max followed closely behind the girl, a smile sitting on her lips. "Excited to see you as always," she answered for the child.

Steve slightly pulled away from Lori, his eyebrows raising as he asked, "Did you have fun with Max today?"

"Mhm," she answered, nodding her head with all the power her little body possessed. "She took me to Bradley's and let me pick out whatever snack I wanted."

"Well, wasn't that nice of Max?" he asked, shooting a thankful look toward the redhead. "What'd you pick?"

"Goldfish," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Those are my favorite too! Are you gonna share 'em with Daddy?"

Her lips scrunched as she thought about her answer, eventually nodding in response.

"They're in her bag," Max spoke up, placing the Care Bears themed bag on the counter, "along with a finger painting she did yesterday that finally finished drying and her Scooby-Doo."

"Thank God," he exhaled, "she nearly had a meltdown when she couldn't find it last night."

"Well, I took very good care of him for you last night, Lori," she smiled, kissing the three-year-old on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweet girl."

"Bye-bye, Maxi," she grinned back, watching as Max walked out the front door of Family Video.

Steve swung the girl around to his back, piggybacking her around the store as he put away the last of the tapes.

"I wanna help," Lori pouted, her tiny palms digging into the hair that sat near his neck.

He chuckled at her efforts to seem more grown-up, placing a tape in her hands and pointing to its spot on the shelf.

"I thought child labor was banned in the United States," a voice giggled from the end of the aisle.

The two looked in the direction of the voice, their eyes landing on a woman around Steve's age, who was holding a copy of Flashdance in one hand and Footloose in the other.

Steve let out an awkward chuckle, unsure how to respond.

The lady walked closer, a playful smile sitting on her lips. "You know, I'm having a hard time choosing which one I should pick," she said.

A silence came over the room for a beat. Suddenly, the lady's eyes lit up, her expression signaling that a light bulb had gone off in her brain. "I know! Why don't you pick for me, little lady?"

A blush made its way to Lori's cheeks. "Hmmm," she hummed, "That one."

The woman watched as Lori's finger pointed directly at Footloose, prompting her to place the other tape back in its place. "Ring me up?" she asked, directed at Steve.

"Sure thing," he managed, a matching crimson appearing on his own cheeks.

Lori tugged on her father's hair as the three walked over to the checkout counter, signaling that she wanted his attention.

"Hmm?" Steve asked, sitting his daughter down on the counter beside the register.

"Do you think she's pretty, Daddy?"

Steve blushed even harder than he already was. "Lorraine," he scolded, avoiding eye contact with the both of them.

"I think she's pretty," she smiled, turning to look at the woman.

"Thank you," she smiled, her own cheeks heating up. "I think you're pretty too."

Steve continued to scan the movies the lady had placed on the counter, secretly praying his daughter would drop the current conversation.

"Curious minds wanna know: do you think I'm pretty?" the woman asked, internally astonished by her sudden boldness.

His eyes grew wide as he considered his answer. He stayed silent, sliding the tapes into the plastic bag.

He could barely manage a, "Thank you for choosing Family Video," as he slid the bag across the counter to her.

She started her trek toward the door, a pout tugging at her lips. "That's too bad. I think you're quite handsome," she said, lingering near the door.

Steve blushed once more before replying, "I do! Uh, th-think you're pretty, that is," he stuttered as he walked around the counter. "I was just a little flustered. Lori doesn't usually put me on the spot like that."

Lori giggled from her spot on the counter. "I could tell you thought she was pretty, Daddy, so I wanted to make sure you told her before she left."

His lips scrunched as he turned back to his daughter. "You cheeky little girl," he pretended to scold her, burying his face in her tummy and blowing a raspberry.

Lori's shrieks could probably be heard all throughout Hawkins, her silky tufts swaying as she attempted to squirm away from him.

The lady grinned as she watched their interaction, slipping closer to the door.

"Wait!" Steve called, turning back to face her.

"Hmm?" she asked as she stopped mid-step.

"I didn't catch your name," he said, feeling more bold than he had earlier.

"Y/N," she answered with a half-smile. "Thank you for help, Steve."

And with that, she headed out the door, leaving Steve a little shaken up by the whole conversation.

Lori scooted closer to the edge of the counter, pulling herself up onto Steve's back. "You should ask her on a date," she commented. "She's pretty and really sweet."

"You're feeling extra bold today, Lori-girl," was what fell from his lips, but what he really meant was, "I might just take you up on that."

OK, I know this isn't exactly what you guys were expecting me to post today... however, I hope this can be seen as a nice lil peace offering until I do get a chance to post the next Whumptober fic.

I wish I had a good reason I didn't post the next Whumptober fic today. The only reason really is that I ran out of inspiration and put it off until it was too late.

The plan now is to either post it some time over the weekend or double-post on Monday when I post the next next fic.

In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoyed this lil blurb! I am so so so excited for this series and all the ideas I have for it! I hope you guys are just as excited as I am!

-> Taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-is-dead-inside

[tocinephile]

T'was the night before the Oscars...

Here we are again. The final stab at a decent award show ceremony amidst a global pandemic. I'm not getting my hopes up after the Golden Globes and SAG zoom calls, in fact I've read very little about the upcoming ceremonies since they announced they would not be using zoom... and then promptly reversed that decision.

It would seem no matter how late we delay the Oscars, I still find myself the night before the show scrambling to watch all the Best Picture nominees. It also hasn't slipped my mind all the promises I'd made to discuss my top films of 2020 and the things I would not have seen if not for this global catastrophe. Having had a number of conversations with fellow cinephiles, many have also found themselves very unenthused about award season contenders, dramatic pictures or anything with heavier content so to speak, or even movies in general. The struggle to concentrate is real.

I'm going to get right into my list of predictions with the caveats that I have yet to see Sound of Metal, and I have to watch the second half of Judas and the Black Messiah after I hit 'post' here. You will find as we go through, there's lots more I haven't seen.

Best Picture

“The Father”

“Judas and the Black Messiah”

“Mank”

“Minari”

“Nomadland” - Will win

“Promising Young Woman” - Should win (though I liked Nomadland very much as well)

“Sound of Metal”

“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)

David Fincher (“Mank”) - excellent director but I actually don't think he left his mark on Mank as much as he did many of his other films, I've questioned previously whether he should have gotten the nomination

Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)

Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) - Will win/should win

Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Actor in a Leading Role - very strong contenders all around in this category, every one of them (I'm sure I'll have the same reaction about Riz Ahmed) made me say "holy shit" in amazement out loud

Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)

Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) - Will win/should win

Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)

Gary Oldman (“Mank”)

Steven Yeun (“Minari”)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) - I think if not Andra Day, then Viola will win it

Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”) - Will win?/should win

Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)

Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)

Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) - I think he's also got a decent shot in this category

Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) - Will win/should win

Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”)

Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) - truth be told I didn't think her performance was so great that she should get an Oscar nomination for it

Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)

Olivia Colman (“The Father”) - another potentially unpopular comment... while I think Olivia Colman is one of the best actresses and most delightful people in existence, given her range and talent I don't she particularly excelled in The Father to make it an Oscar-worthy performance.

Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)

Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”) - Will win/should win

Best Animated Feature Film - I only saw one film so I have no basis for comparison

“Onward” (Pixar)

“Over the Moon” (Netflix)

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (Netflix)

“Soul” (Pixar) - will win

“Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Nina Pedrad

“The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller - should win...and will win?

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao

“One Night in Miami,” Kemp Powers - might also win?

“The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani

Best Original Screenplay

“Judas and the Black Messiah.” Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas

“Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung

“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell - 50/50 will win/definitely should win tho!

“Sound of Metal.” Screenplay by Darius Marder, Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin - 50/50 will win... I really didn't get onboard this movie, but I will say the script was the best thing about it

Best Original Song - I'm not even going to venture a guess...

“Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

“Hear My Voice,” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

“Húsavík,” (“Eurovision Song Contest”). Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

“Io Si (Seen),” (“The Life Ahead”). Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

“Speak Now,” (“One Night in Miami”). Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

Best Original Score - I actually didn't think much of any of the scores in any of the films I've seen in 2020...

“Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard

“Mank,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

“Minari,” Emile Mosseri

“News of the World,” James Newton Howard

“Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste - will win

Best Sound - I suspect it might be Sound of Metal but I haven't watched it yet. I've also not seen Greyhound.

“Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

“Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

“News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

“Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

“Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Best Costume Design

“Emma,” Alexandra Byrne - will win

“Mank,” Trish Summerville

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth - should win

“Mulan,” Bina Daigeler - should also win

“Pinocchio,” Massimo Cantini Parrini

Best Animated Short Film - I didn't watch a single Oscar-nominated short this year

“Burrow” (Disney Plus/Pixar)

“Genius Loci” (Kazak Productions)

“If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix)

“Opera” (Beasts and Natives Alike)

“Yes-People” (CAOZ hf. Hólamói)

Best Live-Action Short Film - I didn't watch a single Oscar-nominated short this year

“Feeling Through”

“The Letter Room”

“The Present”

“Two Distant Strangers”

“White Eye”

Best Cinematography

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt

“Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt - will win/should win

“News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski

“Nomadland,” Joshua James Richards

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael

Best Documentary Feature - I thought I watched a decent number of docs in 2020, but apparently not the right ones because I saw none of these.

“Collective,” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana

“Crip Camp,” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder

“The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez

“My Octopus Teacher,” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster

“Time,” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

Best Documentary Short Subject - I didn't watch a single Oscar-nominated short this year

“Colette,” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

“A Concerto Is a Conversation,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

“Do Not Split,” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook

“Hunger Ward,” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman

“A Love Song for Latasha,” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan

Best Film Editing

“The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos - 50/50 will win/should win

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao

“Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval

“Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten - 50/50 will win

Best International Feature Film

“Another Round” (Denmark) - will win

“Better Days” (Hong Kong) - should win (yes, because I'm biased, plus it's also the only other film aside from Another Round that I've seen in this category and I liked it a lot better, but also, just because it's very fine film)

“Collective” (Romania)

“The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)

“Quo Vadis, Aida?”(Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Emma,” Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze - will win

“Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson - should win

“Mank,” Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff

“Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti

Best Production Design

“The Father.” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone - I don't think this is the best Production Design but I do think it's underrated what they did and that it should be recognized a different kind of creativity went into designing the sets for this film.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton

“Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale - will win? I do think the Production Design was spectacular...

“News of the World.” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

“Tenet.” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas - should win

Best Visual Effects

“Love and Monsters,” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox

“The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

“Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

“The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

“Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher - will win/should win... like why would it not win??

Ok, I wasn't very decisive in some of those categories and since I'm taking part in an Oscar pool I will have to make some choices and refine my selections before tomorrow. I will share my final Oscar pool pics, do my part bombarding everyone's twitter tomorrow evening, and review after the awards where it all went right/wrong.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 13/02/2021 (Digga D, AJ Tracey, Cardi B)

It’s not as big of a week as it is just a confusing one, so there’s no pre-amble. Olivia Rodrigo spends a fifth week at #1 with “drivers license” and let’s start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

I started writing this a bit later than usual so I just want to rush through most of what’s here. The songs dropping out of the UK Top 75 are either debuts from not long ago like “Notorious” by Bugzy Malone featuring Chip and “Lo Vas A Olvidar” by Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA, or songs that have been here for a while, like “Monster”  by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper and “Dynamite” by BTS. We even have some #1 hits dropping out of the Top 75 this week, like “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. In terms of fallers, we have, seemingly, some of the older Winter cuts being replaced, as we see “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix getting a harsh streaming cut down to #30,  “Whoopty” by CJ down to #33, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby down to #34 (although this could rebound given the album release), “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #37, “SO DONE” by The Kid YAOI at #57, “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #61, “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax at #62, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur at #63, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #64, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo at #65, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #68, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi at #72 and “Golden” by Harry Styles at #73, as well as some more recent debuts, including the entirety of Fredo’s album impact from last week, as “Money Talks” with Dave is at #11, “Ready” with Summer Walker at #31 and “Burner on Deck” with Young Adz and the late Pop Smoke at #32. “Skin” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Apricots”  by Bicep aren’t faring that well either, at #51 and #56 respectively. When I said these songs are being replaced, I wasn’t overestimating anything as we have our new crop of hits seemingly all surging, as “Martin & Gina” by Polo G is at #54, “Be the One” by Rudimental, MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D is at #49, “Best Friend” by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat is at #42, “My Head & My Heart” by Ava Max is at #35, “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” by Jason Derulo and Nuka is at #27, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals is at #24, “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S is at #23 (it’s honestly starting to grow on me), and “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd is somehow back up to #20. Speaking of the top 20, we also have “Friday” by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Musafa & Hypeman dopamine re-editing itself up to #16, “Save Your Tears” also by the Weeknd at #15, and two new top 10 hits, both songs with basically the same chart run and genre. “Goosebumps” by Travis Scott, remixed by HVME, remixed by Travis Scott is at #10, becoming HVME’s first and Travis’ fourth top 10 hit here in Britain. We also have “The Business” by Tiesto grooving up to #7, becoming Tiesto’s fourth top 10 hit. I honestly feel bad for the still completely uncredited vocalist. We also have a third new top 10 entry but that’s a debut that we can discuss later. I should also note that “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek is back at #74, and a winning Eurovision song, “Arcade”, by Dutch singer Duncan Lawrence is also back at #39 off of the back of some TikTok traction. I think this is the most streamed Eurovision now – I’d watch out for this being a big hit. Welp, time to get into our really, and I mean REALLY, varied and weird crop of new arrivals, starting with...

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Roadtrip” – Dream and PmBata

Produced by Banrisk and Perish Beats

Okay, so this is a song by Minecraft YouTuber Dream, or at least that’s who I think he is. I think there was some kind of scandal related to him, and a couple people got involved and someone got doxed... listen, I don’t care. Not only is this song really not worthy of reviewing on the principle that unlike Wilbur Soot a couple weeks ago, Dream has never been a musician, which is clear from how involved no-name singer PmBata was in this, but I care for my private information not being made public so... What ridiculous excuse do I have to not review this? Okay, 1997 reggae-rock classic “Doin’ Time” by Sublime returns to #75 after Boris Johnson made a TikTok in the Houses of Parliament where he says “Pogchamp, Brexiteers, I just got tested for COVID-19” with the song in the background, and Joe Biden is on a Zoom call with him a few seconds later visibly annoyed because he prefers the New Radicals. Sure, let’s go with that. What was this entry about again?

#71 – “Goodbye” – Imanbek and Goodboys

Produced by Joris Mur, Imanbek and Goodboys

Everyone’s favourite Kazakh house producer Imanbek is finally back on the charts with his collaboration with British pop trio Goodboys, who you may know from their carbon-copy hits made with MEDUZA. After listening to that EP he made with Rita Ora, I’m slightly less impressed with Imanbek’s production, but that EP’s impact, if any, will be seen when the lead single featuring David Guetta and Gunna debuts low next week. Yes, seriously, all four on the same track. Anyway, this song, “Goodbye”, is actually pretty okay, with a generic deep house groove and fake hand-clap effectively saved by the Goodboys’ really intriguing vocal delivery and processing, which ends up in a Travis Scott-like Auto-Tune harmony that’s honestly pretty endearing right before the anti-climactic slap-house drop. The song’s lyrical content probably isn’t worth talking about, but it’s about a generic struggle with a break-up, and how hard it is for one of these good boys to say good bye. The build-up with the pre-chorus before the blue-balls second drop is kind of genius, and that’s probably my favourite part of the song outside of the abrupt vocaloid drop at the end. For what it’s worth, it takes more risks than most of these house-pop songs, most notably by having only a single verse in the middle of the song, and being really short, clocking in at less than two and a half minutes. It’s not as infectious as “Piece of Your Heart”, but this is fine. I’m glad it’s here if it’s going to give Imanbek another non-Rita Ora-assisted hit.

#60 – “Little Bit of Love” – Tom Grennan

Produced by Jamie Scott, LOSTBOY and Daniel Bryer

Tom Grennan is an English singer-songwriter who released their debut record in 2016 and was crowned by the BBC as the “Sound of 2017”, before dropping off the face of the Earth. He was brought to fame by a guest feature on a Chase & Status song that didn’t even do that well and now he’s back with the lead single from his upcoming sophomore effort, and his highest ever charting song. Well, is it any good? I mean, I like OneRepublic too. The rising strings here in the intro and chorus are pretty cool, and I’ll give it to Grennan for having an interesting voice but the odd level of grit in it does not fit well for this plastic production, which quickly devolves into vaguely danceable synth-mess that’s just not interesting. The content is mostly about unconditional love, particularly one that feels not particularly reciprocated, although some of the detail in the second verse feels like it’s going somewhere. I’ll admit, the chorus is catchy, but this mix puts way too much emphasis on a flawed vocal take from Grennan, which really detracts from the pathetic excuse for a bridge. I do enjoy how this feels like a flash-back to the mid-2010s, where happier, synth-based pop was this prominent, and I do love how the strings come back in the outro, but good production can’t do much to save a song that just feels under-cooked and definitely under-written. The OneRepublic comparison feels particularly fitting here too because their stuff tends to be just as stagnant, not to mention the lyrical riffs off of “Counting Stars”. I mean, when you start your first verse – in the first 10 or so seconds of the track – with the most recognisable part of a very recognisable song, I think Ryan Tedder deserves at least some royalties.

#58 – “Astronaut in the Ocean” – Masked Wolf

Produced by Tyron Hapi

Masked Wolf is an Australian singer and this song is actually from June 2019, just gaining enough traction, presumably off of TikTok, to debut on the charts this week. The song got a 2021 reissue and I assume a remix and, well... for God’s sake. The Kid LAROI should not have been an entry point for Australian trap, because outside of a second or two of distortion in the intro, this is far from unique. It has a guitar-based trap instrumental with dark 808s that even Gunna would pass up on, and an Auto-Tuned delivery from Masked Wolf, clearly trying too hard to replicate Drake in the intro and bridge, Kid Cudi in the chorus, G-Eazy in the first verse, Eminem AND Kendrick on the second verse, to the point where he even directly references Kendrick Lamar’s much better music. He suffers from the same problems as all of these artists combined, with lyrics that seem like they’re building up off of something interesting about depression before going into aimless flexing like a mid-tier Kid Cudi track, flows that sound as meandering and checked-out as Drake’s, the failed attempt at some kind of white-boy swagger that G-Eazy hasn’t pulled off successfully since 2016, the substance-less content hidden behind fast flows from Eminem and... oh, my God, this guy’s just like Australian Logic. I don’t like American Logic, why do we need this guy too? Yeah, this is bad, and there’s not much worth nitpicking in this mix or even the lyrics to even point out. I guess the worst bar is when he says he believes in G-O-D but not a T-H-O-T. So he’s a slut-shaming NF now? Jesus Christ, I’d take a full album from The Kid LAROI over this.

So the next two songs are ones I’ll actually need to somewhat lump together, as they are consecutive on the chart and both from the same album, and the same washed-up band.

#53 – “Waiting on a War” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

We have two songs from Dave Grohl and friends here from their latest album, Medicine at Midnight, technically three if we count the entire top 100, which means, yes, the UK just had a Foo Fighters album bomb. I’ll focus on the album as a whole with the next song because this is easily the worse track here and the worst track on the album purely out of how misguided it is. Dave Grohl wrote this song because he felt inspired by the current hell-scape of the political climate, reminding him of his own youth when he was surrounded by rising Cold War tensions. His young daughter asked him if there was going to be a war and naturally this song came out of it, reflecting on the fears he and his daughter have and that everyone deserves a future and a lifetime not taken away from them by conflict and fear. This is a good song idea but it absolutely does not work, and that’s partially down to the production. When I first heard this track on the album, I genuinely grimaced at the vocoder-mumble that Grohl takes on against the scratchy acoustic guitars. The whole point of the instrumentation is that it builds tension with rising strings, multi-tracked acoustics and eventually some electric guitars and powerful drums, yet because of how slow-paced the song is, it fails to mirror the rising tension of the prospect of there being a war. Instead, it’s a slog and its pay-off by the end feels unwarranted in the most boring way. Sure, the squeals of the guitars in the back of the mix sound good, but surely a song like this should not end like any of the Foo Fighters’ other pop-rock anthems, especially not as abruptly as it does. Wouldn’t you want a more subdued outro to comfort your daughter’s fears that at least right now, everything’s okay? That would make the most sense to me, but that’s thrown out of the window, with pathetic songwriting, with verses that play word association with the blandest of rhymes, seemingly irrelevant pop-song-generator filer and a chorus that is mind-numbingly repetitive but ultimately fails to build tension because of the content asking us to wait, constantly, even when it gets into its heavier rock tone. We’re supposed to wait for something that is only implied to never come, because there isn’t finality. Sure, that could work as a way of saying that Grohl is just as uncertain and scared as his daughter is about political conflict, but that would imply this song gives off any further emotion than the fact the Foo Fighters felt the need to cut a vaguely political track out of necessity. As a song, and as an album, Dave Grohl is utterly confused, and “Waiting on a War” is way too slow and non-specific to act as a protest song, as well as being way too on-the-nose for it to work as a ballad. Let’s talk about this next single.

#52 – “Making a Fire” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

What the hell is Greg Kurstin doing here? This is the first track on the album and is supposed to make some kind of gripping impact but is instead just a snoozefest. The choral female vocals sound bored, but at least it’s not as strained as the struggling Dave Grohl trying and failing to yelp over a stiff groove which has its momentum killed by drumming too slow and mixed too oddly to make this pre-chorus even coherent, not helped by Grohl’s butt-rock delivery and non-descript lyrics. There could be a guitar solo here, to make this track feel memorable, but no, it’s hidden under a pre-chorus with an extended gospel bridge that doesn’t build up effectively to a chorus that just comes crashing in and hence has no effect. Maybe I just can’t listen to arena  rock in a quarantine context, but I can’t even imagine this making much of a fuss in a packed stadium without desperately needing tweaks in the songwriting and especially the production, because this just sounds stunted. It’s telling that Grohl made his best tracks as the Foo Fighters on his own and those first two records, alongside a pretty decent 2014 comeback in the form of Sonic Highways, are still great. I’m not denying that Grohl can write a good song, or that the Food Figures can’t play, because they’re all talented guys. This is just one album in many that leaves me with the feeling that these guys just can’t do much more outside of their comfort zone than fail miserably. These songs won’t stick around, and thank God for that.

#50 – “Believe Me” – Navos

Produced by Tom Demac and Navos

Another week, another... okay, but we already had a generic pop-infused deep house track from a couple EDM randos, do we really need another? Okay, well, this one is even less interesting than Imanbek’s effort as it doesn’t even try for a verse, instead going for a deep house groove I’ve heard countless times before, drowned out by some square synths and, yes, you guessed it, 90s piano loops and an uncredited female vocalist repeating basically the same couple lines over and over. This is made for the clubs, but I feel like even regular club-goers would tire of this vocaloid drop and cloudy production two minutes in. There’s nothing worth discussing here, because this probably took as many minutes to make as it did to listen to. I have no idea why Navos debuts a song so high, but I’ve got to assume TikTok’s to blame. Apparently this guy makes tech house, where’d any of that skill or intrigue go here?

#21 – “Up” – Cardi B

Produced by Sean Island, DJ SwanQo and Yung Dza

Anyone else surprised at how such a big name gets production from people I’ve never heard of before? Not that it matters, it’s just odd. Anyways, this is Cardi’s new single, presumably from that ever-elusive second album, debuting around 20 spots lower than it will in the US, and it’s going for a more gangsta-rap content than the hyper-sexual “WAP”, but does she keep the same energy? Well, yes... in fact, after all the mediocrity, I’m glad to have a genuinely great song debut this week. This is a great, bass-heavy beat that gives a Memphis phonk feel in the dark keys as well as the hard-hitting 808s and spacey percs and sound effects that add some needed distortion, even if there’s going to be some brief clipping along the way. Cardi brings some necessary energy from the brilliant opening lyrics and continues with a fast-paced, chanting flow that accentuates some of her funnier lyrics with her charisma that she always brings to a trap track like this. I’d say that this is maybe too repetitive – with very little of the verses to speak of – or even somewhat derivative of her previous song, “Money”, but there’s a lot better lyrical content in this one, not to mention how well she complements a more straight-forward but still killer beat. Oh, yeah, and Cardi’s stacks are Shaq-height as she dismisses haters with an impressive level of swagger and confidence, that carries the refrain, but that’s not to say the lyrics aren’t really great in the verses. There’s genuinely funny and sexy wordplay here, especially in the second verse, and also some great liners: “hoes speakin’ cap-anese”, accusing her haters of having pink-eye and their breath smelling like “horse sex”. This is a short, probably underdeveloped song, but it’s the type of surreal, high-energy trap I kind of really love and I hope this sticks around further in the UK.

#19 – “Latest Trends” – A1 x J1

Produced by ShoBeatz

A1 x J1 are a British rap duo with no other songs. Yeah, something’s fishy here: this is their only song on Spotify that blew up from a 15-second clip on TikTok, and their Spotify bio is trying to decide whether they’re the next D-Block Europe or the Beatles, as well as really emphasising how the song grew “all organically”, even though they’re already signed to Universal... yeah, there’s nothing subtle here, so I won’t buy this TikTok fame schtick, but does it matter when the song is good? Well, not really, and honestly, I’m kind of into this guitar-based drill-R&B fusion in the beat, but it doesn’t really help the fact that J1’s Stormzy impression is janky and unconvincing, especially if he’s going to try for some shallow wordplay, and that A1’s Auto-Tuned croon is just boring, reminding me a lot of A Boogie wit da Hoodie, but with a less recognisable voice and delivery, even if the first verse contains a funny line about a woman making that ass clap “for the NHS”, although he totally took that from Swarmz anyway. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this fake attempt at an organic pop-drill crossover, but unfortunately, I can very much see this working, though I’d be happy if the British public will see through this dishonesty as soon as possible.

#5 – “Bringing it Back” – Digga D and AJ Tracey

Produced by TheElements and AoD

Now for a rap duo that makes more sense to debut this high and are actually, you know, separately successful rappers, therefore they debut in the top five, which is impressive. The whole concept of this song is that Digga D and AJ Tracey are using old flows, those that would be nostalgic to their deeper fan base, to spit bars on a new track called, fittingly “Bringing it Back”. The flow AJ Tracey brings back is from his overlong “Packages” freestyle, a five-minute track from 2016, that works more as a freestyle than it does as a song, where he uses a familiar UK drill flow to go off for a really long time, and, yes, it is pretty impressive but the flow becomes stale too quickly. Digga D uses his flow from his “Next Up?” freestyle from 2017, a similarly badly-mixed UK drill freestyle but with a much more palatable length. Digga D’s flow he uses in that track is arguably slicker but honestly one that I see used a lot in UK drill and by Digga D, so I’m not sure it’s not worth “bringing it back” when you could come up with a new, catchier flow. I’ll admit that “Bringing it Back”, however, is a pretty damn good song, with Digga D’s more technical and fluid flow allowing for a lot more intricate internal rhymes that sound really great over the triumphant, string-heavy drill beat, as he trades bars with AJ Tracey’s slower but more confident, laid-back flow, which allows him to spit some more specific, interesting bars, some of which really hit, like when he says he “locked up the food for the kids like Boris and then I let it go like Rashford”. Hey, I respect it, I haven’t heard a more clever way of intertwining political commentary with cocaine smuggling since Pusha T last released a record. The way AJ Tracey and Digga D play off of each other’s lines is really smooth, and especially how Digga D plays with the beat, as while his lyrics may be less interesting, they mash perfectly with the beat’s frantic fades in and out, especially in his last lines before the first chorus, where he asks for the track to literally be turned off... and it is. So, yeah, I’m pretty damn happy with this debuting so high off the energy alone, even if Digga D is going to pronounce “LOL” like a one-syllable word. I’d say this is actually a really good starting point for people who want to get into more UK drill because it has a lot of the grit and menace of the genre in a more accessible, catchy form, even if it may run a bit too long for my taste.

Conclusion

Wow, what a weird, weird week... and a lot of it was straight garbage. I’m giving Best of the Week to “Up” by Cardi B, with an Honourable Mention to Digga D and AJ Tracey for “Bringing it Back”, though Worst of the Week is pretty much a toss-up. I’ll give it to the Foo Fighters for “Waiting on a War”, with a Dishonourable Mention tied between “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf and “Believe Me” by Navos for just both being worthless. Anyways, here’s our top 10:

The UK Singles Chart is honestly kind of chaotic right now – even more so than usual – and I don’t see that changing. Even if I don’t like all of the songs, it’s at least compelling. Anyways, thank you for reading and you can follow me @cactusinthebank on Twitter if you want. I can’t really make any predictions for next week other than Taylor Swift re-recording her own music and I guess some impact from Rita Ora and Imanbek, or hopefully, slowthai. Regardless of what happens, I’ll see you next week!

[billcouture]

Godzilla King of the Monsters Critique (Spoilers)

After my first viewing, as well as taking in many reviews, I’ve gotten through a spectrum of different, opposing opinions.  First off, critical consensus isn’t wrong, all those issues exist.  The critic's responsibility is to uphold character, motivation, story, all the things that make for a resonating whole.  It’s nothing to get upset about, I love that stuff.  However,  if those opinions were the end all, it would discount mostly all of which fans love, and get fully delivered, in this insanely awesome movie.

My favorite critical opinion on this film, as well as 2014′s was Cinemassacre’s James Rolfe.  In his 2014 Godzilla reanalysis, he rightfully pointed out the major fault being the early death of Brian Cranston’s character.  The movie was a redemptive story between father and son, and his death halted that storyline, effectively laboring the remaining half.  All other decisions are simply that, choices good or bad, monsters, side characters, they may put some off, but they're inconsequential to this one glaring issue, the pacing.  After the Honolulu airport scene the movie dragged, because the purpose left it.  It became the supporting character getting home to his background family.  Other, more surface level issues can be forgiven, or more enjoyed, if this base is retained, which in this one it wasn’t, and the new one struggled with as well.

For Godzilla King of the Monsters, the grounded reality that was established in 2014′s, is left behind, starting with the very first shot of San Fransisco.  It is now seen through a very different lens, a godlike larger than life one, fantastical, and tinted in color.  This compounds more and more with each new development.  Instead of ‘on the ground’ natural disaster set pieces, the POV is quickly taken up and away into The Argo, (Super X equivalent) globetrotting though the eyes of Monarch.  This is a shift into a whole different game.  Monarch and G Team are basically GI Joe, locations are outlandish, and lore is deepened into archaic mystery.  I freaking loved it!

However, throughout the amusement park ride, is the issue of character.  The family’s division and loss driving the plot existed, but simply that, it just existed there.  The base issue of dead son, to estranged father, to distraught mother, to distant adolescent, was laid out ineffectively.  Especially since their dead son was what drove the mother to unleash armageddon, a very rash decision, it needed a lot more weight and care (such as Brian Cranston’s wife’s death in 2014, the impactful inciting incident that got him, and the movie, along it’s way).  As well as collaborating with a heinous villain with a mercenary army, also very rash, and a rushed through development.  This core was difficult to swallow by how it was presented.  I was most pumped for Charles Dance’s character, the ex military Eco terrorist (he was great, I just needed more).  His could have had full Bond villain proportions, but was just allowed part of the background schemes.   

Besides this core issue, others are lesser, and the rest is pure beauty.  Bradley Whitford’s lines are standouts as Dr. Rick Stanton.  Surprisingly, the quip master,  most necessary to diffuse some key scenes and allow the fun in (something that really needed more allowance, the admittance of fun to enjoy the awe inspiring fights on display more).  Dr. Stanton’s lines like ‘bad day to be a Red Sox fan’, ‘Serizawa’s got that lizard juiced’, and ‘come on big guy, fight it’ (which I laughed with in that break neck situational absurdity). On the other hand, Serizawa’s storyline was so rewarding, and I was right there engaged with them, and many more scenes as well.  

Director Michael Dougherty, wrote and directed Trick r’ Treat and Krampus, both of which I loved for their sick, black humor.  Going in, I was expecting, and looking forward, to this film having his signature fun, sick tone and personality, to feel distinctly his.  It doesn’t, it’s more dry, which I thought would disappoint me, but not entirely.  He instead takes the material very seriously, and with incredible reverence and care, which is rare, given the fantastical route he chose to pursue.  Most would be seduced to laugh with, or not take it to it’s complete end, but he did, and it was incredible.  It’s my highest praise to say that this movie is an insane Saturday morning cartoon, but presented in a very sincere way.  In other words, very much for some, but the enemy of those without an inner child.  For me, it’s achievements far outweigh it’s faults, and it is definitely benefiting to dedicated fans over those more casual.  

A couple gripes/ points I agree with by Cinemassacre’s James Rolfe:

-Day time fights, simply for variety and a psychological need to have a break from the dark.    

-Destruction with civilians.  Besides Rodan’s escape, there were no scene’s with civilians to put the scale against monsters besides Monarch’s people.  Boston was evacuated and empty, Washington DC, destroyed off camera before the Argo’s arrival.  Just some scenes of hundreds of people underfoot or wing in different locations.  Specifically, monsters knocking buildings over before them, some type of clear, wanton destruction.  

Aspects I loved:

-Hollow Earth elaboration.  More than I hoped, so much fun lore to get into.

-G Team, basically Titan GI Joe.

-Mothra, and the twins explanation.  

-Monarch’s HQ, Argo, every fantastical element.

-Titan personality, specifically King Ghidorah and Godzilla.  Surprising traits and great rivalry.  

-Musical Score, awesome. 

Second viewing additional points; Action, specifically key moments, could have been bettered with clarity. Such as the monster fighting in Kong Skull Island. Lingering, very clear, allowing a break for the eye. This would have prevented dreaded Michael Bay comparisons, more to what George Miller achieved through clear action on Mad Max Fury Road. The plot was extremely packed with missable moments upon first viewing. Second was much more enjoyable, already having been able to digest the core film and subdue expectation. This is an issue though, asking viewers to maintain pace with the material they presented so rapidly. Lastly, reinforcing character decisions in service of plot over satisfying rationale. The mother deciding to unleash a monster cleansing, where as she lost her son to monsters fighting. Still weird. Charles Dance could have been more a key master of manipulation, as well as Monarch’s shut down already in effect as a final push to better swallow that pill.

[webhawkstechnology-blog]

Why Ionic Hybrid network becoming more popular day by day

Introduction of Ionic Framework

Ionic is a complete open-source SDK for hybrid mobile app development created by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co. in 2013. Ionic is world’s most popular cross platform mobile development technology. Basically it’s hybrid mobile app development framework. Using Apache Cordova, it can be easily run on mobiles. A big advantage of using Ionic is that the code base remains the same for all mobile platforms and the UI/UX looks like a native mobile platform. The good news is: if you can manage to create websites, you already know how to build mobile apps. Ionic Framework offers the best web and native app components for building highly interactive native and progressive web apps. It is the only mobile app stack which allows developers to design apps for all app stores and the mobile web, using an unique code base. Moreover, Ionic’s Platform Continuity guarantees your app will look superb on every single device. Ionic provides tools and services for developing hybrid mobile apps using Web technologies like CSS, HTML5, and Sass. Apps can be built with these Web technologies and then distributed through native app stores to be installed on devices by leveraging Cordova.

Benefits of Ionic Framework

Platform Independent Framework- Ionic can recognize the platform specific advanced CSS proportional to the native look and feel on different mobile operating systems. It reduces the requirement for code changing as it gives the codes of mobile-optimized HTML, JS, and CSS components. Apart from this, ionic integrates into Angular JS which becomes a robust structure making code excellent as well as more manageable. This empowers the Start-up entrepreneurs to come out with newer concepts at reduced budget.

Cross-Platform Mobile App Development with Ionic- Building an application without a moment's delay is essential, and it should be compatible with all mobile devices. However, it needs extremely limited use of time, assets and efforts, and helps in giving a unified look and feel. Besides, Ionic helps with building applications quickly and with expertise, and deploys standard tools with a solitary code base.

Default User Interface- Ionic has many default CSS and JS parts that cover the vast majority of the basic things you need to make a mobile application. . Apart from regular ones like buttons and navigation it also includes form inputs, lists, cards, sliding boxes and many more. These can be easily customized by adding CSS classes to the element. The default styles are basic, smooth, and you can without a doubt redo them by adding pre-defined CSS classes to the component.

Based on AngularJS- If you’ve worked upon Ionic, and then you would likely realize that it is developed on top of the Angular JS framework. The extensions to HTML's sentence structure offered by AngularJS are extremely useful for mobile app designers. The Ionic structure utilizes AngularJS to offer a bunch of center functionalities to the designer with the goal that they can incorporate alluring components into the application.  AngularJS is an ideal approach to make program based applications, while with the assistance of the Ionic structure, versatile designers can make hybrid applications and web applications.

Utilizes Cordova Plugins- Plugins play an essential part in Ionic application development. Modules are coded in JavaScript and come appended to the application. Ionic framework application development utilizes Cordova plugins to help designers in accessing different components of the versatile framework- for example, camera, GPS, and so on. According to your business and offered administrations, mobile app developers can utilize any of these modules to build their ideal mobile application.

There are a few good reasons to go with Ionic, depending on what you would be using it for:

1. Ionic use Angular’s MV* paradigm: If you are a web developer and want to be able to compete in the mobile space Ionic is great for you. Ionic uses HTML and CSS to lay out its views, so not only will you have all of the power of CSS transitions and canvas drawing, but you will also feel at home with the DOM. If you’ve ever used Angular in production, this will be doubly true for you, because the logic layers of Ionic use Angular’s MV* paradigm.

2.Desktop support: Ionic has added a flexible grid, and split-pane type features, allowing you to build mobile-first apps with responsive desktop layouts.

3.Open Web Standards: To paraphrase one of their founders, you’re betting on the open web, rather than getting stuck learning single-platform technologies that don’t carry over. (e.g. Learning CSS and DOM layouts versus Xcode’s autolayout)

4.Progressive Web Apps: This is a big trend on Google and Ionic’s radar, and it seems like Ionic is uniquely positioned to let you build app-class web experiences that can also be published in the App Store.

5.If you are bootstrapping a start-up and want to cut development time and cost by leveraging existing skill sets, Ionic is one of the best choices. Ionic creates apps for iOS, Android and Windows. It has default CSS that changes between versions for a Native experience. And all this can be done in JavaScript which is one of the most common programming languages known by developers now because of its ubiquity on the web. There are other frameworks around now that can achieve this in different languages, but most of them are not as popular or have as much support. So unless you have a specific reason you need to use python, Ruby, C++, Java etc. stick with Ionic or React Native in JavaScript or Xamarin in C#. Those are the most mature communities for cross-platform apps.

6. If you are new to web/mobile development the skills you will learn making things with Ionic will take you a lot further than what you will get with native. JavaScript is everywhere. It is more popular than Swift, and more importantly, it can be used for a lot more things. Java is really popular as well, but in my opinion, JavaScript seems to be slowly taking over Java’s position in the web development world. Companies that were built on java will stick around for a long time, but many new ones are being built on stuff like JavaScript, Ruby, Go and the like. And yes that list will be different in a few years, but Java will not be making it back on, and JavaScript will be the longest lasting one that is around for now.

7.Ionic Community: There’s a community of over 30,000 members on the Ionic forum, an active Slack Channel, and Ionic is the 45th or so most popular/starred repo on Github.

How to Install Ionic Framework

Make sure you have an up-to-date version of Node.js installed on your machine. If you don't have Node.js installed.

Open the command prompt and verify the Node.js version by using the command node -v.

To install Cordova and Ionic, use - npm install -g cordova ionic.

Make sure to install the latest version of JDK and Android Studio IDE for Android development.

To create a new project, use - ionic start projectname template.

Inside the project folder, you can add Android/iOS platform based on your development using the command - ionic cordova platform add android.

After these code changes are done, you can generate the required .apk file with the command - ionic cordova build android.

Once the .apk file is generated successfully, you deploy the file on a real device and do the testing, or you can test it as a web application using a browser.

To run it in a browser, use - ionic serve.

To run it on a device, use - ionic Cordova run android -device.

Finally, play with Ionic!

Comparison between Ionic Framework to Others Framework like PhoneGap

Ionic Framework-

Open source

 It’s Javascript, HTML and CSS

 Cordova is an engine which runs PhoneGap

UI Components is awesome

Application type: Hybrid

Supported Platforms- Android, IOS, Windows, BlackBerry

Enable features, such as push notifications, A/B testing, analytics, Code deploys and Automated builds.

PhoneGap-

Open source

It’s Javascript, HTML and CSS

Cordova is an engine which runs Ionic

Lack of pre-built UI widgets

Application type: Native

Supported Platforms- Apple IOS , Bada,  BlackBerry, Firefox OS, Google Android, LG webOS, Micresoft Windows Phone (7 and 8), Nokia Symbian OS, Tizen (SDK 2.x) and Ubuntu Touch.

Enable features, Such as internet connectivity validation, Animations, List view, Facebook SDK support, Push Notifications, Device Detection, and Geolocation. According to Google Trends Ionic has gained its popularity day by day till 2018 where as other Frameworks fall down compared. To get more details about this technologies you can contact us through our website www.webhawksindia.com

[maxleyrosebud]

Max and Bradley Comparison - Part 1 : Max Goof reputation

In AEGM, Max Goof and Bradley Uppercrust the Third are Rivals in the College X games competition and are presented as opposites. But like most rivals in fiction , they often do have similarities and are meant to contrast well together as foils. 

In this series we're going to explore Max and Bradley as characters and what they might have in common with each other.

For Part One, Two and Three we are just going to focus solely on Max. So if you love Max or just wanna learn more about him then here ya go :D 

Max’s bad reputation 

In A goofy Movie , Max claims while singing that people have been laughing at him since he can remember and refers to himself as Maxie the geek and Goof of the week- “They’ve been laughing since I can remember, but they’re not gonna laugh anymore! No more "Maxie the geek"! No more "Goof of the week" like before!”

Other names that Max has been called by while growing up are loser , geek , goofball , dweeb , goof , dork etc. Here are some examples.

A Goofy Movie

“No more looking at Loser’s like him”- Highschool class mate

“It’s dork and dork Junior”- Kid making fun of Max and Goofy

Goof Troop episodes 

“Hey. Wild Rider’s not for Goofballs”- Butch 

“Hey Lardo, where’s your pal , the little goofball”- Tooth to PJ

“No dweebs on the Pharaohs turf”. - Duke

“I smell a couple of geeky dweebs”- Duke 

“And you. Don’t you let me catch you , lettin him make you look like a geek again!”-Pete to PJ

Not only has Max been laughed at and name called, but he has also had his allowance stolen from bullies like Leech and from a classmate named Tooth.

What makes this worse is that Goofy and Max aren't as financially well off like other middle class house holds , so Max getting his money taken away puts him in a worse situation compared to other kids who may have gotten their money taken too. 

“Sorry I don't have any lunch money on me but it’s saturday”- Max to Leech 

“That day , all I had was three quarters and a serious problem named Tooth. Big for his age? This guy would've been big for the stone age. His motto, pay up or get beat up.”- Max

“You mean the goofball whose money you always steal?” - PJ to Tooth 

At high school , it's also shown that Max's has had his lunch taken away.

Now , It’s bad enough that Max has experienced bullying from his classmates as a kid and as a teenager in high school. But as a 11 year old kid in the Goof Troop series , Max has also gotten bullied by actual adults such as Leech , Duke ( for six months ) and Butch. 

Even Pete to some extent as Pete got joy from telling Max that Santa Claus isn’t real and through out The Goof Troop show and A Goofy movie he doesn't even seem to care if he upsets or says anything negative towards Max in general. 

“(Laugh) Ain’t that quaint. The Goofbrain thinks there’s a Santy claus.”-Pete to Max

So overall , Max has experienced plenty of name calling and bullying. But one contributing factor as to why Max get’s picked on is because he is related to his dad Goofy. 

Max being seen like his Dad. 

Max truly does love his dad and Goofy is a really good loving person in general. But having Goofy as a dad can sometimes be a detriment to Max as Goofy acts rather goofy , absent minded and clumsy. This eccentric behavior causes mishaps and mayhem where people either get mad at Goofy like Pete or they laugh at his expense. 

These moments tend to make Max embarrassed or make him look bad for being related to Goofy. So when people compare Max to Goofy , Max often sees this as a negative thing and gets self conscious about being a goof like his dad. 

‘Queasy Rider’

When Goofy is playing Wild rider , he accidentally smashes the arcade machine into all the other arcade machines. Butch then makes fun of Max for taking after his dad. -“Like Father , like goofball.”

‘Meanwhile , back at the ramp‘

Max doesn't think he looks like his dad but PJ disagrees and makes fun of Max for being like Goofy. This in turn makes Max annoyed and frustrated by the comparison.  

“I can’t believe you don't see it , Max! You look just like your dad!”- PJ

“Uh , I got an idea , toadstool.”- Max

“What?”- PJ

“You promise not to say that again , and I promise not to rearrange your earlobes.”-Max

“Say what? ( Mocking tone ) You look just like your dad?- PJ

“Death! That’s it!”- Max

“But you do!”- PJ

(Angry face before Max collects his composure) …

“Peej , let’s try this one last time, OK? Look at these ears. Nothin like my dad’s! Hey , look at my hair! Ditto! My chin , my eyes! Totally , totally different! PJ I’m nothing like my dad!- Max

( Max Falls of the skateboard ramp) 

“Hahahaha. Yeah! Right , Max-o. You and your dad even fall alike!” ( PJ continues to laugh)

“Cork it PJ!”- Max 

Then Later in the same episode after Pete calls Max a goof like his dad when he doesn't want Max using his skateboarding ramp, Max is pretty down by the comment and when Goofy tries to see what the matter is , Max admits that it bothers him that he is seen as a Goof like Goofy. 

“Well , if someone said you always goofed things up, what would you do?”-Max

“I usually do goof things up” - Goofy

“But , say you were related to that person?” - Max    

“It wouldn't bother me” - Goofy    

“But if it did bother you-” Max 

“Wait a minute, Max. What’re you getting at?” - Goofy    

“Pete! He said you’re a goof and I’m just like you!”-Max 

By the end of the episode , Max does accept that he looks like his dad but despite what he goes through in the episode , Max still doesn't want to be compared to his dad all that much. 

“Ah-hyuck! He’s just a chip off the old block! - Goofy referring to Max

“A small chip! Well actually , more like a…Splint. No , no , no, maybe sawdust”. - Max  

'A Goofy Movie' 

When Goofy dresses Max in a life jacket and fishing gear for the road trip , he states that Max looks just like him when he was his age but Max tells him not to say that. 

“You look just like I did at your age.”-Goofy

“Please don’t say that, Dad.”-Max

Then when both Max and Goofy are at Lester’s Possum Park , Goofy dances with Max but because everyone is laughing at them so much Max wants Goofy to stop as it’s embarrassing and he doesn't want to be laughed at.

When they finish ,a little boy then comes over and refers to Max and Goofy as Dork and Dork Junior , causing Max to look hurt by the comment and everyone to laugh more.

Max then angrily storms off and wants to try and get away from Goofy. 

‘The House of Mouse’

Another example of Max not liking to be compared to his dad is in ‘The House of Mouse’ tv series where in one episode, a Teenage Max takes the same Job Goofy has.  ( It’s a separate piece of continuity to the canon timeline of the Goof troop show and Goofy movies but I wanted to mention it anyway as a example of Max’s characterization) 

“Ah Max,that’s Great! Like Father like Son.” -Mickey

“I wish you wouldn't say that”-Max 

But it's not just bullies or Max’s classmates that make Max feel bad about being related to Goofy. Pete, who is supposed to be Goofy’s best friend , makes it very clear to Max on occasion that even being related to a Goof is a bad thing. 

‘Everything’s coming up Goofy’ and ‘Good neighbor Goof’

When Max first moved to Spoonerville and became friends with PJ , Pete wanted Goofy to not be his neighbour and therefore was against the idea of his son being friends with Max. However despite his objections to it, PJ still hangs out with Max and when Pete finds out he tells PJ that bad things will start to happen if he is friends with a Goof. 

“I’d recognize that paint-stealing stench anywhere. I smell a goof! I knew it! Goof mud! And it’s fresh! You’ve been hanging around that goof kid , haven't ya? Well , don’t you know what’ll happen if you get their germs on you? Why , your brain will shrink to the size of a mustard seed! Strange words will start creeping into your vocabulary, word’s like Gawrsh and Ah-hyuck, Ah-hyck. Ooh, and then you’ll do dumb things and then when you try to remember them , you can’t , because you’re too dumb.”- Pete 

“But…”-PJ

“No buts , boy! You just steer clear of that kid. And get out of those goof-infested clothes! Now!”-Pete  

Pete says this not knowing that Max is hanging outside the window , but regardless ,  Max still hears how negatively Pete feels about Max being a Goof. This in turn makes Max silently cry about what he just overheard.

It’s unclear if people had insulted Max for being a goof before he moved to Spoonerville , but it’s clear from this interaction that Max now understands that being a Goof is a negative association to have. 

‘Meanwhile , back at the ramp‘

After Max tries to skate on Pete’s skating ramp, Pete angrily says to Max’s face that he is a carbon copy of his dad.-“Beat it , Kid! You’re just a carbon copy of your old man anyway. A goof!”

'Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas' 

When Max believes in Santa Claus like Goofy, Pete makes fun of this and mocks Max for having the Goof gene.  

“(laugh) Like father , like Goof. Kid’s got the Goof gene coursin through his bloodstream.” - Pete

So for most of Max’s life he has received negative remarks from being Goofy’s son and for being a Goof in general.  

It’s why as a teenager in 'A Goofy Movie'  , he has a nightmare of becoming a spitting image of his dad and why Max is self conscious of having the same laugh as him.

To Max, he's scared that being anything like his dad will make him unliked and ostracized, hence why he hides his laugh and runs away from Roxanne when she hears it for the first time. 

Max wanting a fresh start at College 

In AEGM Max thinks going to College will allow him more independence and that he will no longer have to deal with his dad’s well meaning smothering over him- “Do you realize what going off to college means. No more well-meaning but totally smothering , over protective , doting , ah-yucking dad’s?”. But another reason as to why Max is looking forward to college is so he can have the chance to become popular from winning the X games - “Hey , we have a sure fire way to shoot straight to the top of the freshmen heap. The College X games.”

Due to Max being Goofy’s son in the past , Goofy has been one of the contributing factors as to why Max has been given a negative reputation . So now that Max is going to College where Goofy won't be around anymore , no one will be able to associate Max with Goofy as no one at college will know who Goofy is or that Goofy is his dad. 

To Max , College will be a clean slate where he can have a fresh start without anyone comparing him to his dad and everyone can only judge him based on his own merit. He can just be seen as Max and only Max for a change. 

But when Goofy arrives at College and barges into Max’s class room , Max literally starts freaking out.  He screams out loud at the sight of Goofy.

Starts rubbing his face in a dazed panic saying "oh no" repeatedly to himself.

Then when Goofy spots him , Max grabs and shakes Bobby to kill him as he doesn't want to experience what is happening. 

Goofy then walks over to a panicked looking Max , sits next to him , shows of his afro wig and tells everyone that Max is his son.

This of course makes everyone in the room start to laugh and Max’s expression is of pure horror.

He then screams “NOOOOOOOOO” at the top of his lungs while sitting on top of his desk covering his eyes.

(I know we all say Bradley needs therapy but honestly, Max could probably benefit from some therapy too couldn't he? )  

It’s almost like Max is having a panic attack or going through anxiety, as in this moment Max is worried that he will gain a negative reputation again for being Goofy’s son and will continue to get embarrassed by his antics. 

But there’s nothing Max can do to stop Goofy from attending College now as Goofy needs a degree to get a job. All he can do is tell Goofy that they need some ground rules. First being for Goofy to get rid of his wig as in Max’s words it’s scaring people but really it’s making Max look bad for looking uncool. 

Goofy gets the sense that Max is worried about being at College so tries to assure him that two goofs are better than one but Max isn’t pleased by this and puts more emphasis on their surname Goofs ,  like it's a bad thing. This is either because he doesn't want both of them at college or because Max is starting to associate himself with being a Goof as a bad thing again.  

“I know you're worried it might be hard to get into the swing of things around here. And well, it might be. But I figure two Goofs are better than one.”- Goofy

“Two ‘Goofs’ alright”- Max 

Max being self critical of himself

Due to Max being unpopular and being compared to his dad so negatively , Max tends to self loath on occasion and wishes he could be seen as someone who is cool instead of someone uncool so he can be perceived by everyone more positively. 

‘Queasy Rider ’

After Goofy plays poorly on the video game and knocks over the arcade machines , Goofy takes Max home to make cupcakes. But due to this embarrassing ordeal of looking bad in front of Butch and everyone else , Max thinks he is doomed to be a dweeb. 

“I hear those cupcakes a-callin!”-Goofy

“Doomed to be a dweeb”-Max 

Then once Max is at home , he mopes around in his garage and is self conscious of the fact that he will remain uncool and that this won't ever change. 

“C’mon, Max-o. You can’t hide in your garage forever.”-PJ

“Look,PJ. The world is divided into two groups. The cool guys and everybody else. Butch is cool, I’m everybody else.”- Max  

‘Leader of the Pack’

When Max finds out that his cousin Debbie is going to have his room when she stays over , he complains that it’s bad enough that he's a dweeb due to Duke not letting dweebs in the Behemoth burger restaurant but now he has to suddenly give his room up for one. 

“No. Not bad enough I gotta be a dweeb. Now I gotta give my room to one.”-Max 

‘Talent to the Max’

When Max can’t do any of his magic tricks right , he thinks pretty low of himself and starts to think he's not capable of obtaining fame and fortune for himself.-“No talent , no show. Fame and fortune , yeah right. I can’t even play the harmonica”

‘Educating Goofy’ 

Refers to his life as pathetic. - “Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe dad’s not intentionally trying to destroy what’s left of my pathetic life.” 

As a kid , Max’s self loathing isn’t too much of a problem as overall he has a confident go get attitude and plenty of spunk. But when Max is a teenager in high school he is seen as more moody by his dad and his self loathing goes up to a whole nother level where he is more critical of himself.  

A Goofy Movie 

When Max waves hi to Roxanne but she doesn't see him , he thinks she saw right through him but doesn't blame her for this as he thinks so low of himself. 

(singing) “She looked right through me! And who could blame her? - Max 

Later in the movie , Max criticizes himself for not being able to talk to Roxanne properly and for laughing like his dad Goofy. Even calls himself a spaz. - “I can’t believe I did that! She finally says "hi" to me and what do I do? I choke! Uhyuck! Like a big spaz!”

Then when Max thinks he messed up his chance to impress Roxanne with his powerline performance , he calls himself a failure and a Loser. - “ I’m a failure, complete loser! My one chance to impress Roxanne and I blew it.”-Max

Max however is successful in getting a date with Roxanne but later on has to cancel due to his dad taking him on a surprise fishing trip. So when Max goes to Roxanne’s house to tell her the bad news, Max once again thinks badly of himself - “You get and cancel your first date in less than an hour. Must be some kind of lame-o record. ” 

Later in the movie when Max and Goofy are at Lester’s Possum Park , Max refers to his life as a living hell but is cut off by the Possum costume guy saying hello before he can say hell. 

“My life’s a living ”- Max

“Hello , little Buddy”-Possum costume guy

AEGM 

When Max doesn't do well at the qualifying rounds, he doesn't think his friends would want him on the team and is self critical that they are starting in last place because of him. 

“You don't want me on the team anyway. I lost at my best event.”-Max

“If I can’t even beat my father. Who is probably the most athletically-challenged man in the universe, how can you expect me to beat the other competitors? We’re starting in last place because of me!”-Max 

Max doesn't like feeling inferior to others 

During the Goof Troop show , A goofy Movie and AEGM , Max has had moments of feelings inferior to others. 

‘Queasy Rider’  

When PJ says Butch is one cool dude for getting the high score on “Wild Rider” , Max feels challenged by this comment to show PJ how much cooler he is compared to Butch -“You wanna see coo-el? Watch me.”-Max 

‘Buddy Building’ 

Leech decides to pick on Max and PJ but they are both saved by Coopy Hatchback. Max thanks Coop but remarks “Not that I couldn't handle a wimp like Leech myself.” Then when Coop and PJ start bodybuilding together , Max is insecure about his own mussels and thinks Coop will replace him as PJ’s best friend if he is not musicalar like Coop - “If I don't grow some muscles fast , I’m gonna lose my best bud.”

‘Educating Goofy’

Due to Pete getting in Max’s head , Max starts to believe that Goofy is trying to ruin his life when Goofy attends his school and starts getting a better life and reputation compared to Max. Here are some examples form the episode.

Goofy gets nominated for student body president. But Max had wanted to get nominated. - “But I was supposed to be nominated.”

Max wanted to join Carlos and Bob’s club but they want to give it to Goofy instead even though they said Max could before.. 

“Ah,Max , we’re gonna ask your old man to join our club.”Bob

“What about me? You said I could join.”-Max

“Uh Sorry Max. But we only have one jacket. Um maybe next year”-Carlos 

Two of Max’s classmates call Goofy cool and make Goofy’s laugh into a Fad. 

“Hey,Max. Your dad’s sure cool. Ah-hyuck!”- Girl 1

“Yeah, totally. Ah-hyuck!”-Girl 2

“What’d you guys say?”-Max 

“It’s a new fad. Have a nice , ah-hyuck day!”-Girl 1

Later PJ knocks on Max’s door and Max assumes he’s there to see him to play Baseball but PJ is there to see Goofy instead. (This part was so out of character for PJ but I’m obligated  to mention it as it was in the episode.)

“Hey, Peej. I'll be right with ya.”-Max

“Yeah,yeah. Whatever. Actually , I’m here to see my best friend.”-PJ

“Huh?”-Max

“Sorry I’m late Peej.Ah-hyuck! Just oiling up my mitt. ( Falls down stairs ) Gawrsh! Must have gone a little too heavy on the 10w-30 Ah-yuck!”-Goofy 

“Yeah, I guess so. Ah-hyuck! See ya , Max”-PJ

( After PJ and Goofy leave) “I thought I was your best friend.”-Max  

Because of all this , Max wants to beat his dad at the spelling bee. - “It’s not fair! Dad’s tryin to ruin me! He’s gettin better grades , gettin better friends! But I’m not goin down without a fight. No siree. Ill beat dad at something.” 

'A Goofy Movie' 

During the assembly , Max see’s Chad asking Roxanne to the party and so Max becomes more nervous before he is about to perform and asks Bobby how it’s going with the equipment as he feels like he's running out of time.

Then later in the movie when Max tries explaining to a disappointed Roxanne why he can’t go with her on their date to the party , Roxanne tells him that she can try and find someone else.

“I’m sure I can find someone else”- Roxanne

“Someone else?” - Max

This in turn devastates Max and so in a panic of not wanting her to go with somebody else, lies about seeing Powerline’s concert in LA instead of going fishing with his dad. 

AEGM - Bradley 

When outside the Gamma Frat house , Max is looking at Bradley in awe with Bobby and PJ. But after Bobby and PJ gush about Bradley being the College X games King , Max looks at them with a frown before responding with a smile by saying - “Yeah , until we take the crown” 

Then during the scene where they are all skateboarding to the bean scene , PJ tells Max - “Cheek it out. Look who’s following us.” After Max see’s that it’s Bradley and the Gamma’s, Max responds with a smile while saying “Let’s just make sure it stays that way” as he wants Bradley and the Gamma’s to keep following him around instead of the other way around. 

Additionally , when Max and Bradley have their conflict in the Bean scene Max proclaims “Then will dethrone you and the Gamma’s your royal lowness. You’d be lucky to even be my towel boy” after Tank tells Max not to forget that Bradley is the King.

In this moment , Max is trying to make himself look better in comparison to Bradley as he is feeling challenged and doesn't want Bradley thinking that he is better than him.    

AEGM - Goofy 

Max doesn't feel like there's enough room for two goofs when Goofy becomes a more popular Skateboarder than him and steals his limelight. Even decides to transfer to a different college as a result of this. 

Max to Goofy before their midterm - “This campus just isn’t big enough for the both of us” 

Max to his friends in the bean scene” - “I’ve decided this school’s only big enough for one Goof. I’m transferring outta here.” Bobby however makes Max come to his senses and continue to compete by making a point that Max will let the people who once cheered for him, cheer for his own dad instead - “You wanna let the crowd who once cheered for you cheer for someone else? Especially when that someone else is your old man!”

It just goes to show that despite Max having such an easy going and cool demeanour that deep down , he is someone who is self conscious about how he is perceived by others and doesn't want to look inferior or be replaced. 

For now this is all I'm going to say about Max until Part 2. I know this was a little angsty and long to read but it will all be relevant and Part 2 and 3 won't be so long compared to part 1.

In Part 2 will be exploring Max's lower class background which will be out tomorrow :)

[the-firebird69]

This is what the sedan looks like it has different features but it looks cool and it looks like a very fast car and it has big rims and low profile tires. And the frame is of the body is close fitting and it's not massively lower the ground but it's like this and it does look very cool and the front end is slightly different with the two bump UPS on the side and it helps make it fast. The rear end is like this because it shaped like the Bradley GT and it is shaped like the original like this look though yes a little tone down from the supercar two-door gullwing. This is a nice sedan that the lotus and ours is very nice too except ours is faster. The sedan is off of regular sedan but if we use it on the Dodge and have a four-door car it's 300 horsepower and we used our shell and it's metal and it's very safe it's safer than most cars on the road by comparison and you put on the new kit everything it would look really new and like this Legos about 750 mph and this particular lotus top speed it's about 3:50 and it won't go any further even though the design is close it has about 350 horsepower it's just not there this is the rear end it's designed for the rear end it makes a difference this is a special car and people want to buy it and we want to sell it and we're looking for is a way to get it to you you're more like don't want you to have it. So he suggest a compromise with us and bja says I need they need a nice sedan it's kind of a rebel model so we could make them out of a factory and ship the kits to Australia and some go to the USA and Trump says he would need kits for New Zealand and Mac probably doesn't care if they go there and it's kind of a weird way of protecting the car they're looking at it and thinking you can produce them here and bring the chassis down and that's the idea and was bja he is chassis there tons of them is this particular size vehicle and it's Dodge they make a lot of them down there and just sitting body a little bit. So we're going to come up with some kind of agreement between the two islands and the factory and it's kind of like them in the clothes they're fighting over here but over here is doing stuff together and they get it

Thor Freya

We'll see if it's outstanding it's a good idea and they're not really sending chassis they're sending just a kit and we will monitor it and we want the chassis in the kit together so let me sending us kits or fully assembled vehicles and we're in the factors of course foreigners are too and this might replicate all over the place and they need a lot of cars those people are a mess this would ridiculous and so fast it shouldn't really do it but there's a smaller version of the four-door so I could BMW size my grand nephew says.. and Max is the last three lines and really it's true so we're going to see if this works

Thor Freya

We need those things and we will put the effort into assemble them if they make them and we want them pretty badly and we're putting in for it

Bja

We need them too it's an outstanding idea doesn't really make any money from it but it's a really cool car I've never seen anything like this vehicle that just goes fast it says you should have seen the pinewood derby the Cub scouts in westborough. And I was there and I was amazed he won every race they look at the car nice and I was astounded then I said he cheated and he was upset is looking at it and he wieghed many times at home, and there and couldn't tell why it was heavier they pulled something out of it and said what is this he went to his dad his dad said just put it away she put his pocket in the left someone to buy one of these this is a story it's Billy z who did it to him and he wants me to have one so we can set up an agreement and it's the truth at the factory and sending us kids and bja and people here and we are going to go ahead and do that and it sounds like we would probably have most of sales the max aren't too big to it cuz they go to Australia and they pretty much will stay there and I like that too New Zealand we look into it

Trump

I like this idea too and I'm from one of the islands and I have people there and they want the vehicle they're huge vehicle down there it's got a giant following. And we'd be in competition to buy them not destroy them so he's going to try and get that going

Gaga

We hv a facility in Texas and it's ours. And we can assemble them there. He says that this is some kind of issue of contention with us putting stolen chassis there so Mac can take the chassis and assemble the elsewhere he just wanted to assemble the car fully to look classy and Max is smiling and it's a good idea some people will take what they can out of there and salvage it and they all kind of owned it and we did too but it will sell the kit for the ones to take them pretty much and we know it's going to come out and when and usually how it gets broken out so getting ready to do this and we think that most what order is the sedan and he says that it's going to be a supercar peppered in there somewhere and it's true hands you're having a tough time it's a big war why not leave the owner of the fastest car on earth and I can't do it if people don't let me build it and that was our son. They like the above idea and we're going to sit down and have talks

Thor Freya

He said we'll sit down with Brian and McDonald's and PJs tell him to F off but it's kind of funny cuz he almost did and he had to catch himself.

Mac

Okay okay see you one one but no you don't want to assemble it and we get that you get the kid too so it doesn't look like they're partial and also not assembling something illegal and that makes sense

Bja

I'm going to pull ours out and we're going to get this done and I'm going to place an order and I'm going to show that we have it and they want to send a sample and it would be a real car of course and they want to meet probably in LA at a car area so I do see that so cool idea I'm just an area where they do that and it's near la

Trump

Were for doing that as well and you'll be by appointment. And a different day please.

Mac

We're going to have it in Texas I will do the different days and we have a track there and we want to show you what's a really like on certain chassis because there are several that you guys will have each this Dodge Chevy Ford and you each have an area and different amounts for area and roughly comes out that way and the chassis and rolling chassis with motors and really they're just going to go to ruin if someone doesn't do something and her son wants to start a business and we have started his name so he has funding if he needs it and people don't mind because of the car they don't like they all think it's their car it's kind of a fight but we're going to go ahead and do this and different days and today is Wednesday tomorrow is jose at the doctor. It's probably a good day for him today could be bja and Trump may be at a different time cuz they clear out pretty quick and other groups will follow then Arnold can probably go in the same day Mac does but earlier and Max is a great idea so we're going to go ahead and watch this and that was our son the last sentence and daughter. And really the plant is going to make the kits. And after time he says we'll make tires and rims but right now they're just going to stop the stock the ones that fit and actually they're from parts out there that's another thing it's kind of like a hodgepodge of stuff out there and we can buy some of it it's kind of weird activity but he says it'll be a car company and the name is valuable and how it works is valuable and our people like it you can take this what the body or hull you can put it on top of a Lamborghini chassis Bradley GT mid-engine configuration and it'll go faster than Lamborghini that's one reason why we want to do it you can't drive around in it if there aren't others and enough of the other types of vehicles and other people want them to go fast Max wants everything they want to call people in and take them and they think they can it's going to start now because we have the idea and no it's not corpus Christi very funny though but the showroom there and he wants to he wants to put the display around where we're going to meet and the showroom and people don't mind cuz it's a nice town it's really a city it has all the amenities and it's a neutral area. They're saying it's out of the park

Thor Freya

It's your brother you idiot you're not sacrificing us you moron good God this guy's a wacko perfect okay

Mac

[jehricurlz24-blog]

I have some NBA fan fiction/theories to share with you all. Buckle up for the bumpy ride:

This summer, LeBron James will turn heel once again. For two reasons: One, the Cavaliers are a dumpster fire, and two, he wants to put the Jordan comparisons to bed and prove he is in fact the greatest basketball player to ever grace the planet. For these reasons, LeBron will do the unthinkable and break the internet by joining the Golden State Warriors. I know what you’re thinking. “Bradley, you’re off your rocker there’s no way this will actually happen”. While this may be true, I am convicted in my theory. This will cause a massive trickle-down effect on the entire league and create one of the most soap-opera/revenge-driven free agency moves in recent memory.

In order to accommodate for cap space to sign KD and LeBron this summer, Golden State will have to cut ties with someone. That someone is Klay Thompson. He’s the only core player for GS that has not inked a new deal. It also makes sense for another reason: Klay’s chance to prove himself that he’s a franchise star that you can either build a team around, or be the piece that puts your team over the top. Think about it: Klay has long been overshadowed by his equally stellar teammates for his entire career. Why wouldn’t he want to go prove himself elsewhere and take a max deal to be a star player and be the 1A or 1B option for a team? Remember the James Harden power move? It’s going to happen.

“But Bradley, that’s crazy! Where would he go? You’re nuts!”. Again, I’m not denying this (just be glad I’m not sipping IPAs while this is being typed) but I stand convicted in my theory. I have seen the writing on the wall. This series of events and moves will lead Klay to sign with the Boston Celtics.

Think about it: A league where you have the Batmen of the Western Conference vs. the Robins of the Eastern Conference. A league where LeBron says “f*ck it, I can’t beat these dudes. I’ll join them, make it to 15 straight finals and win 7 titles. Then we’ll see how much more these m’fers like Jordan.” A league where it is truly the most heel team ever assembled against the glorified second fiddles who are out to prove the whole world that they were wrong and that the Earth is actually flat (get it, because of Kyrie? Anyways..). On one side you have a lineup of Sith Lord Steph, KD, and LeBron against the young Padawans Kyrie, Klay, and Gordon Hayward. The Vegas Lizard overlords are drooling as we speak. Professor Xavier (Aka Adam Silver) is foaming at the mouth thinking about the revenue this would produce for the NBA. It’s madness, but it’s a beautiful dream of mine that I want to scream into existence. It doesn’t stop there, though. That would be too easy. The summers following would be in even more disarray..

To round off my theory, Russ Westbrook would turn heel (but also bury the hatchet with his former BFF, KD) and join Golden State. This would result in James Harden joining the Robins in Boston to seek revenge on his two former big brothers and teammates (in OKC). AD, PG, and Kawhi are going to be like “screw this, let’s go to LA” and Giannis will join the 76ers in the East and create a team that features 3 Ents (that’s tree people for all of you who didn’t catch the LOTR reference) on the court at the same time to rival the Boston crew. It will be the greatest series of events to ever grace the NBA.

**Disclaimer: None of this will happen, probably. But MAN, can you imagine if it did?

[mobappdevelopmentcompany]

Ionic or Flutter: Which App Development Framework should you choose for your Next Project?

The digital revolution has gifted the software industry with a plethora of outstanding app development frameworks. As a consequence, choosing the right framework for app development has become a herculean task for app creators. Ionic and Flutter are two such frameworks that utterly confuse the app creators striving hard to pick a framework for architecting cross-platform applications. Picking one out of these frameworks becomes all the more intriguing since they appear quite similar, but are in reality way different from each other. However, both Flutter and Ionic app development come with novel offerings and cater to specific project requirements. Hence, you need to be well versed in their similarities as well as differences to pick the right one.

This blog compares Ionic and Flutter based on certain parameters, to provide the entrepreneurs with clear visibility about their strengths as well as drawbacks and help them decide the perfect pick for their project.

Before we move on to compare Ionic and Flutter, let me provide you a brief introduction to these frameworks.

Introducing the Ionic Framework

The Ionic framework was coined by Ben Sperry, Adam Bradley, and Max Lynch of the Drifty Co. in the year 2013 and its first stable version was launched in March 2014. Ionic is an open-sourced UI toolkit that uses web technologies like JavaScript, CSS and HTML; to architect top-notch desktop, mobile and progressive web applications. Ionic primarily focuses on the front-end UX and UI interaction and hence plays a vital role in handling the look and feel of an app. Not only is it capable of easily integrating with other frameworks and libraries like Cordova, Angular, etc. but also can be used independently without the support of a front-end framework.

Introducing the Flutter Framework

Flutter, Google’s brainchild, is a relatively newer framework as compared to Ionic and is still evolving. It was created in May 2017 and is currently managed by Google with the help of an ECMA standard. Flutter is a UI toolkit that employs Dart programming languages to build swift, attractive and natively compiled cross-platform apps. Flutter was introduced as a Software Development Kit (SDK) intended to build modern apps for Android and iOS. In the case of Android Studio, integration is done with inbuilt Java, while Swift and Objective C integration is done in the case of iOS.

Similarities between Flutter and Ionic app development services

Flutter and Ionic may be way different from each other but share certain similarities too. They are as follows:

Both build cross-platform applications that run on desktops, mobiles as well as the web.

Both employ a single codebase to create interactive and high-performing apps.

Both impart an incredible native look and feel as their primary focus lies in creating UI frameworks for native platforms.

Both frameworks have a well-organized documentation for developers.

Differences between Ionic and Flutter app development services

Now let’s explore the differences between Ionic and Flutter based on the following parameters.

Skillset: Market value

The skillset required to use Ionic involves learning JavaScript and other general web technologies that are needed for any web app development project regardless of the framework used. But, learning Dart for using Flutter will not prove useful for projects involving other frameworks. Moreover, Flutter posseses a highly-custom environment. Hence, a Flutter app developer needs to master certain unique methodologies that are time-consuming and applicable to Flutter app development only. Furthermore, the requirement for Dart developers in the coming years largely depends on whether the newbie Flutter, will succeed as a viable solution in the future.

Hence, acquiring an Ionic skillset proves to be a safer bet for a developer. Besides, its more convenient to hire Ionic app developers as this kind of skillset is easier to find.

Portability of the code

Let’s have a look at how the codes of Flutter and Ionic behave in various eco-systems, OS and processors. Flutter development leads to the creation of visually appealing Android and iOS apps. It is a great choice for mobile apps but encounters limitations when deployed on the web. Ionic, on the other hand, creates fairly good mobile apps and exceptionally good web apps. Therefore, if you are planning to build PWAs or web apps, picking Ionic is advisable.

User Interface

Flutter has attractive user interface in comparison to Ionic because Ionic uses HTML and CSS for rendering. Flutter has widgets as part of UI elements whereas Ionic has Web Components.

Performance

Flutter fares well if your application requires exclusive animation whereas Ionic serves better if you intend to architect an app that is more consumer-facing. Ionic employs primitives and the runtimes of the standard browser, hence the bundle size is 2991 bytes whereas Flutter requires a heavy code for building even a basic application.

Flutter uses Dart language and since it does require JavaScript Bridge for interactions between the app, the performance is far better. Ionic uses Web technologies for rendering, and hence the performance is much lower.

Mobile performance is better in Flutter in comparison to Ionic. Web performance is poorer in Flutter than Ionic.

Free usage of libraries

The Flutter app developers can use Flutter’s libraries and system technologies free of cost. In Ionic, several libraries are free but a paid Pro Development Environment is needed for speeding up the developmental cycle.

Community support

As far as community support is concerned, Ionic surpasses Flutter. Flutter being a newbie lacks strong community support while Ionic enjoys the support from a dynamic global community that assists Ionic app developers to solve problems. However, owing to Google’s continual effort, Flutter also may develop a vibrant community in the years to come.

Future-friendliness

Now let’s discuss these frameworks from the perspective of the flexibility and freedom offered once the app matures. Flutter app development may turn out to be a bit risky. The reason is, if by any chance Google shuns Flutter, a Flutter app Development Company will be left with a code base and skillset that are homeless, though such a situation is least likely. Ionic mobile app development on the other hand is based on open web standards and relies on web components. So, it can be used with any existing JS framework or compatible future framework if the app creators choose to create apps for other platforms or use the code for other projects.

Conclusion

I hope this blog has enlightened you about how the custom-based approach of Flutter differs from the web-based approach of Ionic. Both of these cross-platform app development frameworks are distinctive in their way. Therefore, whether to opt for an Ionic mobile app development company or a Flutter app development company solely depends on your project requirement.

To know more about our other core technologies, refer to links below

Angular app Development Company

React Native App Development Company

Blockchain App Development

[instaittech]

Flutter or Ionic - Which one to Prefer and Why

Flutter and Ionic are 2 leading technologies that are majorly used in the arena of mobile application development for both iOS and Android platforms.

They empower the developers to prototype and publish compiles applications for desktop, web, mobile, etc. with just one programming language and single codebase.

Both these frameworks are highly popular and widely used frameworks in the world of mobile and web application development.

Let us begin with understanding both these frameworks one by one followed by the major differences persisting between them, proceeded by the points as to which one should you go for:-

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a cross-platform UI toolkit that enables the developers to create and build fast, attractive, natively compiled applications for mobile and web with the usage of Dart programming languages.

It develops the application with just one programming language and a single codebase. It is a completely free and open-source framework developed by Google.

Google introduced it as a software development kit commonly known as the SDK to create advanced and convenient mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Flutter is one of the most competitive SDK that gives tough competition to several cross-platform application development tools including the highly popular React Native.

Flutter is a user interface software development kit used for developing mobile applications using just a single code Dart. It is blended with the inbuilt Java Code on Android and Objective C and Swift on iOS.

Key Advantages Of Flutter

It is supported and backed by Google.

It has numerous ready-made widgets.

It offers relatively easy prototyping.

It is very similar to the react-native framework where the developers do not necessarily require to update the UI content manually again and again.

It supports the Hot-Reload feature that makes the complete application development process remarkably swift and fast.

It diminishes the time and effort required for testing because of its wonderful cross-platform characteristic.

It has an exceptional user interface because it makes use of a design-centric widget and a bunch of advanced APIs.

This was all about Flutter, now, let us see what Ionic has to offer.

What Is Ionic?

Ionic framework is an open-source UI toolkit used for developing high-quality mobile, desktop, and even web applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, etc.

It comprises of a wonderful feature to build once and run everywhere. It was invented by the competent team of Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co. in the year 2013.

It mainly renders focus on the front-end user experience which handles all the appearance, appeal, and feel of the app. It is very easy to learn and can be combined with numerous other libraries or frameworks including Angular, Cordova, etc. It is an excellent framework that can also be applied as a standalone without a front-end framework using a simple script include which focuses on enhancing and improving the front-end user experience.

Key Advantages Of Ionic

It is easy to learn because it demands a basic knowledge of CSS, HTML, or JavaScript technologies to build and develop applications.

It supports the cross-platform trait that can deploy the applications on multiple platforms with just a single codebase.

It is built on Angular that renders many functionalities to the application developer for crafting an application.

It stimulates beautiful UI designs with a pretty simple framework.

It is compatible with many frameworks including React and Vue as well.

So, now you are pretty much familiar with both the terms of Flutter and Ionic. Now, let us see those points that differentiate both of them:-

Flutter was introduced and released by Google and Ionic was formed by a team of three members namely created by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley.

Flutter was launched in the year 2017 in May whereas Ionic was introduced in the year 2014 in the month of March.

Flutter makes use of Dart programming to develop mobile apps while Ionic uses web technologies such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript for building applications for web, desktop, and mobile.

Flutter will run by Custom Graphics Engine and on the other hand, Ionic runs in a Web browser.

Flutter's performance is brilliant as it uses Dart programming and requires absolutely no to use of JavaScript Bridge for commencing interactions with the applications. On the other hand, Ionic's performance is a bit slow because it makes use of web technologies for administering an application which diminishes the speed of the application.

In Flutter, it becomes a must for the developers to learn Dart programming to build an app while Ionic can be used easily as it uses web technologies only for developing an application.

Flutter's UI elements consist of widgets and Ionic's UI elements consist of web components.

Flutter has very well organized documentation where we can access everything that we want in just one place. Ionic too renders well-structured documentation to the developers.

Flutter has an outstanding user interface in comparison to Ionic.

So, these were all the prominent differences between Flutter and Ionic. Now, have a look at the below-mentioned points and see which one should you choose from between the two:-

Code Portability

With Flutter, you can build appealing iOS and Android applications from a single set of code. But If you need to deploy your application as a PWA, you should choose to work on Ionic.

Knowledge

If if you have sufficient knowledge about Dart and are comfortable using the same, you must go for Flutter. But if not, choose to opt for Ionic.

Performance

If you are looking for independent animation, going for Flutter is possibly the best option. But, if you are planning to build a more user-friendly application, choose to work with Ionic.

Sustainability

On comparing Flutter and Ionic, projects built on Ionic have proven to be more sustainable than Flutter.

Hence consider all the above-mentioned points and choose the one that fits all of your application development requirements. Both Flutter and Ionic have their own pros and cons, so choose carefully before you make your decision.

Source: https://www.instaittech.com/blog/technology/flutter-or-ionic-which-one-to-prefer-and-why/

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 30/01/2021 (Wellerman, Fredo, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA)

I’ve never been more thankful for a song being this big – “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo spends a third week at #1, blocking “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI at #2. Thank God. Anyway, we’ve got 10 new arrivals so let’s cut the chit-chat and start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

Of course, after this brief rundown we always do. Thankfully, the site actually updated last week, so I can go through this as routinely as possible. For drop-outs, it’s a lot of recent new arrivals falling out either off the debut or a few weeks after – most of them being pretty crap – but we do have some notable drop-outs, like “Forever Young” by Becky Hill, “Plugged In Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer, “pov” by Ariana Grande, “Love is a Compass” by Griff, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit and Mabel featuring 24kGoldn, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur, and finally, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Now to move onto the chart proper, we do have some movement to discuss. Firstly, we have some fallers, those being “Dynamite” by BTS at #32, “positions” by Ariana Grande at #39, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #41, “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #43 off of the return, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #46, “Best Friend” by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat at #47, “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #48, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #51, “Wellerman” by the Longest Johns practically being replaced at #52 (We’ll discuss this more later), “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #53, “Notorious” by Bugzy Malone and Chip at #55, “Looking for Me” by Paul Woodford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax at #60, “Bad Boy” by the late Juice WRLD and Young Thug unfortunately purging to #62, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #67, “Pinging (6 Figures)” by Central Cee crashing off of the debut to #72 and “Diamonds” by Sam Smith at #74, joining our two returning entries – which are just older songs getting another brief pick-up at the bottom of the charts. Those are “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper at #75 and #73 respectively, by the way. Oh, and we also have “Martin & Gina” by Polo G at #65, but I honestly can’t see that song going anywhere – and I really like it. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have any gains, however, as finally, we can see some rising hits trying to fill in the cracks, like both of Rudimental’s debuts from last week: “Be the One” with MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D is up to #58, whilst the incredibly worse single “Regardless” with RAYE is cracking into the top 40 at #40. Sigh, well, we do have some more promising gains, like... “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals at #38? “Friday” by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Musafa & Hypeman at #37 off of the debut? Okay, 2021 might end up being pretty rough, huh? Thankfully, we have a plentiful amount of new arrivals to waive any of my fears, so let’s just start with those.

NEW ARRIVALS

#70 – “Overpriced” – M Huncho

Produced by Quincy Tellem

Oh, come on! Okay, so this is M Huncho, UK trao’s answer to the late MF DOOM, except without any of the lyrical complexity, storytelling abilities, genuine wit, charming sampling and production techniques, brilliant discography... he’s pretty much just a guy whose main gimmick is the mask, and it’s on this single cover too, seemingly in a museum. This song in particular is just one of these melodic trap cuts with wavy acoustic guitars blended with synths beyond recognition, topped off with odd bass mastering and a checked-out performance from M Huncho, who spends way too much time on his verses going “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo”, before the beat switches for a verse that fades out after like 20 seconds. What’s the point of any of this, honestly? It’s not awful – the bass does kind of knock – but I really don’t understand why this is here, or why M Huncho is a big name. It’s not even as good as AJ Tracey’s trap bangers and it’s not even as funny as D-Block Europe, which I’m surprised by, considering that he had his own stupid hit with “Pee Pee” around this time last year, and that song was actually good. Also, M Huncho, what do you think your fans get from you dissing them? If you’re going to brag about your “house by the lake” and then rap about how some unnamed individual “still lives at their mum’s in a council estate”, consider that a lot of your audience will still live with their parents in council housing or be surrounded by people who do. Someone who really came from poverty should know that this is classist and disrespectful to your own demographic. Yeah, this is worthless. Why’s this guy still charting? At least Young Adz knows how to write a hook.

#65 – “New Love” – Silk City and Ellie Goulding

Produced by Silk City and Picard Brothers

Okay, so we do have some energy on the chart – or at least half of the credited acts have. Silk City is a duo of producers, those being Diplo, a true weirdo in mainstream EDM who’s honestly kind of fascinating and oftentimes a fluke genius (especially in its work in Major Lazer and Jack U with Skrillex), and Mark Ronson, one of the greatest producers of the 21st century so far, probably most known for “Uptown Funk!”. These guys did have a hit together with Dua Lipa in 2018 in the form of “Electricity”, but it’s been a while and I’m interested to see how they work with the complete non-presence that is Ellie Goulding. It’s with some level of disappointment that I say that she’s not a non-presence here, as this is otherwise a pretty neat house tune with some excellent 90s keys and a deep-house groove I think is pretty fun. The strings in the pre-chorus are great and build-up to a fantastic chorus... or at least the instrumental is fantastic, because Goulding is a waste here, mixed way too high and honestly just faltering her vocals here. She sounds awkward through multi-tracking and even worse without it, as she clearly goes for a rough swagger that cannot work with her light, almost fairy-like voice she’s relied on much of her career. The intricacies of this production are really admirable, but Goulding was clearly an afterthought. With a real diva on vocals, or honestly just a sample of a soul or diva house track, this could be excellent. As it is, I’m bored. Next.

#63 – “Typhoons” – Royal Blood

Produced by Royal Blood

Oh, okay. Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Royal Blood are an English garage rock duo that rock pretty hard, and don’t go for anything else beyond that, which to me is a breath of fresh air, and, yeah, this is good. Is it as good as their debut? Of course not, their biggest hit “Figure it Out” is still incredible, and this one goes for a more synthesized 70s feel, even accentuated by disco keys in the pre-chorus. The riffs are still here though, as that main guitar line is pretty awesome. I see this as a mix of garage rock revival bands from the 2000s like the White Stripes, as well as some stoner-adjacent bands like Queens of the Stone Age, with a more classic hard-rock groove and Mike Kerr’s signature yelp, and it works for what it is, so I’m excited for that upcoming single. Nothing’s particularly impressive here, but I’ll definitely go for this over the rest of what we have charting, so I’m not complaining. This is good, you should check these guys out, even if they tend to be a bit derivative. That tense bridge with the looming background vocals and intensifying riff is genuinely epic, by the way, even if there isn’t much more of a pay-off behind just... the chorus again, which ends up rendering as flat as a result. Regardless, it’s a good break from the norm – which for a chart week like this, I’m especially glad is here.

#61 – “Your Love (9PM)” – ATB, Topic and A75

Produced by ATB, Topic and Rudi Dittmann

German DJ ATB was showing his girlfriend his new recording studio when he got carried away with a single guitar sound and made a song out of it, “9PM (Till I Come)”, named after the time the track was finished. Later on, he took the track and added some whispered vocals from Spanish model Yolanda Riviera. This happened in 1999, by the way, when this song was released to great success in Europe, leading to a hilariously dated album cover but still a UK #1. The song is honestly kind of bad, relying on a pretty typical house groove, ugly MIDI guitars and that seductive vocal loop. Regardless, since 90s nostalgia has come way too fast, Topic has remixed the track with A75, a collaboration we’ve seen before on “Breaking Me” from last year, which sucked. To be fair, the original song is pretty empty, so I’m interested to hear A75 add some vocals... and he just sounds pained over a deep-house rip of the original. The ugly MIDI melody stays, just now it’s drowned out and even more synthesized – this is the guitar sound you liked so much? I hope she left you. Let’s move on.

#59 – “My Head & My Heart” – Ava Max

Produced by Jonas Blue, Earwulf and Cirkut

Speaking of being bored, here’s pop singer Ava Max, with a new lead single from the deluxe edition of her debut studio album, Heaven & Hell. This one’s produced by Jonas Blue, which, alongside a redundant “Jonas Blue remix”, is probably why it’s charting. What’s sad is it’s not really very good, as the vocals are over-processed over fake hand-claps and clipping mixes that make those plastic synths sound even worse. Admittedly, I like the rubbery future bass-esque bass line here, but that’s really as far as my appreciation for this goes, as the writing is non-existent, and Ava Max is barely here. It’s honestly really similar to “New Love”, except this one’s not even as interesting as that track, going for an exhaustingly tired house-pop style that while she is a natural fit for, it does make the 2000s synth-pop she started with sound inspired in comparison. Oh, and the “Jonas Blue remix” is practically a glorified bass-boost that makes this sound even uglier, so, yeah, skip this.

#42 – “Apricots” – Bicep

Produced by Bicep

Bicep is a Northern Irish electronic duo from Belfast, and this is an instrumental from their most recent album, Isles, which clearly must have stood out enough for it to debut at #42. I can understand why too, as that sample from Hugh Tracey’s African music recordings, particularly the vocal sample used, is really infectious and interesting. I don’t think everything surrounding it is enough to really make it less annoying, as it running through nearly the entirety of a four-minute track makes this sample lose its lustre too quickly. It runs its course far before the song has the chance to build up into a house track, with that sample crushing everything that isn’t the percussion in the mix anyway. The keys are really cool, and I can’t fault the strings and ambiance that keeps the song building up for as long as it does. It also takes a sample from a Bulgarian folk choir, which they paralleled to the Celtic folk they grew up hearing, and honestly, this is just a cool blending of global music rather than an actually good song, ending with me respecting this more than actually enjoying it. The synths by the end sound fantastic as does the Bulgarian chanting, but it doesn’t really have a great climax or drop to make the build-up worth it, defaulting to a generic house groove by the end that fades out before it can have any real impact. So, yeah, this isn’t bad, but feels like a waste of some really great ideas. I guess I can say that “Northern Irish remix of an English ethnomusicologist’s recordings of African music that also samples a Bulgarian folk tune” isn’t quite as much of a developed idea as “Kazakh remix of an American rapper of Guyanese descent’s trap song in a Brazilian house style released on a Russian record label”.

#35 – “Lo Vas A Olvidar” – Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA

Produced by FINNEAS

It’s not often that songs in non-English languages chart in the UK. Whilst in the US, Latin music is such a force that it’ll launch hits for many Spanish-speaking artists, this isn’t the case in decidedly smaller Britain, where a still multicultural society tends to produce art that is always in English. To be fair, we don’t have a place like Puerto Rico, and the few songs I’ve talked about this year that have been in a different language... well, basically the one song I can remember off the top of my head, was in a Nigerian Creole language. So, why’s a Spanish song by Spanish artist ROSALÍA charting so high? Well, it’s also a Billie Eilish song, and it’s also from the HBO teen drama Euphoria. Yeah, a teen drama makes a lot of sense for Eilish to soundtrack. This has been teased since 2019, and is actually ROSALÍA’s first song to chart here in the UK, so is it any good? Well, yeah, actually, it is. Both Eilish and ROSALÍA have excellent whispery tones that complement FINNEAS’ muted, ambient production perfectly, and their harmonisation sounds great, with both singing in Spanish here for the most part. That chorus is pretty janky, though, and I don’t really see the point in the Auto-Tuned interludes, even if they both sound great playing off of each other with a lot of tuning in the outro. This is pretty minimal and dare I say awkward, kind of eerie, so I don’t see it sticking around, but as a longing break-up track, they both sell it well. Next.

#28 – “Skin” – Sabrina Carpenter

Produced by Ryan McMahon

Joshua Bassett’s response flopped immensely, meaning that now it’s Sabrina Carpenter’s time to shine, because if it’s anything she gets out of this Disney love triangle, it’s a hit song, and people clearly want to hear more from the women than they do from Josh. Telling. Now I’m not one to follow Disney teen drama because this is all a marketing gimmick. I mean, the songs dropped every Friday so anyone who can’t see through this is either blind or... a child, and considering the audience, that second one is more likely, which is fine. Popular music is, ultimately, in the hands of teenagers and record executives, and all of these break-up response diss track... things, tend to feed into both hands, whilst also giving these talented young actors a bigger break. This is Carpenter’s first charting hit in the UK, after all. The song is decidedly worse than “drivers license” though, and by a lot, as the mixing here isn’t even competent, as Carpenter’s voice clips through these ugly pianos, worsened by how her voice does not sound great here at all, as she struggles through that terrible chorus. She may say that this isn’t a response to Rodrigo, but given the lyrics and how quickly this rushed release was put out, are we really supposed to believe that? The percussion here is gross as well, drowned in bad reverb that makes this just sound grey and dull. The strings building up to a climax are barely there, and when they are, they sound like they’re elevating a really garbage performance from Carpenter, who can barely keep up. This is supposed to be a ballad yet it sounds so stiff and controlled, meaning that Carpenter trying to let loose on the vocals makes this awkward and painful. I’m sorry, but this is really bad, and I hope it doesn’t stick around. Thankfully, I don’t see that happening.

#20 – “Back to Basics” – Fredo

Produced by Dave

Lil Chocolate Frog’s got a new record out this week that I’ve yet to hear, and this is the lead single, produced by his long-time friend and collaborator, Dave – who’s awesome. I’ve typically been less kind to his mate Fredo but honestly, his ever so slightly off-kilter style has grown on me too, and this song is a pretty good introduction to that. It’s one verse over rattling trap hi-hats and a really eerie vocal sample, and Fredo flows casually and smoothly over the beat, in his typical careless, just barely there style, which works well over a pretty subtle beat like this. Fredo’s lyrics are pretty interesting here too, as amidst flexing and gun-play, he has some pretty funny lines, although far from Dave’s wordplay, rather relying on fun one-liners where he says he’s “kind of Christian”, doing revision on drug trafficking, will run for mayor, and because of how much of the gang violence is sadly amongst ethnic minorities, he himself is racially profiling his “opps”. One line near the end of the track actually made me laugh, when he says he counts up twenties while eating porridge. It’s not funny on paper, sure, but the delivery is gold. He shows more character here than he has since “Funky Friday”, also with Dave, so I’m pretty excited to hear this record, which Dave actually executively produced. It’s also got the late Pop Smoke on a track with Young Adz, so at least I’ll let out more of those laughs. This lead single is pretty good though, and I can see it going top 10 next week with the album boost.

#3 – “Wellerman – Sea Shanty” (220 KID x Billen Ted Remix) – Nathan Evans

Produced by Saltwaves, Billen Ted and 220 KID

Last week, the sea shanty “Wellerman” charted as a cover by the Longest Johns. It’s a fine acapella cover, and this version, by Nathan Evans, was originally similarly acapella, except for the tap of a table as percussion to keep time. This version got even more viral on British TikTok, and if I recall correctly, he quit his job to be signed by Polydor, which is pretty scummy on Polydor’s part. I mean, you know this guy won’t have any more hits. Regardless, this version debuted at #3 thanks to a remix by DJs 220 KID and Billen Ted, three English producers. According to their Spotify duo, Billen Ted used to be a death metal band of all things but then transitioned into writing for dance-pop tunes, and have worked with 220 KID, even if this is technically only their second single. This remix is actually pretty cool to be honest, as it takes the original track and adds some needed energy, mostly through this generic 90s house beat and some admittedly really nice pianos. It’s nothing special, and I would usually criticise something this generic, but the song’s not even two minutes and it’s a pretty inoffensive remix that genuinely adds to the original song through that brilliant flip of the original hook melody in the drop, so I can’t complain. This won’t last, but I’m not mad that it’s here.

Conclusion

I’m actually somewhat pleased with this chart week, which I wasn’t expecting initially, as you can probably tell from my above cynicism. Regardless, we’ve got some variety here (though I don’t see much of it sticking) and I’ll give Best of the Week to Royal Blood for “Typhoons”, with a tied Honourable Mention for “Back to Basics” by Fredo, and, God damn it, “Wellerman” by Nathan Evans and remixed by 220 KID and Billen Ted. Shut up, it’s fun! Worst of the Week will probably go to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Skin”, with a Dishonourable Mention for the complete lack of effort that is M Huncho’s “Overpriced”, just being mildly offensive if anything. Here’s our top 10:

For next week, I mean, a girl can hope for some Weezer, but it’s more likely that we’ll be met with a Fredo album bomb and some scattered efforts from that middling Lil Durk deluxe edition. For now though, you can follow me @cactusinthebank for more ramblings and thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week.

[sciencespies]

In Australia, Inflatable Tube Dancers Scare Dingoes Away From Livestock

https://sciencespies.com/news/in-australia-inflatable-tube-dancers-scare-dingoes-away-from-livestock/

In Australia, Inflatable Tube Dancers Scare Dingoes Away From Livestock

Researchers may have found one of the most energetic, colorful scarecrows in the business. A study published last month in Pacific Conservation Biology shows that an inflatable tube dancer can scare Australia’s wild dogs away from their dinner.

The wildly waving, air-powered tubes may be best known for their persistent presence in the parking lots of used car dealerships. But they have the perfect combination of size and surprise to spook wily predators that would otherwise eye up local livestock. The new study shows that air dancers are more effective than loud noises at keeping dingoes at bay. With more research, they may offer a new and nonviolent approach to dingo management.

“When you have sound, the dingoes will flinch. They’re a bit nervous but they don’t run away,” animal behavior expert Bradley Smith of CQ University in Australia tells Max Levy at Science magazine. “But the wavy man, boy, they bolted.”

Smith tested the effect of one inflatable tube man—a 13-foot-tall yellow character with a smiley face, which they named “Fred-a-Scare”—on dingoes in a wildlife sanctuary. Fred-a-Scare stood next to a bowl of dry dog food at the top of a hill so that dingoes could approach the meal without seeing it at first. As a comparison, the researchers also set up a speaker that played the sound of gunshots.

Fred-a-Scare won out, scaring nine of the dozen dingoes that showed up during three days of testing. Only one dingo ran from the audio recording of gunshots.

Smith tells Science magazine that the experiment was motivated by a successful tube dancer deterrent program in Oregon. In 2018, wolf conservationist Suzanne Stone began using 20-foot-tall tube dancer to keep wolves away from local livestock. Stone set up her first tube man after wolves killed a landowner’s pet llamas in 2018, and by 2019 there had been no further issues.

“It’s always struck me as something wolves would be particularly skittish of,” Stone told the East Oregonian’s George Plaven last February. “It’s unpredictable, and very foreign to them.”

That year, Stone set up another two inflatable tube dancer, in green and yellow, after wolves began attacking cattle on Oregon ranches. The new study is the first time that the strategy has been studied scientifically and against Australian wild dogs.

“It’s exciting … to see real [alternatives] to lethal management of dingoes,” University of Alberta conservation biologist Colleen St. Clair, who wasn’t involved in the study, tells Science magazine.

More research is needed before a line of dancing tube man will begin standing guard along the borders of Australian ranches. For one thing, all that movement requires a constant flow of air, which uses about the same amount of energy as a dishwasher, per Science magazine. Maintaining that kind of power is difficult to achieve in remote areas and hard to maintain over long stretches of time. Stone also recommends the strategy for smaller pastures where the undulating effigy is always within view of the livestock, per the East Oregonian.

The researchers will need to test whether the dingoes get over their fear of the looming tube dancers over time, St. Clair tells Science magazine. Future iterations will also incorporate more variations like lights, sounds and smells to make the tube men more frightening, Smith says in a statement.

If they work out, air dancers could be a boon for Australia’s livestock farmers. Gaps in fences created, for example, by public roads provide a path for dingoes to reach cattle, sheep and goats that farmers can’t easily block.

“We’ve thought about all sorts of things and done trials with flags but they fall to bits. We’ve even tried CD discs on fishing line but the line breaks,” sheep breeder Will Roberts tells Queensland Country Life’s Sally Gall. He now has sirens and lights set up on his fence to keep dingoes away. “You need something that’s going to last, that will withstand the sun and wind. I’ll try anything. The question is, how do you power it and how long will it last?”

#News