#reliable sources drum has been retired

[blamemma]

Yea, dirlies have learnt their lesson, but unfortunately y***/l*** fans have not and they are still flooding daniel's tag 😔

yeah but not to like be like i'm better than everyone else. but i just dont care. i dont follow yuki and liam fans because i'm not fans of them. i dont care for their opinions on daniel. i also definitely dont look in the daniel tag that is a fucking war zone out there. i care about the daniel besties and all that's going on there so as long as we're all calm cool and collected and having a jolly ol' time, i simply just do not care what's going on on other areas of this webbed site. that's for them to all fawn and make up fake gossip about. they'll get proven wrong eventually 😌

[curious-minx]

Notable 2020 Video Game Soundtracks That Can Be Enjoyed As Standalone Experiences

Video Game Music is gaining recognition, with many soundtracks receiving vinyl pressings, orchestral concert reviews, and an increasing presence on music streaming platforms such as bandcamp and Spotify. We’re also witnessing the uprise of indie video game development teams where games are being made by the sort of passionate type of game designer that takes soundtracks seriously.  Soundtracks by small teams of developers such as Celeste, Undertale, Disco Elysium, Hollow Knight, RuneScape, and Lisa: The Joyful are titles with soundtracks that easily stand up against the likes of bigger budget productions made by reliable sources of video game music like Square-Enix and Nintendo.

2020 is no exception in terms of having one of the biggest budget soundtracks around with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which builds upon a legacy of industry-standard-creating soundtrack work. Taken as a whole, Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s soundtrack is clocking in at over 8 and half hours of music. The soundtrack has three composers with the Beethoven of video game music, Nobuo Uematsu, most notably coming out of retirement to get the job done.  Here are some other amazing 2020 video game soundtracks more conducive for standalone background listening:

TETRIS EFFECT by HYDELIC 

Genres: EDM, Ambient Pop and straight up Ambient 

Describing this album makes me feel like I’m some sort of burnt out fanciful raver, head permanently lodged in the clouds. The level of giddy technicolor enthusiasm rivals that of Icelandic Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi, but if he wanted to keep his post-rock firmly planted in the outdoor music festival on Mars territory. Despite the album’s notable two hours runtime, each and every song feels like its own uniquely crafted composition, no repetitive motifs or nostalgia-baiting.

There is unfortunately still a Tetris movie in some sort of shaggy state of development in Hollywood right now. The movie is being billed as a dull biopic about the creator of the Tetris game. Whereas listening to Tetris Effect you imagine a Tetris movie directed by someone more fitting like the Wakowskis. Tetris Effect’s opening song “Connected (Yours Forever)” is a bonafide vocal pop song, like a more sugary CVRCHES-style cooing of the lyrics:

“I’m Yours Forever

There is No End in Sights For Us,

Nothing Can Measure the Kind of Strength Inside Our Hearts,

It’s all connected we’re all together in this life, don’t you forget it

We’re all connected in this”

Try your best not to imagine a cast of Hollywood’s most beautiful plucky orphan mutant misfit youths using the power of Tetris to heal a broken and dying planet!

Notable Track: Next Chapter

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HADES by DARREN KORB

Genres: Progressive Metal, Folktronica, Folk Metal, Dimotika, Greek Folk Music

Darren Korb has become one of the most notable video game composers of the past decade. Korb, an integral member of the Supergiant family, continues to outdo himself with each and every soundtrack. Bastion and Transistor originally found Korb creating a niche for himself with downtempo folk-infused electronic soundscapes and even some vocal pop with collaborator Ashley Barrett. Hades is an altogether different beast for Korb, who much like the developers of Hades, have found themselves at the height of their powers.

Korb also contributes vocals on this album, and I can say without hesitation that these are some of the nicest vocals I’ve ever heard from a video game music designer, because video game musicians are bonafide musicians.The album clocks in at two and half hours and separate from its game is still an absolute thrill ride.

Notable Track: In The Blood

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DEFECTIVE HOLIDAY by MECHATOK

 Genres: Ambient Trance, Balearic Beat, Progressive Electronic, Nature Recordings, Spoken Word, New Age

One glance at the album artwork is all it took for me to know that I must listen to this album. Defective Holiday is an indie walking simulator that is explicit about its intentions: a lightly interactive one hour experience. This soundtrack clocks in at only 31 minutes and it is purely the most conventional album in terms of length.

Last week in late November, Mechatok announced a collaboration with one of the leading zoomer Swedish cloud rap mavericks Bladee, the cofounder of the Drain Gang. Last month gives a pretty clear picture of what kind of circles Mechatok is floating in on. Highly online gonzo vaporwave maestro James Ferraro is another apparent influence on this soundtrack, especially regarding the way the sinister mundane dialogue is woven into the soundscape. There’s one particular track on the Defective Holiday OST, “Rescue Shot Buibo”, that is adorned with standard trap-style drum fills that give the album a shot of energy before wandering back off into the haze. This soundtrack and video game is all about the pure vibe and aesthetic nature that are currently trending in these extremely stressful times.  In a time where all of our holidays were defective from the very start, I think the casual walking simulator will remain a genre high in demand. I have a feeling we’re going to hear a lot more from this empathetic young German.

Notable Track: Valley

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Last of Us II by Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle (and Ashley Johnson)

Genres: Ambient, Cinematic Classical, Dark Ambient, Spanish Folk Music 

L

The Last Of Us is a horror game where the music itself is arguably playing a critical character role, which can only be expected billing two titans of audio visual soundtracks. Of course Academy Award winner Santaolalla knows his way around a soundtrack. Wielding a resume of astonishing versatility in various TV and film projects, he might have found his higher calling in not only video games but in the horror music canon. Last of Us is an extremely emotional series, and with the wrong soundtrack, the experience could become insufferably bleak. The occasional  splashes of color and light are what make this soundtrack so unsettling and eerie. Not since Silent Hill 2’s Akira Yamaoka has there been such an effective standalone horror video game soundtrack experience. No wonder Gustavo Santaolalla is one of the only video game composers integral enough to the game to warrant a cameo banjo-playing character model based off of him.

As if having one major composer from prestigious TV and movies wasn’t enough, Mac Quayle, composer of the whole Mr. Robot series, contrasts against Santaolalla’s acoustic contributions. The soundtrack itself is sequenced in a way that switches between the two composers. “The Cycle of Violence” composed by Quayle, a track that more than lives up to its name, is immediately followed by Santaolalla’s somber “Reclaimed Memories.” This dance between violence and heart is what the Last of Us excels at as a franchise, and that is why this soundtrack is an effective stand-alone experience.

The only disappointing part of the soundtrack is that Ashley Johnson, voice actor of Ellie’ three songs, is not included in the game’s official tracklist. Ellie’s “Take On Me” a-ha and “Future Days” Pearl Jam covers have made a little history by being the most powerful songs sung by a video game character. When Ellie sings and plays on her guitar they aren’t some little Easter egg idling moments to provide levity for this heavy revenge horror story. These songs are used to make some of the strongest character development choices made by a video game character seen in recent years. Ellie is joining a small club of singing video game characters alongside Parapa the Rapper and  maybe the cast of obscure Atlus title Rhapsody: Musical Adventure.

Notable Track: Unbroken

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Persona 5 Royal Straight Flush Edition by Shoji Meguro 

Genre: Acid Jazz, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Lounge, Jazz-Funk 

This is one of those soundtracks that, much like Nobuo Uematsu’s work in Final Fantasy, is really the heart and soul of the entire Persona franchise (and his work in the adjacent Shin Megami Tensei universe is equally as noteworthy). Persona 5 Royal finds Meguro making his most complete, funky, and otherworldly opus that sounds like no one else in the biz.

You will find many people online scouring message boards, subreddits, bandcamp features, and Yahoo Answers looking for more music like Persona 5. Outside of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, how many other games are packed to the brim with truly foxy songs!? Persona 5 could not predict how badly the title “Throw Away Your Mask” would age, despite the game being more than ahead of its time with the majority of NPCs wearing PPE. Be a good Joker, put on your mask and keep chasing Meguro’s acid jazz-infused dragon through many more semesters to come.

Notable Track: I Imagine

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Streets of Rage 4 by Olivier Deriviere & Various

Genres: Electro House, Nu Jazz, Synth Funk, Acid House 

Composer Olivier Deriviere is a living definition of a video game soundtrack journeyman. He has a career stretching back to the early 2000s working on notable big budget titles like the divisive 2008 Atari fifth Alone in the Dark installment and Remember Me, an unsung buried gem from the PS3/360 era Capcom title. Remember Me is where Deriviere’s electronic leanings started becoming especially prominent in his sound. On the Streets of Rage 4 soundtrack Deriviere has completely come into his own element, developing a whole new sense of campy playfulness.

Electronic French House music can be a divisive genre. For every Daft Punk commercial success there is a band that ruffles feathers like Justice. I sense a strong presence of late departed French House titan Philippe Zdar of Cassius as well. If you’d played this soundtrack for me out of context, I would have guessed an obscure voguing tape from the 80s or a really talented mysterious DJ set. Instead, this is a sequel to a classic beat em up franchise that left a portion of players disappointed by the game’s four hour playtime. The soundtrack is over an hour and fifty minutes long of high octane House music bliss. Much like the Tetris Effect soundtrack, it is truly impressive how much depth these tracks have when they could have easily been nostalgic recycled beats. Sometimes a game’s soundtrack can offer more post game enjoyment than an actual game.

Notable Track: Chill Or Don’t

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Hylics 2 by Chuck Salamone & Mason Lindroth 

Genres: Experimental Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Hypagogic Pop, Stoner Rock, Jazz-Rock

A soundtrack that comes closest to capturing the experience of hearing the Earthbound or Katamari Damacy soundtracks for the first time. The Hylic indie RPG series is a wonderful and strange beast that is ready to frolic and show its playful side. Hylics is a part of a recent uprising of indie games being developed on the RPG Maker software. 2020 year has left us all with variations of the same stressed out adjectives: Weird. Messed Up. Surreal.

Why not listen to an album from a game that is the perfect embodiment of that surreal mantra? Step away from your computer, draw a bath, and put this album on. Thank me later!

Notable  track: Xeno Arcadia

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Ultrakill: Infinite Hyperdeath (Act I Soundtrack) by Heaven Pierce Her aka game developer Arsi “Hakita” Patala 

Genres: Drum and Bass, Industrial Metal, Ambient, Progressive Metal, Acidcore 

Nothing says “modern indie game development” more than a game built completely from the ground up by one person. Ultrakill’s developer “Hakita” is one of those kindly folkloric DIY figures that make video games such an extensive art form. The game is a painstaking gloriously bloody ode to Dooms of yesteryear but with plenty of its own fine tuned style. The perfect soundtrack for when you’re painting your personal Hell a darker shade of gore, but also would really like to kick your ass into shape if you need an adrenaline boost to your Quarantine blues.

Notable Track: Panic Betrayer 

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Risk of Rain 2 by Chris Christodoulou

Genres: Progressive Rock, Space Rock, Space Ambient,  Post-Rock

Something about the country of Greece brings the best kind of futurism out of the country’s composers. Christodoulou’s Risk of Rain 2 soundtrack is no Bladerunner knock off. This soundtrack for the colorful sci-fi indie rougelike is punchier and less nocturnal than your typical synth-heavy sci-fi soundtrack. Risk of Rain is one of the more successful Kickstarter series around and has the best quality an indie game can have: it feels like a labor of love on all fronts. There’s no reason a rougelike like Rain of Ruin or Hades needs a soundtrack this good, but Christodoulou casts a spell with his electronic-driven prog rock that makes you want to keep respawning. A huge missed opportunity if Christodoulou does not get to soundtrack an earnest sci-fi action-adventure for even big screens. Oh! This soundtrack also features some spoken word segments from Werner Herzog; what more do you need to know?

Notable Track: The Rain Formerly Known As Purple

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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus by Guillaume David

A big debut project from an up-and-coming composer Guillaume David. Prior to the making of this soundtrack, David was a video game voice actor who worked on a Resident Evil Devil May Cry crossover voicing the character of “Hunk.” Warhammer 40K might become a franchise that more people will care about solely based on the quality of this installment’s soundtrack. When you see the title Warhammer 40,000, what sort of sounds come to mind? If you guessed “Neo gothic cyber Gregorian chants that seamlessly melds the ancient and futuristic”, you would be correct. A turn-based action game could possibly fall into dull territory, but with a visual identity as strong as Warhammer 40K  melded with a suitable musical atmosphere, the action and world becomes irresistible. This soundtrack is a brisk 56 minutes and the other soundtrack on this list with a more conventional runtime. Not a second is wasted on this dynamic and fantastical soundtrack. Prior to hearing this soundtrack I had no intention of ever looking into playing a game based off of something as convoluted as Warhammer 40K, but now I very much want to know what these robot priests are about. That’s the magic of a quality soundtrack.

Notable track: Millenial Rage

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Honorable Mentions:

Happy Listening! 

[longingandheartacheandlust]

Roach is a Hereditary Title

Okay, so, I was thinking about Roach, as I do frequently.

Do any of y’all remember that scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn’s almost unconscious and his horse, Brego, lies down next to him to help him mount?  Given that Geralt spends a lot of time getting himself severely injured while alone, it makes a lot of sense for Roach to be trained to do something along those lines, also.  (That sorta thing is absolutely done IRL.  I knew a lady, for instance, who was 5 feet tall but rode a draft horse who was more than 6 feet tall at the shoulder.  She trained her horse to lower his head so she could hop on his neck and the horse would then lift his head back up so she’d slide down his neck to his back.)

And then I was thinking about what other training a Witcher’s horse would require.

(I have another huge point as well about Roach and Geralt and world-building that is what I’m actually working towards in this very long post.  The hint is in the big text up there.  Also, there are some fun gifs below you might wanna check out even if you don’t read the post.)

The most obvious is a ground tie, which we actually see used in the show.  That’s where a horse is trained to act as though they’re tied to something when they’re not - for instance, you might take a lead rope, let it dangle it down to the ground, and train the horse that they should act as though the lead rope is tied to the ground.  Cowboys use it to keep their horses still while they’re dealing with obstacles, working with cattle on foot, etcetera, when they’re out in the middle of a prairie with nothing to tie onto.  This would keep Roach put if Geralt needs to do something and there’s nothing to tie to, but also is great to keep her out of danger - she can be trained that if she’s actually being attacked she should GTFO.

Here she is, in fact, doing just that: she had been ground tied, but when the kikimora got closer, she calmly backed up out of range.  That calm backing, btw, is 100% a trained behavior.  If she were getting out of there of her own accord she’d be spinning around and going both forwards and much faster.

(From this post by @highevre​.)

Horses can be trained to track - their sense of smell is almost as good as a dog’s, and Mounted Search and Rescue using horses as trackers is a thing.  Not necessarily needed given Geralt’s own enhanced senses, but it might come in handy sometimes.

She’d probably want to be trained in extreme terrain, and you’d be amazed what horses can do with that.  Here’s a clip of part of the standard training for US Cavalry from around 1930:

(From here.)

A good trail horse can shift their own weight to keep an inexperienced, exhausted, or, in this case, injured rider in the saddle, so she’d definitely want to know that.

It’s unlikely, but she might even be trained in active combat.  Horses have in the past been trained not only to carry their riders into battle, but even to fight themselves.  Here’s a gif of one tactic:

That’s a pretty good way to get a drowner off your tail!  (It can absolutely be done with a rider on, I just didn’t find any nice gifs for that.)

This one could come in pretty handy too:

Even if she’s not kicking forward with those front hooves - which is, actually, an established move, it’s called “mezair” - if I were a monster I’d be a lot less eager to attack with a twelve foot tall wall of muscle coming at me.

(Look up videos of “haute ecole” or “airs above the ground” and you’ll see a whole lot of breathtaking stuff that Roach could do.)

There are some random fun tricks that might be useful, like picking things up and handing them to her rider.

The absolute number one thing, though, is that she would have to be completely, 100% bombproof, and that’s where I get to my main point.

(Please note for the rest of this post, in case you’re unaware, the name “Roach” refers to several horses, as horses aren’t generally immortal.  Geralt names all his horses Roach.)

I used to breed horses, and specifically the emerging breed Drum Horses.  They were originally bred to (and are still used to) carry kettle drums in parades.  Now, for that you need to be big, since the drums and gear can weigh more than 450lb.  But, most importantly, you need to be completely, entirely unshakeable, to a degree that shouldn’t frankly be possible in a prey animal.  You’ve got not only the insanity of a parade going on but also a huge loud noise right next to your head, the constant vibration from the drums, AND since the rider’s hands are busy playing the drums the horse is steered using only the feet.

So how the heck do you get a prey animal that’s specialized for millenia in Running the Fuck Away to do that?  Well, centuries of selective breeding.  Drums are derived from the Irish Cob, which was (and is) used by nomadic people in Europe to pull caravans.  They have to be steady, able to deal with kids running around their feet while they work, since the caravans were mobile homes they're very noisy, and, long story short, Irish Cobs spent centuries being bred to be bombproof.  The Drum Horses, then, were derived from that breed but with an even stronger focus on being 100% reliable and not-prey-like.

They’re also trained literally from birth; parade horses, police horses, and the like generally are.  Within minutes of birth, you start handling them, rubbing them all over so they’re never startled by a touch.  You put radios in their stalls playing rock music so they get used to sudden loud noises.  You tie brightly colored streamers in their pastures to wave in the wind, pop open umbrellas, toss beach balls at them.  Spray perfume and waft popcorn smell.  Rub them all over with any equipment you might use, including tack but also things like weapons (mounted target shooting is a sport still done today).  Have the equipment make whatever noise it’s gonna make.  (Clanging, firing, whatever.)

The POINT being, that for Roach to be able to handle dealing with a new terrifying monster every week, she’d pretty much have to be specifically bred for it.

Well... where do you get horses bred to handle monsters, you ask?  They might have had a small breeding operation at Kaer Morhen, but that doesn’t exactly help now.

My conclusion: Geralt must be breeding his own horses.

Roach is always a mare, after all.  Maybe that’s not just sentimentality.  Every so often, he finds a good, steady stallion - the very best on the Continent, of course, nothing else would do for his perfect girl.  She’d be able to keep working most of the 11 months of pregnancy, and then for the last few he’d let her rest, either leaving her with someone he trusts until she’s due or staying with her and only doing day trips on foot.

And when the foal’s born, he starts doing all that training above from birth.

Half of those foals are going to be boys, of course.  And he only uses mares as Roach.  So what about the colts?  Well, he sells them, once they’re old enough to leave their mother.  And those horses, damn, they’re bred and trained so incredibly carefully, they must be the most valuable, sought-after cavalry mounts on the Continent.  Kings and Queens bid for Roach’s sons to be their noble steeds.  Geralt wouldn’t need to take jobs for years after selling one of Roach’s foals, if he didn’t want to.

Sometimes bad things happen, so he’d need to have a spare Roach or two always around just in case his girl retires earlier than planned.  (She got a mild injury that keeps her from doing all that stuff above, she didn’t die, I promise!)  So there are always a few Roaches around the country on a sort of lease, not allowed to be taken into combat but still being the amazing, perfect horses they are until their Witcher comes back to get them.

Final Conclusion:

All of the most famous horses on the Continent are Roach’s descendants.   Royalty riding a horse that wasn’t from her is barely even worth being called royalty at all.  And Geralt has raised his girl, and her mother, and her mother’s mother, and her mother’s mother’s mother, and on back, from birth, the first face they ever see and the first hand in their manes.

(Source: me!  That’s one of my babies.)

[salenakingston]

Mystery March Day 2 - Music

What did one expect whenever a certain group of paranormal investigators was mentioned? Was it their bizarre choice of hobby that they had turned into a part time job? Was it something to single out each person of their group? The tall, broad shouldered man with the pompadour working at one of the busiest restaurants in Tempo? What about that skinny man with the spiky blond hair that could probably be called a mechanical genius? How about that blue haired girl that found an unnatural attraction to the strangest things? Her dog that has weird, spiky red hair for some reason? No?

Well, one thing that generally never came up in conversation was the group’s love for music. Oh sure, they practiced on their own time, and their families were well aware of their talents, but it wasn’t like they performed for anyone outside that small bubble. Why would they need to?

It was just friends being friends.

Even they could use a break from the craziness that came with their line of work. Didn’t matter if they were still out on the road, or somewhere in Tempo, there was always time to indulge in their musical tastes. Sometimes one of them would entertain with a solo act, and others would be with all of them. The combined melody that came from their instruments was one that ordinarily would create nothing but a musical mess. Still, they somehow managed to make it work, whether it be taking a moment for a certain musician to pause, or simply matching tones with one another.

Even Mystery had an instrument of his own, a little… well maybe not little… but a gift from Vivi. Her reasoning had been that every investigator of the Mystery Skulls team had to have one, and that technically included him. It wasn’t exactly easy transporting his drum in the van, so sadly, he had to be benched until the times they played at home. It was cute to see the way he would take the stick in his mouth, beating it against the drum as hard as he could. It always got a laugh out of the core three when they watched him play.

But now there was nothing. It was an unending silence.

There were no laughs, no singing, and certainly no music. Even being in the van held a constant state of silence. Their instruments had been retired to their respective homes, and where there would usually be music blaring from the radio, there was barely an uttered note. It was unsettling in a way. It didn’t matter if they were all trying to work out their differences. It just wasn’t the same anymore.

A tall figure snaked his way through the darkness of the Yukino home. Night covered the sky, save for the twinkle of the millions of stars. The figure twisted the knob of the front door, plunging itself out into the darkness. Lit street lamps gave a glimpse of his form, a male, with spiky black and red hair.

Familiar spiky red and black hair.

Mystery rarely ever saw a need to resort to shapeshifting, his only time using it to take the appearance of the pet Vivi had come to know him as. There wasn’t much point to that now when his secret was out to the three of them. He made sure no one was around before passing through a place where anyone would readily be able to see him. Even in the shadows, he had to be careful. The only thing he had going for him was that he didn’t look quite human. Anyone that spotted him could easily be written off as seeing things.

It’s not like most took the work the Mystery Skulls did with a serious outlook.

To the passer by, his form was probably just a mesh of too many things to make out one solid shape.

Walking certainly made the trip to his desired location take longer than he would have liked. He would have likely reached it sooner had he been walking on his paws rather than two feet. How did humans stand to move around at such a slower pace? And why did the drum he had to like be so big? Taiko drums were a staple of Japan, a little piece of home he supposed. Still, without any support to hold the instrument, and no reliable way while walking around on all fours, he had to resort to this, a couple tails protruding from his rear to aid with support.

The kitsune dragged himself to the familiar forest of tangled, dead trees. There would be no one to disturb while he was out here. Who was going to come this way anyways? All that was left out here, as far as anyone knew, was an empty, and frankly a little overgrown, lot with a small brick wall surrounding its edge. In fact, that lot would have made for an even better spot, were it not for the ghost that had taken residence there.

Mystery carefully set the drum down, using his leg to tilt it some. He held the stick in his hand, giving the instrument a whack. It’s ‘boom’ echoed through the woods, but the silence that followed was just as empty as the space around him. He gave into his inner turmoil, letting the drum rest against the earth as he shifted back to his dog state. Sad eyes turned on the instrument, taking the stick into his mouth. He began to bang on it, just as he always had.

As if it would help to mend things.

As if it would summon the laughs he remembered loving so much.

But nothing came.

Honestly, he didn’t know why he kept coming out here to do this. It wasn’t like anyone was listening. Perhaps the sentimental feeling was overpowering any sense of logic. He had age and wisdom on all three of them, but even he had times where feelings outweighed it all.

Mystery wasn’t sure how long he was sitting there before he decided it was time to go back. He would need to get back before Vivi woke up. His form shifted again, taking the drum back into his arms before following the path back home.

As he left, he failed to notice the flicker of purple and gold among the trees.

----

Another night out here, and another night alone.

The dog took his stick to the drum again, and again… and again. Nothing ever changed. When would he finally learn? Maybe it was time to throw in the towel… at least for tonight. He couldn’t seem to break this habit, no matter how hard he tried. Even if he held off for a few nights, he always came back. Just as soon as he dropped the stick from his mouth, his ears shot up.

Another note rang in the woods, one that he didn’t create.

His head whipped around, trying to pinpoint the source of that sound. He knew it.

He knew it.

The note played again, followed by another, until he could very clearly hear the music. It seemed to encase itself around him, playing from all parts of the woods. Red eyes peered down at the stick again, taking it back into his mouth. He returned to banging on the drum, tail beginning to wag behind him. After so long, he could finally have a taste of what was missing.

He could soon hear the notes growing louder and louder, and with that discovery, the realization of what instrument was being played: a violin. There was only one person he knew who could play that instrument so well. Sure enough, the ghost made an entrance, accompanied not only by a flash of flames, but a choir of deadbeats circling around them. Strange, he hadn’t noticed their singing until they were present with Lewis.

Perhaps because they hadn’t begun their song until they were all seen.

No words were exchanged, just letting the music do the talking for them.

Not too far from the pair was someone stalking the black and white dog. Vivi had caught wind of the fact he had been sneaking out at night, just playing along to make it seem like she was none the wiser. It made her curious where he was going, and why he was always leaving with his drum. She could barely believe all this time he was coming out here to play it, in the middle of the night where no one would be able to hear here.

Well, it seems someone heard him this time.

The bluenette couldn’t resist pulling out her phone, taking a few snapshots of the mini concert. She ended up sending them to Arthur, as well as a quick text: ‘Look at these nerds.’

No response. Well that was fine, he was probably sleeping anyways.

The grin she wore along her face hadn’t faded in the slightest, not until she noticed they were starting to wind down. If she wasn’t going to get caught, she would have to beat the dog back home. Ooooh she was going to have some fun once he got home.

Sure enough, when the humanized kitsune stepped through the front door, there was Vivi, waiting for him. Mystery began to hang his head in shame, sure she had caught onto the fact that he was sneaking out, and was standing here the entire time waiting. She hated the way he resigned himself to her. Frankly, there had been more than enough sadness to last them a lifetime. Stepping forward, she helped guide his drum to the floor, then took his hands in her own. He could see nothing but the warm smile she offered to him.

In fact, if he looked close enough, he could see that starry look in her eyes, much like the one she had when she first discovered his true identity.

And then she pulled out her phone, showing him the pictures.

Oh boy, there was no way she was going to get rid of those.

----

This night, there were two leaving the house instead of one, one carrying a drum while the other held a guitar. It was about time she dusted this thing off. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered why she had even stopped playing to begin with. Well, whatever the reason, that changed tonight.

Vivi pulled out her phone, checking her messages. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the screen.

‘Going out with the nerds tonight, you should come too.’

Delivered.

‘Haven’t heard back from you. Busy day?’

Delivered.

‘Artie?’

Delivered.

‘Arthur Kingsmen.’

Delivered.

‘Well whatever. We’ll be by Lew’s mansion if you decide to come out.’

Delivered.

The bluenette uttered an annoyed huff before pocketing the device. It’s not like she was going to get something out of him. There were times when he would go silent like this. In a way, she couldn’t really blame him. Out of the four of them, it wasn’t hard to argue he had taken everything the hardest. Time was all he needed now.

Sure enough, Lewis was there, waiting for the dog to turn up, but was pleasantly surprised when he was joined by another, making their pair a trio. She simply smiled, giving a strum of her instrument. The violin was quick to join in, strings playing together while the kitsune tended to his own set up. Their tunes danced around each other, playing a very familiar song. It wasn’t to one that already existed, rather one they created on their own. It came to a point where the melody died out, expecting a fourth to take its place.

But as the music stopped, silence was all that came after it.

Silence.

A note.

Mystery’s ears moved up, the other two noticing his attentive stance. More notes, ones that sounded like a strange mix of a piano and what could only be described as techno. There wasn’t a doubt in their mind who was playing that music.

The synth faded out slightly, leaving an opening for them again. Synth, guitar, violin, and drum played on in harmony, playing as if nothing had ever happened. Despite the hell they had been put through, some things could never be torn away from them.

When the piece finally reached its end, the three followed the dying sound to their blond friend, keeping himself hidden behind a nearby tree. Vivi lowered herself down to his level, reaching out to take him into an embrace. How could he not return the gesture to her?

Having a skull made displaying emotions terribly difficult. The bone under his eyes moved up some, eyebrows moving up to express his joy over their impromptu session. The ghost extended a hand out to each of them, “Come on, it’s getting late. You two will stay here tonight.”

And that was the end of it.

The deadbeats helped to carry their respective instruments inside the mansion, resting them neatly to the side of the front door. Four friends travelled up the foyer stairs, the dog’s tail wagging with more excitement then he could remember feeling in a long time.

[geezeralert]

A Beatles fan gets back to where he once belonged

(Some albums from my collection)

(First of three parts)

As a really big fan of the Beatles, I have always been somewhat in awe of those who are really HUGE fans of the famed singing group.

They just seemed to enjoy the music on a whole different level, with thorough knowledge and appreciation for what was produced by this unique musical foursome in their eight-plus years together.  

So, over the last four months, as a retired-geezer-bucket-list endeavor, I took a huge leap towards earning my “huge fan” badge.

I re-listened to, re-enjoyed and studied — consulting at least five books — each of the some 300 Beatles’ recordings, as contained on their 13 official albums/CDs along with many of their various related versions (on the three two-CD anthologies, various collections like “One” and the BBC live sessions).

I am blogging about it because, honestly, I’d just like to share my experience and put my basic impressions down in writing.  It was riveting and sinfully fun, spending too much money and too much time — including many breaks to just sit back, travel down memory lane and simply be entertained by these pop songs/albums that took me through the 1960s, from my pre-teen to college years — on what’s really a rather personal, trivial pursuit.  

But I’m also holding out hope that my findings could be interesting for other Beatles fans, of whatever level.

Quick bottom line: I am more impressed now than I was before with the output of this pop group and the incredible blending of the four multi-talented musicians Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.  I’ll write about why and list the highlights of what I learned in the second part.

First off, though, I should define “really big fans,” my current state and that of many millions of my contemporaries worldwide from the sixties.

This group is familiar with all the Beatles recordings (able to identify them when hearing just the opening notes), their background as a group and individuals (back to teenage years), their basic timeline as recording artists (who authored what compositions and when), their alternate recordings, their post-Beatles recordings, their relations (girlfriends, wives), and their basic life stories.

In other words, we just just paid attention all these years, watching the relevant movies and videos, buying their records and reading at least the most reliable major books about them — first by Hunter Davies and then by Bob Spitz — while also picking up more than a few of the annual money-grabbing “new” ones.

I’ve read two books by “first wives” Patti Boyd (“Wonderful Tonight”) and Cynthia Lennon (“John”) and Lennon’s sister, “My Brother.”

I also bought one of the first song-by-song compilation books, “Beatlesongs” (1989) by William J. Dowling. For decades, it was my go-to source for day-to-day inquires like “who played that great bass part on ‘Hey Bulldog’”?  

By being a big fan, my Christmas and birthday presents from family and friends often have been Beatles stuff (when they tired of stuff feeding my other passion, baseball) including three coffee table books, a box of “The BBC Archives” TV and radio broadcast material, and three other books going into each of the group’s songs.

From all that, I am left wondering if the Beatles ever had a private, unphotographed, unrecorded (in writing or audio) stretch long than five minutes.

It was the final gift last Christmas,  “Revolution in the Head” by Ian MacDonald, that propelled me to finally take on this long-planned intensive study of the Beatles’ music.

MacDonald’s definitive work, updated three times since published in 1994, is classified as a textbook by the Los Angeles Public Library. It goes into great detail on the musical and sociological aspects of each song so it was sometimes beyond my sphere of interest. But it was most useful to me by going song-by-song in chronological order, referencing all the alternative versions of the songs and telling where to find them.  

Along the way, I also found the fascinating (although partially disputed) book “Here, There and Everywhere” by Geoff Emerick, a teenage recording studio prodigy who helped engineer (record, mix) just about every Beatles song, either as an assistant in his teens or the primary engineer in his early 20s.

His first-person observations helped flesh out the more technical aspects or third-party accounts of the Beatles songs.

(Other books used for the song-by-song marathon: “The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Write. The Stories Behind Every Song” by Steve Turner and “All the Songs. The Story Behind Every Beatles Release,” a massive, picture-filled coffee table book by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Phillippe Margotin.)  

Meanwhile, there are a ton of other written works out there awaiting my attention once this project is done – exhaustive books by Mark Lewisohn; memoirs by the group’s producer (and Fifth Beatle early on) George Martin and original drummer Pete Best; “Shout: The Beatles in their Generation” by Philip Norman; and “Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now,” by Barry Miles — to name a few . . . in my price range (more on that in part three). There’s a seemingly never-ending flow of written material and reworked music.

And it’s fair to assume “really huge fans” have read them all. (I’ll delve more into what constitutes that fan level in parts two and three.)  

The original idea for trying this project came after advanced technology, resolved legal issues and a favorable marketplace brought about the production of the entire Beatles catalogue on CDs nine years ago.

I had tried keeping up with the Beatles’ output over the years on vinyl, eight-track tapes and cassettes but, for one reason or another, had some holes.

Nearly my entire Beatles collection of vinyl albums was stolen from my college dorm room in the early 1970s. I then rebought some of the biggest ones at that time but then sat back and waited for releases in the latest medium (eight-track, cassettes, CDs, digital) and lost track of what I had.

So, when the complete collection on CD (remastered to sound even better!) became available, I perked up. But the price tag ($150-200) gave me pause.

Then came an offer to buy the whole shebang at half price. I was ready to pounce.

But there remained another major issue.

The Beatles’ studio personnel, I learned, recorded each of their songs in both monaural (“mono”) and stereo. Each version had/has its strong backers, especially as the original tapes were revisited and reproduced with improved quality (both in stereo and mono) for the latest CD versions.

For the “true experience” of listing to the Beatles songs, did one really have to possess and listen to both stereo and mono versions? The inner Beatles fanatic and picky perfectionist told me “yes.” My practical and realistic self, though, said that’s crazy, unnecessary and an expense only the crazy wealthy fan would want to pay.

Luckily, many music critics recognized the dilemma this posed for the average fan. From reading a few of their comparisons and conclusions, I came up with a fairly consistent recommendation for which albums are best in mono and which are best in stereo:

Mono sounds best for “Please Please Me,” “With the Beatles,” “Hard Days Night,” “Beatles For Sale” and “Help.” Stereo is recommended for “Rubber Soul,” “Revolver,” “Magical Mystery Tour” “The Beatles (The White Album)” “Yellow Submarine” “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road.” (The latter two were only mixed in stereo anyway.)

Mono and stereo versions of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” both offer great listening experiences, and the 50th anniversary remix in 2017 added yet another aural mix.

The mono box set includes all the songs released as singles (45 rpm) and not on any of the basic albums (though some, those that rose to no. 1 on Billboard lists, are included in the “Beatles — 1” album/CD).  

Emerick actually recommended the mono mixes of  “Revolver” and “Sgt. Pepper,” which he engineered. He said much more care was given to the mono versions than the stereo ones, which were rushed at the conclusion of the project.

He wrote:

“True Beatles fans would do well to avail themselves of the mono versions of Sgt. Pepper and Revolver because far more time and effort went into those mixes than the stereo mixes. The stereo versions of those albums have an unnecessary surfeit of panning and effects like ADT (Automatic Double Tracking) and flanging. (Fellow engineer) Richard and I would sometimes get carried away with them because of their novelty value . . . especially if George Martin wasn’t there to rebuke us. Needless to say, it was John who especially loved that kind of overkill — we’d sometimes whack something on too severely just to see how it sounded, only to find him winking at us, saying, ‘More!’”

It should be noted that Emerick wrote his book in 2007, before all the remastering of the Beatles albums took place. So, perhaps the new stereo mixes enhance those versions to the point that they now are preferable.  

And then there’s the whole “Let It Be” controversy, when the original recordings were turned over to “wall of sound” maestro Phil Specter, reportedly by John Lennon, much to the chagrin of McCartney.

So, a stripped down version of those songs “Let It Be-Naked,” was produced.

For my listening project, I listened to that naked CD as well as a number of mono vs. stereo renditions of Beatles’ songs.  

Basically, I agreed with experts (they are so grateful, I’m sure!) that the early albums are best in mono.

This was a time when few people had quality stereo systems, if any stereo at all (I had a small portable one in my room), and thus much more time and care was given to the mono versions (says my books). Those tunes in stereo sound pretty tinny and awkward to listen to (says my ears), especially with headphones (e.g. the drums and base in one ear, the voices in another).  

Of course, musical preferences, like all reactions to art, are wholly subjective. When I posted a list of my personal choices for “five worst Beatles songs” (yes, they did produce some songs I cannot stand: “Rain,” “Paperback Writer,” “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” “I’m Down,” “Helter Skelter”) on a Facebook site, several respondents said the tunes were actually among their favorites. Some fans treat all of the group’s output as wonderful and any criticism as sacrilege.

In the books I consulted, Beatles tunes certified as “classic” by one author sometimes were depicted as “a disaster” by another. Even the Beatles disparaged as “garbage” some songs I (and others) enjoy.

Typical of most listeners, my reactions when sampling the stereo and mono recordings are probably based on how I first heard the songs. And for nearly all of them, that would be mono. Anything different sounds off kilter.

Some examples: The stereo “Taxman,” the lead song on side one of “Revolver,” has the bass and rhythm section on the left side while the lead guitar and percussion are on the right, with vocals in both. It sounds wrong to my ears, which first heard all the music coming out of both speakers (mono). Likewise, on the same album, “She Said She Said” (a favorite of mine) splits the instruments into separate channels and doesn’t sound quite right to me.

Still, the later works, as remastered, do have much greater depth and clarity in the stereo versions. Songs like “Martha, My Dear,” “Savoy Truffle” and “Glass Onion” sound terrific (I played them over and over). Likewise, most of Sgt. Pepper, which was remastered a second time for the 50th anniversary CD, is fine in stereo.

In several cases, like “Martha My Dear,” I enjoyed a song in the latest version far more than I did originally.

Which brings us to my general observations on what I heard and read. That would be part two, coming tomorrow.  

[earthnashes]

Rock’n’Royal!AU Brainstorm 1: Roles

Alrighty so I still don’t quite have a name for the band but meh, I guess we’ll figure it out as we go! Wanna talk about some of the characters anyhow. C:

----------------------------

The Band: Goes by the name of Rock’n’Royal, I decided that the band that Twi leads is almost entirely indie, in which they don’t have a record label or anything of the sort and make their own way through the industry. Since starting, the band has reached a staggering amount of success and has been approached several times with the offer of a label, but those offers are ultimately turned down in favor of doing things their way. The genre of music they play is generally classified as “rock” or perhaps “alternative rock”, but the band is too experimental and collaborative for it to be stuck in one specific niche.

----------------------------

Twilight Sparkle: The cute dork who somehow managed to elevate herself into rock stardom, Twilight is the lead singer, guitarist, and what’s essentially the manager of the band. Twilight in this AU is far more confident in her abilities, sometimes to the point of being borderline cocky, but when she isn’t on stage she’s still the same bookworm who gets flustered at some of the sweetest gestures and will gladly talk your ear off about the newest scientific discovery: the fans eat it all up. She’s known as “The Princess” or “Your Highness” to her fans; not something she came up with, but she goes along with it.

Trixie Lulamoon: The loudmouth of the group and every bit the showoff, Trixie plays the keytar and is the secondary vocalist. She’s also the primary lyricist of the band: Twilight can sing and can write the general tune of the song, but when it comes to lyrics she’s... pretty bad. Given her talent for talking up hype, Trixie’s often in charge of promoting the band however she can, whether that be blogging about their tours or making posters or bragging: the band has skill, but if it weren’t for Trixie’s constant promoting and networking they wouldn’t be as well known as they currently are. Twi might be the leader, but Trixie’s often the one who is in the limelight and in front of cameras as the voice of the band (Twi’s still a bit camera shy). She’s referred to as “The Great and Powerful” by their fans. Yes, she is definitely the source of it.

Big Macintosh: The big, big, big boi of the group and the only stallion of the band, Big Mac provides his talents in the form of drumming. Sometimes the group does acapella, in which he provides the bass and even sometimes lead vocals. Mac rarely speaks and is known as the silent one of the group, but give him a pair of drum sticks and he’ll go wild. Like his sister, he can play one hell of a banjo. He’s often referred to as “The Gentle Knight” of the band: looming, silent, protective presence, there’s no real need for a bodyguard with him around.

Fluttershy: The newest member of the band, Fluttershy brings to the group her talent with the bass guitar, violin, and piano. Fluttershy’s known Twilight for most of her life and her inclusion into the band started when Twi asked Shy to play the violin for one of their tracks. The song went viral and, when it came time to feature it in a concert, Twi asked Fluttershy if she’d be willing to be the one to play her own part: it wouldn’t be the same if they got some random player to do it. She agreed, and despite her nervousness of being on stage, once she got to playing all of it momentarily disappears. The crowd ate it up and kept asking about the “quiet little fae” playing the violin, and it eventually escalated to Fluttershy becoming a part of the band officially. Nervousness aside, Shy does like the attention she gets but in small doses, so while she’s willing to play on stage she often opts out of interviews or, when she does go, she’s seen clinging to one of her bandmates (most often Twilight or Big Mac). She’s known to the fans as “The Fae” or “The Maiden”.

Applejack: Despite being best buds with Twi and the sister of Big Mac, AJ isn’t actually a part of the band. Well... at least officially. She often acts as the band’s tour-bus driver and, when Twi freaks out a bit, the band manager. She’s the one who helps keep everyone in line and focused on the task at hand, so I guess that makes her more of the manager than it does Twily (who mostly focuses on scheduling and making sure they make appointments on time). She may not be an official member but she has played with the band some, able to take up bass and one hell of a banjo and even vocals. As far as the fans are concerned, she’s as much a part of the band’s official lineup as anyone else. Known for her sincerity and honesty, she’s sometimes called “The Honest Knight” or the “Noble Mare”. There’s also, of course, “Country Beef”, of which both Apple siblings are referred to as. The fans love them some muscular Apple farmers.

Spike: Young roadie of the band and near constant companion to Twilight, Spike helps set up and tear down the equipment for the band’s shows and to keep the band on schedule. He’s resourceful and reliable and takes after Twi’s need to keep everything on schedule, but unlike Twi he’s able to roll with the punches more and, if something does go off schedule, figure out a way to remain on task on the fly. Spike also handles the mail the group gets, ranging from fanmail to inquiries to bills, so on. I’m also considering making him the band’s merch artist: I can see Spike being talented at art for his age and they allowed him to design some of their merch. Spikey works more behind the scenes but he gets his fair share of attention; Twi isn’t afraid to brag about him.

Rarity: Upcoming fashionista fresh out of college, Rarity’s the mare who has the skill and dedication to make it, now she just needs the chance. She runs her own online boutique that has been fairly successful, but she wants to aim higher, to work in the fashion industry and hopefully alongside some of her idols. When she lands an interview with one of the biggest name-brand boutiques in Equestria, she hits a creative block that lasts for weeks and leaves her stressed and nearly pulling her mane out. Rainbow brings her to a concert that helps her out of that block, but when the interview ends badly thanks to some stuffy stuck up unwilling to give her a chance, she finds her start in a way she didn’t anticipate: she becomes Twi’s band’s costume designer for their upcoming tour.

Rainbow Dash: An aspiring athlete pursuing a career in professional sports (and to join her dream team, The Wonderbolts), Dash is Rarity’s roommate and best friend since childhood. She works at a weather factory to make ends meet but trains and practices as often as she can to keep in tip-top shape in hopes of scoring a place on the Wonderbolt’s armature team the next coming annual tryout session. She also has a surprisingly entrenched grasp on painting, so much so that she has a decent online following for her work and even offers commissions as a sort of side-hustle for some extra cash. RD is supportive of Rarity’s endeavors into her career (and vice versa) and often acts as a creative buff for Rarity, helping her out when the stress gets to be too much. Her latest success of pulling Rarebear out of a funk is bringing her to her favorite indie band, but she didn’t exactly expect it to go the way it did! That’s alright though: that just equates to a road trip, so of course she tags along.

Pinkie Pie: Works at the bakery Rarity and Rainbow frequent, Pinkie’s as sweet and as excitable as she always has been. She’s known the pair for about 4 years now, providing cupcakes and coffee all throughout college, and they’ve been good friends ever since with the bakery being the unofficial “hangout spot” for them. When Rarity snags the job as the band’s costume designer and asks if Rainbow and Pinkie want to come, Pinkie is almost forced to go by Donut Joe; of the four years she’s worked for him, not once has she taken any vacation days and it’s about time she takes some time away from work. I’m thinking in this AU Pinkie might be a bit of a workaholic, if only because she might be one of the main sources of income for her family ever since her father fell ill. This is subject to change but we’ll see.

---------------------------

Celestia: A retired music icon who has taken up politics and opened up her own school, Celestia was once known (and still is) as the Queen of Rock. Celestia’s school is well known for their stellar Magi-science program and their arts program (including music), and while she no longer personally teaches there she still does visit the school often and offers workshops and mentoring. She is one of the sources of Twilight’s desire to become a rockstar, the others being Shining Armor (who had his own indie band before ultimately disbanding for the military) and Luna. She doesn’t have any official say in what the band does, but she is a source of advice and wisdom who’s willing to offer a tip or two to help the band succeed.

Luna: Retired music icon who’s settled more into the musical world than Celestia has, Luna was once (and still is) hailed as one of the best drummers in Equestria. She and Celestia were a trio-band with Discord back in their hay-day, with Celly as the vocalist and guitarist, Luna as the drummer and songwriter,  and Discord as bass guitarist. While both have ultimately stepped away from the limelight, Luna found her own calling in being a professional songwriter and lyricist. Like Celestia, Luna holds workshops and mentorship programs at Celly’s school. Whereas Twilight became Celestia’s star pupil, Trixie became Luna’s, and the two’s friendship and eventual collaboration into a band was born out of a friendly rivalry from it.

Discord: Retired music icon who has found his calling in musical management, Discord was once part of Celly and Lulu’s band (called LCD). He was primarily the bass guitarist but he’s well-known for being able to play almost any instrument in existence. No one really knows how he managed that, but there ya go: due to his talent he’s often hailed as the “Lord of music”. When the band ultimately disbanded in favor of retirement and pursuing their own careers in other areas, Discord remained interested in having some part in a band and, surprisingly, became a professional band manager and head of his own record label company. Given how spontaneous and chaotic he is, one would think this wouldn’t really work in the music industry... but to everyone’s surprise, it has. He isn’t quite mentor material like Luna and Celestia, but his own methods of teaching and guiding seem to have an overall positive effect, even if sometimes there’s controversy when he’s near.

------------------------------------------------

Apple Bloom: The youngest member of the esteemed Apple family, AB is just as enthusiastic about music as she is apple bucking. More over, she’s far more interested in how the technology of music works than actually playing it, though she has quite the soft spot for the banjo and its simplicity (thanks to her older siblings). Apple Bloom often is made to stay home with Granny Smith when her older sibs strike out on tour, but this time she really, really wants to go. And by george she’s gonna make it happen!

Sweetie Belle: The young sister of Rarity with an affinity for music, Sweetie Belle swears that one day she’ll be a rockstar. She got hooked onto this notion after seeing a Rock’n’Royal concert on TV, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the lead singer as she shred on the guitar, or the very pretty blue mare playing some sort of piano-like guitar and flipping her mane like it was an art. And in that moment, Sweetie knew exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up. In this AU I’m thinking Rarity’s parents are a bit more... neglectful, than they actually are in canon (or in my headcanon), so Sweetie lives with Rarity. That means wherever Rarebear goes, Sweetie goes, and because of it she’ll soon get to meet a couple of kids who’ll become her bestest friends.

Scootaloo: Young little spitfire who’s actually related to Rainbow Dash in this AU: they’re cousins! Scootaloo looks up to big cuz’ RD and mimics just about anything she does, and that includes listening to the music she’s into. Scoots is admittedly not that big of a fan of Rock’n’Royal, if only because their music isn’t exactly “punk” enough for her, but she likes their music well enough and she has to admit, they all look super cool. And hey, RD likes them a lot, so clearly there has to be something great about them, yeah? Fan or nah, she’ll get a surprise of her life when Rainbow Dash invites little cuzo on a long road-trip with her and her friends.... with the freakin’ band themselves. And of course she’s gonna go... if her moms say yes, of course.

[downsbeatrice]

How To Avoid Abandonment In A Divorce Astounding Ideas

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How To Prevent A Nasty Divorce

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[greatvanheflinkennethtobeypie]

Hi @latimes @latimesmobile-blog,

Listen To The Breaking News and Top Stories!!

This is The Whole Untold Story Of The Great Actor Kenneth Tobey:

Early years

Kenneth Jesse Tobey was born in 1917 in Oakland, California. According to the United States Census of 1930 for Oakland,13-year-old "Kenneth J." was the eldest of three sons of Jesse V. Tobey and his wife Frances H. Tobey. That census also documents that Tobey's father was an automobile-tire salesman and that young Kenneth was of Irish and Russian ancestry. His paternal grandmother's parents were both natives of the "Ireland Free State", and his mother's parents were born in Russia, although they apparently had immigrated to South America, where Frances Tobey had been born and where in her youth the preferred language spoken in her family's household—again documented in the census—was Spanish. Following his graduation from high school in 1935, Kenneth was headed for a career in law when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater. That stage experience led to a drama scholarship, a year-and-a-half of study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included fellow University of California at Berkeley alumni Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach, and Tony Randall.

During World War II, Tobey joined the United States Army Air Forces, serving in the Pacific as a rear gunner aboard a B-25 bomber. Throughout the 1940s, with the exception of his time in military service, Tobey acted on Broadway and in summer stock. After appearing in a 1943 film short, The Man of the Ferry, he made his Hollywood film debut in the 1947 Hopalong Cassidy western Dangerous Venture. He then went on to appear in scores of features and on numerous television series. In the 1949 film Twelve O' Clock High, he is the negligent airbase sentry who is dressed down by General Frank Savage (played by Gregory Peck). That same year Tobey performed in a brief comedy bit in another film, I Was a Male War Bride. His performance in that minor part caught the attention of director Howard Hawks, who promised to use the thirty-two-year-old actor in something more substantial.

The Thing from Another World



In 1951, Tobey was cast in Howard Hawks' production The Thing from Another World. In this classic sci-fi film he portrays Captain Patrick Hendry, a United States Air Force pilot, who at the North Pole leads a scientific outpost's dogged defense against an alien portrayed by James Arness, later the star of the television series Gunsmoke. Tobey's performance in Hawks' film garnered the actor other parts in science fiction movies in the 1950s, usually reprising his role as a military officer, such as in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and It Came from Beneath the Sea (1956).

Television



Tobey appeared in the 1952 episode "Counterfeit Plates" on the CBS series Biff Baker, U.S.A., an espionage drama starring Alan Hale, Jr. He was cast too in the 1954-1955 CBS legal drama The Public Defender, starring Reed Hadley. He guest-starred in three episodes of NBC's western anthology series Frontier. His Frontier roles were as Wade Trippe in "In Nebraska" (1955) and then as Gabe Sharp in "Out from Texas" and "The Hostage" (1956). In 1955, he also portrayed legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie on ABC's Davy Crockett, a Walt Disney production, with Fess Parker in the title role. After Bowie's death in the series at the Battle of the Alamo, Tobey played a second character, Jocko, in the two final episodes of Davy Crockett.

Tobey then, in 1957, appeared in the syndicated religion anthology series Crossroads in the role of Mr. Alston in the episode "Call for Help" and as Jim Callahan in "Bandit Chief" in the syndicated western series The Sheriff of Cochise. Later that same year, Tobey starred in the television series The Whirlybirds, a successful CBS and then-syndicated adventure produced by Desilu Studios. In it he played the co-owner of a helicopter charter service, along with fellow actor Craig Hill. The Whirlybirds was a major hit in the United States and abroad, with 111 episodes filmed through 1960. It remained in syndication worldwide for many years.

In 1958, Tobey also appeared as John Wallach in the episode "$50 for a Dead Man" in Jeff Richards's NBC western series Jefferson Drum. In 1960, he guest-starred in the episode "West of Boston" of another NBC western series, Overland Trail, starring William Bendix and Doug McClure. He performed as well in the ABC western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. Tobey made three guest appearances on Perry Mason, twice in 1960 and once in 1962 as Jack Alvin, a deputy district attorney. On the long-running western series Gunsmoke, he portrayed a cruel, knife-wielding buffalo hunter, Ben Spadden, in the 1960 episode titled "The Worm". Tobey in 1962 also guest-starred on another western series, Lawman, playing the character Duncan Clooney, an engineer who seeks to move a shipment of nitroglycerin through Laramie, Wyoming. When the town is evacuated to allow passage of the explosives, two of Clooney's employees decide they will take advantage of the situation to rob the bank.

Tobey guest-starred as well in Jack Lord's 1962-1963 ABC adventure series about a rodeo circuit rider, Stoney Burke. In 1967 he performed on the series Lassie, in the episode "Lure of the Wild", playing a retired forest ranger who tames a local coyote. He also appeared as a slave owner named Taggart in "The Wolf Man", a 1967 episode of Daniel Boone, starring Fess Parker. A few of the many other series in which Tobey later performed include Adam-12 (1969), Gibbsville (1976), MV Klickitat (1978), Emergency! (1975), and Night Court (1985).

He became a semi-regular on the NBC series I Spy as the field boss of agents Robinson and Scott. Christian Nyby, director of The Thing From Another World, often directed those episodes. Tobey also portrayed a ship's captain on the Rockford Files, in an episode titled "There's One in Every Port".

Other films

In 1957, Tobey portrayed a sheriff in The Vampire (a film that some sources today often confuse with the 1935 production Mark of the Vampire). That year he also appeared in a more prestigious film, serving as a featured supporting character with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, the co-stars of John Ford's The Wings of Eagles. In that film, Tobey—with his naturally red hair on display in vibrant Metrocolor—portrays a highly competitive United States Army Air Service officer. In one memorable scene he has the distinction of shoving a piece of gooey cake into the face of John Wayne, whose character is a rival United States Navy aviation officer. Not surprisingly, a room-wrecking brawl ensues.

Tobey's work over the next several decades was increasingly involved in television productions. He did, though, continue to perform in a range of feature films, such as Stark Fear, Marlowe, Billy Jack, Walking Tall, The Howling, the war movie MacArthur (in which he portrays Admiral "Bull" Halsey), Airplane!, Gremlins, Big Top Pee-wee, and Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Broadway

Although Tobey had a busy acting career in films and on television, he also periodically returned to the stage. In 1964 he began a long run on Broadway opposite Sammy Davis, Jr., in the musical version of Clifford Odets' play Golden Boy. Some of his other Broadway credits are As You Like It, Sunny River, Janie, Sons and Soldiers, A New Life, Suds in Your Eye, The Cherry Orchard, and Truckline Cafe.

Later years

As his long career drew to a close, Tobey still received acting jobs from people who had grown up watching his performances in sci-fi films of the 1950s, particularly Joe Dante, who included the veteran actor in his stock company of reliable players. Two appearances on the sitcom Night Court came the same way, through fans of his work. Along with other character actors who had been in 1950s sci-fi and horror films (John Agar, Robert O. Cornthwaite, Gloria Talbott, etc.), Tobey starred in a spoof originally titled Attack Of The B Movie Monster. In 2005, Anthem Pictures released the completed feature version of this spoof on DVD under the new title The Naked Monster. Tobey's scenes in that release were actually shot in 1985, so The Naked Monster is technically his final film credit, being released three years after his death. He had, however, continued to act throughout most of the 1990s. One of those notable roles is his performance in the 1994 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Shadowplay" as Rurigan, an alien who recreates his dead friends as holograms. Among other examples of Tobey's final decade of work are his two appearances as Judge Kent Watson on the series L.A. Law.

In 2002, Tobey died of natural causes at age 85 in Rancho Mirage, California.

[kuwaiti-kid]

Simple Steps to Navigate Your Midlife Crisis

This past month I turned 38. Some would say this is not midlife and that 40 is more fitting. I don't care what you have to say. It feels like midlife to me. I have felt older in the last year then I have previously in my life. Maybe it was the fire, or the toddler, or just a midlife crisis.

I think this hits most people and kids make it more real. The teens and twenties are spent figuring things out. School and careers. Meeting potential partners and maybe getting married. Then the thirties come, and you start falling into more of a routine. Perhaps you are married now and have a kid or two. Work is often past the excitement point and now, routine.

Often I think it is kids that do it. Kids make life, well real – and complicated. Plus beautiful. I do believe they are a part of the human experience. Raising a little human is way different than raising a dog (and I have done that). It's also more limiting. While I know some families travel in RVs or even on boats, that is not what we want for our kid (at least not full time). We want him to have a base and friends that he grew up with.

Anyway, life feels real now and not the adventure it was when I was five or even ten years younger. And that is okay. Perhaps it's time to set some new goals. That gets us to the point of this post.

Why Midlife Crisis

Seeing that my life may be halfway over (I mean, hopefully, I will live an independent life until I am 100, but let's be honest with ourselves), I want to rethink where I want life to go. I share these goals with you for two reasons.

First, so that I can be held accountable, in Buddhism, there is a saying that karma is built on different levels. A thought creates some karma, verbalizing it builds more, and doing the action builds the most karma. So today, I will be verbalizing my goals in the hope of creating some karmic energy and move things forward. Additionally, this is why you should say nice things to each other. Not only is it polite and hopefully right, but if karma does exist, then you are banking the good kind.

Second, I want you, the reader, to think about where your life is now and where you want it to go for the next 40 years. That will change and get adapted over time as the Mad Fientist recounts after his second year of retirement, but just think about it.

No matter how you define midlife crisis, it's something many people endure.

My goals during a midlife crisis

So without further ado…my goals

First are the simple ones to state, but not necessarily to do.

Continue building my relationships with loved ones and close friends.

As time has gone by, my need for an extensive social network has diminished. Don't get me wrong, I like meeting new people and getting to know their life stories, but I do this all day at work as a doctor. Thus in my personal life, I like to keep my group of friends to a small but reliable group. Weed out the people who do not improve you and keep the good. Same with family. Continuing to build on those lifelong relationships is vital.

I am trying to be a more patient husband and father.

I think I am getting better at the husband's part since I have had years of practice. The father part is more complicated. As my son has turned three and is more defiant, I find myself needing more patience – much more patience. So now, I am trying to slow my roll and breath before addressing his resistance. Resistance is futile (his or mine, I am not sure, but either way, it is pointless), so I might as well learn a new way to handle it. That is likely also something I need to work on as a son and brother. We tend to take the people closest to us for granted.

I am finding joy in the small things at work.

By this point in life, I have pretty much figured out the doctoring thing except for the occasional crazy diagnosis. There are many things I love about this job, particularly when I have a great talk and connection with a patient. Thus my goal is to focus on making more of these connections and less on the frustrations (medical records systems, administrative mandates, etc.). I can control what I can, and the rest is just noise. Since this is a job I may be doing for 30 more years, I need to continue improving my experience with it.

Continue writing, whether it is for this site or a book, doesn't matter. Just keep writing.

I do enjoy putting my thoughts on paper. I have found some modest success with this site. About 200 people visit it per day and from all over the world. That is a pittance compared to many other blogs out there, but I think of it as if I am giving a college seminar. If I were lecturing in front of 200 people every day, I would feel pretty successful. So I want to keep this up.

The number of posts has decreased from 3 a week to 1 a week since the inception of the site, but that is because I am busy doing other things (like building a home, dealing with insurance, trying to be the best I can at my day job). Still, I will keep writing. I have dabbled in writing a book but am not motivated to get through the outline. But who knows, maybe one day.

Keep pursuing financial independence.

I do think financial independence makes life easier. The fact that I am now debt-free has allowed me to make some life choices I would not have made a year ago. That is compelling stuff. So my goal is to be financially independent by the time I am 50. Whether this will be through saving and investing in index funds (my current plan) or if I start investing in real estate (which I am debating currently) has yet to be seen.

My family spends about $100,000 a year (lots of travel), which means we would need about $120,000 a year to account for taxes. That is $2.8 million to be considered financially independent. I am currently above $1 million, and hope to be at $1.5 million by the end of 2019. So I am getting there. The reality is if we cut spending, we will be there sooner as I will need less money to be considered financially independent and have more to invest each month. Food is our most significant source of spending, and I do think we can cut back on dinners out. Oh, and in this calculation, we will need to own our home outright, which we currently do not.

Kids' college tuition.

That is already taken care of. He is three and has $60k in a 529 plan. I suspect over the next 15 years, it will be closer to $200k. So I can take this off of my list of things to worry about.

Now for the more task-oriented ones.

Lift and get fit.

The best shape I have ever been in was 2004 when I was doing Jiu-Jitsu regularly. I was thin and healthy. Since then, I have continued working out in some capacity over the years. I have run, lifted weights, done kung fu, and, most recently, yoga. I do think flexibility and strength training are vital, so I want to continue yoga, but need to focus on building my muscles too.

Thus I think I am going to invest in some free weights and a bench for my garage. For me to work out, it needs to be comfortable, and nothing is easier than working out at home. I am not sure this will happen, but I want to put it out there. I would also love to get back into martial arts, but the schedule has to be conducive to my work and family life. That is why yoga has worked. I go to class at 6 am and am home by 7 am to shower and see my family before going to work.

Learn a musical instrument.

I have taken trumpet and Arabic drum lessons and can keep a rhythm but do not feel proficient in either. I really would like to learn guitar or piano but never have gotten around to it. That is a goal, though, and one I hope I can do in the next ten years. It would be fun to be able to jam. For now, I am giving my son access to all of these instruments and lessons. If I never learn, hopefully, he will.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Nothing crazy. Just some simple goals for a 30 something-year-old man. I am sure I have lots to learn, and people in their 50s probably scoff at my thoughts, but that is okay. I'm getting the work done, and the karma is rolling. Let's see what the next 38 years bring!

The post Simple Steps to Navigate Your Midlife Crisis appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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[olivereliott]

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 7 June, 2020

A crisp Honda V30 Magna tracker, a swooping Norton/Vincent hybrid, a Ducati Hailwood replica up for auction, and a very sharp Ducati ST4S cafe racer. We’d happily put any of these into our garage.

Norvin by Stile Italiano We’ve all seen plenty of lust-worthy Tritons; Triumph motors stuffed into Norton frames. The crew at Stile Italiano has built six, plus four ‘Hartons.’ But now they’ve really gone overboard, with this stunning Norvin.

You’re looking at a Norton featherbed frame, equipped with one of the most desirable engines ever made—a Vincent.

The crew started by sourcing an original ‘wideline’ featherbed frame. They obviously had to mod it to hold the Vincent motor, but they also cut out the bottom and rebuilt it, so that the motor (and center of gravity) would sit lower. The engine itself is the 998 cc mill from the Vincent Rapide, but it’s been bored out to 1,140 cc, and upgraded with forged pistons and a twin spark conversion.

The bodywork is all hand-formed, as are the snaking exhaust headers, which terminate in a pair of Virex mufflers. Modern touches like Öhlins forks are offset against retro parts like the exquisite drum brakes. With a classy black paint job and gold highlights, it’s nothing short of exquisite. [More]

Honda V30 Magna by MotoRelic Ever heard of the V30 Magna? It was a 498 cc V-four cruiser that Honda released in the 80s, with ‘custom’ styling typical of the era. Not surprisingly, you don’t see many custom examples—so when Sean Skinner at MotoRelic in Virginia got his hands on one, he had nothing to reference for inspiration.

That didn’t stop him from building a sharp street tracker that’s miles ahead of the source material. Sean’s V30 is also something of a parts bin special, with an Interceptor swing arm, CBR600F2 forks and wheels, and a Suzuki T500 fuel tank.

Swapping out the tank was no walk in the park: the Magna has two fuel tanks, with a massive air box in between them. So Sean had to rip everything out and fabricate a new custom air box to house a K&N filter. Getting the wheels and swing arm to fit required a fair amount of machine work, and the forks are attached via the triples from a Nighthawk.

The bike also features a custom subframe and tailpiece, complete with tracker-style number boards. Counterbalance Cycles handled the upholstery, while Knights Kustoms did the paint, pulling inspiration from classic Honda color schemes. Other upgrades include LED lighting, a custom headlight nacelle and fender, and twin two-into-one exhaust systems built with parts from Cone Engineering.

The parts list is exhaustive, the custom work even more so, and the stance and livery are flawless. Sean wonders if the V30 Magna could be the new CX500, and he might just be onto something. [More]

Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica Mike Hailwood is undeniably a legend of the sport, but one of his most remarkable victories came 11 years after he first retired. In 1978 he went back to work, and won the Isle of Man TT at the age of 38.

‘Mike the Bike’ entered the race as a privateer, piloting a Ducati 900 SuperSport. A year later, Ducati cashed in on the fame, and released the limited edition Ducati 900 MHR (Mike Hailwood replica), producing just 7,000 examples.

The MHR was closer to a stock 900SS than the highly custom version Hailwood raced, but its bodywork and livery did a good job of mimicking the style. It also featured a few upgrades: Dell’Orto carbs with velocity stacks, and better performing Conti mufflers. Later models featured an electric start and hydraulic clutch, and eventually a more reliable 973 cc motor.

This 1985 MHR’s just popped up on the auction website Mecum. With only 11,713 miles on the meter it appears to be in tip-top shape, and was bought by its current owner from a Ducati dealer. It’s a stunning slice of history, and, as we’ve said before, one of few bikes we wouldn’t dare customize.

It’s going on the block in mid July, with no current estimate … so start saving. [Via]

Ducati ST4S by Moto Motivo Johann Keyser is a South African living in the US and he’s turned his custom motorcycle hobby into a career, under the banner of Moto Motivo. Some time ago, he built a Ducati ST2 for a client; the owner of this 2005 ST4S spotted that build, and asked Johann to build something similar.

To turn the sports tourer into a cafe racer, Johann started by ditching all of its bodywork. In its place he fitted a Ducati 999 tank, followed by a custom tailpiece that integrates neatly with the rear edge of the tank. The subframe was shortened and narrowed to match.

The ST4S also wears Monster gauges, clip-ons, an aftermarket Harley V-Rod headlight, and a saddle and rear-sets from Japan. The bike came with Öhlins suspension, so Johann turned his attention elsewhere. He installed a set of Monster S4RS wheels with Continental Road Attack 2 tires, wedging the single-sided S4RS swing arm into the frame at the same time.

On the performance side, this ST4S benefits from a set of K&N filters, and a custom-built ceramic coated exhaust system, capped with a yellow carbon fiber Akrapovič can. Johann remapped the ECU too. As for the bright yellow design—that’s a hat tip to the first cafe racer he built as a teenager, and the Alfa Romeos he used to race. [More]