#sky ellington

[sky-ellington]

"Appetite"--a haiku

Ate desperation;

Sustained my life with death.

Bliss now hurts my teeth.

~Sky Ellington

[laeo-ynxr]

Commissioned art of adult Laeo, mid-transformation. Artist credit here:

[jolon-the-goblin]

Concept Art Time~☆

These first two are concepts for book covers 1 & 2. Very likely (guaranteed tbh) to change before their individual releases.

Next, we have a group of sketches that show ¹Jolon leaping with an orb of light above one hand [this kinda goes along with a dream he has had periodically ever since he was a yip (child)], ²Jolon standing next to his best and only real friend Ayita, and ³a solo image of a slightly older Jolon sitting with his legs crossed. The sketches on the right are two I did while writing these scenes in the first book: ¹Jolon & Ayita snoozing under the tree and ²Jolon listening to Ayita as they head out from the village for their adventure.

Lastly ((for now)) is art of one of the creatures encountered in the book [the xandii being something like a large quilled weasel; plural: xandos], and one of the side characters [Sani; a water elf]. I do plan to draw more of the plants/animals and other mentioned characters. Any named characters will be seen (or at least heard of) again in book 2, btw~ I didn't make them just to leave them behind, so look forward to encountering them again in the next installment!

[pygartheangel]

[ellgrimm]

Jolon is hungry as heck and so excited for "food" but Ayita is always right.

Okay so I love them and their dynamic ngl >.>

Jolon (Lon-Lon) and Ayita in Jolon the Goblin: of Thieves & Mages by @sky-ellington, which you can read in the Mischievous Monsters collection

[kenneturner]

Capturing The Sunset Moment -- Shades Of Red, Blue, and Indigo

Capturing The Sunset Moment — Shades Of Red, Blue, and Indigo

Shades of Red, Blue and Indigo — Image by kenne My sky is full of passion drowning out the melancholy of late afternoon blues as I contemplate the color of energy mixing with the color of music — feeling the Duke’s mood indigo making for a shepherd’s delight. — kenne Related articles Capturing The Moment – Indigo Blue (kenneturner.com) Indigo. Indigoing. Indigone. (davidkanigan.com)

[sagesolsticewrites]

Take A Break

Rosie runs into a childhood friend at the flak house.

Requested by anon, based on the prompts “I kissed you because I wanted to. Dumbass.” and “You’ve got stars in your eyes.”

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal by the actors in the Apple TV+ series. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within.

As you stood on the front steps of Coombe House, you found yourself nervous for the first time since you’d started there.

Lieutenant Robert Rosenthal was the name at the top of the list of the latest group of soldiers assigned to the house, and since you’d been given it, you couldn’t stop thinking about a childhood friend of yours from Brooklyn with the same name.

Don’t be ridiculous, you scold yourself, reminding the sentimental part of you that the odds of it actually being Robbie were astronomical and you shouldn’t get your hopes up.

Pasting on your best smile as the car filled with boisterous soldiers pulls up, you shove those thoughts away.

“Hello gentlemen!” you call, “I’m Y/N. Welcome to Coombe House.”

You lead them around the house, reciting your spiel about the various activities and amenities, and then passing them off to Michael.

A gentleman who had been hanging towards the back of the group during the tour stepped up, calling your name as the rest of the group was led to their rooms.

“Robert Rosenthal,” he said, introducing himself, “I was just wondering--”

“Robbie?” you gasp.

The brightness in them had dimmed the slightest bit, but you'd recognize those kind blue eyes anywhere.

His brow furrows, no doubt baffled at hearing his childhood nickname all the way over in England.

“I’m sorry, how did you— Wait,” he scans your face, recognizing… something, “Y/N… L/N?”

At your answering nod, you’re tackled in a hug, his joyous, disbelieving laugh filling your ears.

“What are you—? How—?”

“I wanted to help out, and I guess the Army figured this is where my skills would be best put to use,” you explain with a laugh, “When I saw your name on the list I wasn’t sure if it was really you, but…”

“Gosh, Y/N, I haven’t seen you in…”

“Nearly 10 years? I know, I tried to keep in touch after we moved…”

You catch up with your friend, responsibilities forgotten — “So… Rosie, huh?” “Hey, you’d be surprised how little control you have over nicknames in the Army!” — until the clock begins to chime and you realize you’ve spent nearly half an hour just standing here talking.

As Robert begins to excuse himself, not wanting to take up any more of your time, you recall the incident that led to this conversation.

“Er, you said you had a question?”

He hums in confusion before remembering “Oh! Yeah, I was just wondering how long I have to be here…?”

“Unfortunately that’s not really up to me,” you reply with an apologetic shrug, “It’s the decision of your CO to send you boys out here, but you’re welcome to chat to Dr. Huston about it.”

“Though while you’re here,” you say as he’s about to walk away, “I’d recommend taking advantage of the baths and hot water. Absolutely life-changing.” You add with a teasing grin.

He lets out a laugh, though not nearly as genuine as you’d hoped. With that, Rosie thanks you and departs with a two-fingered salute

Robert spends the first couple days at the house keeping his distance from his crewmates, his eyes continually on the sky rather than taking part in the sports and activities available to the soldiers. He doesn’t seem like the boy you remember, but… well, there is a war going on. It’s changed everyone it touches.

One night you find yourself wandering the halls, unable to sleep, when you hear music coming from one of the sitting rooms.

“Hello?” You call softly, following the sounds of Duke Ellington to find Robert standing next to the record player, staring out the window at the darkened English countryside, soft curls tinted slightly blue in the moonlight.

He starts, then relaxes once he sees you.

“Hey,” he says, turning down the volume, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you-”

“I was up already,” you assure him, “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I guess I’m having a hard time with,” he gestures to the lavish country house with a shrug, “all this? I mean… all the croquet, badminton, riding with hounds— what even is that, by the way?”

Your lips twitch up into a smile as you move to stand beside him, “Foxhunting.”

“Foxhunting,” he sighs, shaking his head, “That’s exactly what I don’t need right now.”

He turns his gaze to the star-filled night sky, “What I need is to be back in that seat getting this job done.”

He continues, talking to himself almost as much as you, “Sittin’ here doing nothing, when people are bein’ persecuted and— I can’t— I had gotten into a rhythm, you know? Three days, three missions, easy. And now being yanked out of that, it’s like…”

He searches for an analogy, and you can’t help but smile at the one he lands on, recalling his fascination with music back when you were children.

“You don’t yank Gene Krupa out in the middle of a drum solo, and then expect him to pick right back up where he left off two weeks later, you know?”

You nod, understanding where he’s coming from. You recognized that while some jumped at the chance for a distraction, it was a more difficult adjustment for some soldiers to be thrust into this environment after so long in battle.

“Well, Gene Krupa’s not just responsible for his own rhythm, is he?” You say softly, following his analogy, “He’s responsible for the rhythm of the whole band. And if he’s off, then…”

Rosie nods, letting out a soft laugh, “Okay, I see where you’re going with that.”

“Seriously, Robbie,” you say, taking a chance and resting your hand on top of his on the windowsill, his gaze meeting yours at your touch, “If you don’t let yourself take a break, even just for a little while… it’s not gonna be good.”

He’s silent, and for a moment you worry you’ve overstepped.

Until he mumbles, in a voice so soft you’re not even sure you were meant to hear it, “You’ve got stars in your eyes.”

Maybe it’s the soft sounds of Duke Ellington still playing. Maybe it’s the moonlight, the calm silence filling the house.

Maybe it’s the way he’s looking at you like you’re the first good thing he’s seen in a long time.

You’re not quite sure what, but something possesses you to surge up onto your toes and press your lips to his.

His hand moves to your waist, pulling you closer, before he abruptly pulls away.

“I, ah…” He says, seemingly trying to gather his thoughts, “You didn’t just do that because you felt… sorry for me or somethin’, did you?”

Relief floods through you— he’s concerned with why you kissed him, not the mere fact that you did.

You cup his cheek, and Rosie’s eyes close, leaning into your touch as you say softly, “I kissed you because I wanted to.”

Then, after a moment’s consideration, you add with a smile, “Dumbass.”

His eyes shoot open as he barks out a laugh.

“Oh, that’s how it is, huh?”

Your giggles are swiftly silenced by his lips landing on yours once more, the tension finally leaving his shoulders for the first time in weeks.

The two of you end up on the couch, talking late into the night about what brought you to England, Rosie mostly telling you in hushed tones about the friends he’d made in the 100th— men that were no longer here, but lived on in his memory, and now yours. You fall asleep leaning against each other, still holding hands.

You shift, eyes fluttering open as the gray dawn light filters into the room. It takes you a moment to get your bearings, but you grin seeing Rosie asleep next to you, looking the most relaxed you’ve seen him since he arrived. With a single kiss to his forehead, you slip away to the women’s wing of the house until it’s an appropriate hour for you to stumble upon him in the sitting room.

Armed with a thick blanket and a coffee service, you creep in to see Rosie still sound asleep. Smiling, you gently lay the blanket over him, trying not to wake him. Unfortunately, he stirs the moment the blanket touches him.

He looks around, attempting to orient himself, and relaxes when he sees you.

“Good morning,” you grin, taking in his sleep-mussed curls shining golden in the morning light, “Coffee?”

“Please,” he replies in a voice rough with sleep, mustache twitching up into a smile as he sits up.

“Just don’t tell anyone, alright?” You say coyly as you prepare a cup, “I can’t be bringing all you boys breakfast in bed, now can I?”

“Well, I must be special,” he grins, taking the cup gratefully and adding with a wink, “I’ll take it to the grave.”

You’re glad to see him relax a tiny bit more over the group’s last few days at the house, and the two of you are able to find plenty of stolen moments together once everyone’s gone to bed.

When it’s time for them to return to base, he leaves you with a promise to write and a kiss. He captures your lips tenderly on the front steps, disregarding the whoops and cheers from his crew mates waiting in the Jeep, and you can’t help smiling despite yourself as they drive away, keeping your eyes on him for as long as you can.

[odditiesnoctobermidnightroad]

Crooner's Beat-over Prompt-tober!!

Words from Crooner: “I tell ya’ what, there ain’t nothin’ to be had from this ‘tag-me’ game if you don’t have the right inspiration. 

That’s the reason ya’ do these ‘prompt-tober’ challenges, isn’t it? You want something to INSPIRE ya’ don’t cha? You’re gonna need some musical motivation. Thankfully, I know my way with oldies. 

Draw up the images that come to mind when you hear these swinging beats sung by the gods off swing and jazz themselves’.

Bettye Lavette - “Witchcraft in the Air”

Cab Calloway - “Nightmare”, “Minnie the Moocher”, “The Ghost of Smokey Joe”

Ray Charles - “Hit the Road Jack”

Nina Simone - ”I Put a Spell on You”, “Sinnerman”, “Pirate Jenny”

Todd Rollins - “The Boogieman”

Andy Williams - “Spooky”

Frank Sanatra - “Blue Moon”, “Witchcraft”

Sarah Vaughan - “I’m Afraid the Masquerade is Over”

Billie Holiday - “Gloomy Sunday”, “What a Little Moonlight can Do”

Ozzie Nelson - “Strange Enchantment”

Julie London - “This October”

Screamin Jay Hawkins - “Little Demon”, “Whistling Past the Graveyard”, “Alligator Wine”

Stevie Wonder - “Superstition”

Jo Stafford - “Haunted Heart”, “Old Devil Moon”

Rosemary Clooney - “The Wobblin Goblin”, “Pumpky Pumpkin”

Jelly Roll Morton - “Dead Man’s Blues”, “Creepy Feeling”

The Treniers - “One of the Bushes”, “Devil’s Mambo”

Eartha Kitt - “I Want to be Evil”, “I’d rather be Burned as a Witch”

Anita O’Day - “Bewitched, Beguiled and Bewildered”, “The Walls Keep Talkin”

Johnny Cash - “I walk the Line”, “Ghost Riders in the Sky”

Peggy Lee - “Bewitched”, “He’s a Tramp”

Bing Crosby - “Halloween”, “The Headless Horseman”

Steve Cook - “The Legend of Dogman”

Ella Fitzgerald - “Lullaby of the Leaves”

Louis Prima - “Mr. Ghost goes to Town”, “Old Black Magic”

Nat Gonella - “The Skeleton in the Closet”

LaVern Baker - “Voodoo Voodoo”

Louis Armstrong - “This Black Cat”, “Jeepers Creepers”

Glen Miller - “Swinging at the Seance”

Duke Ellington - “Haunted Nights”

Artie Shaw - “The Nightmare”

Draw em’ good, and don’t forget to sing-along along.

I swear I’m not listening…” 

[idrawprettyboys]

These are character bios for a manga I'm working on, The Princess is the Punk. Premise: A Japanese punk and a Victorian lady swap bodies and fall in love in each other's settings! Specific dates and character designs may be subject to change later.

Keiichiro Yamaguchi: A rowdy delinquent from 1989 Japan. He's gotten tired of all the fights and troublemaking. When a shooting star falls from the sky, he wishes to no longer be a rebel and to be able to live a comfortable domestic life. He switches lives with Evelyn Mortimer.

Evelyn Mortimer: An upper-class lady from 1842 England. She wants to break free of the restrictions placed on her and of her upcoming arranged marriage. When a shooting star falls from the sky, she wishes for freedom to do what she wants and be with whoever she wants. She switches bodies with Keiichiro Yamaguchi.

Roger Ellington: An aristocrat from 1842 England. He asked Evelyn's parents for her hand in marriage with the hopes of hiding his homosexuality. Once Keiichiro takes over Evelyn's body, Roger's cold, callous demeanor starts chipping away, and he begins to wonder if he's somehow developing feelings for his fiancée.

Toku Hamamoto: A playful delinquent from 1989 Japan. He's Keiichiro's loyal, bubbly best friend. He's always cared dearly for his friends, but his friendship with Keiichiro starts to feel like something else when Evelyn takes over, and his "bro" starts acting like his ideal woman.

Author's notes: At the point of posting this, I have 43 pages written of the storyboards thus far! I'm still figuring out some things, so I don't want to start the final pages quite yet, in case I have to make some big changes. I want to try making the manga entirely in pencil, so let me know whether the images and writing is legible enough! This is a test run to get an idea of what I want the final pages to look like. Also, if you see this, please let me know if you like the premise and look forward to seeing the comic! Any little bit of encouragement helps. Thank you!

[disneytva]

Moana's Hei-Hei Is Next On Getting Paul Rudish and Asia Ellington Redesing For Walt Disney World Passholder Magnet.

There's a line where the sky meets the sea and it calls me, but no one knows how far it goes, one day I'll know, how far I'll go!.

Consider the coconut as Disney Television Animation, Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Yellow Two Shoes Team team up for another Walt Disney World Passholder magnet this time featuring everyone's favorite rooster Hei-Hei from Moana in honor of EPCOT's Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana.

Walt Disney World Annual Passholders can head over to EPCOT for the latest magnet in their growing collection from January 29 to February 23, 2024

The redesing is done by Asia Ellington ("The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse" Franchise) & Paul Rudish ("The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse" Franchise) with animation by Mercury Filmworks.

[the-birth-of-art]

“What is music to you? What would you be without music? Music is everything. Nature is music (cicadas in the tropical night). The sea is music, the wind is music. The rain drumming on the roof and the storm raging in the sky are music. Music is the oldest entity. The scope of music is immense and infinite. It is the ‘esperanto’ of the world.”

William Gottlieb - Portrait of Duke Ellington, Paramount Theater, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1946.

[sky-ellington]

Thru cities of ash, I've trodden,

bones cannot whisper--

--secrets unspoken.

& o'er mountains of human ego,

where traditions reign--

--movement frozen.

Deep in valleys of despair,

I found Hope bogged down--

--but, unbroken.

Yet, my favorite place to walk,

though treacherous--

--steps uncertain...

...Is thru the heart and mind of another;

And, by gods--

--it is golden.

~S.E.

[justbusterkeaton]

URL song tag game

Tagged by @kaasknot

I couldn’t do this game without making it Buster based of course (username must always check out) besides, I enjoy a challenge!

J U

S T

B U

S T

E R

K E

A T

O N

Jump by Van Halen

U Got the Look by Prince and Sheena Easton

SOS by ABBA

Teardrop by Massive Attack

Break On Through by The Doors

Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed by David Bowie

Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum

Tiny Dancer by Elton John

Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey by The Beatles

Rollin’ Stone by Muddy Waters

Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

Alone Again Or by Love

Take The A Train by Duke Ellington

Our House by Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Nancy Boy by Placebo

I challenge -

@keatonkeatonkeaton @bozlumridesagain @bygone-hollywood @chi-scribe @somniloquist @exdeputysonso @monsterfromid (obviously, feel free to ignore this completely)

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #280 - Joni Mitchell, Mingus, 1979

Quando nel 1972 George Wein, celebre organizzatore del Festival di Newport, presentò Charles Mingus all’ora governatore della George, Jimmy Carter, futuro presidente degli Stati Uniti d’America, stava già su una sedia a rotelle, in una fase terribile della malattia di Gehring. Ma fu presentato come “il più grande jazzista vivente”. Qualche anno prima, non invitato dallo stesso Wein al Festival di Newport, organizzò un controfestival, con esibizioni notevolissime, girando in macchina con un megafono proprio nella stessa Newport, attirando non poche persone. Mingus negli anni ‘70 era appena tornato sulle scene, dopo il tracollo mentale dello sfratto e le cure psichiatriche. Eppure proprio in questi anni ci fu una riscoperta totale dei suoi dischi, anche perchè come sempre lui ci mise lo zampino: si mise in testa di poter far soldi con la Candid Records, una piccola casa discografica fondata nel 1960 dal critico e produttore Nat Hentoft e da Archie Bleyer, proprietario della casa discografica Cadence. Mingus auto assunse il ruolo di “direttore” e in 6 mesi registrò dischi favolosi, garantendo agli artisti totale libertà concettuale e artistica, ma non pagò musicisti, tecnici, firmò contratti stranissimi, tanto che durò tutto dall’agosto del ‘60 all’aprile del ‘61. Ma dagli anni ‘70 il catalogo completo fu ridistribuito con il marchio Barnaby della CBS, riaccendendo l’interesse su questo geniale quanto stranissimo musicista. Di questo periodo anche le sue ultime grandi composizioni, con il vulcanico quintetto di George Adams e Don Pullen, con cui registrò Changes One e Changes Two, tutti e due del 1975, con uno dei suoi ultimi grandi pezzi, Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love. La sua quarta moglie, Sue, è il suo angelo custode, e proprio Sue gli porta un album di una cantante canadese,  Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, che in quegli stessi anni, siamo nel 1977, stava sperimentando il canto jazz: Joni Mitchell. Affascinato dalla sua voce, Mingus la contatta e iniziano a parlare di una collaborazione. La prima idea è grandiosa, in pieno stile Mingus, musicare cioè i Quattro Quartetti di T. S. Eliot: Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages, e Little Gidding sono 4 racconti che il grande scrittore americano aveva pensato come sezioni simili ai tempi di un quartetto d’archi, da cui il nome, scritti prima e dopo lo scoppio della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, dal simbolismo ermetico e potentissimo. Joni Mitchell in un primo tempo rifiuta, poi Mingus lascia perdere Eliot e le regala sei composizioni autografe, chiamate Joni I-VI, a cui Mitchell dovrà aggiungere i testi. Siamo nella secondo metà del 1978, e Mingus per via della sua malattia si trasferisce con Sue a Cuernavaca, in Messico. Mitchell prova le canzoni con un gruppo di musicisti, ma non è convinta, così richiama il leggendario bassista e suo collaboratore nei dischi precedenti, Jaco Pastorius, a cui affianca un gruppo fenomenale: Wayne Shorter al sassofono soprano, Peter Erskine alla batteria, Don Alias alle congas, Emil Richards alle percussioni e il grande Herbie Hancock al piano elettrico. Prodotto dalla stessa Mitchell e registrato presso gli Electric Ladyland Studios di New York, Mingus esce nel giugno 1979. Mitchell aggiunge di suo God Must Be A Boogie Man è per voce, chitarra acustica e basso fretless di Pastorius e The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey, più particolare: lungo brano di voce e chitarra più, qua e là, congas (e ululati) e il jazz rock di God Must Be A Boogie Man. Nei brani scelti tra quelli scritti da Mingus, c’è altra magia: A Chair In The Sky è in quartetto con Hancock, Shorter, Pastorius ed Erskine, è uno degli ultimi gioiellini di Mingus, tra armonie complesse e delicate melodie, con Shorter sugli scudi e il lavoro eccellente di Pastorius in tessitura strutturale. Sweet Sucker Dance è quasi swing; The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines è un saltellante blues con tanto di sezione fiati (arrangiata da Pastorius). Il brano decisamente più emozionante è quello che chiude il disco, la magnifica ballata del 1959 che Mingus dedicò a Lester Young, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat: sempre in quartetto, Joni Mitchell fornisce una stupenda esposizione melodica  cantando anche la prima, lunga, parte del bellissimo assolo di sax tenore presente nell’originale del 1959. La Mitchell qui come cantante si è superata, e ci ha donato una preziosa versione di questo immortale brano di Mingus. Tra i brani, si intervallano delle parti di dialoghi buffi e scanzonati, segnati sul libretto come Rap, tra Mingus, amici e vari musicisti. Il disco fu un fiasco commerciale, e anche la critica non seppe capirlo all’epoca. Tuttavia per tutti i musicisti, fu uno dei lavori più cari per vari motivi, non ultimo quello che successe di lì a poco. Appena quasi tutti i brani erano pronti, tranne God Must Be a Boogie Man, furono mandati a Mingus a Cuernavaca, a fine 1978. Mingus fece appena in tempo ad ascoltarli, perchè il 5 gennaio del 1979 muore stroncato da un infarto. Il disco uscirà nel giugno 1979. E nelle note di copertina di Mingus, Joni Mitchell racconta questa storia, che si pensava fosse una leggenda di sua invenzione, ma che alla fine si rivelò vera: nello stesso giorno della sua morte, in una Baia non lontana da Cuernavaca, una mareggiata spiaggiò diversi capodogli. Erano 56, 56 come gli anni di Charles Mingus. Il giorno dopo, come da sua volontà, il suo corpo venne cremato e le sue ceneri verranno poi depositate nel Gange. Nello stesso giorno della cremazione, anche le carcasse dei capodogli vennero bruciate in colossali pire sulla spiaggia. Leggenda vuole che le fiamme facessero nel cielo delle piccole M: l’ultima leggenda di Charles Mingus, genio della musica.

[theimpossiblescheme]

soldiers, poets, and queens - playlists for ulysses, rosaline, prufrock, and caprizant for @bombawife‘s OC week (album art by @thedragonchilde)

ulysses: 01. setting up the courtroom - joby talbot | 02. bone + tissue - gallant | 03. still - colton ryan and molly gordon | 04. god bless the child - billie holiday | 05. how i am - jason howland | 06. thunder in a blue sky - namo feat. aedan peterson | 07. the nutcracker, op. 71, act I, scene 1: no. 4, arrival of drosselmeyer - pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky | 08. paper forest (birds) - emmy the great | 09. birdhouse in your soul - they might be giants | 10. hello my old heart - the oh hellos | 11. howl - black rebel motorcycle club | 12. when your feet don’t touch the ground - ellie goulding | 13. fragile - poets of the fall | 14. reflets dans l'eau - claude debussy | 15. relay - fiona apple | 16. god only knows - clay hine, drew mcmillan, tim brooks, and tim reynolds | 17. a long way past the past - fleet foxes | 18. lean - oh land feat. vitamin string quartet | 19. any other world - mika [listen]

rosaline: 01. mother and child reunion - paul simon | 02. garden song - phoebe bridgers | 03. la niaise - leila huissoud | 04. all of the women - allison russell | 05. just my imagination - the cranberries | 06. more than close - oneke | 07. what it is - amber mark | 08. i lost something in the hills - sibylle baier | 09. joy - nataly dawn | 10. glowing - the oh hellos | 11. the healing process - koh lantana | 12. night still comes - neko case | 13. blue skies - kathryn calder | 14. flower garden - joe hisaishi | 15. back in my body - maggie rogers | 16. olalla - blanco white | 17. te regalo - carla morrison | 18. it ends with us - steve mokwebe | 19. je suis pret - brooke fraser [listen]

prufrock: 01. the croquet match - joby talbot | 02. learning to fly - the weepies | 03. in my city - ellie goulding | 04. grace kelly - mika | 05. good old-fashioned lover boy - queen | 06. the 59th street bridge song (feelin' groovy) - simon and garfunkel | 07. song of the baron - yuji nomi | 08. on the street where you live - bill shirley | 09. romeo - donna summer | 10. everybody talks - postmodern jukebox | 11. king of the world - young rising sons | 12. shining star - earth, wind, and fire | 13. un sospiro - franz liszt | 14. into a fantasy - alexander rybak | 15. heavy balloon - fiona apple | 16. ain't no mountain high enough - diana ross | 17. feel it still - portugal. the man | 18. rounds - the oh hellos | 19. if the world turned upside down - goo goo dolls [listen]

caprizant: 01. six weeks - of monsters and men | 02. patience worth - faith and the muse | 03. hurricane - ms mr | 04. ivory tower - nova twins | 05. flowers - in love with a ghost feat. nori | 06. i know the end - phoebe bridgers | 07. so afraid - janelle monáe | 08. where did i leave that fire - neko case | 09. the girl i mean to be - daisy eagan | 10. supergirl - krystal harris | 11. cuando seas grande - miguel mateos | 12. hey you - pink floyd | 13. mood indigo - duke ellington | 14. pepper'n'sand - ingrid and the ministers | 15. s.p.c.l.g. (society for the prevention of cruelty to little girls) - the society girls | 16. bad trash - switchblade symphony | 17. four pink walls - alessia cara | 18. my friends - oh wonder | 19. ready now - dodie [listen]

[whitepolaris]

Alien Invasion! The Great UFO Wave of 1973

On the last night of August 1973, the world's most spectacular UFO episode started in rural southwest Georgia. Around midnight, four government employees driving near Dawson spotted an oval-shaped light in the heavens. Soon Gary Ellington, a city policeman, observed two UFOs in the shape of a football-only car size-which reportedly approached and withdrew. Alerted by a state trooper, Albany Herald reporter Suzanne Shingler saw give aerial objects playing "games in the sky, flashing like neon signs gone mad."

"Women tourists were coming off I-75 screaming the world was coming to an end," reported Cordele policeman Vernon Pridgen. One motorist was driving along "When all of a sudden the inside of the car lit up, bright as daylight."

On the second night of the UFO invasion, Cordele police called their Macon counterparts to warn of approaching UFOs. A number of Macon cops saw the craft, including one diamond-shaped object with a tail surrounded by six red and grin lights. A fire vehicle tore off after one UFO, but the thing sped away. In southwest Georgia, Camilla newsman Chester A. Tatum photographed an object with a "ribbed-type design" that trailed a luminous exhaust.

Thousands of people, including hundreds of police officers, sighted a wide variety of objects that displayed every imaginable maneuver in the skies. On September 5, Kenneth Parker was near Valdosta when he saw a giant UFO "glowing and looking like a big ball of flaming gas." Minutes later, a second, identical craft arrived; then they disappeared one by one. The next day, a Daugherty County farmer nearly passed out when a shiny, round craft the size of a motor home zipped past him.

The UFOs next favored the Pine Mountain area. The hundreds of people who staked out observation spots at the state patrol post in Manchester were rarely disappointed. Troopers, policemen, and an Atlanta television station had sightings. State patrolman Larry Taylor and Talbot County detective Charles Pope saw a UFO and doused their lights for a better view. At that moment, Pope reported that it reversed direction and wafted away like a balloon, only much faster.

On September 6, policemen and city officials saw a large reddish green light fly across Tybee Island, outside Savannah, and plunge into the Atlantic Ocean. Witnesses believed it was intelligently controlled. On September 8, two military policemen, Randy Shade and Bart J. Burns, were patrolling nearby Hunter Army Airfield when they spied a fast-moving, low-flying craft, which came "in at treetop level and made a dive," their report read. The MPs instinctively ducked-and drove their patrol car into a ditch. They worked feverishly to extricate the vehicle while the object hovered 200 yards away. multicolored lights "flashing brilliantly." It kept peace as they returned to headquarters.

There were a number of bizarre elements associated with the situation in Savannah. On September 9, four individuals called to report a UFO landing in historic Laurel Grove Cemetery. Out of the craft bounded "ten big, black hairy dogs" to frolic among the graves. Raymond Williamson, Emanuel County farmer, saw UFOs that night, but they had "been landing in the pasture near my house for six years." The craft, "the size of a camper shell attached to the back of a pickup truck," evinced particular interest in his cows.

The phenomenon kicked it up a notch on September 10 near Griffin. At four in the afternoon that day, retired millworker Ress Clanton was outside when he observed a gold-colored object the size of a baseball descending at a controlled rate of speed. It struck the ground and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, leaving a burned area on the ground the size of a basketball, but no crater. The heat was high enough to burn skin at three feet and to turn the blade of a pocketknife stuck into the ground red-hot.

Dr. O. E. Anderson, a soil scientist with the University of Georgia, arrived three hours later and found the soil still registering 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Anderson excavated the crater and took control samples from the area. No evidence of petrochemicals or flares was found, but there was 2,000 times more copper at the impact site than in the control samples, and 200 times the chromium. Clanton knew what it was: "A piece of brimstone from heaven come down here to show people how He can burn the earth with it."

Twenty miles away and four days later in Brook, tenant farmer Roy Lawhorn was awakened at two a.m. by "a sound like locusts and a bright light outside the house. I grabbed my rifle, because it looked like it was coming toward the house," Lawhorn said. "I shot at it three or four times, and it just disappeared into the ground." The UFO, "big as your head," descended slowly, "like an umbrella." Lawhorn drew the opposite conclusion from Clanton, saying, "I thought the devil had come to get me."

Dr. Anderson found a charred spot that matched the dimensions of the one in Orchard Hill, but nothing unusual; was detected in the soil.

Near Rome on October 15, two Rome News-Tribune employees saw a blue object flying "in a jerky motion" through the sky. Other locals saw an oval craft with clustered, twinkling red lights and a "big bright white object."

On October 17, Clarke County deputies Charles Fowler and Ray Hanson and a security guard "saw an object rise from the ground," Fowler said. It was twelve feet in diameter and sported multicolored rotating lights.

The same night in Warner Robins, Laurence Smith, Peggy Stepp, and her daughter were followed by two huge cigar-shaped craft.

"I was petrified," Stepp said. "And then they started getting close." Soon, she recalled, "My God, there was one right behind us. My daughter screamed hysterically, and the thing stopped right above us and put this bright light on the car."

They managed to scare and reported the incident to the Houston County Sheriff's Department, which dispatched Corporal Bobby Fisher to investigate. Fisher soon found the object, "Big as a building," and gave chase "when it zoomed over me. It stopped there right over me, and I got out of the car," he said. "I took my flashlight and pointed it at the thing. It was only about one hundred feet above me. I couldn't see anything for the bright light. I think I got some type of reflection off of it when I pointed my flashlight at it. That's how close it was. I thought that thing was going to land right there in the field."

After a month and a half of near-constant sightings, the UFO wave entered a more frightening phase. The other-earthly beings-if that's what they were-began to close their shyness and emerge from their crafts. On October 18, Paul Brown, a preacher and car dealer, was headed home near Danielsville on U.S. 29 listening to the World Series when suddenly his radio stopped working. "Everything lit up," he said. "I could see the road, and the fields lighted up all around me. My first impression was that it was a small airplane trying to land."

The plane first paced his car, then quickly landed in front of Brown, forcing him to stop.

"I realized if I don't stop, I'm going to hit it. So I came to a screeching halt."

The craft was six feet high and fifteen feet in diameter. At that point, a bright light was cast upon him, the round beam blinding him.

"I don't know why I did it," Brown said, "but I opened the car door and managed, frightened as I was, to get one foot on the ground. Two subjects came out. Where they came from, I Don't know. I couldn't see a flap, a drop door, or anything. When I finally got my vision clear, I could see a clearance underneath, so it was not belly-landed; it had some kind of landing gear. And they came out, and they had on the most beautiful outfits I've ever seen-silver, blousy, come down to where your wrists are; then they had what happened to be white gloves. Very tight around the neck, like something a priest would wear. Down to the fleet, like a jumpsuit. It looked like if you pulled a gun and shot it, it would glance off, yet it moved. They could move, yet it looked like it was heavy, because of the way they walked, very slow. I estimated them to be four to five feet tall.

"They just started walking down the road toward me, very slow. I could see a face, you know, place where eyes would be, ears. The faces were reddish. Hair was almost like cotton; no discoloration, which leads more to believe maybe it was a mask of some kind. I never got close enough to really say-closest I ever got was one hundred and fifty, two hundred feet away, which is not too far away when you're there by yourself."

Brown, who carried a pistol for protection, decided that it was time to employ that resource. When he produced the weapon, they proceeded to turn around and walk very slow back behind the shadow to the bright light. All of a sudden they disappear behind the light, and I tried to see where they go, in a hatch or what, but I couldn't."

The aliens boarded, the lights were extinguished, and the craft "took off at an angle and made a sound I would described as like a million fans," or "like golf balls coming by my ear." The experience "almost stood my hair on end."

Brown immediately the incident, and by daylight, deputies found Brown's skid marks and noted that roadside grass was "fan swept."

That night near the coast, an Effingham County woman saw two small silver-clad beings standing beside U.S. 17. Perhaps it was the same ship and aliens making another call.

On the following day at three thirty, a motorist was driving on I-75, near Ashburn, when her car suddenly and completely shut down. Stopped on the roadside, a "strange feeling" led her to look right, where she saw a "four-foot-tall metal man who appeared to be wearing a metallic pewter outfit capped with a bubble or dome made of the same material-there were two openings for the eyes. The slits were rectangular." The creature circled her car and disappeared six minutes later. A state trooper told the woman that several drivers had told him the same story, and three hours later, her engine remained too hot to touch.

Another incident involved a University of Georgia student with the unlucky name of Mars Walker. Early on October 20, he was studying in his Athens apartment when "a high-pitched, sirenlike sound" attracted his attention, followed by a "glow like watch-dial" outside. He opened the door to find a round aerial object, with a diameter varying from ten to seventeen feet, slowly descending fifty yards away. The sound increased, and a being began to coalesce inside the object, resulting in "a humanlike being standing erect" that resembled "a sea-green opaque" hologram. The head was surrounded by tentacles, and the hands had fewer than five fingers. "The odd thing to me is how little attention it paid me, no interest in communicating with me or threatening me or any other activity, besides observing." The creature and the UFO departed a half-hour after arriving.

Georgia's period of intense UFO invasions concluded in Colquitt County, when on October 24, 1973, a driver found his path on GA 133 blocked. The object was seven feet high and shaped like the top of a silo. Lights surrounding the craft activated, and it flew low over the man. Half an hour later, a similar UFO that hugged Sylvester Road buzzed a carload of people. After that, sightings tailed off. But the alien creatures were not finished with the Peachtree State, not quite yet.