#they started announcing tour dates LAST NOVEMBER and we still don’t even have an official confirmation there even is a new album

[partynthem]

so how tf does it work that am are going on tour for the first time in almost 3.5 years in less than two weeks and the only “real” confirmation of a new album is still just an offhand comment matt made in an instagram live like six months ago. no offense but is there actually an album or not

[lwt28brave]

LT2 masterpost

If it was up to me, we would get an autumn or winter EP. Since it’s not up to me at all, here, enjoy this post with everything we know so far of LT2, which is to say, not much at all. Everything here is hypothetical. I’ll be updating every time I see something relevant. A little disclaimer that while this is a masterpost (kinda), it could be read as discourse (duh, it’s also a theory), AND it’s also by me, and you shouldn’t expect me to be serious at this point.

Due to me restraining myself, there’s no reference to any of the times he’s mentioned his guitar skills and him improving but I hope you know I cried every single time.

I’m also linking my old pinned here. It was written before AFHF and around the free merch thing that didn’t lead to much, but I still think I made some good points.

Possible tracks:

Copy of a Copy of a Copy

Change

Faith in the future??

369??

Possible names:

369

Faith in the future

When is the album coming out?

Your guess is as good as mine

Friday 28th of January 2022. Almost two years after Walls. It’s a Friday. It’s a 28th. What else can I say?

Here you can find @want-to-be-loved timelines for every month.

Here you can find @berlinini’s timeline of what Louis has been up to this year (2021).

The rest is under the cut. And here you can find a PDF version where Tumblr can't tell me how many pictures I can add.

2020

He said back on May 2th 2020 he wasn’t writing anything new yet.

(x)(x)(x)

Interestingly enough, he’s said many times after that that the album’s not ready cause he has no new experiences to drawn from. I won’t call him out because he does it himself.

May 4th. He liked a tweet from DMA’s Johnny Took saying they had to go write together again. Louis has been credited as an influence for them and (kind of) participated in their previous record, so I’m assuming he meant for their music and not his, but you never know.

Nothing(literally nothing??? how did we survive) until 11th of July. We all know what happened that day. We all celebrated it. Nonetheless, that’s not what I’m talking about here.

(x) So, by the beginning of July 2020 he was working on concepts and ideas for the new album. That was fifteen months ago. I know perfection takes time but…

Brief summary of important things that happened from then until the next mention of new music:

Louis left Syco!!!! 10 days later he rescheduled the tour for the first time. He followed Matt Vines on Twitter, probably so we could publicly shame him into doing something. Also, the 10thanniversary. He followed more people I wish he hadn’t.

Then more nothing until September. Not even a single tweet. The first merch drop was on the 28th of August but he just RT’ed the tweet. He first mentioned Free my Meal on the 25th of September. Then on October 1st Walls hit #1 on a lot of countries and Louis was incredibly happy and excited about it ^^

And then, that same day, October 1st, 2020, he dropped this bomb:

(x)

He also said it was too soon to be sharing new lyrics with us (x)

And, obviously, this tweet which is actually what made me start this whole post. I would hope you know mate.

(x)

He also told us he was cooking "banger after banger" and that he was incorporating more social themes into his music (x)(x) (I believe any social issue is a political issue but that’s not the point rn).

COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY?!?!

These next paragraphs are brought to you by my mind not remembering things and me not having any links. I’m assuming COACOAC came from those writing sessions that supposedly happened in October. Or in LA but I have no idea if he actually was in LA at any point other than a Daily Mail article putting him there on December which would have been too late, but I do remember that someone said he was in the studio in LA last autumn???? A rumor. Maybe. IDK. Did I mention already all of this is very hypothetical?? Well, this is it. I can’t even remember if this was October or November or what. So, take this with a grain of salt.

I’m also… taking the liberty to assume, if you must, that Copy wasn’t meant to be a Walls reject because it sounds more mature and darker and it has a vastly different tone that Walls songs. I know he’s said that song probably isn’t getting into the album, but I want to have faith (in the future) that I’m getting a studio version. (But also, Louis, if you’re reading this, first of all GET OUT OF MY BLOG second of all, please don’t ever feel pressured again to add a song to the album because we have already heard it before. It’s your art and it should always be under your own terms).

So yeah, I believe that Copy is either one of those four songs (then imagine the other three??!!) or was written around the 1st of October date.

---End of the Intermission---

Then not much important (other than sharing more about Marcus Rashford fight against food poverty and the 2nd merch drop) until he announced the livestream on the 24th of November. (x)

It wasn’t until a few days before the livestream date we even thought again about new music (jk, I know we’re always thinking about new Louis’ music). So, December 9th/10th, 2020. Nine months ago. We got our first taste of new music!

He made sure we knew Copy of a Copy of a Copy isn't a cover! (x) (x)

(x)

Ok, so that’s it for 2020. (I feel like I’m missing something from September 17th because tweet was deleted but maybe he was still talking about cucumbers. We might never know. Unless I understand how Tumblr tags work). Expected, cause Walls was released in 2020. We needed to let it sit for a while.

2021

Another Summary: Louis third tweet of the year was telling the UK government off. So was the fifth. What a good beginning. On the 26th of January, he said he prefers pancakes over waffles. I hope he meant pancakes other than his own. More importantly, he tweeted the infamous “you lot read into things too much”. Don’t get me started, Tomlinson. Don’t. Then the 31st came around and Walls was one. He tweeted this. How wise. And Project Defenceless happened!!

15th of February!! Who cares about Valentine Day when the next day we got this? ♥

(x)

(x)

So…AN EP?? AN EP?? PLEASE RELEASE AN EP.

“I’m sure I will have something out this year but unlikely that will be the album”. Unlikely but not impossible. Also. A single would be good. This is the second time he mentions releasing something in 2021 and he sounds surer about it than the first time around.

He also said that he isn’t sure we will get a studio version of Copy. And that the best bridges from Walls to LT2 are Walls, OTB, KMM and Copy. Can’t wait!

Then we jump to March 6th when he announced he was going to create his own management company. “Sometimes action is needed first to encourage the motivation and belief”. As we can tell he was already manifesting some stuff which will lead us to the numerology stuff/Tesla… kidding. Or not. We might never know.

On the 22nd of March he answered some questions:

He told us music was still his main focus ♥ mwha. (x) I included this tweet to guilt-trip him into giving us music in case he’s reading this even after I told him to leave. ILY.

(x) I’d love to get a visual EP this autumn. Just saying. It sounds like a lovely concept.

(x)

…next (I will get into it, I promise. I’m just mad).

On the 25th he left for Mexico until April 10th. You could assume it was just for the documentary where we got ten seconds of footage or admit the obvious: LT2 its a Mexican baby!!

On the 26th (so, not so far apart from that first 369) we got the first Faith in the Future mention: (x)

Back then we were innocent people who had no idea what was coming upon us. We still have no idea because what the fuck does he mean with these. Please explain. I have one braincell and I don’t use it enough for this. I’m linking some theories.

On the 30th of March he confirmed he was already working on the documentary. So AFHF was already on the works. Will it take this long for us to get the Veeps numbers? We also got this tweet: "Got a decent chorus idea down" (x).

Same person that got the “something out this year” exclusive. If you know something share with the class. Also. Is this Change? I feel like this could be Change but I also assume he wrote Change after hanging out with his friends or being in Doncaster. But who knows.

(x) And the second mention to 369.

(x) 15th of April. The second "Faith in the future".

On the 19th of April he announced that he had something BIG for us later on the year which turned out to be the Away From Home Festival ♥♥ (x) I love him so much.

Then on the 28th he announced the 369 merch drop (which it’s probably the Walls drop? Except that the TOU and KMM ones were “drop 1 and drop 2” and this was drop 369 which, again, makes no sense) but we still don’t know what 369 means.

Into May’ 21 we go.

He rescheduled tour again. And dropped another bomb (x).

He announced he has signed with BMG as an independent artist by RTing this tweet on May 10th. The article also says that he’s already working on writing and recording LT2. The timing… we don’t know. What this deal involves… we don’t know either. Bear with me here because I have a lot to say about this.

I think the deal is only a distribution one, but that BMG are interested in Louis and what he (us) could bring to the table. They were either present at the festival or watching it, but officially they had no involvement at all with it (everything is credited either to Louis own company, 78 Productions, or Charlie Lightening’s company). That’s the case for both giveaways too; the vinyl one and the tickets for the festival.

I think it would be an unbelievably bad move not to test the waters with BMG now or soon-ish. At least a single, to see how it performs. Due to the circumstances, it’s obvious there’re certain limitations on place but I want to see how they push it, whether the radio play exist this time around and if the song is playlisted and promoted and all that… I would also love to know, since it says he signed with BMG UK, but it also states it’s a global deal, how things are going to go on the US and other countries.

Yes, yes. I know those are all questions and no answers. But I know the same as you, sadly. If any of you know more than you’re letting on… again, share with the class.

Where was I? Yes, on the 25th of May Louis had a great day writing (x). Since the first time he had mentioned he was officially writing to this date there’s almost eight months. And I believe he was writing before October’ 20.

He followed Robert Harvey that day and, on the 28th of May (why is it always the 28th???) he was spotted at the studio for the first time.

June was an interesting month for the fandom ♥. Lots of LHL content which I will love and cherish for the rest of times. On June 4th, June 9th, and June 10th he was spotted at the studio, but I believe he was there more days.

(x)

This was posted on June 6th and captioned Studio. Charlie also shared it with “Mega tunes being put down, can’t wait for this @louist91 #louistomlinson #LT2” as the caption. This gives me 2019 (Elton-Joint) vibes. I like it. Feels like we’re getting closer to something.

He added the Milano date on the 9th too which I’m mentioning because I’m going alone. Anyone wanna go with me please? I’m nice and I never eat anything before a concert so you can have my food. On other news. It didn’t come home.

During July he was at the studio at least three days too. Probably more. Feels like more with all the fan pictures we got. Or was that June? Anyway, July 1st and 9th we got some videos from Robert Harvey and wearesuperhi, which is who Louis has been working with the most, that we know of. I don’t know for sure they’re from that day. And on July 5th we got an article and lots of pictures of Louis looking really good outside the studio.

On the 12th of July the first fans started getting the free, 369 bucket hat and print. We still don’t know what the purpose was other than to thanks fans. Maybe that was it. I want answers and I still think it relates to a future project (see theories above), but it could also just be a bridge with the Walls breaking.

He didn’t tweet about anything interesting for a while, mostly because he lost his phone (he either throwed it in the air or smashed it who knows). Then on the 29th of July he announced the festival!

I’m glossing over it because there’s already been a lot of talk about it (rightfully) and while it was a wonderful thing, it doesn’t have much to do with LT2.

Let’s talk Change!

On August 3rd he tweeted this about the setlist.

(x)

And this (x) on the 28th! I can’t stand him.

We didn’t get it, obviously. Because who was going to get that. But we read too much into things. Alright.

On the 16thof August Dave Gibson shared this post tagged #LT2 with the eyes emojis 👀👀👀. I believe this has to do both with Change but also with whatever else came out of that Mexico trip.

(x) Last relevant tweet related to LT2 is this one.

So, on the 30th of August we got Change and we cried, and we know that Change is going in the new album. He said it. With those exact words. He also said he was “getting a feeling for it”. This has to meant he already has a general idea of the vibe of the new album and what’s going in it!!!!!! (Right? RIGHT?).

Anyway, let’s go back a few weeks because some other things happened on August. He was at the studio a few more times. Or it was suggested that he was there. On the 17th and the 18th. (Why was it so time-pressing to be at the studio instead of rehearsing for the festival? There was no studio at all on the documentary. Which makes sense, but again, then why?).

On the day of the festival we got another mention of Faith in The Future that made me feel part of a cult ngl. The words were flashing on the screen for less than a second. Okay.

And then he tweeted those words again after watching the livestream/documentary on the 4th of September (x). This is what makes me suspect it's either the name of the album or of the single.

On the same day, we got some interesting quotes about LT2 on the documentary.

“Soon I’ll have to think about me second album, which in my head I’ll get the tour out of the way and then I’ll address that. So, I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest”.

“When every day is the same is hard to feel creative and it’s hard to have any kind of proper inspiration”.

“As season started to come back, I started writing again and it was great and some of these songs turned out alright”.

And I think this is it. I might be overlooking some important details but that’s what we know and what we don’t know.

So. Conclusions. That’s what you missed on Glee. I do believe the album is, if not mostly done, partially there. And yes, this post is pointless and never-ending but it’s all in here if you need to tell Louis “Hey, you said this, mate”.

[linkfms]

☠️    *   what  is  up,  party  people  !    i’m  jojo  (  she/her  ),  23,  and  in  the  pst  timezone.    it’s  been  a  while  since  i’ve  been  in  a  group  so...  pls  bear  with  me.    anyway,  under  the  cut  you’ll  find  more  info  on  resident  emo  boy:  link  !   i’m  so  excited  to  write  with  u  all,  and,  if  u  ever  want  to  plot  give  this  a  lil’  like  or  send  an  im  over  @  yea right#4256  !

lincoln  “link”  seong  was  spotted  in  the  fashion  district  adorning  prada  combat  boots,  with  some  airpod  pros  on.    they’re  most  likely  listening  to  when  you  were  young  by  the  killers.   you  may  know  them  as  @hyperlink  or  as  that   jeon  jungkook  lookalike.    their  twenty - fourth  birthday  just  passed.    while  living  in   tribeca,   they’ve  gained  a  bit  of  a  reputation.    they’re  known  to  be  erratic  but  on  the  other  hand   vehement.    wonder  if  they’ll  be  the  next  person  to  hit  the  headlines.   (  cis male  &   he/him  )

↳     THE  BASICS:    STATISTICS.

full  name:   seong  hyunjae  (  성  현재  )    /    lincoln  seong.

nickname:  link,  and  will  probably  only  answer  to  link  !

age  &  date  of  birth:   24  &  november  21,  1996.

hometown:   born  in  busan,  south  korea,  but  moved  to  jefferson,  connecticut  in  2006.

current  location:   tribeca,  new  york.

education:  completed  high  school  and  attempted  first  semester  of  university,  but  decided  to  pursue  music  instead.

occupation:   drummer  for  indie/alternative  rock  band,  my  time  (  sound  is  similar  to  bands  like  the  killers,  the  1975,  and  paramore  ).   also  is  an  affiliate  with  an  esports  organization  !   doesn’t  play  competitively,  but  streams  and  creates  content  for  them  weekly.

sexual  orientation:   pansexual  &  panromantic.

gender  &  pronouns:   cisgender  male  &  he/him  pronouns.

↳     THE  BACKGROUND:   BIOGRAPHY.  (   tw:  mentions  of  alcoholism  &  abuse  )

seong  hyunjae  (  later  given  the  english  name  lincoln  seong...  thanks  linkin  park  !   )   was  born  in  the  heart  of  busan,  south  korea.    his  parents  married  at  the  age  of  21,  due  to  the  cultural  expectations  of  having  a  child  born  out  of  wedlock.    while  things  seemed  to  be  smooth  sailing  for  a  while,   the  couple  realized  the  real  struggles  of  adulthood.   financial  issues  came  into  play.   stress  from  working  multiple  jobs  every  single  day  took  a  toll  on  their  mental  health,  as  well  as  their  relationship  with  each  other.   link’s  mother  began  to  develop  an  alcohol  addiction,  and  her  abusive  behavior  came  following  after.   their  home  was  falling  apart,  with  four-year-old  link  falling  asleep  to  muffled  screaming  and  glass  being  thrown  on  the  next  room  over.   his  father  was  able  to  withstand  it  for  a  while,  but  he  drew  the  line  after  coming  home  from  work  to  see  large  cuts  on  the  side  of  his  son’s  thigh,  and  a  bruise  forming  across  his  cheek.   that  was  when  he  knew  his  wife  was  dangerous.    so,  one  night  when  lincoln’s  mother  as  at  work,  he  packed  his  belongings,  grabbed  link,  and  left  without  looking  back.

for  a  while,  it  was  just  the  two  of  them.    they  found  ways  to  make  it  work,  and  despite  the  fact  that  it  was  a  constant  struggle,  his  father  never  wanted  link  to  lose  his  childhood.    in  fact,  his  father  gave  him  everything  he  could  give   —   but  most  importantly,  as  cheesy  as  it  sounds,  his  unconditional  love  and  support.    as  someone  who  lost  his  own  parents  young,  he  made  sure  that  link  would  never  feel  like  he’s  being  deprived of  that,  ever.   they  created  this  tight-knight  bond  because  of  that,  which  can’t  ever  be  broken.   and  now,  link’s  fondest  memories  always  involved  spending  time  with  his  father.    one  favorite  memory  of  his  involved  morning  jam  sessions  after  breakfast.    link’s  father  was  previously  a  lead  guitarist  in  a  garage  band  with  a  few  of  his  high  school  friends,  so  while  he  was  playing  riffs  on  his  electric  guitar,  eight-year-old  link  would  be  banging  the  coffee  table  with  plastic  straws.   

when  link  was  about  ten,  he  and  his  father  sold  all  of  their  belongings  and  moved  all  the  way  to  jefferson,  connecticut  for  a  job  offer  that  he  couldn’t  refuse.   fast  forward  a  few  years,  and  he’s  a  teenager  in  high  school.    growing  up  link  was  more  of  an  introvert,  and  would  spend  his  time  in  the  computer  lab  playing  video  games  or  browsing  in  online  forums.   he  was  a  regular  in  this  my  chemical  romance  forum  (  under  the  username  @hyperlink  ),  and  made  a  lot  of  his  lifelong  friends  over  there.    one  of  his  online  friends  jokingly  suggested  one  afternoon  that  they  should  start  a  band  over  their  nightly  skype  call,  and  while  it  was  initially  shrugged  off  as  dream  more  than  an  arm’s  reach  away,  my  time  was  born.    link  had  to  endlessly  plead  his  father  to  buy  him  a  secondhand  drum  kit  off  of  craigslist  for  christmas.   but  once  he  found  it  under  their  tree  that  year,  it  sparked  this  drive  in  him  to  learn  and  practice  nonstop. 

their  first  official  band  practice  happened  a  day  after  link’s  high  school  graduation  (  which  was  also  the  first  time  everyone  saw  each  other  in  person  !   ),  and  they  spent  that  entire  summer  making  music.   at  first,  link  only  thought  of  it  as  a  hobby...  since,  he  was  attending  his  first  year  of  university  that  fall.   but  after  playing  their  first  few  shows  and  making  all  these  memories,   he  couldn’t  keep  the  band  in  the  backburner.   he  dropped  out  not  too  long  after  to  pursue  his  music  career  full-time.   moved  out,  spent  the  next  few  months  working  long  shifts  at  the  local  amusement  park,  and  shared  one  two-bedroom  apartment  with  his  bandmates.    one  of  their  songs  went  viral  one  crazy  night,   and  the  next  thing  they  knew,  they  were  being  signed  into  a  record  label.   now  ?   they’re  one  of  the  biggest  alternative/indie  rock  bands  out  there  with  multiple  platinum  records,  sold  out  world  tours,  and  millions  of streams  each  year.   their  time  finally  came.

↳     THE  INSIDE  LOOK:    PERSONALITY.

link  definitely...  gets  babied  a  lot   (  by  his  bandmates  and  his  fans  ),   and  he  uses  that  to  his  advantage  :]   because  of  that  he  gets  away  with   a  lot  of  things,  but  it’s  usually  with  things  that  are  small  like  eating  the  last  slice  of  pizza  and  it  would  be  justified  with  “  no  he  is  a  growing  BOY  he  NEEDS  it  !  ”

that  being  said,  he  eats  nonstop.   the  guy  carries  a  sandwich  bag  full  of  cheerios  wherever  he  goes.   his  friends  know  that  if  they  can’t  finish  eating  something,  they  can  always  donate  it  to  link  for  a  good  cause.

when  my  chemical  romance  announced  their  reunion  tour  in  2019,  he  threw  his  phone  across  the  room  and  cried.   my  chemical  romance  (  with  green  day  and  linkin  park  as  a  close  second  !  )   are  his  all-time  favorite  bands,  and  a  lot  of  my  time’s  sound  is  heavily  inspired  by  them.

when  i  tell  u  that  this  man  is  so  chill,  i  mean  it.   like  things  could  LITERALLY  be  on  fire  and  he’d  be  like   “  just  throw  some  water  on  it  it’ll  be  fine  😎  ” ...  he’s  not  the  type  to  worry  about  things,  and  is  more  of  a  go  with  the  flow  type  of  person.   he  doesn’t  even  need  to  be  zooted  to  be  like  this.   KJFGDG

being  in  the  band  and  a  part  of  the  entertainment  industry  caused  a  small  shift  in  his  personality.   maybe  he  just  blossomed  ?   who  knows  !   but  because  he’s  been  exposed  to  the  rockstar  life,   he  was  able  to  open  up  more.   he’s  always  seeking  thrills,  big  or  small,  and  won’t  have  the  time  to  think  about  the  consequences  for  his  actions.  

because  the  my  chemical  romance  forum  that  was  once  his  second  home  shut  down,   he’s  since  moved  on  to  reddit.   social  media  isn’t  really  his  thing  (  and  his  fans  always  get  mad  at  him  for  posting  a  selfie  once  a  month  then  dipping  ),  but  catch  him  on  subreddits  making  comments  or  starting  fights  for  the  sheer  entertainment  of  proving  someone  wrong. 

this  might  sound  bad  but...  he  still  can’t  wrap  his  head  around  the  fact  that  he  isn’t  ?   financially  struggling  anymore  ?   even  if  he’s  already  bought  a  house  and  two  luxury  cars  for  his  dad,  he  still  gets  ticked  off  if  he  sees  something  small  like  an  APPLE   that  is  marked  a  dollar  and  a  few  cents  over  the  usual.   he  catches  himself  using  things  until  they’re  ABSOLUTELY  worn  out,  and  still  leeches  off  of  his  bandmates/friends  when  he  can.  <3   also,  if  something  is  broken,  he’ll  be  the  type  to  figure  it  out  and  fix  it  himself.

people...  don’t  exactly  remember  the  last  time  he’s  slept.   it  could  be  the  insomnia   (   it’s  definitely  insomnia,  thx  childhood   trauma  !   )  but  it’s  almost  gotten  to  the  point  where  he’s  afraid  to  fall  asleep  on  his  own.   he’ll  always  try  to  find  ways  to  sleep  in  someone’s  company,  even  if  it’s  just  him  crashing  on  a  couch  while  someone  is  watching  tv  right  there.   if  he’s  alone  though,  he’ll  always  try  to  find  ways  to  distract  himself  like  stream  for  10  hours  straight.

speaking  of  trauma...  he’s  also  scared  of  relationships.  after  witnessing  the  way  his  mother  treated  his  father,  he’s  cautious  of  history  repeating  itself...  but  with  him.  so  whenever  he  catches  himself  even  falling  for  just  a  little,  he  dips.

his  life  revolves  around  the  4  m’s:   marvel  movies,  minecraft,  music,  and  my  chemical  romance.   that’s  it.

a  link  😏   to  his  pinterest  !   also,  i  don’t  have  any  wcs,  but  if  we  plot,  i  promise  i’ll  use  my  big  brain  to  brainstorm  something  with  u.  <3

[thebrochtuarachs]

If I could share a few thoughts about the “writing” of this article. I reposted the link because I didn’t want to hijack any other post cause I think this will take a bit of space. 

But...

Oh my god. This article is just bafflingly hilarious. 🙃 No new information by the way but the writer of this article is just so generous with the adjectives describing C/T as a couple and pushing the C/S it not together narrative...

A few thoughts about this article if I may:

1. “Caitriona Balfe has skyrocketed to fame as Outlander’s Claire Fraser. With four seasons under her belt, Balfe has grown accustomed to all the attention, but she still tends to keep her personal life out of the public eye.This is why fans were caught off guard when the Outlander star rocked what looked like an engagement ring on the red carpet at last year’s Golden Globes.”

First of all, I love how she described fans being “caught off guard” about her supposed “engagement” announcement at the GG last year. I say a little inaccurate since I know that a lot of speculation was happening in December when we had to follow her through her Australian escapade. So, no, it wasn’t as surprising as the writer thinks. But good try putting this “engagement” in more mystery as a build up. 

2. “Balfe later confirmed that she is now engaged to her boyfriend, Tony McGill, whom she has been dating for over two years. While they have kept their relationship tightly under wraps, fans are still wondering if they have tied the knot over the past year.”

Girl, some of us are still wondering if she even is engaged. 💁🏻‍♀️ 

3. “The Outlander star opened up about her new engagement shortly after her Golden Globes appearance in 2018. According to Marie Claire, Balfe revealed that McGill popped the big question during the holidays. She also admitted that she is thrilled to be starting a new chapter with her partner, though she did not reveal if she had set a date for the wedding. “It happened over the break,” Balfe shared. “I’m very happy.” Fans hoped that Balfe would be more open about her romance after the engagement announcement, but she has remained fairly tight lipped about it all. A few weeks after the Golden Globes, Balfe and McGill enjoyed a stroll through the streets of Dublin, where the actress showed off her new ring. Other than that, the two have remained as elusive. While Balfe has not confirmed anything, insiders say she wanted to tie the knot in Italy.”

As I said no new information. 

“It happened over the break, I’m very happy.” statement, check.

Dublin Pap Walk, check. 

Italian Wedding, check. 

This is all so 2018. 

4. “Unfortunately, the internet has very little to offer when it comes to Balfe’s fiancé. We do know that he is Irish and met Balfe as early as 2015. It is unclear when the two started dating, but a video from 2015 shows the pair interacting at a house party. Based on the clip, which features Balfe playing an Irish tune on the flute, it is pretty obvious that the two are in love. Exactly when they met and how, however, remains a mystery. Balfe and McGill have made a few public appearances together. Their first public debut was at a ceremony on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The two showed up to celebrate the unveiling of Jodie Foster’s star, confirming their romance for all the world to see. They followed that up with appearances at the Oscar Wilde Awards in 2017 and the Golden Globes a year after that.”

OH DEAR LORD 😂😂😂😂 I don’t even know what to say about these statements. Jeez, writer. Hold back your horses a bit. “Pretty obvious” and “confirming their romance” oh god. my eyes. 🙃 

Also, writer forgot the courtside tennis appearances they also made.

Also, 2015 the best S/C ship year (which makes this C/T timeline a little doubty)

Just saying.

5. “Ever since they appeared together on Outlander, and put their palpable chemistry on display, fans have been shipping Balfe and Heughan in real life. In fact, the topic has frequently come up in interviews, mostly before Balfe and McGill got engaged. While fans would love to see them together, Heughan and Balfe have shut down the romance rumors on multiple occasions. In a recent interview, Balfe talked about how fans are starting to accept the fact that she and Heughan are just good friends. The actress admitted that the desire to see them together is a testament to their on-screen chemistry and a compliment to the show’s writers. But now that she is engaged to McGill, Balfe feels like most fans understand that she and Heughan will never be a thing in real life.”

Again, my question to every “Caitriona Balfe is engaged” article is why does Sam have to be mentioned or discussed. For this particular article, it speculated if Cait was married and the writer just found his way to for Sam to be in this article. *clickbait much* 

Again, nothing new to see here...

RL shippers, check. 

C/S and the interview(s) from hell, check. 

Fans accepting”no C/S” cause engagement, check.

This is still all so 2018. 

5. “Until Balfe officially confirms it, there is no telling if she and McGill have already tied the knot. McGill, who works as a music producer in Ireland, rarely makes public appearances, which only complicates matters. Sources claim that the couple wanted to exchange vows somewhere in Italy, but nothing official has been announced. Between filming and promotional tours, Balfe is also very busy with Outlander. With her schedule packed, Balfe would be hard pressed to squeeze in a wedding. Production for Season 5 of Outlander is currently underway in Scotland, so if a wedding is in the works, it will likely happen later this year. Unless, of course, they have already walked down the aisle. Hopefully Balfe will make an announcement and give us an inside look at what we can only imagine will be a gorgeous ceremony.”

So, he's a music producer who makes rare public appearances which apparently complicates matters. 

I mean, but complicated how? Her busy schedule, his ambiguous jobs...just how is getting married complicated people? 

But surprisingly, it says that a wedding will happen later this year... I guess we’ll just wait and see when this gorgeous ceremony will happen. Maybe November/December-ish? 

Bottomline, I don’t know what this article is for. Nothing new is said or reported. PR for Cait (but for how? In preparation for F vs. F premiere? So nobody will ask questions or for media to ask questions? So she will be known after that GG red carpet fiasco?), for Outlander (I mean, kinda coming from the wrong angle here if were promoting the show?) or prepping the fans in general os we wouldn’t be “surprised” or “caught off guard” so some announcement in the future? 

I just don’t know. This is all too predictable but I honestly don’t know for what intentions. 

Fin. 

[spookyspemilyreid]

Happy Anniversary Self Titled!❤(April 5, 2013)

Paramore is the self-titled fourth studio album by American rock band Paramore. It was released on April 5, 2013, through Fueled by Ramen as a follow-up to Brand New Eyes (2009). It is their first full-length album released after the departure of co-founders Josh and Zac Farro in 2010. Recorded between April and November 1, 2012, the album was described by the band as being a "statement" and a reintroduction of the band to the world and to themselves. It is the only album without Zac Farro on drums, and the final album recorded with bassist Jeremy Davis before he left the band in 2015.

The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, with lead guitarist Taylor York co-producing on four tracks. In contrast to band's previous work, the production of Paramore contains the band's experimentation with new musical genres, such as new wave and funk rock, and features three acoustic interludes. Paramore received acclaim from music critics, who praised the band's maturity and experimentation in terms of musicianship as well as Williams' vocals and overall presence on the album. Several publications included the album in their year-end lists, including The A.V. Club and The Guardian.

Paramore was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 106,000 copies. The album also topped the charts in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, and New Zealand, where it became their first album to reach the summit. It also became their second chart topper in the United Kingdom. In March 2016, Paramore was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for sales exceeding 1,000,000. The group followed the record release with The Self-Titled Tour in promotion, with European, North American, Asian, Latin American, and Oceania legs announced. In 2014, Fall Out Boy and Paramore co-headlined Monumentour. A deluxe edition of the album was released on November 24, 2014.

The recording of Paramore began in April 2012 with the song "Daydreaming". After a brief pause, recording resumed on June 27 of that year and ended on November 1, 2012. It is the first Paramore album released after the departure of Josh Farro and Zac Farro, both of whom left the band in 2010.

The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, longtime bassist for Beck and Nine Inch Nails, who has previously produced records for M83 and Neon Trees. In an interview with Electronic Musician, Meldal-Johnsen stated he wanted "the album to sound very visceral and a little bit less locked down and computerized, more 1981 than 2012, with a nod to 2016." In an interview with Digital Spy, Taylor York stated "I don't think we've ever been so proud and satisfied with something we've done." On June 29, 2012, the band had confirmed that former Nine Inch Nails and current Angels & Airwaves drummer Ilan Rubin would be recording drums for the album. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone, lead vocalist Hayley Williams explained "That whole time for our band was such a dark season. It was emotionally exhausting, and by the time we got around to the point where we were going to start writing, we just really wanted to enjoy the process of making an album..." when asked about the direction of the band after Brand New Eyes. Regarding the album being self-titled, Williams explained "The self-titled aspect of the whole thing is definitely a statement. I feel like it's not only reintroducing the band to the world, but even to ourselves ... By the end of it, it felt like we're a new band." She also stated that she was inspired by Blondie's and Siouxsie and the Banshees' records when writing the new songs: "They’ve got so much heart and soul in them." 

On December 6, 2012, Paramore made an announcement through their official website revealing the name of the album and the release date as well as the name of the first single from the album. The track list was announced on January 18, 2013 by Alternative Press. During the 2013 Soundwave Festival, Paramore held a listening party in Sydney, New South Wales on February 26, 2013, followed by Melbourne, Victoria two days later, run by Australian Music Channel, Channel V. ]Williams revealed a section of the lyrics for the song 'Part II' which the winners were able to hear at the listening parties on a LiveJournal post. Williams told fans that "'Let The Flames Begin' has been a favorite of ours to play live, as well as being a favorite of most people who come out to our shows.... We wanted it to have a sequel. 'Part II' it is!"

The vinyl version of the album was streamed beginning on April 1, 2013 for four days, with each day playing one of the four sides. The album was then officially released on April 5, 2013. The band played an acoustic version of "Hate to See Your Heart Break" on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge on April 3, 2013, announcing that on the same night, the full song would be premiered on their official website. On April 20, 2013, the band released an EP for Record Store Day, titled The Holiday Sessions, released exclusively on a 7" vinyl, and is composed of the three interludes from this album. A music video for "Anklebiters" was released on June 25, 2013. The song, however, was not released as a single.

The Self-Titled Tour in North America took place from October 15 to November 27, 2013. The Self-Titled Tour takes the band through 27 cities across North America, including Paramore's first headline show at Madison Square Garden. On August 22, 2013, the band announced their own cruise, called the "PARAHOY! Cruise", sailing from Miami to the Bahamas and back on board the Norwegian Pearl, which took place from March 7 to March 11, 2014. On January 9, 2014, the band, along with Fall Out Boy, announced a co-headlining North American summer tour dubbed, "Monumentour", which took place from June 19 through August 31, 2014. On January 22, 2015, Paramore announced "Writing The Future", a round of small shows across the United States, closing out the Paramore touring cycle. It lasted from April 27 to May 25, 2015.

On January 5, 2013, Paramore released a teaser of the lead single "Now", revealing a snippet of the song and the release date of the single, which was January 22, 2013. Paramore streamed the song on their website January 21, and the song was then made available for sale along with an album pre-order through iTunes the next day. In the UK, "Now" was instead released January 24, 2013. The music video for "Now" was directed by Daniel "Cloud" Campos and premiered live on MTV on February 11. It was uploaded onto YouTube the next day.

The album's second single, "Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013. A lyric video for "Still Into You" was uploaded to YouTube a day earlier, after the band performed it live for the first time at the 2013 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. On September 18, 2013, "Still Into You" was certified 'platinum' by the RIAA. "Daydreaming" serves as the third single from the album. It was released on December 2, 2013 only in the UK. The music video premiered in November 5 on the UK MSN. 

"Ain't It Fun" is the fourth single from the album. The radio edit premiered August 28, 2013, and the single was released on February 4, 2014. A music video for the song was planned, but was put on hold in favor of a music video for "Daydreaming", also, as informed by Williams, the band was unhappy with how the video was turning out; A new video for "Ain't It Fun" was shot and premiered on January 29, 2014. "Ain't It Fun" then received the award for Best Rock Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, a first for the band as this was their first Grammy win. On June 18, 2014, "Ain't It Fun" was certified platinum by the RIAA and then on July 8, 2015, double platinum. Shortly after, "Still Into You" received double platinum certification as well from the RIAA.

Though not released as a single, the band felt a special connection with the song "Anklebiters" and released a music video for it on April 5, 2013.

"Hate to See Your Heart Break" was re-recorded in 2014 to feature Joy Williams on vocals for inclusion on the deluxe edition of the album. A black-and-white video for the song premiered November 24, 2014. It reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.

The album has been a major commercial success worldwide, debuting at number one in eight countries including the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Argentina, New Zealand, Brazil and Australia (where it was the eighth consecutive number one debut on the chart and also the 32nd self-titled album to top the Australian chart). The album also peaked within the top 20 of 9 other countries. In the US, the album debuted at number 1, with first week sales of 106,000 copies. This marks the first Paramore album to reach the top spot on the chart.

"Still Into You" charted within the top 10 in Australia and Ireland and reached the top 20 in several others. The single topped the UK rock chart and peaked at number 14 in the singles chart, thus becoming the band's second highest charting single in that country, behind "Ignorance" from the band's previous album Brand New Eyes. In the US, the song peaked at number 24, matching "The Only Exception" from the same album as the band's highest charting single at the time. It also peaked at number 6 in the US Rock Chart and number 8 in the US Mainstream Top 40. "Ain't It Fun" shared similar success, charting within the top 10 in Canada and Hungary. It eventually became Paramore's best selling single to date in the US, charting at number ten in the Billboard 100, number 2 in the US Mainstream Top 40 and number 1 the US Rock Chart and Adult Top 40. The single marks the first time a Paramore song has reached the Top 10 in the US.

[leenaevilin]

[Fun] Let’s talk about our favorit actors and why we would do 'everything' to make him/her smile^^

welcome to post 1.001 yes, I couldn’t belive it myself... I made 1.000 posts in less than a year O_O I guess you can call me an addict 笑

so using this occasion...

I want to give something I tried before (September 2017) a 2nd chance^^ (maybe this time people will tell me about their favorit actor/actress笑)

I really want to know so please tell me about your №1 + you can read about mine under the cut (ᵔᴥᵔ)

I really ♡ Nakamura Yuuichi (中村優一; ← actor, not seiyuu!!!! )

He is and will ever be the person I will LOVE the most of all those j-actors^^

He is such a lovely dork and I really like his smile.

Some facts first:

① born October 8, 1987 [he is 2½ weeks older than me笑] ② nickname ~Channaka~「ちゃんなか」(Naka-chan backwards) ③ best known for his role ‘Sakurai Yuuto’ (Kamen Rider Zeronos) in Kamen Rider Den-O (2007)… but did you know that he actually played ‘Kiriya Kyousuke’ in ‘Kamen Rider Hibiki’ (the first actor to portray 2 Kamen Rider)

④ assigned to G-Star.Pro ( ジースター・プロ ) ⑤ has 2 Chihuahua ~Zero~ (Kamen Rider Zeronos) & ~Spica~ ↓ ↓ ↓ (Futatsu no Spica)

⑥ was part of Johnny’s Jr. (~2003)

⑦ had poor health as a child (asthma) [same here!!! in and out of the hospital] ⑧ loves reading shoujo-manga (ex: Good Morning Call グッドモーニング・コール / he had a cameo in the drama adaptation epi.15/16) and listening to jpop (Shounan no Kaze, Kis-My-Ft2, EXILE, CHEMISTRY, AAA ← friends with Nishijima Takahiro & Atae Shinjirou since ‘Delicious Gakuin’) ⑨ former member of a group of actors called D-Boys

as I talked about in one of my earlier posts… I really feel connected to Channaka and he kinda ‘helped’ me during the hardest time of my life. [check out my post about ‘Doukyuusei’ if you want to know why^^]

… when I heard he would be in the special unit called D☆DATE (together with Araki Hirofumi, Igarashi Shunji, Seto Koji & the new member Horii Arata) in 2010, I was so happy for him… because he deserved some more attention! He is one of the few boys who didn’t act in Tenimyu and that was really hard for him, because most of the D-Boys acted in it and became kind of “famous” for it.

In interviews he often talked about that he couldn’t get over the fact the he didn’t have a chance to be in Tenimyu and he couldn’t understand why, especially because he came out first at the 1st D-Boys audition.

And finally he got the attention he deserves, the most unthinkable thing ever happened. Right before his new stageplay (D-BOYS STAGE 2010 trial-2 ラストゲーム ) it was announced that he will take a break from work to cure his ‘chronicle back pain’. It was a huge shock for me because they announced it right before I moved to Japan. I still remember that I was sitting on my packed boxes in the livingroom when my friend called and told me the news…

almost a 1 year later we still had no real information about his condition… it was really depressing. I went to almost all D☆DATE events wearing orange things/stars (his member colour) and was even on TV (はなまるマーケット hanamaru market) with these ↓ ↓ ↓  uchiwas ↓ ↓ ↓  just to show that we were still waiting for him T^T

At the 1st Concert Tour of D☆DATE we finally got some ‘news’. They talked about him, said that it’s sad he couldn’t make it in time for the concert, but he would be trying his best to show up on stage again as soon as possible. I was crying while they showed pictures of him during the con because I felt so helpless.

After all the terrible things that happend in the first half of 2011 (the Fukushima-incident, the sudden death of my aunt, trouble with my former workplace…) I was kinda happy to hear that Channaka was still part of the group and the members where all waiting for his comeback!!! I thought that it would be only a matter of time until I could finally see him safe and sound on stage again… I was soooo motivated that I created a photo album with many pictures from fans all around the world to cheer him up and show him that soooooooooooo many people are waiting for him!!! I wrote the first fanletter (~8pages) of my life and told him that his fans would always support him and would wait for him as long as it would take for him to recover… and I wrote something that some fans would never understand… ‘If you wanna quit, don’t worry about us… we will respect your decision!!’ actually there is a reason why I wrote something like that…  

I heard from a friend who worked as a model for Watanabe Enertainment, that he had no ‘back-pain-problems’ at all!!! He was suffering from depression… [he had a hard time in August 2010 and realised that he couldn’t perform with this unstable condition, so he stopped coming to rehearsal 2 weeks before the actual stage… I can understand that the other D-Boys member were not amused about it… but what I heard from my friend made me really sad: they started to bully Channaka and told him to quit… especially the D☆DATE members didn’t want him to come back!!!… from my experience with the industry in Japan, this is quite common (especially Johnny’s Enertainment) but I still find it hard to understand]  ← I got this information from a friend, no official statement!!! + I don’t hate any D-Boys members… I’m just sad about the fact at all!!!

And than,on November 8th, 2011 (4 weeks after I handed out my letter & 2 weeks after my B-day) it was announced that he would retire from D☆DATE/D-Boys ＿|￣|○ (I had never expected that this would happen… I cried a lot!! who would think that this little sentences in a little fanletter from a little foreign girl would come reality. I don’t believe that it was the trigger for his decision… but still… the timing… I was shocked) The ‘official’ statement was ‘in order to recover he needs to conentrate on rehabilation more’… but I couldn’t believe this anymore!!!

The following year Watanabe announced that he would completely retire from the entertainment world and I was crashed… I met soooo many people from the industry (not only because I went to a lot of events… my job gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of people in private) but the only person I ever wished to meet in Japan ‘disappeared’ and my chances to ever see him in person were almost 0…

And than in the beginning of 2013, he all of a sudden started his new blog where he posted pictures of him posing with friends (O_O) Rumors started to spread that he opened up a café/bakery with a friend (but I have no detailed information about that). I was so relieved that he was doing fine^^

AAAAAAAND 1½ years later the best thing ever happened!!!! August 30th, 2014: Nakamura Yuuichi returned to the entertainment industry. I was jumping up and down in my room, called my best friend (who isn’t even a fan at all笑) and poured my whole soul out^^

It took a while for him to come back on screen, but it was worth waiting for!!! The first role he represented after his comeback was ‘Sakurai Yuuto’ in  ‘Superhero Taisen GP Kamen Rider 3 Gou’ (スーパーヒーロー大戦GP 仮面ライダー3号)

I think you get it by now… Kamen Rider Den-O (Sakurai Yuuto/Ootsuka Houchuu aka Denebe) means a lot to him!!! and if you are still not convinced… try to listen to the recording from ‘Kamen-Raji-Ranger 仮面ラジレンジャー’ I was at the venue when they recorded the show T^T aaaaaand just for the records…

this was the first time seeing him in person right in front of me!!!!!!!!!!!!! (August 18th, 2015 will go down in history^^) can you believe it… it took me almost 5 years to meet him (O_O)

(the pic I posted on twitter after I saw his post^^)

since then he acted in soooo many great productions and had a few leading roles (薄桜鬼SSL ~sweet school life~ / 舞台 裁判長!ここは懲役4年でどうすか 2016 / スレイブメン / 舞台 警視庁抜刀課 / 舞台 BRAVE10/ 舞台版 ヘルプマン! ~監査編~ / 最後の晩ごはん)

Seeing him working this hard after all that happend in the past, I decided that I will follow and support him as a fan for the rest of my life笑 He will always be my №1 ♡

If you feel like supporting him or just got interested in him… here are some things I recommend:

① check out his: twitter official blog wikipedia

② (re-)watch Kamen Rider Den-O

③ take a look at his photobooks^^

1st shashinshuu (2008)

2nd photobook (2010)

aaaand his new photobook (was released October 8th, 2017 to celebrate his 30th B-day)

④ if you want to get emotional… watch:

Doukyuusei [同級生] Futatsu no Spica [ふたつのスピカ]   D-Boys Stage Vol.3: Karasu [10 D-BOYS STAGE vol.3「鴉~KARASU~」-10]

⑤ or consider buying any kind of media you might be interested in^^

if you made it to this point… thx for sticking along!!!! ♡ I would love to hear/read from you about your  №1 and maybe some thoughts about Nakamura Yuuichi^^

and last but not least my best off Nakamura Yuuichi (more pics... sorry笑)

[hazlouquitefinished]

C, if Louis has a one and done album deal with Syco, why do you think he hasn't rushed to get it out, so the contract with them would be over sooner?

Hey, friend! Thanks for the message.

Before I start, we have no way of 100% knowing the exact terms of the deal. I hesitate to comment on this too much for that reason. I’ll share a few thoughts, though.

Number one, it frustrates me that some people still assume a debut solo album isn’t a big deal for Louis. It’ll be one of the most important events of his solo career; we need to step back from 1D days, where we were used to the unbelievably draining “one album a year” routine. That kind of turnaround is not normal. I’d be really sad to know that some people think of him as the kind of artist to rush such an important milestone, Syco circumstances aside. 

We know how important his music is to him, and we know how seriously he takes these kinds of things - this will be a debut to the world, not just to the fans. So many people are going to be listening to it and evaluating him as an artist based on that one body of work - of course he’s going to spend a lot of time on it, even if he does have a “one and done” deal. 

That said - sure, there absolutely could be other influencing factors, but before I get into those, I want to reiterate: Louis isn’t the kind of artist to rush out a debut solo album, regardless of circumstances. This fact is obvious based on his work ethic and devotion to his craft alone.

Moving on! 

Album Release Date Speculation 

Does anyone remember back when he first started talking about the album during the summer, and how he initially mentioned it could be out in late 2017?

In an interview with MTV UK during the summer, he said:

“In my head, I’m like 80% done with the album […] In an ideal world, it’s [out at] the end of the year.” 

That quickly changed into “probably next year”, and then “early 2018″, and now maybe toward the end of the first quarter of 2018. Again, these kinds of delays are totally normal and could 10000% be due to the creative process alone. 

Lots of news outlets used quotes from that same MTV UK interview all through the summer and fall as the release date moved out further - this next quote in particular when it started to look like the album wouldn’t be out until 2018:

“I’m very much a perfectionist. But I am nervous about it, because I want it to be as good as it can be, obviously. […] I’ve got an idea, and a vision, and a message; what to get across. It’s a difficult thing actually doing that across a body of work [on] an album. I’m nervous, but also really excited for the fans to hear it.”

Example from People’s Choice, September 2017:

As you’ll notice, he’s been evasive with putting an exact date or even month on it. I think that that’s, of course, at least partly due to the perfectionism aspect. Wouldn’t you want your debut solo album to be 1000% perfect, especially with the pressure he must be under? 

Also: as I mentioned earlier, we can only touch the surface of how hard it must have been to record and tour simultaneously in 1D. Putting out an album a year must’ve been unbelievably difficult & draining. I think all of the guys are absolutely entitled to having more time to focus on the creative process, yet I only see people criticizing that when it comes to Louis. Sigh. 

Other Possible Influencing Factors

I do think there could be (at least minor) influencing factors. There’s plenty of reasons why a record company might push back an album release date.

More on that under the cut.

Comparison #1: Liam

Let’s take a brief pause and look at Liam. He’s doing the same thing as Louis - taking time to work on his debut album. I know he’s signed to a different label altogether, but let’s generally compare. 

Via a Universal press release in mid-November, his album release date was initially announced to be January 12th, 2018. 

While this wasn’t officially confirmed, it’s safe to say that a press release is far more reliable than, say, an update account assuming a date.

On the 3rd of December, however, Liam told a reporter at the Jingle Ball that he had a finished album, and he only wanted to change “one or two songs” because of some producers he’d met. 

Side note: two days later, it was announced that Camila Cabello’s debut album would be out on January 12, taking that spot from Liam. As I’ve said before, I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Liam’s promo, but he seems to do (at least recently) some cross-promo for Camila in interviews and the like. This may be related to them both being on the Jingle Bell Ball circuit, or possibly because she’s still a Syco artist.

Usually, Syco/Sony doesn’t shy away from having multiple drops on one day, but they seem to be really pushing solo Camila. If we’re looking at alternative reasons for an album date being pushed besides perfecting the sound – Perhaps Sony/Syco wanted the overlapping fans from Liam’s fanbase and her fanbase to focus only on her debut album. 

I just found it interesting that his album got pushed back right before hers was announced, especially after his was announced via press release. It’s certainly possible that it’s just a coincidence, of course - they’re not labelmates, but as I mentioned, there are a few ties connecting them.

A week later on the 10th, Liam had more comments about the release date of his album:

“I wish I knew. It was almost done and then I decided I wanted to do something a bit different and push the boundaries. I’ve met some new producers that I really like, and I have a ballad-y kind of thing coming out with somebody, so that’ll be really cool.”

I noticed that a few of the Liam blogs I follow were wondering about that rationale, but again - I don’t want to comment too much on his stuff because I’m far less well-versed in his babygate and PR circumstances.

So, to summarize -

His album could’ve been pushed to accommodate Camila’s release, maybe due to both of their ties to Syco (hers current, his past) and competition between their similar fanbases. It also could’ve been pushed by the release of “For You” if he was a late add to the soundtrack, though that came out on the 5th, so it seems odd that that would be the reason. It also, of course, could’ve been pushed because he simply wanted to work more on it, even though it was finished at one point.

It could’ve been none of these reasons, and it could be a similar situation to this next comparison - who knows for sure! 

Comparison #2: Sky Ferreira

Here’s a similar example from Sky Ferreira, who had a finished album that was then pushed back after it was complete:

Pic quality is grainy, sorry - basically, the actual album wasn’t released until late 2013, though it was planned for 2011. Sky was signed to Capitol - Liam’s label - so this is more relevant as a comparison to Liam than Louis, but it’s a similar situation. 

In 2014, she had this to say about Capitol:

But it almost wasn’t to be. According to Ferreira, Capitol Records intended to release a different album this fall made up of songs she’d worked on with various collaborators. “It was okay,” the singer said, “but I wasn’t really proud of it.” (Lance Turner, who handles marketing at Capitol, said, “We’ve always supported Sky’s creative vision.”)

At the last minute, Ferreira persuaded the label to allow her to make her own record — provided she could work fast enough to meet a predetermined release date. So she recruited a pair of L.A.-based producers, Justin Raisen and Ariel Rechtshaid, and together they banged out “Night Time, My Time” in a 21/2-week burst of writing and recording.

“I felt like I was on a cocaine binge the whole time,” Raisen said. “We just got into this state of mind and went for it. There was no second-guessing.”

That sounds extremely familiar to Liam’s situation, doesn’t it? The album changed at the last second, added new producers, and Capitol is involved. Not making any claims, just drawing parallels here. 

For context, Sky had a complicated relationship with her label, and there was friction behind the scenes over creative differences.

She said, “I do a lot of stuff behind their back. I have to because nobody ever listens to me! I do have supporters at the label, but I still have to deal with a lot of people who are like: ‘Er, I don’t want to spend that money on her.’" 

Additionally, Capitol ended up recalling the finished album altogether - allegedly because of the cover. This blog compared the recall of Sky’s cover to a nearly-identical album cover made by Blind Faith in the 70s: 

So, why is it that an album cover that was certainly controversial, but allowed to exist in the marketplace for 50 years, is suddenly deemed too racy and pulled from circulation?  If one didn’t know better, one would almost think that it never existed in the first place.Sadly, the same fate awaits Sky Ferreira’s new album, which has just been recalled by Capitol Records due to the subject matter of the album cover.  Keep in mind that the label had no problem releasing the album a mere two months ago with the original cover art.

As a result of the album being pulled, it sold far less than expected and Sky was dropped from Capitol.

Okay, so now we’ve made a few comparisons:

 Liam’s on a similar timeline, and there’s curiosity surrounding his delay as well. (I use “delay” for lack of a better term because, again, this turnaround time wouldn’t be unusual to other artists.)

Sky Ferreira’s album was delayed because of friction with her label, demonstrating that albums can indeed be delayed for that reason.

Back to Lou:

1) Louis is a self-proclaimed perfectionist when it comes to his craft. An album a year is not the norm for most artists, so him taking the time to perfect his debut solo album shouldn’t be all that unusual. 

2) That said, there’s a possibility that there are other influencing factors at play. 

Influence 1: More general mismanagement. 

Quote from below about JoJo’s mismanagement, which rendered her unable to release new material. One of her albums was rewritten and rerecorded three times over, but not released for years after the fact.

“One of those extreme situations where you have [a label exec] who is one of those guys who would just go to war and say, 'No, I’m not doing it,’” says David Byrnes, a partner at Ziffren Brittenham, whose firm has represented clients like Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and Fleetwood Mac. 

Influence 2: “Starving out” dedicated fans by limiting the flow of content.

@theyrereallyawful made a great post about the content starvation occurring, so check that out if you haven’t yet! Especially compared to the other guys, Louis’ team severely lacks in delivering content that is consistent, shareable, and easy to find. This has been happening for a long time, and (if they are intentionally pushing the album back) that could be another example of content starvation. 

Liam’s digital content agency, WMA, has spoken about this very topic:

“One of the key learnings is that, for an audience like Liam’s, there is never too much content or too much you can do.” 

So, overall: 

To answer anon’s original question - Louis isn’t the type of artist to rush through an album release just to get it out there, especially not his debut solo album. 

I don’t think there’s much of a delay in its release in the first place - or at least not one that would be unusual compared to other artists. I think Louis is definitely a perfectionist, and he’s certainly under a lot of pressure from a lot of people to deliver a good solo debut. If he takes a little extra time perfecting his album, so be it. 

However:

I do concede - based on his team’s shitty, shitty history - that there could be other influencing factors at play. Namely, pushing the album back when it’s already finished could serve to starve out fans and/or could be an example of more general mismanagement. 

The thing that makes me curious about that option is Louis’ wording in the first MTV UK interview –

“In an ideal world, it’s [out] at the end of [2017].”

All I know is that it will be out when it’s out, and I can’t wait to support and promote the fuck out of that masterpiece.😎

Beyond that, all we can really do is guess.

[aion-rsa]

The Biggest Geek Culture Moments of 2020

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This article contains a spoiler for The Mandalorian Season 2

2020 has been a wild and unpredictable year for most of us, but it also brought with it a ton of key cultural incidents and shifts that kept online news and trade outlets pretty busy at their keyboards. As we finally grind toward the end of a very weird 12 months, we’ve been looking back at some of the more stand-out moments in geek culture, which we’ll recap with you here.

You may find that these cultural markers aren’t listed in chronological order. That’s because in 2020, time ceased to exist in its previously understood form. Wednesday rarely meant anything, Monday was still technically the worst but couldn’t be trusted either way, Saturdays were no longer reserved for the notion of relaxation, and any given Tuesday might as well have taken place in a different universe, such was the obliqueness of its concept. Is it December right now, or July? No one really knows anymore.

But things still happened in 2020! Things and stuff definitely happened, we’re almost sure of it. Here are some of the things and stuff that probably happened, several of which you’d struggle to explain to a past version of yourself without the board from Chernobyl and scheduled breaks…

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Get COVID-19

Shit got real on March 11 when beloved Forrest Gump actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson both tested positive for COVID-19 while filming on location in Australia. 63-year-old Hanks, who has Type 2 Diabetes and a stent in his heart, was fairly sure he was in a high-risk group, but at the time we still knew very little about the virus.

Hanks’ updates on he and Wilson’s recovery were little lights in the darkness over the next few weeks, and when the pair appeared to have made it through the worst, there was a sense of relief that 2020 would – at the very least – not steal him, but Hanks said he was way more relaxed than us about the whole thing. “I’m not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if I’m going to see the end of the day or not,” he told The Guardian. “I’m pretty calm about that.” He’s since become a strong advocate for social distancing measures. – KH

Tiger King of the World

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness debuted on Netflix globally on March 20, becoming the first quarantine binge of the pandemic. A problematic series from the get-go, there was comfort to be found in its existence, as it became apparent that even if things were really quite shit at home, at least you hadn’t been fed to a tiger yet. Or sent to jail for arranging a hit on your nemesis. Or had accidentally shot yourself in the head. Or, etc and so on. – KH

The Snyder Cut Rises

They said it would never happen. And by “they” I have to confess, I mean “we.” But it’s true, Warner Bros. actually is spending tens of millions of dollars to let Zack Snyder finish his Justice League movie as he originally intended it. And the fans who have kept hope alive since the disappointing Joss Whedon-helmed theatrical cut of the movie are getting even more than they bargained for, since the no-longer-mythical “Snyder Cut” isn’t just a movie, it’s a four hour long miniseries event headed to HBO Max.

The early 2021 release of the Director’s Cut of Justice League (which now appears to be its official title) will mark the culmination of five years of fan demands, and will finally put a bow on Snyder’s original vision of the DCEU, completing the trilogy he began with 2016’s Man of Steel. Hopefully it lives up to everyone’s expectations. – MC

Next-Gen Gaming Breaks the Internet…Literally

2020 turned out to be a very important year for gaming. Not only did it see the release of many highly-anticipated titles, such as The Last of Us Part II, Cyberpunk 2077, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Ghost of Tsushima, but it also ushered in a new generation of gaming with the arrival of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 as well as new PC graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD.

Unfortunately, when it comes to next-gen gaming in 2020, all other topics of discussion are eclipsed by just how difficult it’s been to actually buy any of these new consoles or GPUs. From the moment pre-orders opened, getting one of these next-gen products has been a nightmare. Retail sites like Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop went down almost immediately on day 1 of pre-orders for both consoles, and have remained generally low in stock ever since, servers shaky at best. And the scalpers who used bots to buy up consoles and graphics cards to flip for exorbitant prices certainly haven’t helped.

If you got that next-gen gaming experience you wanted for Christmas this year, count yourself lucky! – JS

Trolls World Tour Starts a War

Universal’s Trolls World Tour was the first major movie to properly break and go straight to go streaming in 2020. Whether this was a movie you’d have personally sought out or not, it would have made a ton of money in a non-pandemic year. After that, eyes turned to the big studios, as we waited to see whether the likes of Black Widow, Bill & Ted Face the Music, or Mulan would follow suit.

Warner Bros., who had strenuously backed Christopher Nolan’s Tenet for a theatrical release, did a handbrake turn late in 2020 when it announced – to much industry outrage – that its full schedule of big budget movies, including Dune and The Matrix 4, would see a “day and date” streaming release on HBO Max in 2021 after Wonder Woman 1984 would do the same on Christmas Day. Disney has so far refused to match this gambit, but there are big changes and repercussions afoot for the theatrical release model, even when this is all over. – KH

Disney Doesn’t Throw Away Its Shot

While the first couple of movies to crack the theatrical window such as Trolls: World Tour and Onward were treated as relatively low stakes and aimed at a younger demographic, no early release came earlier, or made as much noise, as Hamilton going to Disney+ over Independence Day Weekend. The filmed version of the original cast performance dropped on the streamer a full 15 months ahead of its planned theatrical release, and it was by any measure a roaring success, finally enabling millions of people who had long been enamored with the soundtrack but been shut out of ticket lotteries and prohibitive Broadway pricing to experience Lin-Manuel Miranda’s history lesson in the comfort of their own home.

Early data suggests that his was the biggest direct-to-streaming release of the year, which should surprise exactly nobody. – MC

Of course, the success of Hamilton emboldened…

Borat 2 Sex Lawyer

Donald Trump’s most visible lawyer Rudy Giuliani already had a bad rep, but in late October he was literally caught with his hands down his pants in a New York City hotel room after being tricked into comedian Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat sequel, Subsequent Moviefilm. During one particular scene, Borat and his ‘daughter’ Tutar (Maria Bakalova) tried to seduce Giuliani.

“Rudolph was Donald’s best buddy in the whole world,” Borat narrated. “And also very dignified statesman of the highest order. This would not be easy.”

If you’re really serious about legally challenging the vote you don’t send your two worst kids and the Borat sex lawyer.

— Ned Hartley (@NedHartley) November 6, 2020

It was in fact very easy, and he reportedly thought she was only 15. Still struggling with the knowledge that Giuliani got away with it? You and everyone else, pal. Still, at least he might go down in history as “the Borat sex lawyer.” – KH

Timthetatman’s Fall Guys Twitch Gauntlet

Timthetatman’s August quest to win a crown on Mediatonic’s smash hit battle royale knockout game Fall Guys was a supremely satisfying highlight of the year. Streamer Timothy Betar, who can typically be found playing slightly more ‘grown up’ games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Twitch, simply got a bee in his bonnet about not being able to win at Fall Guys. Betar spent nearly two weeks playing the game for long stretches of time as his audience grew exponentially, almost always failing at the very last moment, while a huge chunk of the gaming community trolled and encouraged him in equal measure – including the official Fall Guys Twitter account.

In the end, almost 340,000 viewers were watching Tim live on Twitch as he finally snatched a single Fall Guys crown, giving those of us trapped at home a chance to experience a single vicarious moment of pure exhilaration. Truly wonderful. – KH

“Crisp Rat”

It was a big year for Chris Pratt on social media, despite the fact that he didn’t really do much of note except have a baby and finish filming Jurassic World: Dominion. The fallout from 2019’s accusations that the actor attends an anti-LGBT church was the blood that pumped through the veins of Twitter’s 24/7 cancellation machine, refueled by Pratt’s non-appearance at Joe Biden’s virtual fundraiser alongside other MCU castmates.

Some saw this as “evidence” that the actor was deserving of a cancelation, and he was dubbed “the worst Chris” in Hollywood. Robert Downey Jr. and other Marvel stars jumped to his defence, declaring Pratt “a real #Christian who lives by #principle” and who has “never demonstrated anything but #positivity and #gratitude”, but Twitter had made up its mind, and it was soon recasting Jack Black in every role Pratt had filled to date. – KH

His Name …Is Grogu

It’s rather surreal to think that The Mandalorian’s powerful pop culture impact was mostly attributed to a character who had no proper name, only officially referred to as “The Child,” and colloquially—for lack of a better term—dubbed “Baby Yoda.” However, this year’s Chapter 13 would see Rosario Dawson’s debuting live-action version of animated favorite Ahsoka Tano use the Force to child-whisper the name of “Grogu.” In doing so, fans, Star Wars-driven SEO, and the Disney merchandising apparatus received an early Christmas present. However, even with the emotionally evocative Season 2 finale in the rear-view mirror, breaking the habit of calling him Baby Yoda is going to be a process as tough as worrying about his safety, especially given his new destination, and with whom it will likely have him come into contact. – JB

Tenet-cious C

Christopher Nolan was the butt who wouldn’t quit in 2020 as he sought to Save Cinema with his highly anticipated blockbuster about time travel, heists and many guns going pow-pow-pow. Whether it was his intention or not, he seemingly encouraged punters to ignore escalating scientific evidence to avoid indoor public spaces and trot along to their local theatre to watch the film. Nolan’s heart was probably in the right place, but it was a bad look for the director overall, compounded by Tenet’s eventual release on streaming, when the majority of keen audiences finally got a chance to clap their eyes on what turned out to be …well, let’s just say “not exactly a masterpiece.” – KH

Actual footage of people responding to Nolan’s pleas.

DC FanDome

Fandom has collectively been at a loss as far as how to replace the convention experience during the pandemic. And so far, attempts by heavy hitters like San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con to replicate the buzz of a weekend packed with fan experiences and big news drops were tremendous disappointments. Pre-recorded Zoom panels don’t excite when all we do all day as a society is stare at that cursed app, buggy launches make it worse, and the fact that studios/networks/publishers didn’t really help put their best foot forward didn’t help.

But then along came DC FanDome.

What many (including this writer) expected to be a weekend-long infomercial about DC Universe intellectual property and how wonderful new corporate overlords AT&T would be for all these juicy brands was instead the slickest, most exciting, and yes…even newsworthy virtual event of the year. Rapid fire announcements from the big screen debut of the Justice Society in Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam movie to concept art from the long-awaited Flashpoint film were only the appetizer, with Warner Bros. unveiling a stunningly cool trailer for The Batman, and delivering the equivalent of a Saturday night in Hall H to fans who have been mostly confined to their homes since the spring. – MC

Meet Elliot Page

In a year when so much of the news was bad, joyous announcements felt that much more sweet. This was the case for Elliot Page’s sharing that he is trans, and uses “he” and “they” pronouns.

“I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life,” the 33-year-old Canadian actor, who is perhaps best known for their work in Juno, the X-Men prequel films, and Netflix’s Umbrella Academy, wrote on Instagram in early December. “I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self.”

While it was a moment of celebration and affirmation, Page also used the opportunity to educate the public on the ongoing epidemic of violence against Black and brown trans women in particular, at least 40 of whom have been killed in the U.S. this year. Page wrote: “To all trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse and the thread of violence every day: I see you, I love you and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.” -KB

The Diamond Monopoly Breaks

Diamond Comics Distributors has for years been a uniter in the comics industry for years. It didn’t matter how much DC or Marvel heads would be at each other’s throats – when a damaged box with only 70% of the comics your shop ordered rolled in a day late, everyone agreed that Diamond was terrible. 

Until April, when, in the middle of the pandemic, DC backed two new distributors. Then, a contingent of fans couldn’t rush to Diamond’s defense fast enough. 

Lunar Distribution and UCS Comics Distribution were new comics distributors created by DCBS and Midtown Comics, respectively, and stood up by DC to create competition against Diamond’s not-technically-but-really monopoly. This was an enormous shift decades in the making, and coupled with DC’s move to a Tuesday NCBD, represented the biggest change in the comics industry this century. – JD

Dr DisRespect Gets Kicked off Twitch

The live streaming community was rife with controversies this year, especially when it came to Twitch: misconduct allegations lodged at many of its most high-profile streamers, a reportedly toxic and abusive work environment within the company, and a DMCA fiasco that saw streamers’ content disappear over night. And then there was Dr DisRespect’s exit from the platform.

Booted from Twitch at the end of June despite a hefty multi-year, multi-million dollar contract, the streamer, whose real name is Guy Beahm, suddenly found himself completely erased from existence, his channel and content deleted from the service. But why? At first, many in the industry assumed the worst, especially since it came just as Twitch was beginning to address misconduct in its community.

But despite the high-profile break up between Twitch and one of its key stars, we still don’t actually know why Beahm was kicked off the platform all of these months later. All Twitch has said on the matter is that Beahm “acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service,” while the streamer himself has remained largely silent on the matter. For now, Beahm’s exit from Twitch remains one of the streaming community’s biggest mysteries. – JS

The Depp-osition

In the #MeToo era, it is still incredibly rare for powerful men to be held accountable for the abuse of their power, but there are signs that this is beginning to change. The November announcement that Johnny Depp had been asked to resign from the Fantastic Beasts series was one of those signs. The announcement, via Depp’s Instagram, came only days after a U.K. court ruled that British tabloid The Sun was not committing libel when they described Depp as “a wife-beater” in 2018.

While the decision by Warner Bros. to fire Depp is an important step forward, it could still be described as a baby one. Depp will still be getting his full $16 million salary for his Fantastic Beasts 3 role, even though Mads Mikkelsen has been recast in the role of Grindelwald, because there was no morality clause in his contract. (It should be noted that Depp’s contract for the third film was finalized well after allegations against Depp first came to light.) Following the announcement, Amber Heard, Depp’s ex-wife and the survivor in this “wife-beater” scenario, has had to face a wave of online harassment that includes a petition to have her fired from her role as Mera in the DCEU.

The whole thing demonstrates just how ill-equipped Hollywood is as an industry and we as a culture still are when it comes to dealing with abuse. Let’s hope, in 2021, we do better when it comes to holding alleged abusers accountable and supporting survivors. – KB

The Last of Us Part II Leaks

Arguably the most highly anticipated game of 2020 (and our Game of the Year), The Last of Us Part II faced a mountain of seemingly insurmountable expectations. Could Naughty Dog not only follow up one of the greatest games ever made but top itself? Many fans learned the answer much sooner than expected when the game leaked weeks before its release in June.

Despite rumors that the leak was the work of a disgruntled employee, the security breach actually turned out to be courtesy of a hacker, who published most of the game’s cinematics and story beats on the internet for all to find. All of its big twists, reveals, and emotional moments lay bare before we were really ready for them. – JS

Marie Javins Becomes Editor in Chief of DC Comics

After a year of massive changes at DC Comics – which saw long-tenured co-publisher Dan Didio fired, a new new comic book day established through new distributors, and a merger with AT&T bear bitter fruit – DC’s year started to turn itself around when they pulled off the only successful online convention with FanDome.

And hot on FanDome’s heels was the historic announcement of their new EIC: Marie Javins, a longtime comics pro who worked her way up from colorist to become the first woman to serve as DC’s Editor-in-Chief since Jenette Kahn. Javins’ keen eye for talent and long history in the industry inspired a good deal of confidence in DC’s future, and the new talent lined up for DC’s Future State initiative and beyond have only reinforced that. – JD

George R.R. Martin Jailed in Theory

George R.R. Martin’s self-imposed deadline for finishing The Winds of Winter passed in July, and with it came the knowledge that he could now be jailed for his lackadaisical approach to completing the long-in-gestation addition to the A Song of Ice and Fire series. See, ol’ George had previously told Game of Thrones fans that they had “formal written permission” to imprison him “in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid” until he was done writing, should he not produce his manuscript by July 29. A little bit of fun was had online that day, as people threatened to frogmarch Martin straight to jail. We were pretty desperate for something to do at that point, tbf. – KH

Cyberpunk 2077 Is a Disaster

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 went from one of the year’s most anticipated games to a title that had fans genuinely begging for refunds when it was finally released in December, after they discovered it was virtually unplayable on PS4 and Xbox One, riddled with occasionally hilarious bugs, missing big features, and packed with potentially offensive characterizations and broken AI, leading to an online meltdown from gamers that didn’t even really compare to the similar release troubles of titles like Anthem and No Man’s Sky. What a mess.

Whole game is going to be a meme.

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) July 2, 2018

They really called it. – KH

Chris Evans Posts His Dick

If you’ve ever accidentally posted something online that you definitely didn’t mean to post online, you’ll know the pure, heart stopping panic that Chris Evans must have felt in September when he shared a screen-recorded video to Instagram that he’d forgotten to crop, revealing his personal camera roll. Yes, the Avengers: Endgame actor had indeed just shown a rabid fan base his (surprisingly thick) cock, and there was no going back, because so many people took a screenshot at once that the collective noise probably triggered a spike in seismic activity visible on the Richter scale.

Evans removed the video and likely cringed so hard that he collapsed in on himself like a dying star forming a black hole, but took it on the chin and used his eventual response to encourage people to vote in November’s election. – KH

Now that I have your attention 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️…. VOTE Nov 3rd!!!

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) September 15, 2020

Rick Moranis Attacked

Ghostbusters and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids star Rick Moranis – by all accounts a total sweetheart – was randomly attacked near Central Park at the start of October. The formerly-retired actor was punched in the head and knocked to the ground by a man wearing an “I Love NY” hoodie who was later apprehended and charged. Violence on the streets of New York isn’t exactly unheard of, but when the geek community heard of the attack on Moranis, it went full on Taken in under a minute. “I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” How DARE. – KH

John Boyega’s Black Lives Matter Speech

On May 25th, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black father, grandfather, son, and brother—a human—was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white member of the Minneapolis Police Department, as three other policemen stood by. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for 9.5 minutes as Floyd begged, “I can’t breathe.” The video of the killing launched a wave of Black Lives Matters protests across the United States and world, aimed at eradicating white supremacy in all of its forms.

George Floyd was neither the first nor the last Black person who died at the hands of a police officer in 2020. (Say Their Names is an ongoing, work-in-progress list of all the Black men, women, and children killed in the U.S. by police and civilians.) And there is not just one moment or human that has defined the ongoing Black Lives Matters movement in 2020, which is made up of many people, including the many activists who organize within the decentralized movement. One of many moments, however, came when John Boyega took up the megaphone to give an impromptu and emotional speech during a Hyde Park demonstration about the death of George Floyd in early June.

“Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something. We have always succeeded regardless. And now is the time. I ain’t waiting,” said the British-Nigerian actor and producer, who was visibly holding back tears, to the other protestors gathered.

Boyega has continued to use his celebrity to speak out against racism in the industry and beyond, all while knowing that it could affect his career. In September, Boyega did an interview with GQ in which he spoke about the unequal narrative treatment he and other actors of color got in the Star Wars franchise compared to the white actors in the film.

“You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything,” Boyega said. “[But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up … You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know fuck all.” – KB

Quibi? I Hardly Knew Ye

“Is it better to burn out than fade away?” could have been a question knocking about in the heads of Quibi’s founders during 2020. The newbie streaming service, which developed content as “quick bites” consumable in 7-10 minute increments, ended up being a flash in the pan as it struggled to rustle up subscribers in a year very much not suited to the concept of “I don’t have time to watch anything”.

Quibi had initially raised $1.75 billion in pre-launch funding and had more than 175 shows and movies lined up for viewers, but none of it was enough to counter the madness playing out behind the scenes of the hopeful, and ultimately hopeless, platform. RIP to a real one. – KH

Whedon Under Fire

It’s safe to say that the one-time King of the Nerds has not had a pleasant last few years, and that’s even before COVID-19 struck. But much of Joss Whedon’s troubles seem increasingly to be of his own making. As if the disapproving response to his version of Justice League wasn’t enough, Whedon was accused by actor Ray Fisher (Cyborg) of fomenting racism and toxicity on the set – a claim indirectly backed up by co-stars Jason Momoa and Gal Gadot.

The fallout, true or not, seems to have landed close enough for Whedon to depart his upcoming HBO fantasy series The Nevers, a project he created but won’t see through to its launch after three years of work. The Whedon-produced Pippa Smith: Grown-Up Detective was also quietly scrapped at Freeform. – DK

pic.twitter.com/e3N00xCr5i

— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) December 10, 2020

Patty’s Squad

At the moment, the future of Star Wars would seem to be on television. The success of The Mandalorian and the galaxy of spinoffs (more on those in a moment) announced by Disney and Lucasfilm would seem to indicate that. But Star Wars is far from finished on the big screen, and when it returns in 2023, it’s going to make history, with Patty Jenkins finally shattering the glass ceiling of Star Wars directors with her take on the fan favorite Rogue Squadron concept.

Jenkins is, of course, no stranger to big franchise projects, having helmed both Wonder Woman movies for Warner Bros. The announcement of a coveted director taking on a big franchise competitor coming in the wake of WB’s troubled relationship with talent after sending their entire theatrical slate to HBO Max for 2021 sure feels like a victory for Disney, even as Jenkins is still confirmed to direct a third Wonder Woman film for WB. Regardless of studio politics, Jenkins promising to deliver “the greatest fighter pilot movie of all time,” albeit one set in the Star Wars galaxy is a wonderful promise, and we’re looking forward to seeing how she keeps it. – MC

Disney Goes Even More Franchise Crazy

Disney’s December investors call didn’t produce the kind of announcements expected – there were rumors that a global 18+ streaming element was in the wind and that Black Widow would go straight to Disney+ – but the Mouse House tried to make up for it by revealing a fistful of new projects that included ten (10!) new Star Wars series, a bunch of new Marvel series and movies, a Toy Story spinoff film called Lightyear and a sequel to Enchanted. That’s not even the half of it, though, as the reveals just kept on coming, to the point where even a dedicated Disney fan felt downright exhausted, and prompting many a “how much is too much?” think piece. – KH

This is by no means an exhaustive list! Feel free to share your own big geek moments in the comments.

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[emisonme]

Cross-promotion................

Well shit! I’m not going to lie, that little stunt chapped my ass a little bit. In fact, I got so pissed I couldn’t see straight, but I never once directed that anger towards the girls. I knew what it was, and I took it as such. That doesn’t mean I can’t get mad about the stunts being pulled, but that’s all last nights “shade” was. A promotional stunt meant to garner headlines for both Fifth Harmony and Camila. It’s called cross-promotion, and it worked like a charm.

We should have known something was coming, and some of us did expect something. The girls’ social media activity told us shit was coming, we just didn’t know what. There have been “insiders” showing up on 5H forums left and right trying to “explain” what was happening. They have “spilled tea” about a number of ideas. I’ve heard the girls were trying to “sabotage” Camila’s solo career, all the way to Epic is trying to “sabotage” 5H and Camila’s career. With all that “insider gibberish”, I knew something was coming at the VMA’s, and that it wasn’t going to look good.

There were a few things I tried to keep in mind, going into the VMA’s. What we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what we’ve been told. Once you connect all the dots, you find the real story in all this mess. Let’s connect the dots and find the real story.

The narrative started back in 2015, but I’ve already connected those dots in another theory. For this one, let’s start at midnight December 19, 2016. A few minutes after midnight, the official Fifth Harmony account released a statement announcing Camila’s immediate departure from Fifth Harmony.

The first statement made it sound as if Camila was a selfish coward that couldn’t even tell the girls herself, that she was leaving. But, they wished her well. First shot was fired in the “feud”. Camila wasn’t having that. She replied with her own statement, saying she had discussed her departure with the girls throughout the tour. Said she didn’t plan on leaving 5H this way. Said that she planned on doing like the girls, continuing to pursue her solo endeavors and being in the group. She was “surprised” by the statement, but she wished them well and said she would continue to support the girls individually and as a group. She got her side out. Second shot in the “feud”.

The girls couldn’t have that. That made it sound like they kicked her ass out. Their second statement basically called Camila a liar. Said they didn’t talk about it on tour. In fact, they set up meeting she wouldn’t show up for. They wanted her to stay and asked her to give them just one more year. (done telepathically I guess, since they didn’t discuss any of it because she didn’t show up for their scheduled meetings, but I digress) Anyway, the statement went on to say, they actually found out mid November that she was leaving and her final show would be the December 18 2016 Jingle Ball. Third shot in the “feud”, that was the beginning of a full on “war” or what I like to call the 4vs1 narrative.

Well, a lot of the fans, including myself, started calling bullshit after that second statement from the “girls”. For obvious reasons, shit just didn’t add up. That’s when they decided to get Bill Board involved and a long list of “insiders” and “sources close to the situation”.

According to unnamed sources, L.A. Reid had already had Camila in the studio, “for the better part of a year”, working on her first solo album. Yet, at the same time, he was supposedly calling in shrinks and scheduling “come to Jesus” meetings to try and convince her, on the girls behalf, to give them one more year. Camila’s statement said, she was planning to stay with the group and work on her solo stuff. According to the BB article, the girls shit on that idea. They supposedly told her, if she stayed with the group, she had to focus on the group, and table her solo stuff. Camila’s side supposedly even offered a 1 year hiatus to release her solo album, then come back. Nope not good enough. She had to give the group everything or nothing.

That whole BB article was a clusterfuck of bullshit lies and contradictions, especially knowing everything we know to be true now. Why was it not OK for Camila to continue with the group and work on solo stuff, but it was just fine and dandy for the girls to do it. I know! Because all this “information” is total bullshit. From the statements to the articles, it was all a false narrative to em-battle the fandom, exacerbate the “feud”, for their cross promotion tactics.

It was all working pretty good throughout most of the fandom. The majority were falling for the false narrative like the good little manipulated fans they needed them to be. That is, until some of the less manipulable fans started digging for some truth. They found it in the official Government Trademark documents. It was no longer just a feeling or theory that the whole narrative was false, we now had solid proof it was all false.

Unfortunately, stan twitter don’t believe in the truth. They’d rather fight over the lies. It helped that insider twitter and “bot” accounts were helping to make the lies sound better than the truth. They helped to spread the lies and manipulate the truth. 

What they should have done, was begin to change the narrative. We found out about the Trademark in early January. Problem is, they had been working on this stupid narrative since 2015. They weren’t ready or willing to change their plans. That decision ultimately ended up hurting 5H.

I won’t go over all the tedious details, but when it came time to start promoting a solo Camila, it was time to explain her decision to leave 5H. The explanation ultimately amounted to the fact, being in the group setting was stifling her creatively. It’s funny how after Camila leaves, they are selling us on all this new found freedom to create, the girls now have.

Call me stupid, but I find it a little odd that Camila leaves to gain freedom to tap into her creative side, only to have the group, after her departure, finally gain freedom to tap into their creative side. Why couldn’t they all garner that freedom together? Oh, I know...because Epic wanted her out of the group. It was part of the plan from the very beginning.

Questions to Camila about Fifth Harmony were never blacklisted, so she got asked about them in damn near every interview. What people have failed to realize, is Fifth Harmony was pretty much media idle during this time. Camila was asked about them in every damn interview, to keep their name in the headlines as well. While Fifth Harmony was in the studio and still out performing 7/27 concerts at Birthday parties and backyard BBQ’s, Camila was out there talking about them.

OT4′s were getting their knickers in a twist, because Camila wouldn’t stop talking about 5H. They think she was using them and shading them, because she wouldn’t “keep them out of her mouth”. Epic made sure she talked about them, because it was part of their promotion strategy.

Welcome to May. That was a fun month. It was rumored Camila was supposed to release her first solo single on May 5th. We knew it would either be the 5th or the 12th, because she was set to perform her new music at Wango Tango on the 13th. Problem, they had to fire L.A. Reid’s ass first.

They didn’t want the news of his ousting to interfere with the release and promo for Camila’s single release, so, they waited until the Friday before the BBMA’s.  She instead performed Bad Things at Wango Tango. Epic released CITC as her official single, and IHQ as a promo single. She, like her video, combined the two during her BBMA performance.

While promoting her new single, she was still asked about 5H in damn near every interview. The hype in the fandom; Who the fuck was IHQ written about, and when? The assumptions and speculation is she wrote the song about a member of Fifth Harmony, and that it’s about the group itself. She refuses til this day, to give up the information about who she actually wrote it about. THEY don’t want her to answer that question definitively right now. They want the assumptions and speculation to be on Fifth Harmony. ( I have already written about when I think she wrote it. I will hold off writing about who I think the catalyst for the song is, for now.)

Releasing both of those songs together was a great cross-promotion tactic. It again kept 5H in the headlines, while they were off the grid performing at County fairs.

A few weeks later, Fifth Harmony released their first single from their new album. They released it early, to help ride the wave of Camila’s promotion. We know they released early, because the Brazil Festival Ally was scheduled to headline, solo, released a statement saying “due to the early release of Down...”.

Ally’s Management wouldn’t have scheduled that show for her, if they knew or thought 5H would be releasing anything. They didn’t expect for any new 5H music to be released until after July 2, which was the day of the festival.

One more sign they decided to release early than originally planned, they put a hold on Dinah’s solo project with Red One and French Montana. We didn’t get an explanation as to why they put a hold on the project, only that they did. I suspect it’s because the planned release date for the project would have interfered with the early release of Down and 5H3.

Why release early and capitalize off of Camila’s promotion? Epic was a damn mess after L.A.’s departure. People in other positions of power, like promotions and a few other, walked with him. Epic found themselves lacking resources and funds. Cross-promotion helps get more bang for your buck.

There was a time there, after Down’s release, Camila was the only one talking about 5H, and she was even being asked about Down. All this, while the girls took a two week vacation. They released it, performed it, did a few radio interviews about it, then left. They depended on the feud between Harmonizers and Camilizers, and Camila’s interview questions about them, to keep the song relevant until the girls were back from vacation and ready to promo it themselves. The only monetary help Down was getting at the time, was radio buys.

If you didn’t notice, the girls came back from vacation in time for Camila to go off the grid to rehearse for her Bruno Mars tour. The first media they do is the Billboard cover and article. This is the first time they actually talk about Camila’s departure. It wasn’t very detailed, but of course it was “shady”. ”Happier than they’ve EVER been”! “I can sleep at night knowing we tried everything to keep us all together”! “You can’t change people!” “There are no secrets in this circle!” Headlines, “Fifth Harmony diss former member Camila Cabello”

See how it works. When 5H are media idle, Camila talks about them and keeps their name in the headlines. When Camila is media idle, 5H talk about her, and keep her name in the headlines. That’s how cross-promotion works folks.

The problem with this particular cross-promotion tactic, is the damn narrative they are selling with it. With the truth out, that the narrative is bullshit, yet they make the girls stick with the narrative, it make them look petty as fuck.

Cue the Dan Wootton “hit pierce”. They needed to do something to get the fans back on their side, and fight for them. That whole damn thing was a planned PR stunt, (probably by Simon himself since Simon and Dan are friends) all the way down to the twitter back and forth between Dan and “Lauren”. The fans were pissed at the way Dan treated them, and other Industry folks showed their support for the girls in the “situation” 

The “hit piece” did it’s job, There was a written interview released right after with Lauren and Normani. In that interview, Lauren and Normani both agreed, Camila’s departure was comparable to a “celebrity divorce”. I don’t know if you’ve ever paid attention to “celebrity divorces”, but the majority of them are very well planned PR stunts, used to cross-promote both celebrities. They are almost always a contentious mess used to garner headlines.

In that article, Lauren also came out and said, “we are in a happier place now, and we hope she is in a happier place as well.” If you notice, they didn’t seem to have a problem talking about Camila and her departure, in the written interview. Go figure!

That worked, as well. The fandom were thinking the girls were finally putting all the bullshit behind them. We were hoping THEY were finally going to put an end to the bullshit narrative and start changing it to something more positive. So much for wishful thinking. Welcome to the VMA’s mother fuckers.

Like I said before, I was pissed at the stunt pulled, but now that I’ve had time to process it all, it’s almost laughable. Just look at the two different performances. Camila’s BBMA performance, and Fifth Harmony’s VMA performance. Am I the only one who sees the similarities.

1) Camila started her performance hooded in black. She sang her IHQ verse, then the hooded black robe was pulled off for her performance of CITC. Fifth Harmony started with five hooded figures, then threw their hoods off, ejected the fifth member and started performing Angel, then transitioned into Down.

2)Camila had backup dancers and an elaborate stage set. Fifth Harmony had backup dancers and an elaborate stage set.

3)Camila starts her performance with “Why, did you leave me here to burn...”5H started with, “Who said I was an Angel...”  hahahahaha!!!

You can try and blow smoke up my ass all day, and try and convince me all this shit wasn’t planned...It ain’t going to work. Why “shade” Camila like that? HEADLINES! HEADLINES! HEADLINES! It’s cross-promotion folks. The VMA stunt served it’s purpose. It got both acts hype in the headlines.

Hell, they even played Havana at a Fifth Harmony signing party. It was all over social media. The next damn day, it is announced Havana will indeed be made a single.  “He Like That” is the girls’ next single. It was announced it wouldn’t impact radio until September 19th, just in time for the supposed release date for Camila’s album. Tell me I’m not the only one seeing all the connections and how this shit is actually working.

It’s Camila’s turn next, because her album is coming out soon. Here’s hoping they put an end to all the false narratives, and STOP ALL THE DAMN “SHADE”. The fandom is getting sick and tired of all the bullshit.

Camila warned us, “this is going to be an interesting summer.” Lauren told us, “We perform what we are told to perform.” We can hate and be pissed at the tactics being used, but we need to place blame where it belongs. Don’t hate on the girls. It’s not their choice.

My anger is ALWAYS directed towards those responsible for the PR tactics, and that is their Labels and the Management teams who manage the implementation of those tactics. I direct my anger at the ones with contractual control and creative control, Epic Records and Syco Entertainment.

Side note: To those OT4′s out there who tell me and other OT5′s that we have to choose a side, SHUT UP!!! Just because you allow yourself to be easily manipulated by Industry tactics, doesn’t mean we are all like you. We all don’t have to choose a fucking side.

I am perfectly capable of supporting Camila Cabello and Fifth Harmony at the same damn time. I didn’t allow Industry tactics to manipulate the hell out of me, and force me into thinking I had to support one or the other. I understood what THEY were doing and I didn’t allow myself to be sucked in. So instead of telling me I’m a fucking idiot and have to choose a fucking side, why don’t you check yourself, and ask why you allowed yourself to be manipulated in the first damn place.

[verdiprati]

Upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly

[NOTE: this post is now out of date. Check the schedule tag on my blog for the most recent version of this list.]

After the jump: an unofficial schedule of Dame Sarah Connolly’s future performances. Those of you in Britain may catch a performance in London, Oxford, Royal Tunbridge Wells, or Lewes. Those on the Continent may see her in Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, Bordeaux, or Vilabertran (near Figueres, Catalunya). Plus, Dame Sarah’s agency has mentioned future performances in Paris, Madrid, and New York, though no details are available yet. Don’t live near one of these places? Take in a concert from afar: I am adding online broadcast and livestream details as they become available.

This is not an authoritative list. These are the upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly that I have been able to learn about from Dame Sarah's website (not currently being updated), her agent's website (Askonas Holt), Operabase, Bachtrack, Dame Sarah's Twitter, and generally ferreting around the web.

Some of these listings are not yet officially confirmed; you should of course check official sources before making plans and be aware that cast changes and cancellations can happen at any time.

I have added links to venue, ticketing, and broadcast information where available. Tips on new information are always welcome! Please contact me via email (verdiprati [at] selveamene [dot] com), Tumblr messaging, or ask box (plain prose only in the ask box; anything with links or an email address will get eaten by Tumblr filters) with corrections or additions.

Recital at the Schubertíada Vilabertran, Vilabertran (near Figueres), Catalunya, August 24, 2017. With Malcolm Martineau. Songs by Strauss, Zemlinsky, Eisler, Korngold, Copland, and Britten. 

[Broadcast TBC] There is a PDF on the Catalunya Música website showing this recital on the schedule of summer festival recordings being made by the radio station, but it does not give an air date; the recital does not appear on this PDF schedule of broadcasts for July and August. Performances recorded at previous iterations of the festival have sometimes been held for months before broadcast. We’ll have to keep an eye out for Dame Sarah and Malcolm Martineau’s recital in the radio listing in the coming months.

Songs by Bridge Schumann and Brahms in a joint recital with Nils Mönkemeyer (viola) and Marcelo Amaral (piano) at the Liederhalle, Stuttgart, September 14, 2017. Sponsored by the Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Akademie. Repertoire details seem to have disappeared from the IHWA website but can still be found here.

Mahler, Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, September 20, 2017. Vladimir Jurowski conducts and Maria Bengtsson sings the soprano part. Also with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. Tickets go on sale July 17, 2017.

[Broadcast] This concert appears to be scheduled for deferred broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur the following evening, September 21.

Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, September 29, 2017. With Malcolm Martineau. The program includes songs by Strauss, Zemlinsky, Eisler, Korngold, Copland, and Britten.

Elgar, Sea Pictures, Royal Tunbridge Wells, October 1, 2017. With the Royal Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk. In a concert with orchestral works by Kodály and Brahms.

Mahler, Symphony No. 3 at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, October 6 and 8, 2017. With the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, the women of the Chœur de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux, and the Maîtrise Java Jeune Académie Vocale Aquitaine. Conducted by Paul Daniel.

[New!] Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at St George’s Bristol, October 11, 2017. With Andrew Staples and the Aurora Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon. Das Lied will be played in an arrangement by Iain Farrington for sixteen instruments. This concert, oddly enough, is part of the orchestra’s “Mozart’s Piano” series, pairing Das Lied with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 11.

Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at Kings Place, London, October 14, 2017. Same details as the Aurora Orchestra concert in Bristol on the 11th.

G. Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, plus songs by A. Mahler, Zemlinsky and Korngold at the Oxford Lieder Festival, St John the Evangelist, Oxford, October 20, 2017. With Eugene Asti. This recital program perfectly fits the festival’s theme for 2017, “The Last of the Romantics—Mahler and Fin-de-Siècle Vienna.”

[New! Deferred broadcast TBC] Dame Sarah’s recital at Spivey Hall in March 2017 was recorded for deferred broadcast. I have found a schedule for the program “Spivey Soiree” indicating that Dame Sarah’s recital will be broadcast on October 31, 2017, at 10:05 p.m. local time on WABE in Atlanta. The document is not deep-linkable but you might be able to find it by going to the Audio-Video Club of Atlanta website and clicking on the button for “Spivey Soiree.” The information on this document does not quite align with the weekly scheduling information currently published on the WABE website so I will attempt to confirm that the Spivey Soiree schedule on the A-VCOA website is accurate when we get closer to the broadcast date.

Wagner, Tristan und Isolde (Brangäne) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, November 28 and December 2, 4, 7, 10, 12, and 15, 2017. With Stefan Vinke (Tristan), Iréne Theorin (Isolde), Albert Dohmen (Marke), Greer Grimsley (Kurwenal), et al., in a production directed by Àlex Ollé and previously seen in Lyon. Musical direction by Josep Pons.

Handel, Ariodante (title role) at the Wiener Staatsoper, February 24 and 26 and March 1, 4, and 8, 2018. With Chen Reiss (Ginevra), Hila Fahima (Dalinda), Christphe Dumaux (Polinesso), Rainer Trost (Lurcanio), and Wilhelm Schwinghammer (Il Re di Scozia). In a new production directed by David McVicar with music is supplied by Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie. Note: although Christie, LAF, and many of the soloists from this Ariodante will be performing the opera in a concert tour following its staging in Vienna, Dame Sarah is not scheduled to join them; Kate Lindsey has been announced to take over the title role for the tour.

[Livestream] The opera is scheduled for video livestreaming on Sunday, March 4. There is a fee of €14 to watch the livestream.

Mahler, Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” at de Doelen, Rotterdam, March 23 and 25, 2018. With the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The other soloists are Angela Meade, Erin Wall, Erin Morley, Mihoko Fujimura, Michael Schade, Markus Werba, and Christof Fischesser. On choral duty are the Groot Omroep Koor, Rotterdam Symphony Chorus, Orfeon Donostiarra, and Nationaal Kinderkoor. Tickets go on sale May 15.

Mahler, Symphony No. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” at BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, March 24, 2018. With the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; same details as the Rotterdam performances listed above. Broadcast possibility: this concert is part of the 2018 Klarafestival sponsored by the Klara radio station, so it seems like a good candidate for broadcast.

[Masterclasses] Teaching duties for the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh, England, March 23-April 1, 2018. A course on Handel’s Theodora to be co-taught with conductor Christian Curnyn. Although this doesn’t really count as a performance by Sarah Connolly, I am adding it to my “unofficial schedule” of her work with the thought that fans who live in the area might want to attend some of the public masterclasses Sarah Connolly will be teaching or the culminating performance by young artists she will have coached. (Note that the first weekend of this program clashes with the Mahler 8 concerts in Rotterdam and Brussels, above; it is possible the students will start out working with Christian Curnyn and will pick up with Sarah Connolly a few days into the program.)

Handel, Giulio Cesare (title role) at Glyndebourne, June 10 through July 28, 2018. In a revival of the legendary 2005 production by David McVicar, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by William Christie. With Joélle Harvey as Cleopatra, plus Christophe Dumaux and Patricia Bardon reprising the roles of Tolomeo and Cornelia respectively; also starring John Moore (Achilla) and Kangmin Justin Kim (Nireno).

Wagner, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre (Fricka in both) at the Royal Opera, London, September 24 through October 28, 2018. A revival of Keith Warner’s Ring Cycle, with Antonio Pappano conducting. For cast and date details, see the ROH web pages linked above.

[Details TBA] Future appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Opéra national de Paris, and the Teatro Réal in Madrid are mentioned in the current bio that can be downloaded from Dame Sarah’s page on the Askonas Holt website (click “Publicity Pack”).

Previous versions of this list can be found under the schedule tag on this blog. This version published on August 10, 2017. Edited September 10 to add the deferred broadcast of Dame Sarah’s Spivey Hall recital. Edited September 15 to add the Bristol date of the Aurora Orchestra Das Lied concert and to belatedly correct the composers for the Stuttgart concert (based on info here). I may continue to edit this list if I receive new information.

[findasongblog]

Gig review: Mighty Oaks at SR1 Unplugged, Saarbrücken, 26.06.2017

Way back in 2014, I was looking forward to check out a new up and coming indie-folk band in the intimate setting of the Rockhal Café. Alas, I was far from being the only one, and the result was that the gig was moved to the much larger Rockhal Club. Good for Mighty Oaks of course who returned to Luxembourg twice in that same year, playing the Rockhal Club once more as well as the main stage of the Fête de la Musique in Dudelange, a festival at which they performed again earlier this month. There, I realised how much I’d actually like to see them at SR1 Unplugged. But there was a twist: tickets couldn’t be bought, only won at the radio station. I had once tried, and succeeded, for Robert Francis (also in 2014, review), but the nerves it had cost me! So this time, I decided to just register online – instead of calling the radio station a 100 times a day – and let fate decide. And I was lucky!!!

So I was finally going to see Mighty Oaks in an intimate setting comparable to the one I had once hoped for, but whom to take with me? Frist choice would have been my friend Susi with whom I had seen the band the first three times, but alas, she is still recovering from a back surgery – get well soon 😘 It then dawned on my that maybe my younger daugther might like Mighty Oaks and I made her listen to their music. Well, I guess I should share my favorites with her more often because she was instantly hooked and more than happy to be my gig companion for Monday night.

We arrived an hour before the doors were supposed to open, but they hadn’t even yet started to give out the tickets yet, ahem. Yes, instead of just having your name ticked off on a list, you get a „real“ ticket, which is very nice

While a sign on the door said entry would only start at 7.45pm, we were let in as soon as the soundcheck was over at around 7.10pm. How happy we were to find that in contrast to the last time I had been there, the studio wasn’t completely seated. Mel and I sat down all the same – on the floor right in the front middle of the stage. Only till the gig started of course, then we got up, because what’s a Mighty Oaks show without proper dancing? Hard to understand why the seats in the back filled up long before the floor did... This is how close we were:

(you can find all the official photos here)

Apart from the intimacy of the SR1 Unplugged shows (Ian commented early on that despite that designation, they were very much plugged, but that also the Oktoberfest takes place in September and not everyhting always has to make sense LOL), it’s the perfect sound which sets them apart from other gigs. An advantage in general, but especially for Mighty Oak’s quieter songs which had never touched me like they did that evening.

As always, the dancing and singing along was of course also a big part of the show, as was the banter, even though Ian stated that the fact the audience was listening so attentively made him shy and that it was easier to talk to a drunk festival crowd who would have forgotten everything the next day anyway. 😂 The band had played at the Saarbrücken City Festival the evening before – and will return to Saarbrücken in November to play at the Garage (Ian: „I don’t yet now whose garage it will be...“) which was a lovely surprise as this gig hadn’t yet been officially announced. Tickets will be bought, maybe also for another stop in Luxembourg?

Another detail to love about SR1 Unplugged is the possibility to talk to the artists and get autographs and photos right after the gig, We hung around in front of the stage for a bit longer though because we wanted to ask for a setlist and were finally told to simply get on stage and take one (well, two in our case) as long as we didn’t break anything, which I think we managed 😉

(Mel had made a little drawing for Ian, and though we had already taken a photo, he suggested to take another one, but Mel thought she didn’t look good here - clearly the photographer’s fault, i.e. mine 😜 You can find all of her work on her Instagram account meym.drawings *proud mum alert*).

In short, it was an unforgettable evening that rekindled my love for Mighty Oaks and their music (and I feel bad for not wanting to go through all the stress for winning tickets because it would definitely have been worth all of it).

Take a look at the tour dates for the US and Europe (more to be added) and if you have the chance to see them somehwere, don’t miss it!!

[dancerlittle006]

Stories of Our Lives - Chapter 13

A/N: I personally love this chapter! 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

November 2, 2019

They had literally gotten off tour two days ago. All Louis and Gia wanted to do was relax and enjoy being back home. Yet their friends and family had other plans. 

The pregnancy was progressing as normal as possible. They had found out back in August that Gia was carrying twins, adding to the excitement. Both were taken back by the visual of twins but weren't surprised by the abundance in their families. 

Gia had asked Tricia to attend one of the sonograms while Louis was stuck at a radio interview. After that, Tricia had begged Gia to let her throw a gender reveal party for the couple's baby shower. After much begging and headaches, Gia relented and agreed. 

Now two days after tour, their baby shower would take place later that afternoon with their friends and family gathering at Niall and Tricia's house. 

Tricia was the only person (besides their doctor) in the world to know what the Tomlinson babies were. There had been times both Gia and Louis had begged to find out; Tricia merely said the two would thoroughly be surprised by what they were having. 

This, of course, led to the crew surrounding the boys to take bets on what they were having. Bets included the babies' birth date and what the twins would weigh. 

The fans were generally really happy for our couple. They waited until September to announce it officially. Gia was worried about how everyone would react to their exciting news while Louis was excited to announce it. In the end, the fans absolutely loved the news. 

"So we are actually doing this huh?" Gia bit her lip looking at her husband. 

Louis grinned brightly. "The fans are going to love it. They will be happy."

"You sure?" Placing a hand on her growing bump, Gia had this weird feeling she just couldn't shake. 

Louis looked at his wife carefully, crossing the room to pull her into his arms. "Things are going to be just fine. I promise. Now how are we going to announce this?" 

"How about we just tweet it out?" She wasn't sure what the "proper" way to announce a pregnancy to his 22 million Twitter followers. 

Kissing her forehead, Louis shook his head. "That's what normal celebrities do. We have to do something different!!" 

"Of course Pooks." Gia raised her eyes at his tone. "What do you have in mind Popstar?"

Louis chuckled. "Well Damsel I've got several ideas in mind. But I'm narrowing down which ones you would actually go along with."

"I'm guessing the paint ones just flew out of your mind along with the screaming from the top of a building." Gia smirked watching Louis' face fall. 

Louis bit his lip. “How good is your singing voice?”

“My what?” Gia’s hazel eyes went wide. “Louis William Tomlinson, you’re the Popstar in this family, not me. And besides, why do you need to know about my singing voice? I mean when these babies come, you’re going to be the one singing to them, not me.”

Hugging her closer, he nuzzled his nose into her neck, placing a gentle kiss. “I was thinking we could recreate how we told the boys and announce it that way.”

“I would prefer if we keep that to ourselves and the boys.” Gia stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.  “If we are going to to tell the fans, I want something unique for them - not recycling old ideas.”

Louis shook his head. “First you’re nervous about telling everyone and now you don’t like my idea. Fine woman, you come up with something!”

“Ok I will.” She bit her lip in concentration trying to figure out an unique way to tell her husband’s very passionate fans they were expecting the next generation of Tomlinson’s.  “I got it. Go ask Lou if we can borrow a piece of Lux’s chalk and meet me in the back parking lot. Also grab Tricia to help us.”

“You’re lost in never, neverland over here.” Louis spoke, wrapping his arms around her growing tummy. “You look a million miles away.”

Looking over her shoulder, Gia grinned at her husband. “I was thinking back to when we told the fans we were expecting. That was a fun day.”

“That photo will go down in the history of photos. I think we officially broke Twitter that day.” Louis mused, turning her around, her seventh month pregnant belly fitting nicely between them.

She laughed, agreeing 100% with her husband. “It went over better than even I could have planned.”

“So what are we going to do exactly?” Louis managed to find the all the boys and their significant others as he made his way to the back parking lot. 

Gia grinned. “Just stand there, Popstar and look pretty. Leave the dirty work to me.”

Chalk in hand, she wrote 1992, 1993 and 2020 on the ground. Picking up the two pairs of baby shoes she had bought only days before, she placed them in front of the 2020 while smirking up at her husband. “I’m assuming I don’t have to tell you which place to stand in front of?”

Louis gave her a look before sauntering over the 1992 while Gia took her place in front of the 1993. “Ok Tricia, whenever you’re ready.”

Taking several shots at different angles with Gia’s iPhone, Tricia handed it back to her pregnant friend for approval. “All right here we go. Any bets on how long until Twitter is officially broken?”

And with the simple tweet of “It’s true, Louis and I are expanding our family in 2020.” the Twitter universe officially broke down.

“And you were so worried about that day.” 

Smacking her husband’s shoulder, Gia scowled. “Shut up. You were just as nervous as me even though you won’t admit it.”

“Uh huh . . . can you believe we’re going to be parents in two months?” Louis’ eyes went wide as the words flowed from his mouth.

Gia shook her head. “No! We still have to finish the nursery and finish getting everything ready. We are nowhere ready for these two buggers to come!” 

“Hey, hey don’t freak out on me now. We will be ready and things will be perfect. Between me, you, and our families and friends, things will be alright.” Louis looked his wife in the eyes and smiled. “Please don’t freak out. Everything will be perfect and today is the first step. We can finally know what we’re having and then we can start talking about names.”

Taking a breath, Gia felt herself calm down at his words. “Thanks! You always know what to say when I need to take a moment.”

“Always will Italia. Now for the most important question of the day.” Louis paused dramatically, leaving his wife in suspense. “What do you think of Gertrude for a girl’s name?”

Not even trying to hide her distaste for the name, Gia shook her head. “No, no just no! We are not going to scar our precious baby girl with a name like Gertrude.”

“Come on! It’s a classic name. Besides we can come up with a cute nickname for her.” Louis kissed her cheek. “And I know you’re all about cute nicknames for our babies.”

Standing on her tiptoes, Gia looked her husband in his eyes. “Listen to me Louis William we are going to both agree on these kids’ names. No throwing me for a loop with awful names, you hear me?.” 

“Ok, ok. I hear you loud and clear. Geez woman! I’m married to you for seven months and you’re already a class act nagger!” 

The minute the words were out of his mouth, Louis could’ve kicked himself. Gia dissolved into tears as she soaked in the words. “Awwww Gia I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that . . . I actually love it when you nag me.”

“No you don’t. You just said so . . . just leave me alone.” Gia pushed him away as he tried to take her into his arms. 

He shook his head. “Soldier, I didn't mean it that way. I was teasing.”

“But underneath all that teasing are real words.” She hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. “Just leave me alone, Louis. I’ll take my nagging somewhere else.”

Picking up the car keys, Gia grabbed her purse, heading towards the backdoor. Louis knew if he let her, she would walk out that door and go who knows where. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her into his arms, wiping the tears away and cooing in her ear. 

“I’m sorry babe. I totally did not mean it the way you think I did.” He brushed more tears away. “I know you’re extra sensitive now and I spoke before thinking and I’m sorry. I love it that we’ve been married for seven months and you have fallen into such an easy routine to remind me of what I need to or who I need to see. You are the perfect wife and soon to be mother and I love you very much.”

The sobbing stopped but tears still rolled down her cheeks. “You mean that?”

“Giovanna Maria Tomlinson, you are the most perfect wife and I would be a total mess without your constant nagging as you put it. Please don’t ever stop nagging me or telling me what to do.” Louis paused kissing her cheek gently. “I love you forever and always, Damsel.”

The tears rolled down her cheeks faster causing him to sigh. “What’s wrong now?”

“Nothing you’re just too sweet. Damn you and your sweet talking Tomlinson.” She giggled, wiping away the tears. 

Louis kissed her. “I can’t win can I?”

“Nope . . .you’re stuck now buster.”

3:00pm

They were the last to arrive at their own baby shower. Louis naturally blamed it on Gia’s inability to pick out a suitable outfit while Gia blamed it on her ever expanding stomach. Their friends and family just laughed at the two and welcomed them into the house.

Mollie demanded her auntie and uncle’s attention the moment they stepped foot into the house. “Auntie Gia when are da babies comin’?” Mollie asked grinning brightly.

“Not until January. They’re nice and snuggly in my belly.” Gia asked, as the girl putting her little hands on Gia’s stomach. Both laughed when the babies kicked in hello.

Mollie pulled back her hand, glaring at Gia’s stomach. “They kicked me.”

“They’re just saying hello.” Gia smiled. “What do you want the babies to be?”

Mollie looked at her uncle before looking at her auntie. “They’re gonna be girls. No boys!”

“But what if they’re both boys?” Gia looked at the crowd that was growing, anxious to see what the little girl would say. “Will you still play with them?”

Mollie smirked, giggling. “Boys are smelly. They’re dirty and gross and like to play in the mud.”

“But your daddy and uncles are boys and they’re not gross or smelly. They do like to play in the mud but after they take a shower, they’re nice and clean.”

The young girl’s eyes went wide at the revelation. “I guess they’ll be ok . . . but you make sure you have girls, all right Auntie Gia?”

“I’ll try my best kiddo.”

Taking a moment to maneuver herself, Gia sighed as she stood up. Greeting her family members as she went, Gia soon found herself in the kitchen where hers and Louis’ mums were. “Hi mums.”

“Well there’s the guest of honor. We saw your hubby not too long ago.” Rose hugged her daughter, taking a moment to rub her tummy. “What stopped you?”

Gia grabbed herself some pink lemonade, taking a moment to look around the very festive kitchen. Tricia had gone above and beyond Louis and Gia’s expectations. There was a chalkboard where people had put their predictions down of the gender of the babies and so far, boys was winning by five. There was blue and pink cupcakes, candy, drinks, and either mustache or bow so people could cast their vote on what the babies’ gender would be. 

“Mollie stopped to ask me questions about the babies.” Gia smiled, giving Jay a hug. “Where is everyone else?”

Jay nodded to the backyard smiling. “My girls are all outside along with your brothers and dad. There’s a football game going on. My son said his hellos as she passed through.”

“Typically Lou. I swear there isn’t a day that our tele isn’t tuned to a footie match.” Gia rolled her eyes, smiling at Tricia, Scarlett, and Danielle making their entrance into the kitchen.

Tricia laughed. “Niall wants to take Mollie to her first match soon.” 

“Lou’s counting down the day until he can take the twins.” Gia giggled. “I did pick up Manchester United onesies the other day when I was out. Showed them to Lou and he immediately said those were their coming home outfits, no, if, ands or buts.”

Scar’s eyes went wide. “Please tell me you talked him down from that one.”

“Of course I did. I did my about to cry act and he dropped the subject altogether, mumbling that we could talk about it as we got closer to the birth.” Gia grinned causing the girls to laugh loudly.

Picking up a blue cupcake, Gia swirled her finger in the frosting before tasting it. “Those are from your favorite bakery. How’s the nursery coming along?”

“I think we have it all planned out; Louis just needs to get his butt in gear. He’s dragging his feet for some odd reason..” Gia shook her head. 

The girls laughed at Gia’s description of the man they all loved. “So how are you going to do the nursery?”

“Three of the walls are going to be a darker grey color and the fourth is going to be navy blue chevron and white. That is going to be the wall the cribs are up against. I’ve been collecting letters of the alphabet and have been painting them different colors so that’ll add a bit more color to the walls.” She sighed. “Louis surprised me with elephant prints that we got framed that will go in the nursery as well.”

The door opened, revealing their sweaty husbands and boyfriend just as the girls awed. Louis pushed through with a smirked. “Better run now boys, the girls are cooing over something that is going to cause us to work.”

“Shut up. See you couldn’t even say hello to everyone because you had to run off for a footie match.” Gia smirked at her husband’s guilty smile. 

Walking over to her, he attempted to pull her into his arms all while she pushed him away. “I don’t want your sweaty body to be near me.”

“Come on! You love my sweaty body.” He countered.

Everyone to chuckle at the couple. “Hard to believe they’ll be parents in two months time. They still act like teenagers.”

“Hey I can be responsible.” Louis protested.

Harry shook his head. “Like yesterday when you were yelling at us because you couldn’t find your shoe?”

“In my defense, that shoe was playing hide and seek and I wasn’t doing a great job of finding it.” Louis mumbled causing Gia to wrap her arms around him.

Kissing his cheek, Gia cooed. “It’s all right, Pooks. We all have those days.”

“No respect. At least these babies will love me.” He ran his hand over Gia’s baby bump and grinned feeling his children kick.

Since her baby belly had expanded, Louis fascination with it had grown. Every night, just before she drifted off to sleep, Louis would talk with the babies and tell them what he had accomplished that day. There had been times Gia had woken up in the middle of the night and Louis would be talking to his children, telling them about his fears or worries. 

Tricia grinned. “Yes Louis your babies will love you no matter what. Now are you two ready to find out what you’re having?”

“Yes!” The couple’s grins widened as Tricia handed them a white t-shirt. 

“Go change into that and then meet us out back.” She instructed calling for everyone to meet them in the backyard.

Ten minutes later, Louis and Gis waited patiently for Tricia to give them instructions. “Now for the last month, I have been the only one to know what the Tomlinson’s were having. But now, the mummy and daddy will find out. So, wait until I’m out of the way, but these squirt bottles have the color related to the gender of your babies.”

Tricia moved, grabbing her camera to capture the moment, allowing Gia and Louis to grin at each other. “You’re going down Soldier.”

“Not if I get you first Popstar.” 

And the two started squirting paint at each other. Gia’s paint bottle held blue paint while Louis’ held pink.

Gia started crying seeing the two colors mix together and hers and Louis’ shirts. “A boy and a girl.”

“You got your daughter and I got my son.” Louis pulled her into his arms. “Exactly what we wanted - one of each.”

The families and friends congratulated the two as smiles were all around. “To the newest set of Tomlinson twin - may you always be healthy and happy.”

And so the growing family, surrounded by their family and friends, celebrated reveal of their son and daughter well into the night.

[junker-town]

THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, in which Ohio State and Penn State enter full panic mode

It’s your weekly tour of the most devastated in college football internet.

Week 10 was one of the best weeks of the college football season to date. It had a bunch of appealing games, even though major upsets were limited to the Big Ten.

We’ve reached the point in the year when every loss can send fans into an ocean of despair, either because a good season’s been ruined by a loss or a bad season’s become so unbearable that the coach must be fired. This post is a weekly tribute to those fans.

Ohio State (lost 55-24 at Iowa)

The Buckeyes suffered a football disembowelment. There’s no overstating how bad this was. It was arguably the worst loss Urban Meyer’s ever taken, complete with not only giving up 55 points to Iowa but the equally fun getting stunted on via special teams fakes in the fourth quarter. Let’s see how some Buckeyes took the defeat.

At the team’s Scout message board, one fan thinks the real problem is that Urban Meyer has become too devoted to his family.

Urbam Meyer's Contract With His Family

Meyer lost his edge when he signed his family contract to be less "hands-on". He needs to be all in.....or all out.

At r/OSU, someone worried about the school’s relationship with Papa John’s.

“Are we going to lose their sponsorship too,” the Redditor asked, and added this:

Buckeyes fans kept up a hot-and-cold relationship with their QB.

J.T. Barrett threw four interceptions, a week after he played nearly a perfect game and led a comeback win past then-No. 2 Penn State. Ohio State fans have long had what we’ll call a complicated relationship with the most prolific QB in their school’s history. They called for his benching after a Week 2 loss to Oklahoma, but they’d mostly come back to his side after he’d gone on a tear for two months.

So after Penn State a week ago, mea culpas abounded. At Scout, there was an “Official JT Apologize Thread.” At 247, “All JT haters and bashers get in this thread and eat your crow.”

Let’s see how those progressed on Saturday.

The real JT showed up against Iowa. The smart fans knew this was coming. JT isn't a champion and he's not even close to being a top Buckeye qb.

Ah.

You ready to eat yours? Guy had A good game, let it get in his head. Dripping with arrogance all week.

Oh.

JT Barrett is THE REASON we got completely embarrassed by an unranked Iowa team that was 5-3.

To be fair, Barrett didn’t do well in his role as OSU’s defensive coordinator.

Other Reddit threads about the guy who was a Heisman contender hours earlier are titled, “Just as I started to like Barrett, he embarrasses the state of Ohio” and “JT BARRETT is officially washed again.” Why anyone want to be an Ohio State Buckeye, I can’t fathom.

A reminder: OSU gave up 55 points and lost to Iowa.

How fans came to grips with that news in real time:

Out of ALL the games we have left, we got killed by Iowa. FUCKING IOWA.

— mercer (@lilkuzyvert92) November 4, 2017

55 points. What a joke. #Buckeyes

— Dave Seaman (@DaveSeaman94) November 4, 2017

We got 55 points on our heads

— Trey (@T____RAWWWW) November 4, 2017

We gave up 55 points to IOWA...

— Leonard (@Tiety4) November 4, 2017

We gave up 55 points unreal

— Jack (@Buckeye_Jack) November 4, 2017

55 POINTS TO IOWA?!?!? LOLOL

— Christopher Jason (@cjason112) November 4, 2017

I don't care if we're playing Bama 55 points is just fucking absurd

— nico (@DamnitNicoo) November 4, 2017

Embarrassing. 55 points to Iowa? Urban needs to look in a goddamn mirror and think about some things. I’m now mad. That’s grotesque.

— Justin Rowe (@RoweTrain) November 4, 2017

LMAOOO WE GAVE UP 55 POINTS TO IOWA WE ARE DEADASS TRASH

— Daniel ‍♂️ (@BlackBuckeye) November 4, 2017

Iowa....... Iowa........ fucking Iowa

— richard (@JakeKills_) November 4, 2017

Fucking Iowa

— Lisha (@Lishalorrainee) November 4, 2017

55 points tho?

— Fliccster Morgan (@FliccsBeats) November 5, 2017

We just gave up 55 points to Iowa. I don't even know this planet anymore. Fire everybody. I wish I went to JUCO. Anybody wanna go drinking?

— steve dennis (@stevenwdennis) November 4, 2017

A day later, some were still struggling.

Still in shock that a week ago we beat Penn State who is good as hell this year to then lose to Iowa who scored 55 fucking points on us....

— ♚Adrian♚ (@Yung_ak47) November 5, 2017

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Yes.

@OSUCoachMeyer hire Chip Kelly next year as an Offensive Coordinator. Thank me later.

— Uncle Lou (@Mr_Gweeds) November 4, 2017

Penn State (lost 27-24 at Michigan State)

Let’s see how this guy’s feeling about James Franklin, the coach who stewarded Penn State out of the end of its NCAA sanctioning and is 18-5 in the last two years:

Franklin Is Not The Guy

I’ve really been pulling for him because he seems like a decent man and he recruits well but I’m officially coming to grips with the fact that James Franklin is not the guy to lead us back to national prominence.

At some point you have to win the big game, and he’s showing himself more and now incapable of it with every opportunity.

We can hang our hat on one big Home win against an OSU team that was exposed by Clemson but what else do we really have? OSU 17, MSU 17, USC 16, Michigan 16, etc.

I’m not saying fire the guy because that would be absurd but it’s hard to see him ever coaching Penn St to the playoff

It was unclear if Penn State’s No. 2 national ranking, most recently achieved nine days ago, constituted a return to “national prominence.” But as an alum of a different Big Ten East school, let me just say that I agree. Penn State should move on.

Someone took issue with Franklin telling reporters after the game that in the future, he’d have a plan for a long weather delay like the one that interrupted this game.

Franklin will plan for 3 hour weather delays

Here's a nickel's worth of free advice JimBob: Don't waste your time developing a plan for an event that happens once every 50 years. Do spend more time with the game plan for an event that happens every Saturday. Don'tworry about a 3-hour and 22-minute weather delay. Do concentrate on what's going on during 3-hour and 22-minute football games. Don't talk with othercoaches. Do talk with your coaches, and demand an answer to one simple question - WTF? Don't dwell on the rain, but do lead your team out of their fog.

(Penn State ate pizza, which seemed fine.)

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Not this week, at least that I can find.

Texas A&M (lost 42-27 to Auburn)

First off:

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Plenty are, yes. Here’s one.

Anybody have Chip Kelly’s number? I️ wanna pitch him a job opening in College Station @AggieFootball

— Kevin Coleman (@notthefakekwc) November 4, 2017

Kevin Sumlin isn’t the only Aggie on the hot seat. A couple of fans at TexAgs are turning up the heat on the Kyle Field public address announcer.

Was the Kyle Field PA announcer concussed during the Auburn game?

He announced two different runs by our running back #5 Trayveon Johnson, and an incomplete pass by #17 Trevor Knight...

Hopefully he has been placed under the proper concussion protocol.

One reply calls for his firing:

The guy make 8-9 mistakes a game. This has gone on all year. Mistaken names and incorrect numbers are the most common gaffes. I think he should be replaced before next year. My reasoning, at this level the announcer should have been doing this 10 Years plus. Do you really expect him to get any better after that much experience? Personally, I also don't care for his first down style.

Another:

Doesn't he have a spotter to feed him facts? I'm not exactly sure how it works. Fire the DJ and the Gameday Task Force. Make Kyle Field Great Again!

This one’s just some outside-the-box thinking, designed to get A&M a title: start a new football league and just win the title in that.

Aggie Arena Football Team

Since no one like my Canadian Football rules idea. Maybe you'll relate to this?

Lets start college arena football. The Aggies could be a founding team, maybe just start with two teams. That should increase the odds of winning a football Natty in our life time exponentially.

And here’s this:

We need a artist not a paint by numbers painter

I have often thought of the painter anology for KS and the what A&M needs as a head coach.

The brushes and paint are the same for each painter at the beginning but it is the individual ability to apply paint with the right brushes to develop a work of art. KS is a paint by numbers coach. We get a Rembrandt type of coach he will use the same tools as KS but the result will be a thing of beauty. .......a masterpiece.

Please let football people make the next hire!!

One poster thinks the Aggies should hire Gary Kubiak to replace Sumlin:

Gary Kubiak

I keep hearing about coaches we arent going to get; Richt, Saban, Meyer, Kelly. Also a lot of talk about another up and comer; Morris, Campbell, Norvell. Haven't heard any talk about Gary Kubiak. Seems like an excellent choice to me. I'm sure he wants back into a HC position. Great offensive resume. As long as he doesnt make Sherman's mistake in S&C. Thoughts?

Also being bandied about: former Raiders coach Dennis Allen and former A&M coach R.C. Slocum, now 72. (Lest you think that’s unrealistic, the Slocum idea is only as an interim.)

And there are separate threads suggesting that A&M could or should hire away the head coaches of both of Texas’ NFL teams: Bill O’Brien and Jason Garrett. Those are mostly joke threads, but the thing is, not everyone in them is joking.