#zamzows

[dustedmagazine]

Cloud Cult — Alchemy Creek (Earthology)

Alchemy Creek is Cloud Cult’s 12th album. During the late 2010s, the band had taken a hiatus. Their return in 2022 with the album Metamorphosis was an excellent release, leaning into a chamber pop aesthetic with an enlarged cohort of musicians, some playing classical instruments. The same lineup returns for Alchemy Creek: Craig Minowa, singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist, is joined by violinist Shannon Frid-Rubin, drummer Jeremy Harvey, Shawn Neary playing bass, banjo and trombone, Sarah Perbix, playing keyboard, French horn and trumpet and Daniel Zamzow, playing cello and mandola. An unorthodox contributor to their shows and videos is the live painter Scott West. Together they make music that extols environmental causes, compassion for fellow humans, and catharsis for emotional suffering in the post-pandemic era.

“I Am a Forcefield” is a song that reminds us that our inner child can be a protective force, a reminder of our sense of self. Christopher Robin, leading a band of imaginary friends, battles it out with the demons of aversion in a lyric ripe with metaphor, encouraging those in similar circumstances. Minowa sings full on emo here with Harvey’s strong support on the drums. The rest of the group engages in a repetitive harmonic progression that grows to a roar by the song’s climax, only to slowly recede to give the floor to a final vocal chorus. “Vision in a Field” is a message to a friend carrying similar burdens. The narrator’s suggestion, “lay it down and run like hell.” A similar trope that I particularly liked, “It’s not about the easy days, it’s how you run through the fire.”  Here the band ebbs and flows in intensity, affording Minowa plenty of room to sing but interesting textures to support him.

“As Beautiful As It Hurts” is probably my favorite song on the recording. The video shows Minowa accompanying himself at a well-used, worn upright piano. Strings and French horn also surround his singing, which is distressed with delay. “I Need to Think it's Going to Be Alright” goes the world-weary refrain, and vivid emotional distress assaults the song’s narrator nearly throughout. Finding beauty and hope in the midst of pain, an aforementioned album theme, coalesces in this moving song.

Alchemy Creek is remarkable in that most bands do not find nearly as much songwriting inspiration on their twelfth album. Dare we hope for baker’s dozen?

Christian Carey

[wyrmoftheweb]

For the past week or so my dad and I have been going to zamzows to visit this very lonely bird and play with him. no we are not buying him because we do not have the resources or experience to own a bird BUT he's such a sweet little guy and he yells through the whole store bc he's bored until someone comes and plays with him. So we go to play with him

[septimore]

[beatrack92]

Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler 🇺🇸

[briarpatch-kids]

I need to go to sleep soon because I'm going to check out how accessible the public quarry is but I'm too excited. I can't believe the pond is actually happening and sooner than I thought!

[catfish-hours]

can we get a big ol “chain pet stores are disgusting and their care is almost always inadequate” in chat

[gunpowder-gemini]

My bf got a color changing light for our bedroom and having it on red makes me feel like a baby chick under a heat lamp at a Zamzows

Or maybe a hooker

[wausaupilot]

Historical Society to host traveling exhibit 'Neighbors Past and Present'

The exhibit explores German migration and settlement in Wisconsin, and includes topics on language, print culture, religion, traditions, social clubs, business and more.

WAUSAU — From sauerkraut to schottisches, Wisconsinites can sense some German background in our state. That influence will be explored in a new traveling exhibit called “Neighbors Past and Present: The Wisconsin German Experience.”

It will be on view at the Marathon County Historical Society from July 16 through Aug. 22. The exhibit will be augmented by displays of local Marathon County German…

[thenotsoamazinggrace]

Okay, so I’m going to show off a little because I’m so dang proud of my Ezra. We do workbooks after school and a little during summer vacation but because we got so busy this past summer, we didn’t get a lot of workbook done. We’ve been doing homework/workbook after school and reading a few books every night. We thought working on his workbooks would keep him from struggling in class because he was delayed for a couple of years. Today, we got a note from his teacher, saying he’s 3rd highest in class and that his homework is too easy for him so she sent him a more challenging homework. He has finished 3 different kindergarten workbooks and is getting better at reading everyday. We were also told at church that Ezra has been taking care of Sam whenever Sam is having a panic attack. Not to mention, he’s always there to take care of Noah even when I don’t ask him to. So when he asked me for a date night today, I couldn’t say no. He wanted to go to Zamzows to see the animals and then have sushi for dinner. He had so much fun that he fell asleep on the drive home. (at Caldwell, Idaho) https://www.instagram.com/p/CU6dSArrAPB/?utm_medium=tumblr

[elleroodles]

the weirdest part about having a mom that works for the state is that she’ll ask you to bring in the mail, which consists of a file that says in big red letters PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL and some zamzows coupons and she’ll open the coupons first

[anumberofhobbies]

“scientists have begun to realize that taking the behaviors away might do autistic people more harm than good.”

Rethinking repetitive behaviors in autism

Autistic people have long maintained that repetitive behaviors are beneficial. Emerging evidence in support of this idea is shaping new therapies.

by Rachel Zamzow 25 November 2019

https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/rethinking-repetitive-behaviors-in-autism/

“For many people like Borden and Shields, a shift in the perception of repetitive behaviors is long overdue. Restricted and repetitive behaviors are a central feature of autism and include not only repetitive movements such as hand-flapping, but also an intense interest in particular topics — such as train schedules or maps — and difficulty altering routines. Most scientists historically viewed them as something to eliminate or at least minimize — especially if it appeared to hinder a child’s daily life.

But studies suggest that some of the behaviors, such as body-rocking and arm-waving, help guide typical development. And many non-autistic children also engage in stims such as fidgeting or fiddling with objects. What’s more, a growing body of evidence from the past decade reinforces the notion that repetitive behaviors can help autistic people relieve sensory overload, cope with anxiety and express emotion.

As such, scientists have begun to realize that taking the behaviors away might do autistic people more harm than good. “There’s been a changing in thought about repetitive behaviors,” says Benjamin Yerys, assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.”

Re:"Most scientists historically viewed them as something to eliminate or at least minimize"

Yeah, because those arrogant assholes just assumed something they did not KNOW.

Science and especially the health sciences do a Lot of that.

Science and especially Scientists no longer impress me anywhere near as much as they did when I was young and naive and enthusiastic and hopeful during my school age decades.

[zamzow]

Week 1 - About me

Hello, my name is Skylar Zamzow! I was born and raised in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. My interests include competing in soccer and swim, binge watching good Netflix or Disney+ shows, and indulging myself in music. Currently, I am a sophomore attending at UW Milwaukee with my major being Design and Visual Communications (DVC). I took this class to gain more knowledge on Design as it helps with my major. Also, I think this class will be a great opportunity to help me better understand what Design really means. I am in graphic design, so my interests consist of the online and art side of design. Most of my experience so far have come from UWM and being able to work in software’s such as the adobe suite in a professional setting.

To add on to my music interest I mentioned before, I have made cover art and music videos for other local artists besides myself and found that to be a great experience and inspiration. Not only do I get to enjoy music made by others, but I have the chance to collaborate with others on different levels as well. Sometimes it could be providing vocals or producing, other times I get the chance to create a new logo for new artists. I have even made music videos for local artists and enjoy what I do. I love being able to create art and design for others to enjoy so I hope I can take my ideas and apply it to a higher level.

I have always been a creator, so I have found the Peck School of Arts to be a great fit for me. The DVC courses have interested me the most in what I want to do for my career. I am excited at what sort of graphics I get into such as advertising and brand names. I have only got an introduction into typography, but I found it to be very interesting in how important fonts can be and how words are laid out.

A purchase that I will make very soon does play a role in where the deciding factor over a competitor is the design. As much as I do love Apple products, I (think I) finally decided on a Surface Book 2 because of the many more useful benefits I will get out of it. The Surface Book 2 is fully touchscreen so if I need to make any illustrations, I can even turn it from a laptop into a tablet where a Mac Book cannot do the same functions. Another reason is I am more use to the design of Windows computers compared to Macs. I believe my final decision will be based on performance, but I believe they are both similar in this aspect.

[brytning]

If we want questioners to have a place in the church, we need to make it safe for people to question. That doesn’t mean that we can never disagree or that we can’t speak what we see as the truth. But we need to be careful how we are speaking our truth.One way to make conversations about contentious theological, social, or political issues less threatening is by not socially excluding those who disagree with us. As Rachel Held Evans said so well: “One of the most destructive mistakes we Christians make is to prioritize shared beliefs over shared relationship, which is deeply ironic considering we worship a God who would rather die than lose relationship with us.” For many people, the cost of asking hard questions would be too high if they risked losing their friends, family, or church if they don’t agree with everything their group believes.

Jen Zamzow, What Should Churches Do With Questioners?

[maaarine]

‘What problem?’ When tricky solutions prompt an easy answer (Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian, Dec 07 2018)

“One of the sneakier forms of the problem, highlighted in a recent essay by the American ethicist Jennifer Zamzow, is “solution aversion”: people judge the seriousness of a social problem, it’s been found, partly based on how appetising or displeasing they find the proposed solution. (...)

Tell someone who opposes government regulations that they’re the only solution to climate change, and he’s more likely to reject the idea that it’s a serious issue to begin with.

And the point isn’t just that people say these things, so as not to make their prejudices look silly.

It’s that they’re genuinely less likely to believe that problems requiring unpalatable solutions are problems at all.

Switch the focus to personal matters, and it’s clear that solution aversion is another manifestation of our old Freudian friend, denial.

You’ll be strongly motivated to deny problems in your relationship if you dread the loneliness of singlehood; or the fact that your work feels meaningless if your dominant fear is financial insecurity. 

Who couldn’t empathise with that kind of urge to deny what’s too scary to face? Which is why, to turn back to politics, motivated reasoning ultimately offers grounds for hope.

After all, if the other side’s refusal to engage with the facts is explained by sheer stupidity, or by evil, there’s no way forward.

On the other hand, if it’s the unfortunate result of an eminently relatable response to feeling afraid, at least there’s a shared starting point from which we might reach more understanding.”

[the-chefcurry-blr]

Essay II: From “White Zombie” to “American Dream”

The image of the zombie today strays far from its origins in slavery. Originally, they were simply African slaves, considered to be mindless beings working about their master’s land solely for survival. Now, they are monsters that epitomize the sinful undead, reanimating a past life and essentially following the course of survival without remorse. It is interesting to see how zombies have changed over the years but to observe this remarkable and symbolic change, a look at its origin must be analyzed.

The historical center of the zombie originates from North America’s turbulent and controversial past with slavery. As early as the time of Christopher Columbus, discovering this new continent meant discovering a new society and creating a new livable area.  As colonies form all over Europe began to cross the Atlantic Ocean, it became widely apparent that it wasn’t easily feasible to start their lives over. Therefore, in the mid-sixteenth century the Transatlantic Slave Trade began and lasted about 366 year until the abolition of slavery in the 1860’s. Through its course, roughly 12.5 million slaves were stolen from Africa and brought to the America’s for pure, no-strings-attached labor (“Transatlantic Slave Trade.”). Truly, it was the Caribbean colonies who mastered and succeed in slavery. In one of the most famous colonies of Saint-Dominique in Haiti; sugar and coffee thrived but they needed the labor to make it a worthwhile business. This is where the paradigm of slaves as plantation workers started and how the idea transcended across American colonies.

As African slaves were literally stolen from their tribes, a plethora of cultures and ideologies were forced into a religious coalition. This new African culture also had to adapt to their white slave master’s religion of Roman Catholicism (Batista). A strange hyper-religion formed and collectively spread across the new-found colonies. One in particular was the New Orleans colony, originally famous for the religion of Voodou which transcended the Haitian hyper-religion. As Voodou was popularized in the late 1700’s, the cultural spiritualities began to emerge. It is these spiritualities and cultural beliefs of Gods and Goddesses that cross over to present day that make legitimate Voodou partitionists a sign of the original zombie.

Analyzing a 2013 Vice short documentary of a Voodou priestess in Haiti, she practices and advocates the originally religion. In short, she celebrates the dead in a manner that brings them back to her own body, allows them to take over, and personifies their energy into a crowd. From the video she states, “I feel proud and happy because I’m going to see the most beautiful things tonight.” (Broadly). Although what she felt in that moment was pure euphoria, it is easy to see how “Voodoo” can be seen as devil worship.

“Voodoo” spelt in this form, is meant to represent the racists, ignorant version of the religion. Viewing the ceremony, an outsider would be fearful of the strange out of body experience these people were experiencing. It is also easy, then, to connect this to stereotypes of “voodoo dolls” and controlling of another person. Victor Halperin’s 1932 film White Zombie is a perfect example of this (Halperin). As the film was the first American Zombie film, it capitalized on the slave history and compares them directly to zombies. In the film Bela Lugosi’s character, Murder Legendre, charms the character of Madeline Short by using a “voodoo doll” vaguely into her shape. The charm over powers her when he simply puts his hands together as seen on the cover of the film. Doing so adds some action and visible effect to an otherwise unseen power that “voodoo dolls” stereotypically have today. Also, with movies becoming a new thing, a simple action was most likely necessary as viewers could’ve been confused by the intent of the director to simply infer that the “voodoo” effects were taking place. This stereotype creates fears among the Voodou religion which cause people to stray away from it. It is a fear of experiencing a lack of control in a society where that shouldn’t happen.

Analyzing this out of body experience further, we have to take a look at the term “zombie”. The word “zombie” can be traced back to several cultures with their own definitions. In West African culture for example, it was derived from the original term “fetish” (zumbi) which meant “spirit” or “god”. From the Louisiana Creole culture, the term “jumbie” meant ghostly shade. Similarly, with the area being largely French as well, their term they used was “les ombres” meaning shadows (Moreman). What all these terms have in common is that they are not tangible which is interesting because according to Benjamin Radford of livescience.com, he identifies zombies in today’s culture to be “the vital human force leaving the shell of a body, and ultimately a creature human in form but lacking self-awareness, intelligence and a soul.” (Radford). With original terminology stating that “zombies” were the soul, it is interesting to see that the current image of the zombie is the lack of the soul and what makes us “human”.

Therefore, having an out of body experience and experiencing a state in which the person lacks a mind soul is their lack of control. The term zombie is not only a mindless, brain-craving monster nowadays but could be generalized to the public. A plethora of states of being put us in a lack of control when we think we have it. For example, we think we control our lives as it is our decision to go to work but is it really? There are six possible motivation theories in our lives that cause us to act in a certain way. Evolutionary focus focuses on our instincts, drive reduction focuses on our needs creating drives that makes us act in order to fulfil that drive, optimum arousal, cognitive approach which focuses on rationality, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and incentive theory (Benjamin). In the contemporary society that we live in, we can eliminate evolutionary theory, drive reduction, and Maslow’s hierarchy because they focus on the basic needs when referring to work. It is possible that we go to work to experience optimum arousal but speaking from personal experience, nine out of ten times that is not the case. The cognitive approach and incentive theory are the two that I believe make us want to go to work. We understand that we must make rational decisions to allow us to find a career and become monetarily successful. The incentive for going to a job, at it’s least, being financial reward. In this way, I believe that Americans are a new form of zombies that reincarnate the Haitian slave zombies but society has made it seemingly okay for us to have to work tirelessly to form the idea of success in our mind. Today, zombies are the working-class Americans which have no race, no color, and no master but their own minds and society itself.

 Works Cited

Batista, Christine. “Zombies.” ILS 4180 Things That Go Bump in the Night. ILS 4180, 8 Apr. 2019, Denver, CO, Johnson & Wales University.

Benjamin, Zamzow. “Motivation Lecture Notes.” ILS 2325 Economics of Sin. ILS 2325, 13 March. 2019, Denver, CO Johnson & Wales University.

Broadly. Meet the Vodou Priestess Summoning Healing Spirits in Post-Earthquake Haiti, Broadly, 26 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSrTRu53Jc.

Halperin, Victor, director. White Zombie. White Zombie, Amazon Prime Video, 1933, www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B074V22GSM/ref=atv_dl_rdr.

Moreman, Christopher M, and Corry Jasmes Rushton. “Introduction.” Race, Colonialism, and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations and Traditions, Christopher M Moreman and Cory James Rushton, 2011, pp. 1–12.

Radford, Benjamin. “Voodoo: Facts About Misunderstood Religion.” LiveScience, Purch, 30 Oct. 2013, www.livescience.com/40803-voodoo-facts.html.

“Transatlantic Slave Trade.” Slavery and Remembrance, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2019, slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002.