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2012.03.22 13:03 BleakGod Draw For Me
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2008.06.12 21:12 Painting
Welcome to /Painting! Functioning like an artist cooperative gallery, this is the place where beginning to advanced painters display their work in an ongoing group discussion. Artists who post their work are strongly encouraged to interact with their fellow subscribers and be prepared to discuss their concept, process & technique.
2024.05.16 05:45 larki18 [DUMMY MAGAZINE, 2006] "The people who criticise us for being too poppy don't get it. People are afraid to write a song any more, or they can't...The best bands ever have all written great songs. You can still do it and do it intelligently and it can be original."
Cigarettes and rebellion have always gone hand-in-hand, and in an age of cigarette packet-sized health warnings, now more than ever, smoking a fag says: 'I do not give a fuck.' But if Brandon Flowers is hoping to strike a seditious pose by sparking up at the start of the interview, it's not going according to plan. The Killers' frontman is on all fours rooting through the junk that carpets the anteroom at the band's rehearsal space. "Has anyone seen my lighter?" he asks, rocking back on his heels. The question hangs in the air while Brandon cocks his head, waiting for an answer like a meerkat listening for a predator. Twenty-five years old and with a delicate bone structure, there's something almost dainty about him. Receiving no response, he returns to his search. "Oh, Jeez," he sighs. "I had it just a minute ago."
It's a scene that emphatically does not suggest a rebel without a cause. The mess isn't helping. The Killers' HQ - an industrial unit sandwiched between a construction supplier and the offices of a housing development just off Dean Martin Drive in West Las Vegas - is ankle-deep in designer clothing. A Dior Homme suit lies crumpled by the door; there's a pile of shoes topped like a sundae by a pair of Marc Jacobs trainers; and anyone wishing to enter the shoebox room the band use as an office must negotiate a mountain of discarded jeans. Many items are identifiable as coming from the wardrobe of Hot Fuss, The Killers' hugely successful 2004 debut album - triple platinum in the UK with two weeks at Number One and five million sold worldwide. Look! There are the shirts, ties and suit jackets they wore when they thrilled Glastonbury 2005 with indie rock anthems Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me. That was the crowning moment of a two-and-a-half year tour that finally concluded in October of last year. It seems that after playing that final date in Miami, they returned to Vegas and shrugged off their image onto the floor of this bland white box.
Now a fine layer of dust covers the dead clothes. The Killers have no further use for white tuxedos on their second album, Sam's Town. Today, Brandon wears a black polo shirt, black pin-stripe waistcoat, black jeans and black boots. Where there used to be a layer of foundation, there is now a beard - an untrimmed beard at that. Dave Keuning (30, guitar), Mark Stoermer (29, bass) and Ronnie Vannucci (29, drums) all echo Brandon's black ensemble. Ronnie has added Aviator shades and a handlebar moustache for a dash of motorcycle cop, Dave's frizzy bubble of hair gives him a Marc Bolan-ish air, and there's something very teenage about Mark's scuffed Vans.
Short of walking around wearing sandwich boards saying, "Our new record is a bit heavier than the last one," The Killers couldn't hope to communicate that message more effectively. And they have gained some musical girth on Sam's Town. The pop hooks that made Hot Fuss so irresistible survive intact - see the ringing guitar riffs on first single When You Were Young - but there's a newfound punchiness, coupled with an epic sweep. The minor-to-major uplifts on Bones are fabulously dramatic, the coda to Why Do I Keep Counting? thrillingly intense. Comparisons to Bruce Springsteen have been made. If they overstate the case a little, they are at leaset qualitatively accurate. The Killers are back and this time it's serious - they've got the bootlace ties to prove it.
"Hey, it says here that Springsteen's headlining Glastonbury next year," shouts Ronnie, who's flicking through the NME. He nods sagely at the page without looking up.
"Really?" asks Dave, nicknamed Crazy Dave on account of his alledgedly volatile nature.
"The Boss is headlining one night, we're playing second on the bill the next night and Kylie's headlining the Sunday," says Brandon, charging like a bull through Michael Eavis' as-yet-unannounced line-up with what subsequently proves to be a characteristic gaucheness.
But that lighter is proving elusive. This being America, none of the people hurrying to-and-fro prepping the world for the release of Sam's Town smokes. Manager Robert Reynolds - Bobby Rey to the band - barks into his mobile, booking his band onto eye-wateringly demanding tours. "We're going to make a lot of money," he cackles to himself before switching calls to make a series of stern pronouncements on legal matters. Dave, Mark and Ronnie disappear for a jam session. Artwork is approved, B-sides are decided on and schedules are hammered out.
"I can't find it," Brandon says, finally. But he's not going to be denied the opportunity to underline The Killers reinvention with a puff of smoke. "Let's go to the gas station. I'll have to buy one. It's too busy to talk here anyway."
+
Brandon's black (of course) Volkswagen Touraeg four-wheel drive is barrelling down West Flamingo Road into town. "I was a bell boy there," he says, pointing out of the driver's window at the stucco facade of the Gold Coast casino. "I was working there when we were signed."
Coming from Las Vegas, it is perhaps inevitable that casinos play a big part in The Killers' story; not only is Sam's Town named after one, it was recorded in one, too.
The band began writing songs while on the road with Hot Fuss, turning up early for soundchecks to run through new ideas. On a trip home to Vegas, George Maloof, a hotelier known for cultivating famous friends, invited them to record the album in the new studio he'd built at The Palms, his flagship hotel-cum-gambling den. When the tour finished in October 2005, they returned to Vegas and spent five month finessing the songs they'd sketched out on the road. Then, in February, they decampled to the third floor studio at The Palms and recorded Sam's Town over 11 weeks.
Producer Flood (U2, Depeche Mode) encouraged them to experiment. They overdubbed, fiddled with synthesizers and played with new equipment. It took them five weeks to get the backing vocals right. The band sang the harmonies, then double-tracked them four times. The end result recalls Queen wondering, "Is this is the real life? Is this just fantasy?" When Ronnie, a trained classical percussionist, brought some kettledrums down, eyebrows were raised; but the fabulously bombastic coda on Why Do I Keep Counting? vindicates his indulgence.
"That's kind of the Ben Hur of the album," he says. He's not wrong. Sam's Town is a record on an epic scale. "Yeah, it has drama," he continues. "But, at the same time, I think it's a little more exposed than Hot Fuss. It's a little more naked. Last time it was about a lot of fictional things." By "fictional", Ronnie means that Hot Fuss wore its predominantly British influences for all to see. Brandon's taste in music is rabidly Anglophile - he constantly references The Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division - and it showed. By contrast, Sam's Town is an unequivocally American record. The lyrical imagery is pure American dream - cars, girls, wide-open spaces and escaping to a better life. "We're burning down the highway skyline/On the back of a hurricane that started turning/When you were young," sings Brandon on When You Were Young. That's the basis of the Springsteen comparisons then, though the lack of pathos more closely recalls another blue-collar rocker from New Jersey - Jon Bon Jovi.
The phrase "this town" recurs throughout the album, and it's always receding into the distance as The Killers escape to a new life. "This town was made for passing through/I never did get along with everybody else," sings Brandon on This River Is Wild. On Read My Mind he "never really gave up on breaking out of this two-star town", while on the title track he offers something of an explanation: "Nobody ever had a dream round here."
"With the first record, there was this feeling that there was this world out there that we didn't know," says Mark later in the day. Before The Killers, he studied philosophy: now he's their quiet one. "We wanted to get out and away from this and be somewhere else. We hadn't had a lot of experience - hadn't travelled much - then we were gone for three years. We didn't sit down and say that we wanted to make a record about how we're glad to be home, but that's what happened naturally."
It's not an angsty record. The Killers have already escaped with Hot Fuss, and, having done so, they view the experience fondly now they're back. There's a mistiness to Brandon's eyes as he explains how the album got it's name.
"Sam's Town is a casino on the edge of Vegas," he says. "I grew up in Henderson, which is out on the way to the Hoover Dam. My mom and dad lived in a trailer park, and my dad used to hitchhike up and down Boulder Highway, which is the only way you could get to Vegas. Sam's Town was the first thing you saw on your way in to town. So, when you're driving down Boulder Highway from Henderson, I always thought you finally knew you were getting somewhere when you saw Sam's Town. It was kind of like a beacon."
"It's not a completely American album," contines Brandon. "We still have our English influence, but we're also from the Wild West. Somehow we've managed to unify all that on this album. it's just such a perfect resemblence of what we are."
At the petrol station, Brandon rummages through the glove box looking for change to buy a lighter. "This is a great album," he says, pointing at Highway Companion, the latest from iconic American rocker Tom Petty. "I've always been a big fan of his. He's such a great American artist."
Yes, Brandon: we get the point.
+
When Brandon finally lights his cigarette, he smokes it awkwardly, like a child mimicking something he's seen the grown-ups doing. However, when he cheerfully admits that, "I feel the same mentally as I did when I was 12," it's not a knowing nod to the fact that he sometimes behaves like a loveably precocious child, but a reference to an unusually comprehensive grounding in pop music at an early age.
When Brandon sings about "this town", he doesn't mean Las Vegas. He means Nephi, Utah or Henderson, Nevada, where he spent his childhood. His parents are Mormon and he is the youngest of six children. "I was a surprise," he says. "I've got a 42-year-old sister." If he was issues about his "surprise" status, he chooses to gloss over them. "It turned out perfect because my brother was a teenager when I was a kid," he says. "He would bring home things like Rattle And Hum by U2 and I would watch it. I remember he bought Live In Dallas by Morrissey. It was always him watching these things, or his door was shut and you'd hear The Head On The Door by The Cure blasting through the house and rattling the walls."
The Killers were formed when Brandon answered an advert Dave had placed in a local paper in late 2002. Dave cited Oasis as a big influence; Brandon had seen them play recently and responded; and, as Dave has said in previous interviews: "He was the only person to reply to my ad who wasn't a complete freak." However, the band was born in Brandon's brothers bedroom.
"His room was like a shrine," enthuses Brandon. "It was a holy place. I wish I could show you a picture of it. It was covered in posters. There'd be a big picture of Elvis wearing a bow tie that just said 'The Smiths' [the artwork for The Smiths 1987 single Shoplifters Of The World Unite]. You had The Cure wearing face paint [the artwork to The Cure's 1985 single In Between Days] - all that kind of stuff. I remember Morrissey being on the cover of the NME, with the halo [from 1985] - stuff like that. You just wanted to know about these people 'cause they were so cool. My brother seemed like such a cool person. But he was a teenager, so he wasn't going to be that nice to me, a kid."
Brandon was fascinated by his brother's collection of music, magazines and posters, but he was denied access to them - officially, at least. "I would sneak in," he says. "I knew he'd be angry if he found out, but I would go in as soon as he left the house." For a long time Brandon was too scared to actually play anything. "That didn't come 'til later. I just used to go in there because I liked it. Then I got to the point where I'd actually take a tape out and put it in. It took more guts to do that."
It was a life-changing moment. "I was ten and the first song I played was Sing Your Life by Morrissey. I remember dancing about to it."
The lyrics to Sing Your Life include the lines, "Sing your life/Just walk right up to the microphone/And name all the things that you love/All the things that you loathe." It's intriguing to wonder what Morrissey makes of the neophyte he inspired with these lines.
Eventually, Brandon inherited his brother's tape collection. "It was around the same time CDs started coming out in a big way. He started buying CDs and gave me his tapes. And that was it: it took off from there. I got a hundred of the best albums - all the New Order, all the Morrissey, all The Smiths, The Beatles. I started buying posters. I went to see The Cure in concert. It was just kind of a continuation of my brother. And it was nice because, though my parents were strict, they were already used to it from him. There was no, 'My dad doesn't understand me,' or any of that kind of stuff. My mum likes The Smiths."
Brandon was 13 and his favourite band was late-'70s/early-'80s American new wavers The Cars, and particularly their jaw-droppingly catchy 1979 single Just What I Needed.
"I wouldn't exist without that song," he says. "That was the one. I remember driving around with my mum when I was 13, and we're living in Nephi - a really small town - and I felt so cool when I put that song on. Like: 'I have something that none of these kids I'm going to middle school with tomorrow have.' That excitement is what music's about, isn't it? That's why I understand the mentality of people that don't like us because we've sold so many records. I used to like it when no one else knew about a band. So I get that - I do."
+
Brandon's first band was called Blush Response. It was never going to work out. Not because he refused to move to Los Angeles with them, but because he is utterly - comically - shameless. He's given to making outrageously boastful statements like: "It's not like the '60s, '70s and '80s now. There are only a few bands around that are really good, that just do it. I mean, there's what, five or six of us?"
For the record, in Brandon's estimation, those bands are Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, of course, The Killers.
"I don't want people to think I'm lumping myself with other people just to make us sound cool," he says. Really? It sort of sounds like you are. But he just steamrolls through it. "Yeah, but you know what I mean," he says, grinning at his own cheekiness. He's so disgracefully forward you can't help but laugh along with him - Oh you are awful, Brandon! But joking aside, The Killers are the most commercially successful of all the bands he mentions.
Later, back at the rehearsal space, the band run through Sam's Town at deafening volume in preparation for the forthcoming tour - first the US, then the world. The infectious, almost contagious, chorus of When You Were Young sounds fabulous, as do the U2-like guitars and Twin Peaks synths of Read My Mind. Meanwhile, Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me benefit from the newfound harder edge.
They somewhat heavy-handedly underline the new direction by playing Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Get It On by T Rex. That's the thing: The Killers are not a subtle band. Their songs are like a wet kiss from a girl who's a bit too drunk. They are big and brash, and not everyone loves them for it. Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me might go down as well at hip nightclubs as they do on the festival circuit, but the DJs play them with the same guilty look they wear when playing a pop record.
"I hate that," says Brandon. "Like writing a song you can hum somehow cheapens it? It makes me think of this quote by Morrissey. Everybody knows how he read Oscar Wilde, Keats and Yates when he was growing up and that he wanted to be a writer. He was talking to this journalist who asked why he hadn't become a writer, and Morrissey said: 'What I do is more powerful than what you do because I can write down these words and you get it to a melody. How can you beat that?' I'm of the same opinion. I don't understand why a good melody that's memorable is a bad thing."
Being dismissed as pop particular aggrieves Ronnie. "When we first came out we got compared to Duran Duran all the time. Jesus Christ! We got a keyboard player now all of a sudden he's Nick Rhodes! Come on!"
"The people who criticise us for being too poppy don't get it," agrees Mark. "I think that's the problem with a lot of rock music. People are afraid to write a song any more. Either that or they can't. And that attitude hurts music in general. The best bands ever have all written great songs. You can still do it and do it intelligently and it can be original. This isn't a studio creation with a producer writing these songs for us. We're not Avril Lavigne, or something like that. We're a real band writing real songs, just like a punk band would do, except that we write pop songs."
You get the impression that The Killers knack for showboating pop hooks that border on vulgar is inextricably tied up with the brazen side of Brandon's personality. But while his ebullient charisma, not to mention the songs themselves, mitigates his outrageousness, there is a less attractive side to his ego. He has a combative streak. He can't resist taking pot shots at emo bands, notably Fall Out Boy, whith whom The Killers share an A&R man.
Has he heard how many emo kids it takes to change a light bulb? "No." None. They just sit in the dark and cry. It's a full 30 seconds before he stops laughing. When he does he admits: "Yeah, we've had problems with other bands. You know, when you walk in the room it's like..." He whistles the theme to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. "We're like gangs."
And while the other members of the band are diplomatic on the subject of Brandon, you don't have to read too deeply between the lines to conclude that there have been internal issues, too.
"Some people will think Brandon's the big genius," says Dave, visibly bridling. "There are songs, such as Why Do I Keep Counting?, where he's written every note. But there are others, like When You Were Young, that were more of a collaboration - like Mr Brightside, where I had some of the music and Brandon came up with the lyrics. We always have arguments about who wrote what. The truth is that we all help in that process."
When asked how success affected them, Ronnie says: "There were certain things that needed adjusting. When you're on tour for two years, people can get a little needy. It doesn't help that you're surrounded by yes men and everybody's working for you. At times we've had to say, 'Who do you think you are?' to people. No one wears the trousers, but some people would like to. I think if it wasn't for the people in the band kicking each other in the ass... Let's just say there was some ass-kickin'."
It doesn't take a genius to work out whose ass needed kicking most often.
+
It's the following day and The Killers are back at their rehearsal space. The topic of discussion is what to wear in the video for Bones, the second single. It's a big deal: the director is Tim Burton. "I feel like Frank Sinatra when I sing it," announces Brandon. "With maybe a little bit of Morrissey and a little bit of Elvis, too."
Of course he does. But if securing the services of Tim Burton tells you one thing, it's that The Killers are about to get even bigger, perhaps even make the leap to the same level as Coldplay et al. Already stars, they are about to become superstars. Brandon can hardly wait.
"Do you know that Rolling Stone didn't want to put us on the cover last time," he says indignantly. "They didn't think we were stars. We sold five million albums! What more do they want from a band?"
Whatever was required, Brandon would be happy to do most things. "I'll do stuff that some people don't want to do, 'cause I want people to hear the music," he says. However, even he has limits. "The Rolling Stone thing made the record label think: 'What can we do to make them stars?' If I go on vacation with my wife, do they have to send somebody to be there to take pictures of me? Is that how you become a star? I don't want that. I walked down the red carpet one time and I realised I don't like it. But you don't have to walk down the red carpet for people to hear your music. We do still have some of that indie blood running through our veins."
He heads off at a tangent: "When you walk around Liverpool, you think of The Beatles, or you go to Manchester and you think of The Smiths or Oasis. I want you to come to Las Vegas and think of Sam's Town. And I think we've started to capture that, which is a truer version of The Killers, 'cause that's where we're from."
He pauses.
"I used to live across the street from Sam's Town. Maybe it'll be like our Abbey Road where people go to take pictures."
Is that what he'd like?
"I wouldn't mind it," he says, desperately hoping it will come true.
He puts a cigarette between his lips, looks down at his trouser pockets and pats them in search of the lighter he bought yesterday.
"Hey, I don't suppose you've got one?"
submitted by larki18 to TheKillers [link] [comments]
It's a scene that emphatically does not suggest a rebel without a cause. The mess isn't helping. The Killers' HQ - an industrial unit sandwiched between a construction supplier and the offices of a housing development just off Dean Martin Drive in West Las Vegas - is ankle-deep in designer clothing. A Dior Homme suit lies crumpled by the door; there's a pile of shoes topped like a sundae by a pair of Marc Jacobs trainers; and anyone wishing to enter the shoebox room the band use as an office must negotiate a mountain of discarded jeans. Many items are identifiable as coming from the wardrobe of Hot Fuss, The Killers' hugely successful 2004 debut album - triple platinum in the UK with two weeks at Number One and five million sold worldwide. Look! There are the shirts, ties and suit jackets they wore when they thrilled Glastonbury 2005 with indie rock anthems Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me. That was the crowning moment of a two-and-a-half year tour that finally concluded in October of last year. It seems that after playing that final date in Miami, they returned to Vegas and shrugged off their image onto the floor of this bland white box.
Now a fine layer of dust covers the dead clothes. The Killers have no further use for white tuxedos on their second album, Sam's Town. Today, Brandon wears a black polo shirt, black pin-stripe waistcoat, black jeans and black boots. Where there used to be a layer of foundation, there is now a beard - an untrimmed beard at that. Dave Keuning (30, guitar), Mark Stoermer (29, bass) and Ronnie Vannucci (29, drums) all echo Brandon's black ensemble. Ronnie has added Aviator shades and a handlebar moustache for a dash of motorcycle cop, Dave's frizzy bubble of hair gives him a Marc Bolan-ish air, and there's something very teenage about Mark's scuffed Vans.
Short of walking around wearing sandwich boards saying, "Our new record is a bit heavier than the last one," The Killers couldn't hope to communicate that message more effectively. And they have gained some musical girth on Sam's Town. The pop hooks that made Hot Fuss so irresistible survive intact - see the ringing guitar riffs on first single When You Were Young - but there's a newfound punchiness, coupled with an epic sweep. The minor-to-major uplifts on Bones are fabulously dramatic, the coda to Why Do I Keep Counting? thrillingly intense. Comparisons to Bruce Springsteen have been made. If they overstate the case a little, they are at leaset qualitatively accurate. The Killers are back and this time it's serious - they've got the bootlace ties to prove it.
"Hey, it says here that Springsteen's headlining Glastonbury next year," shouts Ronnie, who's flicking through the NME. He nods sagely at the page without looking up.
"Really?" asks Dave, nicknamed Crazy Dave on account of his alledgedly volatile nature.
"The Boss is headlining one night, we're playing second on the bill the next night and Kylie's headlining the Sunday," says Brandon, charging like a bull through Michael Eavis' as-yet-unannounced line-up with what subsequently proves to be a characteristic gaucheness.
But that lighter is proving elusive. This being America, none of the people hurrying to-and-fro prepping the world for the release of Sam's Town smokes. Manager Robert Reynolds - Bobby Rey to the band - barks into his mobile, booking his band onto eye-wateringly demanding tours. "We're going to make a lot of money," he cackles to himself before switching calls to make a series of stern pronouncements on legal matters. Dave, Mark and Ronnie disappear for a jam session. Artwork is approved, B-sides are decided on and schedules are hammered out.
"I can't find it," Brandon says, finally. But he's not going to be denied the opportunity to underline The Killers reinvention with a puff of smoke. "Let's go to the gas station. I'll have to buy one. It's too busy to talk here anyway."
+
Brandon's black (of course) Volkswagen Touraeg four-wheel drive is barrelling down West Flamingo Road into town. "I was a bell boy there," he says, pointing out of the driver's window at the stucco facade of the Gold Coast casino. "I was working there when we were signed."
Coming from Las Vegas, it is perhaps inevitable that casinos play a big part in The Killers' story; not only is Sam's Town named after one, it was recorded in one, too.
The band began writing songs while on the road with Hot Fuss, turning up early for soundchecks to run through new ideas. On a trip home to Vegas, George Maloof, a hotelier known for cultivating famous friends, invited them to record the album in the new studio he'd built at The Palms, his flagship hotel-cum-gambling den. When the tour finished in October 2005, they returned to Vegas and spent five month finessing the songs they'd sketched out on the road. Then, in February, they decampled to the third floor studio at The Palms and recorded Sam's Town over 11 weeks.
Producer Flood (U2, Depeche Mode) encouraged them to experiment. They overdubbed, fiddled with synthesizers and played with new equipment. It took them five weeks to get the backing vocals right. The band sang the harmonies, then double-tracked them four times. The end result recalls Queen wondering, "Is this is the real life? Is this just fantasy?" When Ronnie, a trained classical percussionist, brought some kettledrums down, eyebrows were raised; but the fabulously bombastic coda on Why Do I Keep Counting? vindicates his indulgence.
"That's kind of the Ben Hur of the album," he says. He's not wrong. Sam's Town is a record on an epic scale. "Yeah, it has drama," he continues. "But, at the same time, I think it's a little more exposed than Hot Fuss. It's a little more naked. Last time it was about a lot of fictional things." By "fictional", Ronnie means that Hot Fuss wore its predominantly British influences for all to see. Brandon's taste in music is rabidly Anglophile - he constantly references The Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division - and it showed. By contrast, Sam's Town is an unequivocally American record. The lyrical imagery is pure American dream - cars, girls, wide-open spaces and escaping to a better life. "We're burning down the highway skyline/On the back of a hurricane that started turning/When you were young," sings Brandon on When You Were Young. That's the basis of the Springsteen comparisons then, though the lack of pathos more closely recalls another blue-collar rocker from New Jersey - Jon Bon Jovi.
The phrase "this town" recurs throughout the album, and it's always receding into the distance as The Killers escape to a new life. "This town was made for passing through/I never did get along with everybody else," sings Brandon on This River Is Wild. On Read My Mind he "never really gave up on breaking out of this two-star town", while on the title track he offers something of an explanation: "Nobody ever had a dream round here."
"With the first record, there was this feeling that there was this world out there that we didn't know," says Mark later in the day. Before The Killers, he studied philosophy: now he's their quiet one. "We wanted to get out and away from this and be somewhere else. We hadn't had a lot of experience - hadn't travelled much - then we were gone for three years. We didn't sit down and say that we wanted to make a record about how we're glad to be home, but that's what happened naturally."
It's not an angsty record. The Killers have already escaped with Hot Fuss, and, having done so, they view the experience fondly now they're back. There's a mistiness to Brandon's eyes as he explains how the album got it's name.
"Sam's Town is a casino on the edge of Vegas," he says. "I grew up in Henderson, which is out on the way to the Hoover Dam. My mom and dad lived in a trailer park, and my dad used to hitchhike up and down Boulder Highway, which is the only way you could get to Vegas. Sam's Town was the first thing you saw on your way in to town. So, when you're driving down Boulder Highway from Henderson, I always thought you finally knew you were getting somewhere when you saw Sam's Town. It was kind of like a beacon."
"It's not a completely American album," contines Brandon. "We still have our English influence, but we're also from the Wild West. Somehow we've managed to unify all that on this album. it's just such a perfect resemblence of what we are."
At the petrol station, Brandon rummages through the glove box looking for change to buy a lighter. "This is a great album," he says, pointing at Highway Companion, the latest from iconic American rocker Tom Petty. "I've always been a big fan of his. He's such a great American artist."
Yes, Brandon: we get the point.
+
When Brandon finally lights his cigarette, he smokes it awkwardly, like a child mimicking something he's seen the grown-ups doing. However, when he cheerfully admits that, "I feel the same mentally as I did when I was 12," it's not a knowing nod to the fact that he sometimes behaves like a loveably precocious child, but a reference to an unusually comprehensive grounding in pop music at an early age.
When Brandon sings about "this town", he doesn't mean Las Vegas. He means Nephi, Utah or Henderson, Nevada, where he spent his childhood. His parents are Mormon and he is the youngest of six children. "I was a surprise," he says. "I've got a 42-year-old sister." If he was issues about his "surprise" status, he chooses to gloss over them. "It turned out perfect because my brother was a teenager when I was a kid," he says. "He would bring home things like Rattle And Hum by U2 and I would watch it. I remember he bought Live In Dallas by Morrissey. It was always him watching these things, or his door was shut and you'd hear The Head On The Door by The Cure blasting through the house and rattling the walls."
The Killers were formed when Brandon answered an advert Dave had placed in a local paper in late 2002. Dave cited Oasis as a big influence; Brandon had seen them play recently and responded; and, as Dave has said in previous interviews: "He was the only person to reply to my ad who wasn't a complete freak." However, the band was born in Brandon's brothers bedroom.
"His room was like a shrine," enthuses Brandon. "It was a holy place. I wish I could show you a picture of it. It was covered in posters. There'd be a big picture of Elvis wearing a bow tie that just said 'The Smiths' [the artwork for The Smiths 1987 single Shoplifters Of The World Unite]. You had The Cure wearing face paint [the artwork to The Cure's 1985 single In Between Days] - all that kind of stuff. I remember Morrissey being on the cover of the NME, with the halo [from 1985] - stuff like that. You just wanted to know about these people 'cause they were so cool. My brother seemed like such a cool person. But he was a teenager, so he wasn't going to be that nice to me, a kid."
Brandon was fascinated by his brother's collection of music, magazines and posters, but he was denied access to them - officially, at least. "I would sneak in," he says. "I knew he'd be angry if he found out, but I would go in as soon as he left the house." For a long time Brandon was too scared to actually play anything. "That didn't come 'til later. I just used to go in there because I liked it. Then I got to the point where I'd actually take a tape out and put it in. It took more guts to do that."
It was a life-changing moment. "I was ten and the first song I played was Sing Your Life by Morrissey. I remember dancing about to it."
The lyrics to Sing Your Life include the lines, "Sing your life/Just walk right up to the microphone/And name all the things that you love/All the things that you loathe." It's intriguing to wonder what Morrissey makes of the neophyte he inspired with these lines.
Eventually, Brandon inherited his brother's tape collection. "It was around the same time CDs started coming out in a big way. He started buying CDs and gave me his tapes. And that was it: it took off from there. I got a hundred of the best albums - all the New Order, all the Morrissey, all The Smiths, The Beatles. I started buying posters. I went to see The Cure in concert. It was just kind of a continuation of my brother. And it was nice because, though my parents were strict, they were already used to it from him. There was no, 'My dad doesn't understand me,' or any of that kind of stuff. My mum likes The Smiths."
Brandon was 13 and his favourite band was late-'70s/early-'80s American new wavers The Cars, and particularly their jaw-droppingly catchy 1979 single Just What I Needed.
"I wouldn't exist without that song," he says. "That was the one. I remember driving around with my mum when I was 13, and we're living in Nephi - a really small town - and I felt so cool when I put that song on. Like: 'I have something that none of these kids I'm going to middle school with tomorrow have.' That excitement is what music's about, isn't it? That's why I understand the mentality of people that don't like us because we've sold so many records. I used to like it when no one else knew about a band. So I get that - I do."
+
Brandon's first band was called Blush Response. It was never going to work out. Not because he refused to move to Los Angeles with them, but because he is utterly - comically - shameless. He's given to making outrageously boastful statements like: "It's not like the '60s, '70s and '80s now. There are only a few bands around that are really good, that just do it. I mean, there's what, five or six of us?"
For the record, in Brandon's estimation, those bands are Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, of course, The Killers.
"I don't want people to think I'm lumping myself with other people just to make us sound cool," he says. Really? It sort of sounds like you are. But he just steamrolls through it. "Yeah, but you know what I mean," he says, grinning at his own cheekiness. He's so disgracefully forward you can't help but laugh along with him - Oh you are awful, Brandon! But joking aside, The Killers are the most commercially successful of all the bands he mentions.
Later, back at the rehearsal space, the band run through Sam's Town at deafening volume in preparation for the forthcoming tour - first the US, then the world. The infectious, almost contagious, chorus of When You Were Young sounds fabulous, as do the U2-like guitars and Twin Peaks synths of Read My Mind. Meanwhile, Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me benefit from the newfound harder edge.
They somewhat heavy-handedly underline the new direction by playing Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Get It On by T Rex. That's the thing: The Killers are not a subtle band. Their songs are like a wet kiss from a girl who's a bit too drunk. They are big and brash, and not everyone loves them for it. Mr Brightside and Somebody Told Me might go down as well at hip nightclubs as they do on the festival circuit, but the DJs play them with the same guilty look they wear when playing a pop record.
"I hate that," says Brandon. "Like writing a song you can hum somehow cheapens it? It makes me think of this quote by Morrissey. Everybody knows how he read Oscar Wilde, Keats and Yates when he was growing up and that he wanted to be a writer. He was talking to this journalist who asked why he hadn't become a writer, and Morrissey said: 'What I do is more powerful than what you do because I can write down these words and you get it to a melody. How can you beat that?' I'm of the same opinion. I don't understand why a good melody that's memorable is a bad thing."
Being dismissed as pop particular aggrieves Ronnie. "When we first came out we got compared to Duran Duran all the time. Jesus Christ! We got a keyboard player now all of a sudden he's Nick Rhodes! Come on!"
"The people who criticise us for being too poppy don't get it," agrees Mark. "I think that's the problem with a lot of rock music. People are afraid to write a song any more. Either that or they can't. And that attitude hurts music in general. The best bands ever have all written great songs. You can still do it and do it intelligently and it can be original. This isn't a studio creation with a producer writing these songs for us. We're not Avril Lavigne, or something like that. We're a real band writing real songs, just like a punk band would do, except that we write pop songs."
You get the impression that The Killers knack for showboating pop hooks that border on vulgar is inextricably tied up with the brazen side of Brandon's personality. But while his ebullient charisma, not to mention the songs themselves, mitigates his outrageousness, there is a less attractive side to his ego. He has a combative streak. He can't resist taking pot shots at emo bands, notably Fall Out Boy, whith whom The Killers share an A&R man.
Has he heard how many emo kids it takes to change a light bulb? "No." None. They just sit in the dark and cry. It's a full 30 seconds before he stops laughing. When he does he admits: "Yeah, we've had problems with other bands. You know, when you walk in the room it's like..." He whistles the theme to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. "We're like gangs."
And while the other members of the band are diplomatic on the subject of Brandon, you don't have to read too deeply between the lines to conclude that there have been internal issues, too.
"Some people will think Brandon's the big genius," says Dave, visibly bridling. "There are songs, such as Why Do I Keep Counting?, where he's written every note. But there are others, like When You Were Young, that were more of a collaboration - like Mr Brightside, where I had some of the music and Brandon came up with the lyrics. We always have arguments about who wrote what. The truth is that we all help in that process."
When asked how success affected them, Ronnie says: "There were certain things that needed adjusting. When you're on tour for two years, people can get a little needy. It doesn't help that you're surrounded by yes men and everybody's working for you. At times we've had to say, 'Who do you think you are?' to people. No one wears the trousers, but some people would like to. I think if it wasn't for the people in the band kicking each other in the ass... Let's just say there was some ass-kickin'."
It doesn't take a genius to work out whose ass needed kicking most often.
+
It's the following day and The Killers are back at their rehearsal space. The topic of discussion is what to wear in the video for Bones, the second single. It's a big deal: the director is Tim Burton. "I feel like Frank Sinatra when I sing it," announces Brandon. "With maybe a little bit of Morrissey and a little bit of Elvis, too."
Of course he does. But if securing the services of Tim Burton tells you one thing, it's that The Killers are about to get even bigger, perhaps even make the leap to the same level as Coldplay et al. Already stars, they are about to become superstars. Brandon can hardly wait.
"Do you know that Rolling Stone didn't want to put us on the cover last time," he says indignantly. "They didn't think we were stars. We sold five million albums! What more do they want from a band?"
Whatever was required, Brandon would be happy to do most things. "I'll do stuff that some people don't want to do, 'cause I want people to hear the music," he says. However, even he has limits. "The Rolling Stone thing made the record label think: 'What can we do to make them stars?' If I go on vacation with my wife, do they have to send somebody to be there to take pictures of me? Is that how you become a star? I don't want that. I walked down the red carpet one time and I realised I don't like it. But you don't have to walk down the red carpet for people to hear your music. We do still have some of that indie blood running through our veins."
He heads off at a tangent: "When you walk around Liverpool, you think of The Beatles, or you go to Manchester and you think of The Smiths or Oasis. I want you to come to Las Vegas and think of Sam's Town. And I think we've started to capture that, which is a truer version of The Killers, 'cause that's where we're from."
He pauses.
"I used to live across the street from Sam's Town. Maybe it'll be like our Abbey Road where people go to take pictures."
Is that what he'd like?
"I wouldn't mind it," he says, desperately hoping it will come true.
He puts a cigarette between his lips, looks down at his trouser pockets and pats them in search of the lighter he bought yesterday.
"Hey, I don't suppose you've got one?"
2024.05.10 13:59 notnerdofalltrades afajsdlfa;
After working through the soundcloud dump I realized there was a lot of Aphex Twin music I hadn't heard. Then I realized there was a whole lot of Aphex Twin music I hadn't realized I hadn't heard. So I started working on hunting down basically everything. I noticed most of the guides online weren't super good at telling you what was a unique release so I tried that here. Please, please let me know if you think anything is inaccurate or I'm missing a track or remix.
91 Sept Analogue bubblebath The first aphex twin release originally released through Mighty Force as a white label stamped with Aphex Twin ep. Then it was rereleased the same year by Mighty Force with the artist as The Aphex Twin and a proper title. Mighty Force would rerelease it one more time with the artist as AFX. 4 unique tracks Discogs for the original white label Discogs for The Aphex Twin release Discogs for the Mighty Force AFX rerelease Download
91 Dec analogue bubblebath vol 2 3 tracks, the last was released in the soundcloud dump as alien fanny farts Wikipedia Download
91 Bradley’s Beat Copyright on the label says 91 but Wikipedia insists it was not available for sale at the time and was not available for sale until 95. Who knows. Was later repressed with a totally different B-Side for a total of 3 unique tracks Wikipedia 95 Evidence not on this manifesto Download Listen to all three tracks
92 Universal Indicator Red Universal Indicator is a combo of Richard D. James and Mike Dredd as Martin Tressider and Kosmik Kommando. Blue was also this year and from what I can tell just Mike Dredd. 9 or 12 unique tracks depending on how you are counting Download Tracklist +info Wiki
92 Jan The Philosophy of Sound and Machine - Various artists compilation featuring three tracks from Aphex Twin Blue Calx, which would later appear on SAW II, CAT-002 (Q-Chastic) a unique track that would later appear slowed in the soundcloud dump, and n.IASP as Soit P.P. n.IASP CAT-002 rym check the one review
92 Jan Pac-Man Under Power Pill 5 tracks and four remixes Download
92 Jan Digeridoo 4 tracks 2 were from Analogue Bubblebath 1 and 2 (Digeridoo is track 1 on Vol 2 and Analogue Bubblebath is Track 1 on 1. Some releases contain Isoprophlex Track 2 on Vol 1). Flaphead and Phloam are unique. All would later appear on classics. Buy
92 Jun Xylem Tube 4 unique tracks all would later appear on classics Buy
92 Jul Joyrex J4 EP Basically all the Joyrex tracks are covered in the Caustic Window compilation except popcorn track 2 on this. I see someone claims to have uploaded it as it was also a track that was apparently uploaded and deleted during the soundcloud dump. Anyone know if this is not just a rip of the record? Let me know if you know. 6 maybe 5 unique tracks Comp Download
92 Jul Joyrex J5 EP 4 unique tracks all on the comp except the last track fan name R2DJ Listen Download
92 Sept Peel Session this is a bootleg of Aphex Twin’s appearance on Peel Sessions 9/9/92 commonly called peel sessions 1. Seems to have 3 tracks afx 6 (cunt on polygon window lp) illlumineph (itallic eyeball on Joyrex J4) and Quintute (Quixtote). There exists a 5 track version with blue calx and We have arrived TTQ which will be covered by other releases. Find your own download it’s out there. No unique tracks Download Rym 9/9 3 tracks Discogs of bootleg with both sessions the later being released
92 Analogue Bubblebath Vol 3 Super confusing release. See this discussing differences between 3 LP, CD, and 3.1 on WATMM Download CD Download LP
92 Nov SAW I No bonus material Buy
93 Jan Surfing on Sine Waves Released as Polygon Window Japanese bonus tracks all later released on Quoth. Clissold 101[dat28 otari] 48k is a unique bonus to the purchase Buy
93 Mar Quoth Released as Polygon Window. Contains all Japanese Surfing on Sine Waves bonuses and a unique mix of Quoth apparently not available for purchase. Listen to the Quoth Buy
93 Jul Seefeel / Aphex Twin – Time To Find Me Time To Find Me (AFX Fast Mix) is on 26 mixes for cash. Slow mix is exclusive. Discogs Listen to the slow mix
93 Sept Joyrex J9i 2 unique tracks Download
93 Sept Soft Ballet - Twist and Turn has Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix). Listen Discogs
93 Sept VA - Trance Europe Express contains anologue bubblebath 3 the song Discogs Listen
93 Nov On 4 unique tracks and 4 remixes Buy Buy remixes
93 Dec Joyrex J9ii 3 unique tracks Fantasia is also on J9i Download
93 Bradley’s Robot The first three tracks were released in the soundcloud dump. The last track is unique as far as I can tell. Download
93 Saint Etienne, The Aphex Twin – Who Do You Think You Are / Your Head My Voice remixes one Your Head My Voice (Voix Revirement) would appear on 26 mixes but Who Do You Think You Are (Quex-Rd) would not. Later released with a single Quex-Rd / Skin Up You're Already Dead in 2011. Quex-Rd / skin up discogs OG single discogs Listen to Who Do You Think You Are (Quex-rd)
93 Jesus Jones - Zeroes & Ones The second remix would appear on 26 mixes for cash, but the first is unique. Discogs Listen to Reconstruction 1
94 words & music promo CD couple second nothing tracks and one processed word track mixed with some SAW II tracks. Not really much download has just the exclusive tracks. Download
94 VA Ambient 4 isolation contains Aphex airlines. Unique track from what I can tell Download
94 Mar SAW II th1 even slower included as a bonus track also in SoundCloud dump Buy
94 May VA - Secret Tracks 2 has phlid. Would later show up in the SoundCloud dump. Discogs Listen to phlid
94 Jun GAK 4 unique tracks and 5 bonuses. The first two bonuses are in the soundcloud dump as gak bass and gak police the other three are unique from what I can tell Buy
94 Jul Analogue Bubblebath Vol 4 Originally 4 tracks 5 on the CD Download
95 Jan Aphex Twin - Classics (Comp) This contains digeridoo from analoguebubble bath 2/digeridoo, flaphead from digeridoo, phloam from digeridoo, an extended mix of Isoprophlex called Isopropanol from digeridoo, and analogue bubblebath from vol 1/digeridoo. From Xylem Tube it takes Polynomal-C, Tamphex, Phlange Place, and Dodecahedron. The reason this is worth downloading still imo is it contains metapharstic and both mixes of we have arrived which I already covered. It also contains a live version of digeridoo only released on this. I added the loosies Aphex Airlines, Q-Chasitc, Time to find me slow mix, who do you think you are (Quex-rd), zeroes and ones reconstruction 1, sand lowe, freeman hardy, and richard’s hairpiece to my copy. Wiki Buy
95 Mar Ventolin 6 unique tracks and 6 remixes. 2 unique bonus tracks added to the original Buy original Buy Remixes
95 Universal Indicator - #4 Green The other universal green release by Aphex Twin. Promo tracks are both on the regular release. I’ll mention here the common consensus is that Yellow was done by Mike Dred as Kosmik Kommando along with Innovations in Dynamic Acid and Ultra Violet. Aphex is thanked in the credits for Dynamic Acid for inspiration so maybe he did have a hand in some of those. According to his soundcloud comment he did red, green, and purple which doesn’t exist. May be referring to one of the other two. Screenshot of soundcloud comment on deleted track Download Tracklist + Info
95 Apr I care… bonus tracks not on streaming efil pearls, winding road, with my family, merry maidens, no cares, sedoka all in SoundCloud dump. Consta-lume and consciousness utopia are not to my knowledge. Buy
95 Aug Donkey Rhubarb Originally 4 tracks but a glitched remix of the Phillip glass icct hedral was added as a bonus. Not much to the remix Buy
95 Oct+Dec Hangable Auto Bulb EP This was released as a two part ep 8 weeks apart and then rereleased together as an 8 track release which is what is on streaming. 2017 rerelease adds two bonus tracks. Get a baby in SoundCloud dump as make a baby and ChoirDrilll was uploaded later free to his store. Buy Download Extra
95 Melodies from Mars This is an unreleased Aphex Twin album that was given to friends at Rephlex and Warp Records according to Wikipedia. It leaked 12 unique tracks but two are basically RDJ tracks.Wiki Discogs Download
95 Aphex Twin / Gavin Bryars – Raising The Titanic Raising The Titanic (Big Drum Mix) is on 26 mixes. Regular mix is exclusive. Can’t seem to find it anywhere online if you happen to own a copy of this
96 Jun Expert Knob Twiddlers Collab with u-ziq originally 10 unique tracks but rereleased with bonus 8 tracks. Buy
96 Aug Girl/Boy EP this is EP was included as bonus tracks on the American RDJ but the reissue has three bonus tracks. The first track is Girl/Boy from RDJ so 8 unique tracks. Buy
96 Nov RDJ album download the boy/girl EP as well was included as a bonus Buy
97 Jan Analogue Bubblebath Vol 3.1 Released in 97 with one unique track and some of the bonuses from the CD. Unique track is commonly called shit on the microphone or smelly cunts. Find your own download its out there.
97 Oct Come to Daddy Originally released with 8 tracks 3 bonuses were added. As far as I can tell none are in the soundcloud dump, but one seems to be a rework of 28 organ epic. Buy
97 Oct VA - Mealtime Contains the track Bummy by AFX. Listen Discogs
97 Beck - The New Pollution and other favorites Contains Richard's Hair Piece that would later be included on deluxe editions of Odelay. Discogs Listen
98 Sept VA - We are reasonable people warp comp with a square pusher and add track freeman hardy & willis acid. Buy Listen
99 Mar Windowlicker It’s windowlicker you love it. Japanese CD has 5 unique tracks and store has a 6th with comment scratching by me and not luke! dunno were the fuck that rumour came from.. soz for shit quality, i dont why its so shagged...its from an Aif...but ..its prob as good as its ever gunna get , i gave orig master to cunny and never got it back. Chris will hopefully be sending me some of his lush artwork&storyboards to put here soon. Buy
00 Flex Soundtrack for Chris Cunnigham done at the royal academy of the arts Wiki Tracklist Track 1 of 2 download from what I can tell. They also had a collab released in 03 that I’ll mention here called monkey drummer Watch Monkey Drummer Watch Flex Excerpt
01 Jul 2 Remixes by AFX Flow coma is on 26 mixes but box energy is not. Would turn up again in the SoundCloud dump. Bonus high frequencies noises only on this discogs download
01 Drukqs Promo CD contains 2 unique mixes 54 Cymru Beats (Argonaut Mix), Cock 10 (Delco Freedom Mix) Buy
01 Oct Druqks included Avril 14th reversed music not audio and mangle as bonuses which are in the SoundCloud dump. Also included Avril half speed and drukqs prepared un 1 which are not in the dump. Buy
02 Sept VA - the fire this time Aphex Twin - Say Hello to Allah 'Come to Daddy' (Re-Mixed by Black Lung) Bit of an oddity Listen
03 Mar 26 Mixes for Cash Great compilation with 2 unique tracks Windowlicker (acid edit) and SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix) which are also on 2 mixes not for cash. Just going to run down the original releases on this, some of which I already covered because they also contain unique tracks. Forgive its very long. Seefeel / Aphex Twin - Time To Find Me already covered fast mix on this slow unique, Aphex Twin / Gavin Bryars - Raising The Titanic already covered big drum mix on here regular is unique, The Gentle People - Journey Remixes, Kinesthesia - Remixes for the Empathy Box, Philip Glass From The Music Of David Bowie & Brian Eno – "Heroes" Symphony Japan Release, Buck-Tick - シェイプレス, Jesus Jones - Ones & Zeroes already covered only second mix on here, Nav Katze - Never Mind the Distortion has both ziggy and changes on here, Saint Etienne, The Aphex Twin – Who Do You Think You Are / Your Head My Voice already covered your head my voice on here who do you think you are unique but also on an afx/autechre single, The Beatniks - Another High Exit, Nine Inch Nails - Further Down the Spiral Reissue has both heart of it all and section b, Nobukazu Takemura – Child's View Remix, Die Fantastischen Vier – Liveunddirekt, Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub – Deep In Velvet (Rmx), Curve – Falling Free (Remix) 12”, Mescalinum United – We Have Arrived (Remixes By Aphex Twin & The Mover) Contains We Have Arrived QQT and TTQ remix. QQT is on 26 mixes and both are on classics, Flow Coma is also on 2 remixes by AFX already covered, Baby Ford - Normal EP, Meat Beat Manifesto – Mindstream, DMX Krex - Ffressshh!, Wagon Christ - Redone E.P., The Mike Flower Pops - The Freebase Connection
03 Jun Smojphace EP 1 unique remix of a bug track and 2 noise tracks Download
05 Jun Analogue Bubblebath Vol 5 recorded 95 never meant to release an accidentally released alongside analord 10 according to Discogs. 9 unique tracks an alternate mix of mix of track 2 was released in the soundcloud dump as hapshifter. Discogs Download
05 Aug AFX/LFO two afx tracks / 2 lfo tracks. Discogs Download
05 Oct VA - Wipeout Pure: The Official Soundtrack Contains a longer version of Naks 11 [Mono] called Naks Acid. Listen Discogs
05 Analord 1-11 Released throughout the year in 05. This download will cover all the bonus tracks. From what I can tell Love 7 from analord 11 is in the soundcloud dump and there is an alt mix of midievil rave mix called pre plague in the dump from Analord 3 and a unique mix of fenix funk was in syrobonkers tracks. I see conflicting reports and can’t find a good source that 10 was actually mailed out 04 Dec. 63 unique tracks depending on how you count all mixes and with Love 7 included. Wiki Download
07 Apr Confederation Trough Released as the Tuss on wax with Fredugolon 6, Alspacka, and Akunk and CD with GX1 Solo replacing Akunk for a total of four unique tracks. Download CD Listen to AKunk Record Discogs CD Discogs
07 Jun Rushup Edge Orignally released as the Tuss with 6 unique tracks. 7 unique tracks were added to the download 2 appearing in slightly altered forms on the 2017 Mt. Fuji tape. Buy
08 Locust Toybox - Remixes and other crap has a goon gumpas afx remix of goon gumpas on RDJ. Mental actually Listen Rate Your Music
11 Joyrex Tape Leaked online in 2011. 14 tracks 11 of which were later uploaded to SoundCloud. 3 unique tracks (10, 11, 12) Wiki Download
14 Jun Caustic Window recorded 92-94 planned release 96. You might remember the Kickstarter to get this released. Cunt was previously on Trance Europe Express 3 and in the first Peel session. Phlaps was previously on criminal justice bill comp VA taking liberties with phlaps both as caustic window but since I didn’t mention those 15 unique tracks. Download
14 Sept Syro included end E2 and machroMT30A as bonuses. MachroMT was also released as a single with two more unique tracks. Buy Syro with end E2
14 syro bonkers these were released as part of the syro promo. From what I can tell there are 38 unique tracks not included in the soundcloud dump 29 counting stuff not on Mt. Fuji. Many are short nothings but some like barbican pendulum are 19 minutes and worth hearing. Unique tracks from what I can tell 033e, 14 tank engine, 2 tran 1 env 4 delay c, arp2500-modules 1004, circlont10a, circlont4a, RDJ barclays, threnody to the victims of hiroshima, af barbican pendulum, afx shout out, blucha 200 quad eg fm osc fb network edit master edit, fenix funk [early mixdown of analord 10], freeze ars, jiper, matrix del1 edit, metz pa hat break, quik easel, rhubarb orc, 19.53, rock up, sines 2seq, slinkyexcerpts, snh edit b, spectrum 48kbeats, springs3-afxm synthacon 1, sys700, system 700 comp, the best track, up in the rocks, and barbican1 rehearsal seq1. Download
15 SoundCloud Dump This has a bunch of tracks many released previously or alternate mixes of tracks released previously. I just put it at 2015 but really these tracks were released through 2020. Read the spreadsheet for good info its not entirely accurate for new releases of tracks in bonuses. Spreadsheet Download
15 Apr MARCHROMT30A edit 2b 96 included as a bonus on some editions of Syro but also contains two unique tracks. Buy
15 Aug Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-08 Originally released with 8 tracks rereleased with a different track list and 4 bonuses. midi pipe2c edit+3, rozzboxv2mam+4, pretend analog extmix 2b,e2,ru, and umil 25-0 that were all later part of Manchester 2019. Believe only pretend analog was released in the soundcloup dump. Buy OG Buy umil
15 Jan Computer Controlled… If you didn’t know why this is part two Drukqs is part 1 per a SoundCloud comment. Originally 13 tracks but 3 bonuses. Is diskhat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix] a unique mix of diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13? Slightly quieter? You tell me Listen Buy
16 Jul Cirklon3 Cdr contains a unique mix of cirklon 3 concentration edit. Wiki says it was included in the digital purchase as track 8 but doesn’t seem to be there anymore? Listen Discogs
16 Jul Cheetah 7 unique tracks 1 was on that Cdr but pretty hard to find apparently. Wiki says concentration mix is a bonus on this purchase but I guess they got rid of it? Buy
16 Dec Houston, TX 12.17.16 [Day for Night] two unique tracks. Discogs Buy
17 Jun London 03.06.17 [Field Day] Originally released with 11 tracks at Field Day on vinyl and then rereleased with 10 bonus tracks for an hour runtime. T17 phase out, T13 Quadverbia, and a slightly different mix of T08 dx1+5 as T08+4 would appear in the soundcloud dump. Rest are unique. Really underrated release imo especially if you hadn’t heard the soundcloud tracks. Buy
17 Jul Korg Trax+Tunings for Falling Asleep 14 unique tracks Buy
17 Jul Orphans spiral stair case a side and nightmail are in the soundcloud dump. I believe the b side and atlantis are unique. Buy
17 Jul Aphex Mount Fuji Tape Released at mount fuji rock fest 2017. Reddit post about unique tracks. Find your own download its out there. 20 Unique tracks from soundcloud and syrobonkers. Most are 1 minute nothings Info
18 Sept Collapse 5 tracks and one bonus availed for purchase Buy
19 Sept London 14.09.2019 nightmail, Atlantis, and this Luke Vibert remix is side a are on orphans. Sound lab is unique as far as I can tell. Buy
19 Sept Manchester 20.9.2019 contains tracks that were released as bonuses covered in orphaned deejay. Buy Discogs
19 Nov Peel Session 2 show is from april 95 this is the second peel session official release. 4 tracks. Contains pancake lizard from Donkey Rhubarb and a unique mix of radiator from SAW II. Also contains p-string which was in the soundcloud dump and slo whistle an exclusive track. Discogs Buy
21 Mar /afx\weirdcore\NFT released as an NFT with a visual done by artist weirdcore. Released alongside a dropbox containing the date april 14 no further updates I can find. Let me know if you know Discogs Watch and listen puff piece weirdcore site Info about the dropbox
23 Jun Barcelona 16.06.23 Sold at Sonar festival on vinyl and shipped out later. 2 unique tracks leaked towards the end of June Listen RYM
23 Jul Blackbox life recorder This is releasing as I am writing this. There was also a google drive released that seems to contain a unique mix of the single? 4 or 5 unique tracks. Later updated with four alt mixes and a completely new track. The google drive track was never added for a total of 10 unique tracks. Buy Google Drive
23 Aug Field Day 19.08.23 Released at Field Day 2023 five tracks two appear to be on Korg Tunings, Korg 1b Ru.Ec.E might have a slightly different mix. The first 100 came on screen printed vinyl seen on Discogs. Listen Listen with 45 RPM B Side Discogs
Various singles and compilations included on other releases I thought worth mentioning.
92 Jan Mayday: A New Chapter of House and Techno ‘92 contains Metapharstic that would also appear on classics Discogs
92 Artificial Intelligence - Polygon Window is on Surfing on Sine Waves Discogs
96 51/13 Aphex Singles some very slight edits to a few Ventolin tracks but basically covered by On, Ventolin/Remixes, and Donkey Rhubarb Info in notes on Discogs
01 Sound Aphex - Covered by Drukqs, Windowlicker, and Come to Daddy Discogs
03 VA - Rephlexions! original mangle 11 on SoundCloud and Drukqs bonus Discogs
03 2 mixes on a 12” for cash - 26 mixes for cash Discogs
06 Four tet remix has a four get remix of SAW II track 1 Wiki
06 Chosen Lords - covered by analords 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Nothing unique Discogs
15 Umil 25-01 - covered by orphan deejay bonuses Discogs
15 Diskhat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix] unique mix of diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13 from computer controlled I think. Slightly quieter? available on SoundCloud Listen
15 serge fenix Rendered 2 - orphaned deejay bonuses Discogs
submitted by notnerdofalltrades to TestingDump9999 [link] [comments]
91 Sept Analogue bubblebath The first aphex twin release originally released through Mighty Force as a white label stamped with Aphex Twin ep. Then it was rereleased the same year by Mighty Force with the artist as The Aphex Twin and a proper title. Mighty Force would rerelease it one more time with the artist as AFX. 4 unique tracks Discogs for the original white label Discogs for The Aphex Twin release Discogs for the Mighty Force AFX rerelease Download
91 Dec analogue bubblebath vol 2 3 tracks, the last was released in the soundcloud dump as alien fanny farts Wikipedia Download
91 Bradley’s Beat Copyright on the label says 91 but Wikipedia insists it was not available for sale at the time and was not available for sale until 95. Who knows. Was later repressed with a totally different B-Side for a total of 3 unique tracks Wikipedia 95 Evidence not on this manifesto Download Listen to all three tracks
92 Universal Indicator Red Universal Indicator is a combo of Richard D. James and Mike Dredd as Martin Tressider and Kosmik Kommando. Blue was also this year and from what I can tell just Mike Dredd. 9 or 12 unique tracks depending on how you are counting Download Tracklist +info Wiki
92 Jan The Philosophy of Sound and Machine - Various artists compilation featuring three tracks from Aphex Twin Blue Calx, which would later appear on SAW II, CAT-002 (Q-Chastic) a unique track that would later appear slowed in the soundcloud dump, and n.IASP as Soit P.P. n.IASP CAT-002 rym check the one review
92 Jan Pac-Man Under Power Pill 5 tracks and four remixes Download
92 Jan Digeridoo 4 tracks 2 were from Analogue Bubblebath 1 and 2 (Digeridoo is track 1 on Vol 2 and Analogue Bubblebath is Track 1 on 1. Some releases contain Isoprophlex Track 2 on Vol 1). Flaphead and Phloam are unique. All would later appear on classics. Buy
92 Jun Xylem Tube 4 unique tracks all would later appear on classics Buy
92 Jul Joyrex J4 EP Basically all the Joyrex tracks are covered in the Caustic Window compilation except popcorn track 2 on this. I see someone claims to have uploaded it as it was also a track that was apparently uploaded and deleted during the soundcloud dump. Anyone know if this is not just a rip of the record? Let me know if you know. 6 maybe 5 unique tracks Comp Download
92 Jul Joyrex J5 EP 4 unique tracks all on the comp except the last track fan name R2DJ Listen Download
92 Sept Peel Session this is a bootleg of Aphex Twin’s appearance on Peel Sessions 9/9/92 commonly called peel sessions 1. Seems to have 3 tracks afx 6 (cunt on polygon window lp) illlumineph (itallic eyeball on Joyrex J4) and Quintute (Quixtote). There exists a 5 track version with blue calx and We have arrived TTQ which will be covered by other releases. Find your own download it’s out there. No unique tracks Download Rym 9/9 3 tracks Discogs of bootleg with both sessions the later being released
92 Analogue Bubblebath Vol 3 Super confusing release. See this discussing differences between 3 LP, CD, and 3.1 on WATMM Download CD Download LP
92 Nov SAW I No bonus material Buy
93 Jan Surfing on Sine Waves Released as Polygon Window Japanese bonus tracks all later released on Quoth. Clissold 101[dat28 otari] 48k is a unique bonus to the purchase Buy
93 Mar Quoth Released as Polygon Window. Contains all Japanese Surfing on Sine Waves bonuses and a unique mix of Quoth apparently not available for purchase. Listen to the Quoth Buy
93 Jul Seefeel / Aphex Twin – Time To Find Me Time To Find Me (AFX Fast Mix) is on 26 mixes for cash. Slow mix is exclusive. Discogs Listen to the slow mix
93 Sept Joyrex J9i 2 unique tracks Download
93 Sept Soft Ballet - Twist and Turn has Sand Lowe (The Polygon Window Remix). Listen Discogs
93 Sept VA - Trance Europe Express contains anologue bubblebath 3 the song Discogs Listen
93 Nov On 4 unique tracks and 4 remixes Buy Buy remixes
93 Dec Joyrex J9ii 3 unique tracks Fantasia is also on J9i Download
93 Bradley’s Robot The first three tracks were released in the soundcloud dump. The last track is unique as far as I can tell. Download
93 Saint Etienne, The Aphex Twin – Who Do You Think You Are / Your Head My Voice remixes one Your Head My Voice (Voix Revirement) would appear on 26 mixes but Who Do You Think You Are (Quex-Rd) would not. Later released with a single Quex-Rd / Skin Up You're Already Dead in 2011. Quex-Rd / skin up discogs OG single discogs Listen to Who Do You Think You Are (Quex-rd)
93 Jesus Jones - Zeroes & Ones The second remix would appear on 26 mixes for cash, but the first is unique. Discogs Listen to Reconstruction 1
94 words & music promo CD couple second nothing tracks and one processed word track mixed with some SAW II tracks. Not really much download has just the exclusive tracks. Download
94 VA Ambient 4 isolation contains Aphex airlines. Unique track from what I can tell Download
94 Mar SAW II th1 even slower included as a bonus track also in SoundCloud dump Buy
94 May VA - Secret Tracks 2 has phlid. Would later show up in the SoundCloud dump. Discogs Listen to phlid
94 Jun GAK 4 unique tracks and 5 bonuses. The first two bonuses are in the soundcloud dump as gak bass and gak police the other three are unique from what I can tell Buy
94 Jul Analogue Bubblebath Vol 4 Originally 4 tracks 5 on the CD Download
95 Jan Aphex Twin - Classics (Comp) This contains digeridoo from analoguebubble bath 2/digeridoo, flaphead from digeridoo, phloam from digeridoo, an extended mix of Isoprophlex called Isopropanol from digeridoo, and analogue bubblebath from vol 1/digeridoo. From Xylem Tube it takes Polynomal-C, Tamphex, Phlange Place, and Dodecahedron. The reason this is worth downloading still imo is it contains metapharstic and both mixes of we have arrived which I already covered. It also contains a live version of digeridoo only released on this. I added the loosies Aphex Airlines, Q-Chasitc, Time to find me slow mix, who do you think you are (Quex-rd), zeroes and ones reconstruction 1, sand lowe, freeman hardy, and richard’s hairpiece to my copy. Wiki Buy
95 Mar Ventolin 6 unique tracks and 6 remixes. 2 unique bonus tracks added to the original Buy original Buy Remixes
95 Universal Indicator - #4 Green The other universal green release by Aphex Twin. Promo tracks are both on the regular release. I’ll mention here the common consensus is that Yellow was done by Mike Dred as Kosmik Kommando along with Innovations in Dynamic Acid and Ultra Violet. Aphex is thanked in the credits for Dynamic Acid for inspiration so maybe he did have a hand in some of those. According to his soundcloud comment he did red, green, and purple which doesn’t exist. May be referring to one of the other two. Screenshot of soundcloud comment on deleted track Download Tracklist + Info
95 Apr I care… bonus tracks not on streaming efil pearls, winding road, with my family, merry maidens, no cares, sedoka all in SoundCloud dump. Consta-lume and consciousness utopia are not to my knowledge. Buy
95 Aug Donkey Rhubarb Originally 4 tracks but a glitched remix of the Phillip glass icct hedral was added as a bonus. Not much to the remix Buy
95 Oct+Dec Hangable Auto Bulb EP This was released as a two part ep 8 weeks apart and then rereleased together as an 8 track release which is what is on streaming. 2017 rerelease adds two bonus tracks. Get a baby in SoundCloud dump as make a baby and ChoirDrilll was uploaded later free to his store. Buy Download Extra
95 Melodies from Mars This is an unreleased Aphex Twin album that was given to friends at Rephlex and Warp Records according to Wikipedia. It leaked 12 unique tracks but two are basically RDJ tracks.Wiki Discogs Download
95 Aphex Twin / Gavin Bryars – Raising The Titanic Raising The Titanic (Big Drum Mix) is on 26 mixes. Regular mix is exclusive. Can’t seem to find it anywhere online if you happen to own a copy of this
96 Jun Expert Knob Twiddlers Collab with u-ziq originally 10 unique tracks but rereleased with bonus 8 tracks. Buy
96 Aug Girl/Boy EP this is EP was included as bonus tracks on the American RDJ but the reissue has three bonus tracks. The first track is Girl/Boy from RDJ so 8 unique tracks. Buy
96 Nov RDJ album download the boy/girl EP as well was included as a bonus Buy
97 Jan Analogue Bubblebath Vol 3.1 Released in 97 with one unique track and some of the bonuses from the CD. Unique track is commonly called shit on the microphone or smelly cunts. Find your own download its out there.
97 Oct Come to Daddy Originally released with 8 tracks 3 bonuses were added. As far as I can tell none are in the soundcloud dump, but one seems to be a rework of 28 organ epic. Buy
97 Oct VA - Mealtime Contains the track Bummy by AFX. Listen Discogs
97 Beck - The New Pollution and other favorites Contains Richard's Hair Piece that would later be included on deluxe editions of Odelay. Discogs Listen
98 Sept VA - We are reasonable people warp comp with a square pusher and add track freeman hardy & willis acid. Buy Listen
99 Mar Windowlicker It’s windowlicker you love it. Japanese CD has 5 unique tracks and store has a 6th with comment scratching by me and not luke! dunno were the fuck that rumour came from.. soz for shit quality, i dont why its so shagged...its from an Aif...but ..its prob as good as its ever gunna get , i gave orig master to cunny and never got it back. Chris will hopefully be sending me some of his lush artwork&storyboards to put here soon. Buy
00 Flex Soundtrack for Chris Cunnigham done at the royal academy of the arts Wiki Tracklist Track 1 of 2 download from what I can tell. They also had a collab released in 03 that I’ll mention here called monkey drummer Watch Monkey Drummer Watch Flex Excerpt
01 Jul 2 Remixes by AFX Flow coma is on 26 mixes but box energy is not. Would turn up again in the SoundCloud dump. Bonus high frequencies noises only on this discogs download
01 Drukqs Promo CD contains 2 unique mixes 54 Cymru Beats (Argonaut Mix), Cock 10 (Delco Freedom Mix) Buy
01 Oct Druqks included Avril 14th reversed music not audio and mangle as bonuses which are in the SoundCloud dump. Also included Avril half speed and drukqs prepared un 1 which are not in the dump. Buy
02 Sept VA - the fire this time Aphex Twin - Say Hello to Allah 'Come to Daddy' (Re-Mixed by Black Lung) Bit of an oddity Listen
03 Mar 26 Mixes for Cash Great compilation with 2 unique tracks Windowlicker (acid edit) and SAW2 CD1 TRK2 (Original Mix) which are also on 2 mixes not for cash. Just going to run down the original releases on this, some of which I already covered because they also contain unique tracks. Forgive its very long. Seefeel / Aphex Twin - Time To Find Me already covered fast mix on this slow unique, Aphex Twin / Gavin Bryars - Raising The Titanic already covered big drum mix on here regular is unique, The Gentle People - Journey Remixes, Kinesthesia - Remixes for the Empathy Box, Philip Glass From The Music Of David Bowie & Brian Eno – "Heroes" Symphony Japan Release, Buck-Tick - シェイプレス, Jesus Jones - Ones & Zeroes already covered only second mix on here, Nav Katze - Never Mind the Distortion has both ziggy and changes on here, Saint Etienne, The Aphex Twin – Who Do You Think You Are / Your Head My Voice already covered your head my voice on here who do you think you are unique but also on an afx/autechre single, The Beatniks - Another High Exit, Nine Inch Nails - Further Down the Spiral Reissue has both heart of it all and section b, Nobukazu Takemura – Child's View Remix, Die Fantastischen Vier – Liveunddirekt, Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub – Deep In Velvet (Rmx), Curve – Falling Free (Remix) 12”, Mescalinum United – We Have Arrived (Remixes By Aphex Twin & The Mover) Contains We Have Arrived QQT and TTQ remix. QQT is on 26 mixes and both are on classics, Flow Coma is also on 2 remixes by AFX already covered, Baby Ford - Normal EP, Meat Beat Manifesto – Mindstream, DMX Krex - Ffressshh!, Wagon Christ - Redone E.P., The Mike Flower Pops - The Freebase Connection
03 Jun Smojphace EP 1 unique remix of a bug track and 2 noise tracks Download
05 Jun Analogue Bubblebath Vol 5 recorded 95 never meant to release an accidentally released alongside analord 10 according to Discogs. 9 unique tracks an alternate mix of mix of track 2 was released in the soundcloud dump as hapshifter. Discogs Download
05 Aug AFX/LFO two afx tracks / 2 lfo tracks. Discogs Download
05 Oct VA - Wipeout Pure: The Official Soundtrack Contains a longer version of Naks 11 [Mono] called Naks Acid. Listen Discogs
05 Analord 1-11 Released throughout the year in 05. This download will cover all the bonus tracks. From what I can tell Love 7 from analord 11 is in the soundcloud dump and there is an alt mix of midievil rave mix called pre plague in the dump from Analord 3 and a unique mix of fenix funk was in syrobonkers tracks. I see conflicting reports and can’t find a good source that 10 was actually mailed out 04 Dec. 63 unique tracks depending on how you count all mixes and with Love 7 included. Wiki Download
07 Apr Confederation Trough Released as the Tuss on wax with Fredugolon 6, Alspacka, and Akunk and CD with GX1 Solo replacing Akunk for a total of four unique tracks. Download CD Listen to AKunk Record Discogs CD Discogs
07 Jun Rushup Edge Orignally released as the Tuss with 6 unique tracks. 7 unique tracks were added to the download 2 appearing in slightly altered forms on the 2017 Mt. Fuji tape. Buy
08 Locust Toybox - Remixes and other crap has a goon gumpas afx remix of goon gumpas on RDJ. Mental actually Listen Rate Your Music
11 Joyrex Tape Leaked online in 2011. 14 tracks 11 of which were later uploaded to SoundCloud. 3 unique tracks (10, 11, 12) Wiki Download
14 Jun Caustic Window recorded 92-94 planned release 96. You might remember the Kickstarter to get this released. Cunt was previously on Trance Europe Express 3 and in the first Peel session. Phlaps was previously on criminal justice bill comp VA taking liberties with phlaps both as caustic window but since I didn’t mention those 15 unique tracks. Download
14 Sept Syro included end E2 and machroMT30A as bonuses. MachroMT was also released as a single with two more unique tracks. Buy Syro with end E2
14 syro bonkers these were released as part of the syro promo. From what I can tell there are 38 unique tracks not included in the soundcloud dump 29 counting stuff not on Mt. Fuji. Many are short nothings but some like barbican pendulum are 19 minutes and worth hearing. Unique tracks from what I can tell 033e, 14 tank engine, 2 tran 1 env 4 delay c, arp2500-modules 1004, circlont10a, circlont4a, RDJ barclays, threnody to the victims of hiroshima, af barbican pendulum, afx shout out, blucha 200 quad eg fm osc fb network edit master edit, fenix funk [early mixdown of analord 10], freeze ars, jiper, matrix del1 edit, metz pa hat break, quik easel, rhubarb orc, 19.53, rock up, sines 2seq, slinkyexcerpts, snh edit b, spectrum 48kbeats, springs3-afxm synthacon 1, sys700, system 700 comp, the best track, up in the rocks, and barbican1 rehearsal seq1. Download
15 SoundCloud Dump This has a bunch of tracks many released previously or alternate mixes of tracks released previously. I just put it at 2015 but really these tracks were released through 2020. Read the spreadsheet for good info its not entirely accurate for new releases of tracks in bonuses. Spreadsheet Download
15 Apr MARCHROMT30A edit 2b 96 included as a bonus on some editions of Syro but also contains two unique tracks. Buy
15 Aug Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-08 Originally released with 8 tracks rereleased with a different track list and 4 bonuses. midi pipe2c edit+3, rozzboxv2mam+4, pretend analog extmix 2b,e2,ru, and umil 25-0 that were all later part of Manchester 2019. Believe only pretend analog was released in the soundcloup dump. Buy OG Buy umil
15 Jan Computer Controlled… If you didn’t know why this is part two Drukqs is part 1 per a SoundCloud comment. Originally 13 tracks but 3 bonuses. Is diskhat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix] a unique mix of diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13? Slightly quieter? You tell me Listen Buy
16 Jul Cirklon3 Cdr contains a unique mix of cirklon 3 concentration edit. Wiki says it was included in the digital purchase as track 8 but doesn’t seem to be there anymore? Listen Discogs
16 Jul Cheetah 7 unique tracks 1 was on that Cdr but pretty hard to find apparently. Wiki says concentration mix is a bonus on this purchase but I guess they got rid of it? Buy
16 Dec Houston, TX 12.17.16 [Day for Night] two unique tracks. Discogs Buy
17 Jun London 03.06.17 [Field Day] Originally released with 11 tracks at Field Day on vinyl and then rereleased with 10 bonus tracks for an hour runtime. T17 phase out, T13 Quadverbia, and a slightly different mix of T08 dx1+5 as T08+4 would appear in the soundcloud dump. Rest are unique. Really underrated release imo especially if you hadn’t heard the soundcloud tracks. Buy
17 Jul Korg Trax+Tunings for Falling Asleep 14 unique tracks Buy
17 Jul Orphans spiral stair case a side and nightmail are in the soundcloud dump. I believe the b side and atlantis are unique. Buy
17 Jul Aphex Mount Fuji Tape Released at mount fuji rock fest 2017. Reddit post about unique tracks. Find your own download its out there. 20 Unique tracks from soundcloud and syrobonkers. Most are 1 minute nothings Info
18 Sept Collapse 5 tracks and one bonus availed for purchase Buy
19 Sept London 14.09.2019 nightmail, Atlantis, and this Luke Vibert remix is side a are on orphans. Sound lab is unique as far as I can tell. Buy
19 Sept Manchester 20.9.2019 contains tracks that were released as bonuses covered in orphaned deejay. Buy Discogs
19 Nov Peel Session 2 show is from april 95 this is the second peel session official release. 4 tracks. Contains pancake lizard from Donkey Rhubarb and a unique mix of radiator from SAW II. Also contains p-string which was in the soundcloud dump and slo whistle an exclusive track. Discogs Buy
21 Mar /afx\weirdcore\NFT released as an NFT with a visual done by artist weirdcore. Released alongside a dropbox containing the date april 14 no further updates I can find. Let me know if you know Discogs Watch and listen puff piece weirdcore site Info about the dropbox
23 Jun Barcelona 16.06.23 Sold at Sonar festival on vinyl and shipped out later. 2 unique tracks leaked towards the end of June Listen RYM
23 Jul Blackbox life recorder This is releasing as I am writing this. There was also a google drive released that seems to contain a unique mix of the single? 4 or 5 unique tracks. Later updated with four alt mixes and a completely new track. The google drive track was never added for a total of 10 unique tracks. Buy Google Drive
23 Aug Field Day 19.08.23 Released at Field Day 2023 five tracks two appear to be on Korg Tunings, Korg 1b Ru.Ec.E might have a slightly different mix. The first 100 came on screen printed vinyl seen on Discogs. Listen Listen with 45 RPM B Side Discogs
Various singles and compilations included on other releases I thought worth mentioning.
92 Jan Mayday: A New Chapter of House and Techno ‘92 contains Metapharstic that would also appear on classics Discogs
92 Artificial Intelligence - Polygon Window is on Surfing on Sine Waves Discogs
96 51/13 Aphex Singles some very slight edits to a few Ventolin tracks but basically covered by On, Ventolin/Remixes, and Donkey Rhubarb Info in notes on Discogs
01 Sound Aphex - Covered by Drukqs, Windowlicker, and Come to Daddy Discogs
03 VA - Rephlexions! original mangle 11 on SoundCloud and Drukqs bonus Discogs
03 2 mixes on a 12” for cash - 26 mixes for cash Discogs
06 Four tet remix has a four get remix of SAW II track 1 Wiki
06 Chosen Lords - covered by analords 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Nothing unique Discogs
15 Umil 25-01 - covered by orphan deejay bonuses Discogs
15 Diskhat ALL Prepared1mixed [snr2mix] unique mix of diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13 from computer controlled I think. Slightly quieter? available on SoundCloud Listen
15 serge fenix Rendered 2 - orphaned deejay bonuses Discogs
2024.05.10 07:57 adulting4kids Newsletter #2 January 4, 2024
January 4, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
submitted by adulting4kids to writingthruit [link] [comments]
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Russell Brand:
- "The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope."
- Robert Downey Jr.:
- "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
- Eminem (Marshall Mathers):
- "I knew that my first thought was always negative. But now I have learned to just brush it off."
- Demi Lovato:
- "I had to learn the hard way that I can’t do parties anymore. Some people can go out and not be triggered, but that’s not the case for me."
Cited Readings on Addiction and Recovery:
- "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction" by Gabor Maté:
- This book provides a compassionate and holistic understanding of addiction, exploring its biological, psychological, and societal roots.
- "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff:
- A memoir that chronicles a father's struggle to understand and support his son through addiction and recovery.
- "Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions" by Russell Brand:
- Russell Brand shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, offering insights into the 12-step program and mindfulness practices.
- "The Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous):
- The foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing guidance, stories of recovery, and the principles of the 12-step program.
- "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" by David Sheff:
- David Sheff explores the science of addiction and potential solutions, examining both personal and societal perspective.
- Anthony Hopkins:
- "I believe that we all have a basic need to feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we feel threatened, and when we feel threatened, we tend to react in various ways."
- Nicole Richie:
- "I have to be careful. I have to live in balance. I can’t stay up all night but then need to be on time in the morning. But I’m finding my way."
- Elton John:
- "I am a survivor. I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even for someone like me."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I was the wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic. I never did it when I worked. I never took drugs before 5 p.m. I never, ever took painkillers until 5 p.m."
- "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" by Maia Szalavitz:
- This book challenges traditional views on addiction, exploring the role of learning and choice in the development and treatment of addiction.
- "Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction" by Marni Mann:
- A personal memoir that offers a raw and honest account of addiction, detailing the author's journey from addiction to recovery.
- "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy:
- This investigative work explores the opioid crisis in America, shedding light on the complex factors contributing to addiction.
- "Clean: The Journal" by Chris Niosi:
- This interactive journal provides prompts, exercises, and reflections for individuals in recovery, helping them navigate their journey.
- "Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery" by Bill Clegg:
- Bill Clegg shares his personal experiences of recovery in this memoir, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding one's life.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Matthew Perry:
- "I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I've learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about failure is you get to learn from it."
- Drew Barrymore:
- "Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it."
- Rob Lowe:
- "I'm nearly nine years sober, and there's a great quote I read about three years ago that had a huge impact on me. It's from the great Winston Churchill, who said, 'Success is never final, and failure is never fatal.'"
- Kristen Johnston:
- "I’ve been sober for over 14 years now, and the way I live my life is, I don’t think of it like I stopped drinking; I think of it like I started living."
- "High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life" by Tiffany Jenkins:
- A memoir that provides a gripping account of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's journey to rebuild her life.
- "Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford:
- This book offers a comprehensive guide to various forms of addiction and provides practical strategies for recovery.
- "The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living" by Clare Pooley:
- A personal and humorous account of one woman's journey to sobriety, sharing insights and reflections on life without alcohol.
- "Guts" by Kristen Johnston:
- Kristen Johnston's memoir delves into her experiences with addiction and recovery, providing a candid and humorous perspective.
- "This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life" by Annie Grace:
- Annie Grace explores the psychology of alcohol consumption and provides insights to help individuals change their relationship with alcohol.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Craig Ferguson:
- "I had a simple perception of success as getting things that I thought I needed to be happy. I thought that happiness was success. I don’t think that anymore."
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
- "I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes those things take you to the most amazing places."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I know my limits. I know that if I drink again, I will die. Every morning I wake up, I make that choice."
- Steven Tyler (Aerosmith):
- "It’s not about how much you drink. It’s about why you drink. It’s when life gets good, do you celebrate? Or when life gets tough, do you drink?"
- "In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction" by Kate Holden:
- A memoir that explores the author's experience with addiction and her journey toward recovery.
- "Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden:
- This book addresses the specific challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics and provides guidance on healing and recovery.
- "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray:
- A personal and practical guide to quitting alcohol, sharing the author's journey to sobriety and the positive changes it brought to her life.
- "The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath" by Leslie Jamison:
- Combining memoir and research, this book explores the cultural and personal aspects of addiction and recovery.
- "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir" by Lisa F. Smith:
- Lisa Smith's memoir chronicles her journey from high-functioning addiction to recovery, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of sobriety.
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
2024.05.08 22:07 Likes2game03 5 Best & Worst Things About Bravely Default
In particular order, here are the 5 best & worst things about the 3DS classic in my opinion at least:
Best:
submitted by Likes2game03 to bravelydefault [link] [comments]
Best:
- The gameplay. The then revolutionary Brave/Default system that put the series on the map to begin with. Majorly encourages strategy & critical thinking, especially during boss fights. Along with a random encounter setting for grinding, an easy-to-understand equipment layout, a superb job system, among other things. I can't say enough good things about the gameplay.
- The music. Every musical piece seems like it was meticulously composed. I don't think I can name one track I didn't enjoy. The Bell of Battle, His Name is, every party member's leitmotif, and Serpent Eating the Ground is one of the finest final battle soundtracks ever put to gaming. Seriously some S-tier stuff here.
- The story. While it starts out somewhat predictable at first, the storyline remains pretty engaging from beginning to end. The game slowly eases the player towards an even greater scope narrative in the latter half. It takes a while to get there but the twist in the last chapter is definitely worth it and will put you on edge once it happens. Plus, there is quite a satisfying ending. Not perfect but a compelling narrative all the same.
- The main characters. Possibly the best rendition of the Warriors of Light, the four party members hold the story together perfectly. Agnes is an amazing leading lady, Tiz maybe be bog-standard when compared to everyone else, but adds some down-to-earth moments, Edea gets some great character development, and Ringabel provides good comic relief but can be taken seriously when the situation presents itself. All of them have a great & believable dynamic with each other that really elevates an already engaging story. Accompanied with some solid voice work.
- The graphics. The 3D chibi-like character models mesh perfectly with the amazing portrait-escae artwork for the backgrounds & foregrounds. Blending into graphic style that wasn't fully appreciated that much back until Bravely Default popularized it.
- The grinding. Gonna be real, grinding in this kinda sucks, especially in the early chapters. Seriously, I think it takes until level 11 for the main magic jobs to get the really good spells and that takes commitment. Not even adding to the fact that buying scrolls for spells is a bit on the pricey side. Temple bosses can be a real pain if underequipped. So yeah, grinding for over 20 jobs, money, JP, etc. can be a real hassle.
- The difficulty. Subjective, but there are certain spikes throughout the game that can be really frustrating for some who are not prepared. Dungeons like Miasma Woods, Florem Gardens, or Vampire Castle really highlight why random encounters are so unfavored these days. There are also bosses that can really drive the player into corner, especially the ones that inflict statis ailments. While Bravely Default is a mostly balanced experience for any decent gamer, there moments that can really make the player the devs design choices.
- The SP System. During the rise of microtransactions, this was often cited as being of the features fans usually have a black eye towards. I know it recharges during playtime but the fact the option to buy anything for altering a gameplay experience is criticized even today. Plus, the only way to break the damage cap via a limited gameplay function has always been questionable to me. Let's be real, how many people even the sleep function that much.
- The Village. While not necessarily bad, it's concept is finnicky. A gameplay feature that flourishes by online connection in a single-player RPG. Rebuilding Norende can be fun if you have passed enough people online, but if you happen to be playing now, it is a serious grind. Having to wait a total of 99 hours for a building with a single npc is monotonous.
- The latter half. The most maligned criticism of game, I'll be brief as I can. Doing the same four temples on repeat with close to no differences at all is seriously draining. Even the most adamant fans throw shade at this plotline. A complete slog, even if the payoff is worth it. Overall, the most infamous thing about Bravely Default.
2024.05.08 12:57 holisticlife5500 The Latest in Crypto: Trends, Developments, and Insights
The world of cryptocurrency is in a constant state of flux, with new trends, developments, and insights emerging at a rapid pace. From the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) to the growing mainstream adoption of digital assets, the crypto landscape continues to evolve, presenting both opportunities and challenges for investors, innovators, and regulators alike. Let’s dive into the latest crypto news and explore the trends shaping the future of finance.
Moreover, the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in several jurisdictions has opened up access to cryptocurrencies for a broader range of investors, further legitimizing their role as a legitimate asset class. As institutional interest continues to grow, cryptocurrencies are increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative to traditional investments like stocks, bonds, and commodities.
While some skeptics question the long-term value of NFTs and warn of a potential bubble, others see them as a revolutionary tool for artists, creators, and content creators to monetize their work and engage with fans in new and exciting ways. As the NFT market continues to mature, expect to see further innovation and experimentation in this space, as well as increased scrutiny from regulators seeking to ensure consumer protection and market integrity. Visit here: cryptocurrency news
Recent regulatory developments include proposals for stricter oversight of crypto exchanges, enhanced anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, and efforts to combat illicit activities such as ransomware attacks and fraud. As regulators seek to strike a balance between innovation and investor protection, expect to see continued debate and discussion around the appropriate regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Efforts to address environmental concerns in the crypto industry include initiatives to promote renewable energy usage, optimize mining hardware for energy efficiency, and explore alternative consensus mechanisms that are less energy-intensive. As sustainability becomes an increasingly important consideration for investors and consumers alike, expect to see greater emphasis on environmental stewardship within the crypto community.
Looking Ahead
As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the future of finance is digital. From institutional adoption and NFT mania to regulatory developments and environmental concerns, the latest crypto news reflects the diverse and dynamic nature of the industry. Whether you’re a seasoned investor, a budding entrepreneur, or simply curious about the world of cryptocurrency, staying informed about the latest trends and developments is key to navigating this rapidly changing landscape.
For more information regarding crypto news visit here: https://miamicrypto.com/category/latest-news/
submitted by holisticlife5500 to u/holisticlife5500 [link] [comments]
- Institutional Adoption
Moreover, the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in several jurisdictions has opened up access to cryptocurrencies for a broader range of investors, further legitimizing their role as a legitimate asset class. As institutional interest continues to grow, cryptocurrencies are increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative to traditional investments like stocks, bonds, and commodities.
- NFT Mania
While some skeptics question the long-term value of NFTs and warn of a potential bubble, others see them as a revolutionary tool for artists, creators, and content creators to monetize their work and engage with fans in new and exciting ways. As the NFT market continues to mature, expect to see further innovation and experimentation in this space, as well as increased scrutiny from regulators seeking to ensure consumer protection and market integrity. Visit here: cryptocurrency news
- Regulatory Developments
Recent regulatory developments include proposals for stricter oversight of crypto exchanges, enhanced anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, and efforts to combat illicit activities such as ransomware attacks and fraud. As regulators seek to strike a balance between innovation and investor protection, expect to see continued debate and discussion around the appropriate regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
- Environmental Concerns
Efforts to address environmental concerns in the crypto industry include initiatives to promote renewable energy usage, optimize mining hardware for energy efficiency, and explore alternative consensus mechanisms that are less energy-intensive. As sustainability becomes an increasingly important consideration for investors and consumers alike, expect to see greater emphasis on environmental stewardship within the crypto community.
Looking Ahead
As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the future of finance is digital. From institutional adoption and NFT mania to regulatory developments and environmental concerns, the latest crypto news reflects the diverse and dynamic nature of the industry. Whether you’re a seasoned investor, a budding entrepreneur, or simply curious about the world of cryptocurrency, staying informed about the latest trends and developments is key to navigating this rapidly changing landscape.
For more information regarding crypto news visit here: https://miamicrypto.com/category/latest-news/
2024.05.06 17:53 Kurtisfgrant [OT] What is the difference between a Critique and Constructive Criticism, both giving and receiving?
Hello my name is Kurtis, I have been a professor for a number of years, a creator, a writer and an artist; and today I want to tell you how you can give a good critique and an effective feedback.
But first let’s take a quick look at which one we really want to use. Here on Reddit I have seen a lot of post’s where the author makes a statement of “can you critique my work” usually followed up by the comment of “please be kind”. First the author is not actually asking for a critique, what they are actually asking for is a feedback statement.
So what is a Critique and why is it used? A critique is an in-depth analysis of a piece of work, where the critique generally includes an Introductory statement with an overview, followed by the analysis in the body section with explanations and examples of work, ending in a conclusion with a final assessment.
There are four needs to be a true critique, the first is the analysis. For an analysis you first look at the work, does the work have a clear and understandable meaning? The second need is a Description of the work. In the description you would see if there is a purpose for the whole of the work, or is the work broken into sections that do not make sense. The third need is the interpretation of each section of work. In the interpretation you would take each section of work and ask yourself what is the importance of each section and is it needed to convey the entirety of the message? The final need is the assessment of the overall work. In the assessment you would answer the question of how useful is the entirety of this work.
When creating a critique you would usually use a checklist to help you stay on focus and answer the questions to help you write a good critique of someone’s work. Here is an excellent PDF source from BYU that you can download https://rwc.byu.edu/00000188-e4bc-d222-a7ea-eefd7f720000/peer-review-strategies-and-checklist-pdf .
The overall structure of a critique would be:
The Header
Who are you?
Introduction
This section is usually about a paragraph for short essay type papers or news articles, and will be a little longer for reading books, probable two to three paragraphs, and for technical manuals I have seen them as long as a whole page. This is where you would also answer the questions of topic and what the goal is. You would also include a summary of the key points of the work, followed by a very brief statement of your evaluation of the work.
Body
Here is where your actual critique would go. The critique should be an evaluation of the strengths, the weakness, and features that stand out to you. You would need to base your critique on specific criteria within the writing, do not use outside examples in your critique of the actual work. Your outside examples would be used in the how’s and why’s of what to fix. A good review would include outside sources to support your evaluation of your critique, don’t forget to cite your sources.
Conclusion
This section is usually but not necessarily only a paragraph long, where you state your overall opinion of the work followed by the things you would change with examples of how you would change them and why you feel this would make the piece better.
References
This is where you place your references page.
Here you can find a PDF example of an article critique that can help you on how it would look and read: https://www.uwlax.edu/globalassets/academics/departments/political-science-and-public-administration/assignments/journal_article_critique_example.pdf .
As a professor I have had to give my students an entire class on just writing a critique so they better understand the how and why of the critique. In my opinion you would only give a critique if the author or creator of a piece really wants a critique and not feedback on what they have created. Here on Reddit I have noticed that a lot of people ask “could you critique my work?” when what they really want is just some constructive criticism.
So now let’s look at what constructive criticism actually is and how best to give this criticism.
Constructive Criticism is generally a paragraph or two at most on what you feel the author or artist could have done differently and how they could achieve this and why it would make it better. Let's look at how you would format a Constructive Criticism statement.
1,) First do not give immediate feedback without reading the entirety of the work and having an understanding of what the author of that work is trying to do.
2.) Use I statements, after all you are the one giving this feedback. An example of an I statement would be “I would change the wording of X to XYZ for the this reason XXX”.
3.) Don’t force positivity, you can be nice in how you deliver a negative feedback without trying to force a positive angle on the work, you want to be as honest as possible in order to help this person develop better as a writer or artist.
4.) That does not mean you should not use positive comments where appropriate, just be honest if it is appropriate.
5.) Do not use the “sandwich” method of feedback where you give a positive statement followed by what you would fix with another positive feedback. This does not actually help the person develop as a writer or artist.
6.) Give feedback in a timely manner, don’t wait for three years to go by before you reply “I would do this” you’re not doing anyone any favors.
General rule of thumb for giving feedback that I tell my students is that if you give feedback you must state the negative is a kind manner, then you must give two examples of how you would fix the negative with an explanation of why you would do this and how it would help the author.
Example of a good constructive criticism statement would be: I have read the article you requested constructive criticism of and overall it was not very understandable at first, If I was to rewrite this article I believe that moving the second paragraph and switching this with the third paragraph would help with the overall readability of the article. Another method you could use would be to rewrite the second and third paragraph and combining the two of them like this "" this way your readers could more easily follow your article and come to same conclusions as you.
Now we come to the sensitive side of criticism, the receiving end.
Receiving Criticism
The first rule of receiving criticism is that you do not immediately react. Feedback can engage our fight or flight response and therefore it can seem like someone is challenging you when in fact they’re just trying to be helpful. By not immediately responding you give yourself a chance to relax and take a deep breath and put the feedback into a proper context in relation with your work.
Secondly remember that you asked for this feedback in order for you to improve, if however you’re just looking for an attaboy, then what I want you to do is look in the mirror and say, great job. You are the only one that truly counts when it comes to those attaboy moments. Yes there nice to receive from others but you are your own worst critic when it comes to this and so you are going to be the hardest person to give yourself a "good job".
Listen to the feedback in order to understand that this is just constructive criticism. Listen with an open mind, most arguments start as a result of someone thinking they have been attacked and must retort with a statement made out of anger. When someone is giving you criticism, that person is just trying to help you understand how to better your craft. Does this make it easier to hear, of course not, no one likes a negative message but sometimes it is needed.
Remember that what’s being criticized is not your person, but rather the writing or artwork you created. Do not take the criticism as a personal attack on you.
Now, you should ask questions about the feedback if you don’t understand what the author of the feedback is trying to get across. But don’t challenge the feedback. Though you don’t have to agree with the feedback, you should still ask about the feedback if you don’t understand. It’s okay to brainstorm how you can improve.
Lastly don’t forget to say thank you to the person who is trying to give you feedback, even if you may not agree with them, so long as they are giving you feedback without just trying to be a jerk, you should still thank them for taking the time to read your work and give an opinion of what they think. We all just want to help each other succeed.
In conclusion whether you are giving an in-depth critique or just a simple constructive criticism the basic rule of thumb is “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.” Thank you all for taking the time to read this message I hope it helps someone out there.
If anyone else has any pointers or help for feedback and critiques please let's hear them.
submitted by Kurtisfgrant to writing [link] [comments]
But first let’s take a quick look at which one we really want to use. Here on Reddit I have seen a lot of post’s where the author makes a statement of “can you critique my work” usually followed up by the comment of “please be kind”. First the author is not actually asking for a critique, what they are actually asking for is a feedback statement.
So what is a Critique and why is it used? A critique is an in-depth analysis of a piece of work, where the critique generally includes an Introductory statement with an overview, followed by the analysis in the body section with explanations and examples of work, ending in a conclusion with a final assessment.
There are four needs to be a true critique, the first is the analysis. For an analysis you first look at the work, does the work have a clear and understandable meaning? The second need is a Description of the work. In the description you would see if there is a purpose for the whole of the work, or is the work broken into sections that do not make sense. The third need is the interpretation of each section of work. In the interpretation you would take each section of work and ask yourself what is the importance of each section and is it needed to convey the entirety of the message? The final need is the assessment of the overall work. In the assessment you would answer the question of how useful is the entirety of this work.
When creating a critique you would usually use a checklist to help you stay on focus and answer the questions to help you write a good critique of someone’s work. Here is an excellent PDF source from BYU that you can download https://rwc.byu.edu/00000188-e4bc-d222-a7ea-eefd7f720000/peer-review-strategies-and-checklist-pdf .
The overall structure of a critique would be:
The Header
Who are you?
Introduction
This section is usually about a paragraph for short essay type papers or news articles, and will be a little longer for reading books, probable two to three paragraphs, and for technical manuals I have seen them as long as a whole page. This is where you would also answer the questions of topic and what the goal is. You would also include a summary of the key points of the work, followed by a very brief statement of your evaluation of the work.
Body
Here is where your actual critique would go. The critique should be an evaluation of the strengths, the weakness, and features that stand out to you. You would need to base your critique on specific criteria within the writing, do not use outside examples in your critique of the actual work. Your outside examples would be used in the how’s and why’s of what to fix. A good review would include outside sources to support your evaluation of your critique, don’t forget to cite your sources.
Conclusion
This section is usually but not necessarily only a paragraph long, where you state your overall opinion of the work followed by the things you would change with examples of how you would change them and why you feel this would make the piece better.
References
This is where you place your references page.
Here you can find a PDF example of an article critique that can help you on how it would look and read: https://www.uwlax.edu/globalassets/academics/departments/political-science-and-public-administration/assignments/journal_article_critique_example.pdf .
As a professor I have had to give my students an entire class on just writing a critique so they better understand the how and why of the critique. In my opinion you would only give a critique if the author or creator of a piece really wants a critique and not feedback on what they have created. Here on Reddit I have noticed that a lot of people ask “could you critique my work?” when what they really want is just some constructive criticism.
So now let’s look at what constructive criticism actually is and how best to give this criticism.
Constructive Criticism is generally a paragraph or two at most on what you feel the author or artist could have done differently and how they could achieve this and why it would make it better. Let's look at how you would format a Constructive Criticism statement.
1,) First do not give immediate feedback without reading the entirety of the work and having an understanding of what the author of that work is trying to do.
2.) Use I statements, after all you are the one giving this feedback. An example of an I statement would be “I would change the wording of X to XYZ for the this reason XXX”.
3.) Don’t force positivity, you can be nice in how you deliver a negative feedback without trying to force a positive angle on the work, you want to be as honest as possible in order to help this person develop better as a writer or artist.
4.) That does not mean you should not use positive comments where appropriate, just be honest if it is appropriate.
5.) Do not use the “sandwich” method of feedback where you give a positive statement followed by what you would fix with another positive feedback. This does not actually help the person develop as a writer or artist.
6.) Give feedback in a timely manner, don’t wait for three years to go by before you reply “I would do this” you’re not doing anyone any favors.
General rule of thumb for giving feedback that I tell my students is that if you give feedback you must state the negative is a kind manner, then you must give two examples of how you would fix the negative with an explanation of why you would do this and how it would help the author.
Example of a good constructive criticism statement would be:
Now we come to the sensitive side of criticism, the receiving end.
Receiving Criticism
The first rule of receiving criticism is that you do not immediately react. Feedback can engage our fight or flight response and therefore it can seem like someone is challenging you when in fact they’re just trying to be helpful. By not immediately responding you give yourself a chance to relax and take a deep breath and put the feedback into a proper context in relation with your work.
Secondly remember that you asked for this feedback in order for you to improve, if however you’re just looking for an attaboy, then what I want you to do is look in the mirror and say, great job. You are the only one that truly counts when it comes to those attaboy moments. Yes there nice to receive from others but you are your own worst critic when it comes to this and so you are going to be the hardest person to give yourself a "good job".
Listen to the feedback in order to understand that this is just constructive criticism. Listen with an open mind, most arguments start as a result of someone thinking they have been attacked and must retort with a statement made out of anger. When someone is giving you criticism, that person is just trying to help you understand how to better your craft. Does this make it easier to hear, of course not, no one likes a negative message but sometimes it is needed.
Remember that what’s being criticized is not your person, but rather the writing or artwork you created. Do not take the criticism as a personal attack on you.
Now, you should ask questions about the feedback if you don’t understand what the author of the feedback is trying to get across. But don’t challenge the feedback. Though you don’t have to agree with the feedback, you should still ask about the feedback if you don’t understand. It’s okay to brainstorm how you can improve.
Lastly don’t forget to say thank you to the person who is trying to give you feedback, even if you may not agree with them, so long as they are giving you feedback without just trying to be a jerk, you should still thank them for taking the time to read your work and give an opinion of what they think. We all just want to help each other succeed.
In conclusion whether you are giving an in-depth critique or just a simple constructive criticism the basic rule of thumb is “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.” Thank you all for taking the time to read this message I hope it helps someone out there.
If anyone else has any pointers or help for feedback and critiques please let's hear them.
2024.04.30 03:53 ItsEl_CATO Updated Rules + Public SaiTatsu Discord Server
 | I've had these rules drafted for about 3 months. I finally had the time just to sit down and type this. There will be a TLDR Reddit Comment for those who don't want to read a long post. submitted by ItsEl_CATO to saitatsumaki [link] [comments] And as the title suggests, there is a public discord server for all SaiTatsu shippers! It'll be at the end of this post! (it'll also be in the TLDR comment!) We've always had rules, although this is the first time it'll be on display for everyone. Let's start: Rule 1: Be Respectful. - Please treat people how you'd like to be treated (hopefully with respect.) This subreddit should be a safe space and we'd love for everyone to be cordial. Rule 2: What content is allowed on this subreddit? - This subreddit is mainly and primarily focused on shipping Saitama and Tatsumaki together. While we DO accept 'solo' Saitama/Tatsumaki artworks, please keep in mind that this sub is primarily about them, not separate. (Constant posts of Solo artworks of either of them will be archived after 24 hours.) We also accept general OPM discussion, (like new chapter updates, reviews, etc.) However, those will be archived after 24 hours after posting. Thank you anyhow for your added contributions to this subreddit! Rule 3: Cite Fan-Content Appropriately. - Please include: 1. Source in the Comments (i.e. TwittePixiv/ect. If applicable) 2. Artist Name on the Post Title (Example: "SaiTatsu Fanart (By 'Insert Artist Name Here') OR if artwork is made by you; "SaiTatsu Fanart (OC)") Example Rule 4: Every Post Must Have Its Flair. - Every post on this subreddit must have an appropriate flair. Example 1: SaiTatsu Fanart -> "Fanart" flair Example 2: SaiTatsu Fanart -> "Personal Art" flair (if it's your own art) Example 3: SaiTatsu Discussion -> "Discussion" flair Example Rule 5: Unrelated Content. - Building upon Rule 3: Content that is obviously not SaiTatsu (Saitama x Tatsumaki) will be immediately removed. Depending on the content itself, Moderators reserve the right to perma-ban you if they deem it necessary or practical. Example Rule 6: Targeted Harassment + Toxic Behavior. - This extends into Rule 1: Toxic Behavior is not welcome on our subreddit. A Moderator can exercise the right to perma-ban you if they feel it's necessary to maintain a positive atmosphere. If there is a specific user that is harassing you on uploaded posts, please inform the mods. (There have been cases where some toxic users would go onto old posts and harass the OP's of said art/discussion.) Rule 7: Common Sense. - There are rules that haven't been or aren't mentioned on this subreddit. However, just because it's not mentioned doesn't mean that a moderator can't/won't act accordingly. Simply put, some things are just not allowed (whether that be bizarre interactions, uncomfortable advances, or posting unsavory content, etc.) So please be on your best behavior. Rule 8: Regarding Self-Promotion - While we understand that creating art is time-consuming and potentially recuperating returns (funds) could incentivize more content... We will have to limit Self-Promotion to SaiTatsu Content only. Example: Artwork of Swimsuit Saitama - X cannot promote Artwork of Swimsuit Tatsumaki - X cannot promote Artwork of Swimsuit SaiTatsu - Can Promote! Self-promotion that breaks these rules will simply have the comment (or post) removed. Example Rule 9: Regarding NSFW Content - While we do allow NSFW content to be posted on this sub, we do not fully encourage people to post full nudity or acts of intercourse (however, we generally won't remove them). We highly encourage people to post SFW, friendly, romantic content of Saitama x Tatsumaki. However, NSFW content can also be beautiful in nature. Just don't take it too far. Too many NSFW posts will warrant an archive. Our purpose is to showcase the beauty of SaiTatsu. <3 Finally... Join us on our Public Discord Server! Link : SaiTatsu Discord Server! (Server link updates every Monday) After reading the rules of the server, you must select 1 of these 4 roles. you can also just click on multiple of them or all of them. (any of which you think you connect with). For this example, I clicked on all of them. Because all roles apply to me. Thank you for Reading! Hope all of you have a wonderful day/evening/night! |
2024.04.28 19:19 pillowcase-of-eels [Music] Emilie Autumn's Asylum, pt. 1 – How one alternative musician got tangled in her own fantasy... and a decade-long passive-aggressive feud with her own fanbase [Hobby History - Long]
General Content Warning for this entire write-up, so everyone can have a good time: - Extensive discussion of topics related to mental illness, including self-harm, suicidal ideation, mania / bipolar disorder, distortion of truth, medication, involuntary hospitalization, medical abuse in a hospital setting, and romanticization of mental illness. - Non-detailed mentions of domestic violence (implied abuse by intimate partner and parents) and sexual / gender-based violence (including rape, child sexual assault, grooming, sex trafficking and torture). These last few items feature prominently in one installment, pertaining to a work of fiction; descriptions may be a bit more specific/detailed in that segment, but not graphic. - Mentions and quotes of unchill bigoted behavior, including ableism (mental and physical), white nonsense / white fragility / racism, fatphobia, prejudice against drug users.
Additional CWs may be added at the beginning of specific segments when relevant. While these are heavy topics, the tone of this write-up is generally light-hearted and aims to entertain. If this approach sounds uncomfortable or trivializing, this may not be a good read for you; please trust your gut!
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Picture this: it's the early 2010s, somewhere in the western world. Instagram is a novelty, Harvey Weinstein runs Hollywood, almost no one on Earth leans one way or the other about RNA vaccines, and Donald Trump is that one real estate guy you vaguely remember from Home Alone 2. New player Lady Gaga is the most interesting thing to have happened to pop since Madonna, and the whole industry is attempting to catch up; Miley Cyrus is the chick who used to be on Hannah Montana; Melanie Martinez hasn't hatched yet. The time of Oddball Concept Divas is dawning just below the horizon.
You're a Bowie-loving student who skipped goth night at the club to tag along with your art school friends for a very special evening. You're a giddy sixteen-year old rocking cat ears, purple Wet 'n Wild eyeliner, a polyester petticoat, and a coffin-shaped backpack. You're an effete theater kid who sewed his own waistcoat for the occasion, but won't dare wear it to school the next day. You're a buff, bearded dude in a Venom shirt who's trying not to look too excited, since your girlfriend supposedly had to drag you here. You're a slightly bemused parent leaning against the back wall of the venue, sipping a warm half-pint, wondering if this isn't all a bit dark for a tween. (“It's called 'Victoriandustrial', mom,” you've been told in the car, “and it's not dark, it's art.”)
On stage is a pink-haired woman, with red porcelain-doll lips and a heart painted on her cheek. Among a set of antique consoles, twee tchotchkes, teacups and plastic rats, she pounces and twirls in glittery platform boots, tattered striped stockings, and a tightly laced crystal-studded corset that looks like it's splattered in blood. This is ostensibly a concert, but there is no live band. Where one would expect a drum kit or a bass, three bedazzled burlesque vixens act as back-up singers and dancers, with the occasional vaudeville act – a fire-twirling number, a fan dance, throwing pastries and spitting tea into the audience. Lots of wholesome girl-on-girl kissing, too. The music on the backing track is a genre-bender of clanging beats and beeps, lofty orchestral strings, and the frantic hammering of a MIDI harpsichord, as the pink-haired frontlady sings of heartache and betrayal and drowning. Think if the Brontë sisters had invented industrial rock.
The audience gasps in excitement when the lady whips out a vamped-out wireless electric violin. With rockstar cool and virtuoso poise, she leans into the instrument, touches the bow to the strings, and tears out a single plaintive, impeccably distorted high note. Then her fingers go wild, and for a few seconds, everything is perfect suspended animation. Uncannily perfect, almost. Just behind you, you hear someone whisper: “Wait, is she miming it?”
*
Forgive the theatrical intro, but I had to set the stage for... the drama. And I do mean drama in the thespian sense of the term! This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Shakespeare play: wordy and confusing, but it's neat how the main character's opening lines foreshadow the tragic climax. It's a Greek tragedy for the digital age – if, instead of killing his dad and banging his mom, after becoming king, Oedipus was doomed to becoming uniquely obnoxious. It's The Rocky Horror Show under the grim direction of Samuel Beckett. Like all good theatre, this story is about how fiction bleeds into reality – through the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and how all the world's a stage and all that.
For the past twelve years or so, EA has mostly been focused on adapting her book into a stage musical, releasing two more albums of songs intended for the libretto. At the time of this write-up, it has been six years since the last album and a decade since the last live show. Although she still talks about the musical as an ongoing, Broadway-bound project, in recent years, she's often gone dark for months at a time on social media. There is no forum, no large Discord, no active community to speak of; comments are restricted on her currently-inactive Instagram and blog.
Who is she hiding from, you ask? Why, you've probably guessed it: the hordes of devoted fans whom she infuriates every time she does anything.
And what are they furious about? (Or frustrated, flummoxed, or plain ol' flabbergasted?) Well, it depends who you ask. For some, it's disappointment in her artistic and marketing choices (what are fans for?). Others cite unkept promises or absurd release delays. For others yet, it's the AliBaba merch sold at jaw-dropping markups with three paragraphs of purple prose in the product description.. Or maybe it was the angry rants on Twitter? Okay, it's the casual bigotry that she staunchly denies or dismisses. It's the criticism she can't take. It's the fact that she won't stop lying about her own life! Either way, I don't personally know of any fanbase that has been so consistently exasperated, for so many years, and for such a diverse array of reasons, by their favorite artist.
In truth, each individual mini-scandal isn't all that juicy or scandalous. Nobody died, no one got sued; nothing of significant value, other than time and sanity, was taken away from anyone. What I find interesting here is the years and years of bizarre parasocial codependency (and antagonism) between a fragile woman who became addicted to her own poppycock, and an obsessive fanbase who cared way too much not to take it personally.
Before we even get to EA's relationship with her fans, you're going to need some lore about EA herself. A “Hobby History” of sorts. Strap in! There's romance, tragedy, laughter, character development, variety numbers, numerous costume changes, (actual) celebrity cameos – and based on how long this OpenOffice doc already is at the time of my writing this, we're probably going to need several intermissions too. This write-up is link-heavy, both with receipts and with additional watching and listening material. Not all of them need to be clicked in order to understand the story; I'm merely providing the rabbit holes. I've tried to make things more easily navigable by including a little glossary about the nature of links; one emoji-indicator carries over the next link until I use a different one.
🪞 = picture / visual 🎵 = music 📺 = video 📝 = primary source / receipt 🔍 = press article / write-up / further reading 🎤 = song lyrics / spoken word audio 🐀 = anonymous fan confession 🦠 = reaction / meme
By her account, she started playing the violin at age 4, and was homeschooled at age 9 so that she could focus on her instrument. After stints at various performing arts colleges, some rather prestigious, she dropped out of formal schooling in her mid-to-late teens to embark on a solo violin career.
In 2001, after disappointing experiences with major record companies, she created her own label, Traitor Records, and released a EP of chamber music, with minor success. The stuffy industry of classical music didn't “get” the twenty-something manic-pixie-fiddler, who played Bach just a bit too fast, but with electric stage presence – wearing period corsets, combat boots, and the occasional fairy wings. But EA evidently knew that there was an audience for that somewhere.
And that somewhere – drumroll – was Illinois.
Everything about EA's act was exquisitely DIY, personal, and intricate. For instance, the Enchant booklet folded out into a Masquerade-style puzzle of her own design.🪞 The first person to solve the puzzle would win “the Wings, Ruff, Fan and Scepter of the Faerie Queene herself” – all lovingly handmade by EA, and depicted in peak 2003 graphic design on the booklet. For months, YEARS after Enchant came out, people poured over the cryptic metaphors and literary references, the historical symbolism and visual puns of the artwork, looking for hints and patterns. They read every fan chat, every interview, every relevant Shakespeare play, hoping to decipher the inner workings of EA's mind and find new keys to the puzzle. Sure, it's been two decades now and no one's ever managed to crack the damn thing 🔍, which is by now widely assumed to be flawed and unsolvable; still, it's the kind of zany, brainy, immersive experience that tends to cultivate a niche but hyper-invested fanbase.
So it makes perfect sense that underground aficionada and internet frontierswoman Courtney Love (she haunted public AOL chatrooms as early as 1995! 🔍) would take an interest. Just a few months after releasing Enchant, EA was off to southern France to record violin and vocals for Courtney's new solo album; a few months after that, in early 2004, she joined Courtney's band on a brief tour to promote the record.
Alas, no cigar: America's Sweetheart flopped. Maybe because most of those summer recording sessions were ultimately lost to an engineering oopsie; maybe because Courtney was having an especially rough year – and going through all the “rock-bottom moments” that she would discuss in group therapy, later that fall, when she began her sobriety journey at court-ordered rehab. EA, a former homeschool kid who had never done drugs, seems to remember the tour as a generally terrifying experience; she later stated, with some bitterness, that the experience was not worth the time it had taken away from her own solo career.
But it was a good year for TV appearances! Here she is on the David Letterman Show in March 2004, rocking out on a perfectly inaudible violin as C-Love fades in and out of her own body. 📺 She also landed a cute tutorial segment on HGTV's Crafters: Coast to Coast, making sushi-shaped soap and fairy wings. In December, she accompanied Billy Corgan for a Christmas song on a Chicago station.
All of this was chronicled in quirky, wordy posts on her blog – interspersed with late-night musings about casual misogyny in the media 📝, including against Courtney, handmade crafts and clothing auctions, candid pictures of outings with friends in Chicago... as well as periodic updates on the progress of her next opus: Opheliac.
In a striking case of life imitating art (are you picking up on the theme yet?), this concept was about to become more painfully relevant than ever to EA's personal existence.
CW: implied partner abuse, suicidal ideation.
In January of 2005, EA abruptly went off of her meds, broke up with her live-in boyfriend-slash-bassist, packed up her violin and corsets, and moved into Corgan's mansion. In March of 2005, she posted very melancholy lyrics about drowning in a lake to haunt a deceitful lover. The post was entitled“In The Lake (The Zoloft is calling my name...)” 🎤📝. Later, after the song was released as a B-side, EA disclosed that it had been intended as a public suicide note 📝.
Blog entries from that time touched on a “whirlwind of action and emotion”, “changing residences” and feeling like “you're falling through the air, but you don't know if you'll hit the water or the rocks” 📝. But, EA being an expert vague-poster, her posts remained very elusive about what was going on, who was involved, and how it impacted her. (The specifics were pieced together years later, by fan-led forensic efforts – which, obviously, involved ascertaining the existence of an actual body of water in Billy Corgan's backyard 📝).
Whatever happened over the course of those months was never disclosed explicitly by EA, but is widely assumed to have inspired songs such as “Liar” 🎤, “Misery Loves Company”, “Let the Record Show”, and “I Know Where You Sleep”, , recorded that same spring. A solid quarter of the Opheliac tracklist – which was shaping out to be decidedly darker and grittier than Enchant.
Other than progress on Opheliac, 2005 saw multiple violin collaborations with alternative bands, numerous auctions of, mh, visually strident “punktorian” fashion pieces 📝🪞 (“STRESS COUTURE!” 🦠📺), and an updated re-issue of her 2001 poetry collection, complete with audiobook. ("...The book has been selling like crack in a limo with Courtney Love (and believe me, I know)." - Ooooof, EA. Low-hanging fruit. 📝)
In October, she started recruiting:
If you haven't gathered as much by now, what fans were witnessing in real time on EA's blog, without necessarily seeing it, was the ebb and flow of a months-long manic episode. That's not me armchair-diagnosing: EA herself has discussed penning and recording a lot of her best material in a trance-like rush, “when you're writing on the ceiling because there's not enough paper to contain your thoughts”.
Mania also has the potential to lower your inhibitions, making you more bodacious, more quick-witted – more dazzling, more fun at parties, more dramatic. All traits that are valued in the entertainment industry, especially one that, with the rise of social media, was coming to rely increasingly on parasocial engagement and “personal branding”. Why would you refrain from oversharing, overreacting, overworking, overpromising, overcurating a fantasy image of yourself... when new industry models reward exactly that?
My point is that, in retrospect, “the end was built into the beginning”: all the things that would make fans go “What the hell, Emilie!” in subsequent years were brewing below the surface before the album even dropped.
In the summer of 2006, EA said goodbye to her Chicago friends and returned to California, where she moved in with her new beau, another Illinois-born guitarist with an impressive forehead: Brendon Small, of Dethklok/Metalocalypse quasi-fame. (If you're into that sort of thing: the orchestral strings on “Detharmonic”? Yep, that's EA! 🎵📺)
In September, Opheliac was released into the world. Expectations were high... And many sources agree it was a goddamn banger. It was ultrafemme, ultradark, unhinged, hilarious and deadly and brilliant. It had gnarly kitchen-sink drums layered under angelic string harmonies, fauxperatic swells, and guttural screaming. It had sarcastically self-aware double-entendres that were also literary references that were also musical notation jokes. You get the idea: it was the album that a small, but sizable demographic of tormented millennial teens had been waiting to obsess over. Some time in late 2005 or so, EA had signed with German label Trisol Records, which gave her access to better promotion, press coverage and touring opportunities in Europe when the album came out in the fall. By winter, she was on the cover of alternative mags, and the talk of the town on underground music webzines. Within a year, she was embarking on the first of three almost-back-to-back European tours.
It was around that time that EA started giving her fanbase a more defined, aesthetically on-brand identity. EA, funnily enough, disliked the term “fan” due to its proximity to “fanatic”, and started calling individual supporters “muffins” or the "Bloomer Brigade". (After The Book came out in 2009, they would become “Plague Rats”. You know how pets get weird if you re-name them too many times? I wonder if the same is true of fans.) Meanwhile, EA's fanbase as a collective – as well as her home, her recording studio, her online forum and her inner brainspace... – became canonically known as “The Asylum”. Cue infinite jokes about her fans being “committed.”
And they really were, in a slightly more intense way than your average indie-alternative fanbase. Many fans enthusiastically adopted facets of EA's mannerisms and lingo, which gave the fandom a definite LARP-ing bend; and the official forum did, in fact, offer a subforum for Asylum-themed role-play. (In a number of ways, the Asylum was basically Juggalos for socially anxious theater goths. Substitute the clown facepaint, Faygo, and hatchets for cheek-hearts, Earl Grey tea, and obsolete medical tools.) While there was always some side-eye at the embarrassingly candid, often very young Plague Rats who took the Asylum thing too seriously (always speaking in character and worshipping the ground Mistress Emilie walked on), a lot of people were quite thrilled to play romantic Victorian madhouse with their new favorite artist. Live shows were like costume balls. The forum thrived.
It was like Opheliac had opened a portal to this vibrant and inclusive alternate dimension, which the community was now bringing to life in the real world. And each tour brought more inmates (muffins, Plague Rats, you get it) to the Asylum. “Spread the Plague!” was the name of the game.
So, on paper, in the three years that followed Opheliac, EA kind of won the high-concept-indie-artist equivalent of the lottery. After going through her own personal hell of abuse, major upheavals and serious mental health crises, she had decided to gamble on a radically different tone and musical direction. She came out the other side with critical acclaim for her soul-baring record, tons of live shows with a badass girl squad, photoshoots so iconic they pop up on random Pinterest boards to this day, snazzy corporate sponsorships (including Manic Panic and RockLove Jewelry), and an exponentially growing fanbase who couldn't get enough of whatever she had to give. And she gave quite a lot!
Within those three years, in between tours, EA released A Bit O' This & That 🎵 (a compilation of demos and back-catalogue curiosities), Laced / Unlaced (a full-instrumental double album - one side was the baroque recordings from her late teens, the other was demented, distortion-heavy classical-prog), and three EPs packed with new songs, covers, remixes and bonus content. There was also a deluxe reissue of Enchant, without the puzzle, but with a brand new booklet of handwritten lyrics and marginalia. All came in lovely inter-matching digipaks that really made you want to collect them all – much like the handmade merch 📝🪞 that EA still sold on some legs of her tours. She spent time with the fans at most shows, eventually holding meet-and-greets and private showcases for VIP ticket-holders. She also released “The Opheliac Companion”, a kind of “director's commentary” of the album – roughly 10 hours worth of lyrical deep dives, microphone specs, tangents within tangents within tangents, and whacky (tipsy, sometimes unintelligible) banter between EA and her sound engineer🎤. On top of all that, she wrote, designed and self-published a fully illustrated 200-page coffee-table book, the first print of which sold out within a year. Not bad!
Of course, things that seem to good to be true usually are: at this stage in the story, EA is never as enthusiastically prolific as when her personal life is falling apart behind the scenes.
In the three years that followed Opheliac, along with soaring success, EA got to experience: more rapid-cycling between manic phases and the pits of depression, multiple harrowing medication adjustments, an very-much-unwanted pregnancy followed by a traumatic abortion, a suicide attempt, at least one inpatient stay, and a break-up in the aftermath of it all. There were also a few physical health scares that required hospitalization. On one occasion, she had to go off all her meds cold-turkey when they were confiscated at the EU border right before the start of a tour. In some pictures from her summer 2007 festival appearances, you can make out faint self-harm scars on her thigh through the layered stockings. (Obvious CW, for the morbidly curious.🪞(But if you weren't, would you still be reading?))
So yeah. EA was not doing great.
She didn't share any of these struggles with her fans in real time; her posts were all droll banter and updates on tours and releases. Most of what I just listed was disclosed in late 2009, in the autobiographical part of The Book. (The Book gets at least one instalment of its own. Bear with me, there's a LOT to unpack.) And The Book, while never specifying a timeline, kind of really made it sound like the Bad Stuff (the abortion, the suicide attempt, the hospital stay) had taken place a while back, before the release of Opheliac. In fact, EA plainly stated as much, citing “getting locked up and being put in the asylum" 📝 as the reason for the shift in sound between Enchant and Opheliac.
She repeatedly referred to herself as “stabilized” and “now properly medicated” in interviews. As far as the fanbase was concerned, she had triumphed over her abusers, turned trauma into beauty, and lived to pass on her story of survival. And now she had found balance and community and true acceptance of herself, all that good stuff – and all was fine and dandy within the Asylum. On stage, she sang about blind rage and all-consuming despair and general hopelessness, but she didn't actually feel like that – not anymore, right?
This narrative was both inspirational and quite convenient for the fans. We love our Mad Hatters 🎵📺, our Rainmen, our manic pixies. We love and celebrate “crazy” when it manifests as outside-the-box brilliance and/or bubbly eccentricity. But in my experience, even in spaces that ostensibly focus on "destigmatizing mental illness", positivity and support can quickly turn to rejection and awkwardness when your “quirks” manifest in more challenging ways – like through erratic decisions, aggressive or dishonest behavior, or increasingly untethered beliefs about yourself and the world. No matter how much people claim to “embrace the madness”, it just isn't that fun or in good taste for a large group to play-act ~ whimsical insanity ~ with someone who is for realsies mentally falling apart.
Before time has had time to do its thing, "revisiting your trauma" is just called ruminating. And it's rarely good for you, even when you commit some of greatest art in the process.
I think fans had to assume that there was some critical distance in EA's act, that these extreme negative emotions were all theater – because if they weren't, then the Asylum wasn't an empowering performance about healing from past hurt. It was more like a years-long reality show in which a woman picked at her wounds publicly, again and again, in real time, to the cheers of oblivious strangers who thought they were watching a play.
All I'm saying is that EA was essentially still in the thick of raw trauma when she became a poster-child for overcoming it; that the last thing a person needs, at such a vulnerable stage in their life, is an intense parasocial relationship with sad goth teenagers, let alone one centered around romanticized retellings of their own darkest moments; and that if more people had declined to actively engage in pretend-play that toed the line of self-harm... there is a chance that things might have turned out differently. Maybe EA would still be a successful musician whose career isn't plagued by conflict and mutual disappointment, and maybe some fans wouldn't have wasted years getting red in the face at an over-exposed mentally ill woman for not getting her shit together.
OKAY, THAT GOT HEAVY (and preachy), apologies and thank you for your patience. I will now quit my soapboxing, resume telling the story, and let you draw your own conclusion as our dark plot unravels.
As EA kept hyping up how much her fans meant to her, and what an amazing and inclusive and free-thinking motley crew the Asylum was, she was also growing more and more controlling of her increasingly large (and opinionated, and overall rather young) fanbase – and more generally, of the way people ought to talk to and about her.
It was during the Opheliac era that she started reveling in made-up stories about her own life. Then came the habit of losing her shit on fans that she perceived as ungrateful or disrespectful. It was also then that massive kerfuffles became routine on the merch and planning front, and EA's creative output started to routinely fall short of her promises. The more fans started raising legitimate complaints, the more defensive and uncompromising EA became in her public interactions. The more people expressed weariness of the Asylum theme, or started questioning EA's hot takes on mental health and feminism, the harder she doubled down on the Asylum lore and fictional universe. Which is where the drama really starts.
Alright, the time has come. Let's talk about The Book.
...Actually, let's not. I'm nearing my character limit, and you could probably use a break and a stretch after making it this far. This is our intermission, and we'll get to The Book in our next instalment.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned if you're interested in how it all comes tumbling down.
submitted by pillowcase-of-eels to HobbyDrama [link] [comments]
Additional CWs may be added at the beginning of specific segments when relevant. While these are heavy topics, the tone of this write-up is generally light-hearted and aims to entertain. If this approach sounds uncomfortable or trivializing, this may not be a good read for you; please trust your gut!
*
Picture this: it's the early 2010s, somewhere in the western world. Instagram is a novelty, Harvey Weinstein runs Hollywood, almost no one on Earth leans one way or the other about RNA vaccines, and Donald Trump is that one real estate guy you vaguely remember from Home Alone 2. New player Lady Gaga is the most interesting thing to have happened to pop since Madonna, and the whole industry is attempting to catch up; Miley Cyrus is the chick who used to be on Hannah Montana; Melanie Martinez hasn't hatched yet. The time of Oddball Concept Divas is dawning just below the horizon.
You're a Bowie-loving student who skipped goth night at the club to tag along with your art school friends for a very special evening. You're a giddy sixteen-year old rocking cat ears, purple Wet 'n Wild eyeliner, a polyester petticoat, and a coffin-shaped backpack. You're an effete theater kid who sewed his own waistcoat for the occasion, but won't dare wear it to school the next day. You're a buff, bearded dude in a Venom shirt who's trying not to look too excited, since your girlfriend supposedly had to drag you here. You're a slightly bemused parent leaning against the back wall of the venue, sipping a warm half-pint, wondering if this isn't all a bit dark for a tween. (“It's called 'Victoriandustrial', mom,” you've been told in the car, “and it's not dark, it's art.”)
On stage is a pink-haired woman, with red porcelain-doll lips and a heart painted on her cheek. Among a set of antique consoles, twee tchotchkes, teacups and plastic rats, she pounces and twirls in glittery platform boots, tattered striped stockings, and a tightly laced crystal-studded corset that looks like it's splattered in blood. This is ostensibly a concert, but there is no live band. Where one would expect a drum kit or a bass, three bedazzled burlesque vixens act as back-up singers and dancers, with the occasional vaudeville act – a fire-twirling number, a fan dance, throwing pastries and spitting tea into the audience. Lots of wholesome girl-on-girl kissing, too. The music on the backing track is a genre-bender of clanging beats and beeps, lofty orchestral strings, and the frantic hammering of a MIDI harpsichord, as the pink-haired frontlady sings of heartache and betrayal and drowning. Think if the Brontë sisters had invented industrial rock.
The audience gasps in excitement when the lady whips out a vamped-out wireless electric violin. With rockstar cool and virtuoso poise, she leans into the instrument, touches the bow to the strings, and tears out a single plaintive, impeccably distorted high note. Then her fingers go wild, and for a few seconds, everything is perfect suspended animation. Uncannily perfect, almost. Just behind you, you hear someone whisper: “Wait, is she miming it?”
*
Forgive the theatrical intro, but I had to set the stage for... the drama. And I do mean drama in the thespian sense of the term! This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Shakespeare play: wordy and confusing, but it's neat how the main character's opening lines foreshadow the tragic climax. It's a Greek tragedy for the digital age – if, instead of killing his dad and banging his mom, after becoming king, Oedipus was doomed to becoming uniquely obnoxious. It's The Rocky Horror Show under the grim direction of Samuel Beckett. Like all good theatre, this story is about how fiction bleeds into reality – through the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and how all the world's a stage and all that.
WHO IS EMILIE AUTUMN, AND WHAT'S THE DRAMA?
Here's the Broadway Weekly blurb, so you can decide whether the show is worth your time: Emilie Autumn, also known as EA, is a US-American alternative singer-songwriter, author, and actor. She became known in alt circles in the mid-2010s for her violin skills, unique fashion, outspoken stances on feminism and mental health advocacy, and the way she dramatized and sublimated her own life story in her art. In 2009, she self-published a semi-autobiographical book that became a sort of bible to her creative universe and fandom. She toured extensively and enjoyed niche, but considerable success until the mid-2010s – with hordes of devoted fans adopting her fashion sense and lingo, and crediting her music for getting them through dark times.For the past twelve years or so, EA has mostly been focused on adapting her book into a stage musical, releasing two more albums of songs intended for the libretto. At the time of this write-up, it has been six years since the last album and a decade since the last live show. Although she still talks about the musical as an ongoing, Broadway-bound project, in recent years, she's often gone dark for months at a time on social media. There is no forum, no large Discord, no active community to speak of; comments are restricted on her currently-inactive Instagram and blog.
Who is she hiding from, you ask? Why, you've probably guessed it: the hordes of devoted fans whom she infuriates every time she does anything.
And what are they furious about? (Or frustrated, flummoxed, or plain ol' flabbergasted?) Well, it depends who you ask. For some, it's disappointment in her artistic and marketing choices (what are fans for?). Others cite unkept promises or absurd release delays. For others yet, it's the AliBaba merch sold at jaw-dropping markups with three paragraphs of purple prose in the product description.. Or maybe it was the angry rants on Twitter? Okay, it's the casual bigotry that she staunchly denies or dismisses. It's the criticism she can't take. It's the fact that she won't stop lying about her own life! Either way, I don't personally know of any fanbase that has been so consistently exasperated, for so many years, and for such a diverse array of reasons, by their favorite artist.
In truth, each individual mini-scandal isn't all that juicy or scandalous. Nobody died, no one got sued; nothing of significant value, other than time and sanity, was taken away from anyone. What I find interesting here is the years and years of bizarre parasocial codependency (and antagonism) between a fragile woman who became addicted to her own poppycock, and an obsessive fanbase who cared way too much not to take it personally.
Before we even get to EA's relationship with her fans, you're going to need some lore about EA herself. A “Hobby History” of sorts. Strap in! There's romance, tragedy, laughter, character development, variety numbers, numerous costume changes, (actual) celebrity cameos – and based on how long this OpenOffice doc already is at the time of my writing this, we're probably going to need several intermissions too. This write-up is link-heavy, both with receipts and with additional watching and listening material. Not all of them need to be clicked in order to understand the story; I'm merely providing the rabbit holes. I've tried to make things more easily navigable by including a little glossary about the nature of links; one emoji-indicator carries over the next link until I use a different one.
🪞 = picture / visual 🎵 = music 📺 = video 📝 = primary source / receipt 🔍 = press article / write-up / further reading 🎤 = song lyrics / spoken word audio 🐀 = anonymous fan confession 🦠 = reaction / meme
BAROQUE BEGINNINGS: THE VIOLIN YEARS
VampireFreaks: Do you ever smile to yourself knowing your old music teachers might be seeing your success? EA: I smile to myself knowing they might be dead. (Long-lost interview, late 2000s)Born in Malibu in the late 70s, Emilie Autumn, often known as EA, was originally trained as a classical violinist.
By her account, she started playing the violin at age 4, and was homeschooled at age 9 so that she could focus on her instrument. After stints at various performing arts colleges, some rather prestigious, she dropped out of formal schooling in her mid-to-late teens to embark on a solo violin career.
In 2001, after disappointing experiences with major record companies, she created her own label, Traitor Records, and released a EP of chamber music, with minor success. The stuffy industry of classical music didn't “get” the twenty-something manic-pixie-fiddler, who played Bach just a bit too fast, but with electric stage presence – wearing period corsets, combat boots, and the occasional fairy wings. But EA evidently knew that there was an audience for that somewhere.
And that somewhere – drumroll – was Illinois.
VW: What do you most hope to accomplish? EA: Everything. (‘Virtual World Radio’ Interview, 2002 📝)
ENCHANT ERA: BRUSHES WITH FAME ON FAERIE WINGS
What if I'm an ocean, far too shallow, much too deep? (...) What if I'm a siren singing gentlemen to sleep? (“What If”, 2003 🎵)Soon, EA relocated from her native California to Chicago. There, in between odd jobs, she veered away from baroque and began performing her own “fantasy rock” stylings at piano bars, holiday fairs and local venues – and building a decent following through her LiveJournal, website, and IRL friends. People loved the whole renegade genius thing, loved the violin, loved the nightingale voice, loved the fairy wings and costumes🪞, loved the handmade merch and general disdain for The Business, loved her deadpan humor and bookish nerdiness. In 2003, she released her first LP, Enchant 🎵 – an ethereal, introspective indie-pop joint, born under the sign of Imogen Heap, with a moon in Fiona Apple and Tori Amos rising.
Everything about EA's act was exquisitely DIY, personal, and intricate. For instance, the Enchant booklet folded out into a Masquerade-style puzzle of her own design.🪞 The first person to solve the puzzle would win “the Wings, Ruff, Fan and Scepter of the Faerie Queene herself” – all lovingly handmade by EA, and depicted in peak 2003 graphic design on the booklet. For months, YEARS after Enchant came out, people poured over the cryptic metaphors and literary references, the historical symbolism and visual puns of the artwork, looking for hints and patterns. They read every fan chat, every interview, every relevant Shakespeare play, hoping to decipher the inner workings of EA's mind and find new keys to the puzzle. Sure, it's been two decades now and no one's ever managed to crack the damn thing 🔍, which is by now widely assumed to be flawed and unsolvable; still, it's the kind of zany, brainy, immersive experience that tends to cultivate a niche but hyper-invested fanbase.
So it makes perfect sense that underground aficionada and internet frontierswoman Courtney Love (she haunted public AOL chatrooms as early as 1995! 🔍) would take an interest. Just a few months after releasing Enchant, EA was off to southern France to record violin and vocals for Courtney's new solo album; a few months after that, in early 2004, she joined Courtney's band on a brief tour to promote the record.
Alas, no cigar: America's Sweetheart flopped. Maybe because most of those summer recording sessions were ultimately lost to an engineering oopsie; maybe because Courtney was having an especially rough year – and going through all the “rock-bottom moments” that she would discuss in group therapy, later that fall, when she began her sobriety journey at court-ordered rehab. EA, a former homeschool kid who had never done drugs, seems to remember the tour as a generally terrifying experience; she later stated, with some bitterness, that the experience was not worth the time it had taken away from her own solo career.
But it was a good year for TV appearances! Here she is on the David Letterman Show in March 2004, rocking out on a perfectly inaudible violin as C-Love fades in and out of her own body. 📺 She also landed a cute tutorial segment on HGTV's Crafters: Coast to Coast, making sushi-shaped soap and fairy wings. In December, she accompanied Billy Corgan for a Christmas song on a Chicago station.
All of this was chronicled in quirky, wordy posts on her blog – interspersed with late-night musings about casual misogyny in the media 📝, including against Courtney, handmade crafts and clothing auctions, candid pictures of outings with friends in Chicago... as well as periodic updates on the progress of her next opus: Opheliac.
God, too much to even begin to tell right now, and I’m recording anyway, but I can give you this update: I just finished yesterday recording violin parts and backing vocals for B. Corgan’s first single (...) More later, recording piano for my new track “GOD HELP ME”…why do I torture myself with my own self-inflicted drama…or is it a way of exorcizing…yes, I’ll go with that one for now…☠ (“Whirlwind...”, December 2004)By that point, EA was starting to be more open about her conflicted relationship with what would later be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. The galaxy-brain moments, the trance of creative frenzies, the liminal high of going three days without sleep, the magic... the crippling sensitivity, the restless anxiety, the Zoloft that one both needs and hates, the ever-lurking suicidal thoughts. As EA gradually revealed over the course of 2004, Opheliac would be an exploration of the “mad woman” archetype. The title was a medical neologism for “the syndrome of Ophelia”, as in the tragic character from Hamlet 🔍, driven to insanity and ultimate self-destruction by the fuckboys who rule her life. Here's EA explaining it in her own words. 🎤 The album would dive into how psychiatry and romantic relationships are governed by old misogynistic tropes, and how the “mentally ill” label is used to silence and downplay the justified anger and hurt of abused women.
In a striking case of life imitating art (are you picking up on the theme yet?), this concept was about to become more painfully relevant than ever to EA's personal existence.
CW: implied partner abuse, suicidal ideation.
DISENCHANTMENT: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
In the lake, you will find me Behind your house, behind your house (...) My ocean is bluer than the heart you had to break My sea is deeper than your lake (“In the Lake”, 2005 🎵)Where were we? Ah yes, the Christmas song with Billy Corgan at the end of 2004. Around that time, EA was also recording violin parts and backing vocals for his upcoming solo album. 🎵 They had presumably connected through Courtney, they both lived in Chicago, I guess something clicked.
In January of 2005, EA abruptly went off of her meds, broke up with her live-in boyfriend-slash-bassist, packed up her violin and corsets, and moved into Corgan's mansion. In March of 2005, she posted very melancholy lyrics about drowning in a lake to haunt a deceitful lover. The post was entitled“In The Lake (The Zoloft is calling my name...)” 🎤📝. Later, after the song was released as a B-side, EA disclosed that it had been intended as a public suicide note 📝.
Blog entries from that time touched on a “whirlwind of action and emotion”, “changing residences” and feeling like “you're falling through the air, but you don't know if you'll hit the water or the rocks” 📝. But, EA being an expert vague-poster, her posts remained very elusive about what was going on, who was involved, and how it impacted her. (The specifics were pieced together years later, by fan-led forensic efforts – which, obviously, involved ascertaining the existence of an actual body of water in Billy Corgan's backyard 📝).
Whatever happened over the course of those months was never disclosed explicitly by EA, but is widely assumed to have inspired songs such as “Liar” 🎤, “Misery Loves Company”, “Let the Record Show”, and “I Know Where You Sleep”, , recorded that same spring. A solid quarter of the Opheliac tracklist – which was shaping out to be decidedly darker and grittier than Enchant.
You can lie to the papers, you can hide from the press (...) I know your tainted flesh, I know your filthy soul I know each trick you played, whore you laid, dream you stole I know the bed in the room in the wall in the house Where you got what you wanted and ruined it all I know the secrets that you keep I know where you sleepEven as her personal blog posts grew more somber, nihilistic, and generally fed-up in the face of what she called “the worst breakdown of her young life”, even as the songwriting process had her rummage through traumatic memories [CW: CSA] 🎤, and even as the Corgan-adjacent trauma was compounded by various rushed moves and broken friendships over that summer and fall, EA remained remarkably (some might say frantically) prolific.
Other than progress on Opheliac, 2005 saw multiple violin collaborations with alternative bands, numerous auctions of, mh, visually strident “punktorian” fashion pieces 📝🪞 (“STRESS COUTURE!” 🦠📺), and an updated re-issue of her 2001 poetry collection, complete with audiobook. ("...The book has been selling like crack in a limo with Courtney Love (and believe me, I know)." - Ooooof, EA. Low-hanging fruit. 📝)
In October, she started recruiting:
WANTED: Hot goth bitch to join touring band of other hot goth bitches. (...) Must be able to: sing backing vocals in a wide range with excellent pitch, growl à la Kittie, handle minimal keyboard parts, push buttons/turn knobs with killer attitude, be extremely comfortable on stage in bloomers and a corset, reside in the Chicago area, know the difference between a crumpet and a scone, have at least one hidden talent. 📝By winter, most of her blog post titles were written in THIS FORMAT!!!!!!!! In December, she announced that “Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets” would preview Opheliac live at the Double Door in Chicago, on Friday the 13th (ooh!) of the following month. “We are coming to destroy your world,” the post threatened enticingly. "Miss it and suffer. We really don't want to hurt you.” The flyer advertised a dress code:
Masquerade, Ophelias, green girls, Victorian insane asylum escapees, princes of Denmark, bloomered harlots and rogues – general burlesque ribaldry!Exit diaphanous butterfly wings and elven tiaras 📺, enter the haunted murder-doll with the blood-red heart on her cheek; out with Elizabethan chamber-pop, in with Victoriandustrial. The fairy had to die to make way for the iconic, the sublime, the tragic, the ridiculous, the positively bananas...
OPHELIAC ERA: LET THE RECORD SHOW
EA: What's more interesting, and what's more fun to watch, than a crazy girl's self-destruction? Nothing. Nothing in the world. (The Opheliac Companion, 2008 🎤)CW: mania, self-harm, abortion, suicidal ideation, hospitalization.
If I'm going down Then I'm going down good I'm going down Then I'm going down clean (...) The prettiest broken girl you've ever seen (“Let the Record Show”, 2006 🎵)
If you haven't gathered as much by now, what fans were witnessing in real time on EA's blog, without necessarily seeing it, was the ebb and flow of a months-long manic episode. That's not me armchair-diagnosing: EA herself has discussed penning and recording a lot of her best material in a trance-like rush, “when you're writing on the ceiling because there's not enough paper to contain your thoughts”.
...Once I became stable and healthy, I realized that I had no memory of how a great deal of my music had been created. I had written and even programmed most of my best work in a similar manic state, and, when stark raving sane, I didn’t know how to do it anymore, because the part of me that really composes never needed to know how to do it, it just did. (2019 Instagram post 📝)It's not an uncommon experience for artists with bipolar disorder. Before you burn so hot that you wind up in the back of an ambulance, and/or before the pendulum swings back towards debilitating depression, the boundless energy, heightened sensitivity, and unexpected thought patterns associated with mania can lead to periods of prolific and effortless creation.
Mania also has the potential to lower your inhibitions, making you more bodacious, more quick-witted – more dazzling, more fun at parties, more dramatic. All traits that are valued in the entertainment industry, especially one that, with the rise of social media, was coming to rely increasingly on parasocial engagement and “personal branding”. Why would you refrain from oversharing, overreacting, overworking, overpromising, overcurating a fantasy image of yourself... when new industry models reward exactly that?
My point is that, in retrospect, “the end was built into the beginning”: all the things that would make fans go “What the hell, Emilie!” in subsequent years were brewing below the surface before the album even dropped.
In the summer of 2006, EA said goodbye to her Chicago friends and returned to California, where she moved in with her new beau, another Illinois-born guitarist with an impressive forehead: Brendon Small, of Dethklok/Metalocalypse quasi-fame. (If you're into that sort of thing: the orchestral strings on “Detharmonic”? Yep, that's EA! 🎵📺)
In September, Opheliac was released into the world. Expectations were high... And many sources agree it was a goddamn banger. It was ultrafemme, ultradark, unhinged, hilarious and deadly and brilliant. It had gnarly kitchen-sink drums layered under angelic string harmonies, fauxperatic swells, and guttural screaming. It had sarcastically self-aware double-entendres that were also literary references that were also musical notation jokes. You get the idea: it was the album that a small, but sizable demographic of tormented millennial teens had been waiting to obsess over. Some time in late 2005 or so, EA had signed with German label Trisol Records, which gave her access to better promotion, press coverage and touring opportunities in Europe when the album came out in the fall. By winter, she was on the cover of alternative mags, and the talk of the town on underground music webzines. Within a year, she was embarking on the first of three almost-back-to-back European tours.
It was around that time that EA started giving her fanbase a more defined, aesthetically on-brand identity. EA, funnily enough, disliked the term “fan” due to its proximity to “fanatic”, and started calling individual supporters “muffins” or the "Bloomer Brigade". (After The Book came out in 2009, they would become “Plague Rats”. You know how pets get weird if you re-name them too many times? I wonder if the same is true of fans.) Meanwhile, EA's fanbase as a collective – as well as her home, her recording studio, her online forum and her inner brainspace... – became canonically known as “The Asylum”. Cue infinite jokes about her fans being “committed.”
And they really were, in a slightly more intense way than your average indie-alternative fanbase. Many fans enthusiastically adopted facets of EA's mannerisms and lingo, which gave the fandom a definite LARP-ing bend; and the official forum did, in fact, offer a subforum for Asylum-themed role-play. (In a number of ways, the Asylum was basically Juggalos for socially anxious theater goths. Substitute the clown facepaint, Faygo, and hatchets for cheek-hearts, Earl Grey tea, and obsolete medical tools.) While there was always some side-eye at the embarrassingly candid, often very young Plague Rats who took the Asylum thing too seriously (always speaking in character and worshipping the ground Mistress Emilie walked on), a lot of people were quite thrilled to play romantic Victorian madhouse with their new favorite artist. Live shows were like costume balls. The forum thrived.
It was like Opheliac had opened a portal to this vibrant and inclusive alternate dimension, which the community was now bringing to life in the real world. And each tour brought more inmates (muffins, Plague Rats, you get it) to the Asylum. “Spread the Plague!” was the name of the game.
So, on paper, in the three years that followed Opheliac, EA kind of won the high-concept-indie-artist equivalent of the lottery. After going through her own personal hell of abuse, major upheavals and serious mental health crises, she had decided to gamble on a radically different tone and musical direction. She came out the other side with critical acclaim for her soul-baring record, tons of live shows with a badass girl squad, photoshoots so iconic they pop up on random Pinterest boards to this day, snazzy corporate sponsorships (including Manic Panic and RockLove Jewelry), and an exponentially growing fanbase who couldn't get enough of whatever she had to give. And she gave quite a lot!
Within those three years, in between tours, EA released A Bit O' This & That 🎵 (a compilation of demos and back-catalogue curiosities), Laced / Unlaced (a full-instrumental double album - one side was the baroque recordings from her late teens, the other was demented, distortion-heavy classical-prog), and three EPs packed with new songs, covers, remixes and bonus content. There was also a deluxe reissue of Enchant, without the puzzle, but with a brand new booklet of handwritten lyrics and marginalia. All came in lovely inter-matching digipaks that really made you want to collect them all – much like the handmade merch 📝🪞 that EA still sold on some legs of her tours. She spent time with the fans at most shows, eventually holding meet-and-greets and private showcases for VIP ticket-holders. She also released “The Opheliac Companion”, a kind of “director's commentary” of the album – roughly 10 hours worth of lyrical deep dives, microphone specs, tangents within tangents within tangents, and whacky (tipsy, sometimes unintelligible) banter between EA and her sound engineer🎤. On top of all that, she wrote, designed and self-published a fully illustrated 200-page coffee-table book, the first print of which sold out within a year. Not bad!
Of course, things that seem to good to be true usually are: at this stage in the story, EA is never as enthusiastically prolific as when her personal life is falling apart behind the scenes.
In the three years that followed Opheliac, along with soaring success, EA got to experience: more rapid-cycling between manic phases and the pits of depression, multiple harrowing medication adjustments, an very-much-unwanted pregnancy followed by a traumatic abortion, a suicide attempt, at least one inpatient stay, and a break-up in the aftermath of it all. There were also a few physical health scares that required hospitalization. On one occasion, she had to go off all her meds cold-turkey when they were confiscated at the EU border right before the start of a tour. In some pictures from her summer 2007 festival appearances, you can make out faint self-harm scars on her thigh through the layered stockings. (Obvious CW, for the morbidly curious.🪞(But if you weren't, would you still be reading?))
So yeah. EA was not doing great.
She didn't share any of these struggles with her fans in real time; her posts were all droll banter and updates on tours and releases. Most of what I just listed was disclosed in late 2009, in the autobiographical part of The Book. (The Book gets at least one instalment of its own. Bear with me, there's a LOT to unpack.) And The Book, while never specifying a timeline, kind of really made it sound like the Bad Stuff (the abortion, the suicide attempt, the hospital stay) had taken place a while back, before the release of Opheliac. In fact, EA plainly stated as much, citing “getting locked up and being put in the asylum" 📝 as the reason for the shift in sound between Enchant and Opheliac.
She repeatedly referred to herself as “stabilized” and “now properly medicated” in interviews. As far as the fanbase was concerned, she had triumphed over her abusers, turned trauma into beauty, and lived to pass on her story of survival. And now she had found balance and community and true acceptance of herself, all that good stuff – and all was fine and dandy within the Asylum. On stage, she sang about blind rage and all-consuming despair and general hopelessness, but she didn't actually feel like that – not anymore, right?
This narrative was both inspirational and quite convenient for the fans. We love our Mad Hatters 🎵📺, our Rainmen, our manic pixies. We love and celebrate “crazy” when it manifests as outside-the-box brilliance and/or bubbly eccentricity. But in my experience, even in spaces that ostensibly focus on "destigmatizing mental illness", positivity and support can quickly turn to rejection and awkwardness when your “quirks” manifest in more challenging ways – like through erratic decisions, aggressive or dishonest behavior, or increasingly untethered beliefs about yourself and the world. No matter how much people claim to “embrace the madness”, it just isn't that fun or in good taste for a large group to play-act ~ whimsical insanity ~ with someone who is for realsies mentally falling apart.
Before time has had time to do its thing, "revisiting your trauma" is just called ruminating. And it's rarely good for you, even when you commit some of greatest art in the process.
I think fans had to assume that there was some critical distance in EA's act, that these extreme negative emotions were all theater – because if they weren't, then the Asylum wasn't an empowering performance about healing from past hurt. It was more like a years-long reality show in which a woman picked at her wounds publicly, again and again, in real time, to the cheers of oblivious strangers who thought they were watching a play.
All I'm saying is that EA was essentially still in the thick of raw trauma when she became a poster-child for overcoming it; that the last thing a person needs, at such a vulnerable stage in their life, is an intense parasocial relationship with sad goth teenagers, let alone one centered around romanticized retellings of their own darkest moments; and that if more people had declined to actively engage in pretend-play that toed the line of self-harm... there is a chance that things might have turned out differently. Maybe EA would still be a successful musician whose career isn't plagued by conflict and mutual disappointment, and maybe some fans wouldn't have wasted years getting red in the face at an over-exposed mentally ill woman for not getting her shit together.
OKAY, THAT GOT HEAVY (and preachy), apologies and thank you for your patience. I will now quit my soapboxing, resume telling the story, and let you draw your own conclusion as our dark plot unravels.
EPILOGUE: DEAD IS THE NEW ALIVE
A quick taste of the poison A quick twist of the knife When the obsession with death, the obsession with death Becomes a way of life ("Dead is the New Alive", 2006 🎵)In summation: becoming an overnight success thanks to your darkest trauma will do things to person's mind.
I am still over-glorified My reasons to live Were my reasons to die But at least they were mine (“306”, 2006)
As EA kept hyping up how much her fans meant to her, and what an amazing and inclusive and free-thinking motley crew the Asylum was, she was also growing more and more controlling of her increasingly large (and opinionated, and overall rather young) fanbase – and more generally, of the way people ought to talk to and about her.
It was during the Opheliac era that she started reveling in made-up stories about her own life. Then came the habit of losing her shit on fans that she perceived as ungrateful or disrespectful. It was also then that massive kerfuffles became routine on the merch and planning front, and EA's creative output started to routinely fall short of her promises. The more fans started raising legitimate complaints, the more defensive and uncompromising EA became in her public interactions. The more people expressed weariness of the Asylum theme, or started questioning EA's hot takes on mental health and feminism, the harder she doubled down on the Asylum lore and fictional universe. Which is where the drama really starts.
Alright, the time has come. Let's talk about The Book.
...Actually, let's not. I'm nearing my character limit, and you could probably use a break and a stretch after making it this far. This is our intermission, and we'll get to The Book in our next instalment.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned if you're interested in how it all comes tumbling down.
2024.04.28 18:33 WV-011521 A comprehensive wish list for Benophie’s season
 | submitted by WV-011521 to Benophie [link] [comments] |
2024.04.26 07:57 adulting4kids Newsletter #2 January 4, 2024
January 4, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
submitted by adulting4kids to writingthruit [link] [comments]
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Russell Brand:
- "The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope."
- Robert Downey Jr.:
- "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
- Eminem (Marshall Mathers):
- "I knew that my first thought was always negative. But now I have learned to just brush it off."
- Demi Lovato:
- "I had to learn the hard way that I can’t do parties anymore. Some people can go out and not be triggered, but that’s not the case for me."
Cited Readings on Addiction and Recovery:
- "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction" by Gabor Maté:
- This book provides a compassionate and holistic understanding of addiction, exploring its biological, psychological, and societal roots.
- "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff:
- A memoir that chronicles a father's struggle to understand and support his son through addiction and recovery.
- "Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions" by Russell Brand:
- Russell Brand shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, offering insights into the 12-step program and mindfulness practices.
- "The Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous):
- The foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing guidance, stories of recovery, and the principles of the 12-step program.
- "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" by David Sheff:
- David Sheff explores the science of addiction and potential solutions, examining both personal and societal perspective.
- Anthony Hopkins:
- "I believe that we all have a basic need to feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we feel threatened, and when we feel threatened, we tend to react in various ways."
- Nicole Richie:
- "I have to be careful. I have to live in balance. I can’t stay up all night but then need to be on time in the morning. But I’m finding my way."
- Elton John:
- "I am a survivor. I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even for someone like me."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I was the wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic. I never did it when I worked. I never took drugs before 5 p.m. I never, ever took painkillers until 5 p.m."
- "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" by Maia Szalavitz:
- This book challenges traditional views on addiction, exploring the role of learning and choice in the development and treatment of addiction.
- "Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction" by Marni Mann:
- A personal memoir that offers a raw and honest account of addiction, detailing the author's journey from addiction to recovery.
- "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy:
- This investigative work explores the opioid crisis in America, shedding light on the complex factors contributing to addiction.
- "Clean: The Journal" by Chris Niosi:
- This interactive journal provides prompts, exercises, and reflections for individuals in recovery, helping them navigate their journey.
- "Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery" by Bill Clegg:
- Bill Clegg shares his personal experiences of recovery in this memoir, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding one's life.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Matthew Perry:
- "I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I've learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about failure is you get to learn from it."
- Drew Barrymore:
- "Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it."
- Rob Lowe:
- "I'm nearly nine years sober, and there's a great quote I read about three years ago that had a huge impact on me. It's from the great Winston Churchill, who said, 'Success is never final, and failure is never fatal.'"
- Kristen Johnston:
- "I’ve been sober for over 14 years now, and the way I live my life is, I don’t think of it like I stopped drinking; I think of it like I started living."
- "High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life" by Tiffany Jenkins:
- A memoir that provides a gripping account of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's journey to rebuild her life.
- "Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford:
- This book offers a comprehensive guide to various forms of addiction and provides practical strategies for recovery.
- "The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living" by Clare Pooley:
- A personal and humorous account of one woman's journey to sobriety, sharing insights and reflections on life without alcohol.
- "Guts" by Kristen Johnston:
- Kristen Johnston's memoir delves into her experiences with addiction and recovery, providing a candid and humorous perspective.
- "This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life" by Annie Grace:
- Annie Grace explores the psychology of alcohol consumption and provides insights to help individuals change their relationship with alcohol.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Craig Ferguson:
- "I had a simple perception of success as getting things that I thought I needed to be happy. I thought that happiness was success. I don’t think that anymore."
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
- "I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes those things take you to the most amazing places."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I know my limits. I know that if I drink again, I will die. Every morning I wake up, I make that choice."
- Steven Tyler (Aerosmith):
- "It’s not about how much you drink. It’s about why you drink. It’s when life gets good, do you celebrate? Or when life gets tough, do you drink?"
- "In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction" by Kate Holden:
- A memoir that explores the author's experience with addiction and her journey toward recovery.
- "Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden:
- This book addresses the specific challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics and provides guidance on healing and recovery.
- "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray:
- A personal and practical guide to quitting alcohol, sharing the author's journey to sobriety and the positive changes it brought to her life.
- "The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath" by Leslie Jamison:
- Combining memoir and research, this book explores the cultural and personal aspects of addiction and recovery.
- "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir" by Lisa F. Smith:
- Lisa Smith's memoir chronicles her journey from high-functioning addiction to recovery, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of sobriety.
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
2024.04.24 12:07 Intrepid-Sea8240 Am I a snowflake overreacting? Me (M23) and my GF (F22) is in a relationship for more than a year now
Hi! How are you guys! Just want to share our situation here. Idk If I am just overreacting, but I feel so sad, drained, and confused.
Am I a snowflake overreacting? Me (M23) and my GF (F22) is in a relationship for more than a year now
I should say, we have a lot of happy moments together, and I really love her. But you know, sometimes, I feel that she is being unfair to me.
Throughout our relationship, she was always angry to me even in the smallest of things. Well, these are small things, like she's getting angry when I am too busy with the things I need to do, and I cannot have some time with her (she's too clingy), or I raised my voice slightly. But my biggest concern is, she is always very moody. A turbulent one.
There are times when we are so happy then suddenly, she will not talk to me anymore. I did not do anything wrong, she just constantly says that she is not on the mood. You know, after a while, it will really drain you out since I am also tired from all of my works and study, then she will be like that.
There are a lot of occasions I can cite with it but what happened today makes me feel so sad and confused.
Today is our monthsary. Last night, I am not feeling well. In anticipation of not going to school and celebrate our day together (we are in a same university), I made my gift for her last night (an artwork, I am an artist so I decided to gift her a work of mine). Even tho I am not feeling well and so exhausted with my day, I draw the whole night just to send it to her as a monthsary gift. She saw the artwork and only reacted heart on it, and said it's cute. She's replying coldly, but I just shaked it off. Until I called her before going to sleep, and she is somewhat irritated and angry to me. So cold. I asked her what is wrong, but she says nothing. Then we slept
This morning, I just cannot go to school because im not feeling well. So I said it to her and called her. Again, she is so cold and somewhat irritated with me. I asked her what is wrong since I am now bothered by her actions since last night. She said, nothing. She is just not in the mood according to her. Idk what to feel that time. I am not feeling well, and she will treat me like that? I know that she is disappointed because we will not celebrate our monthsary today, but I just can't go because of my condition.
Hours passed, she is not texting me or updating me. Even though I am hurt with the way she treated me last night and earlier, I still muster the effort to chat her how's it going on her side. Also, I asked my friend/classmate to buy her a chocolate and put my message for her on it, since I want her to still feel special even if I am not there because of my condition. But still, she's cold to me. Rn, she's avoiding me. Idk guys
AM I VALID TO FEEL SAD AND DISAPPOINTED? IT HAS BEEN A YEAR LIKE THIS.
I know that she's disappointed, but isn't it that my reason is valid? I am so sorry if I am overreacting folks, but I really feel so underappreciated.
I love her so much, that is why I am hurt like this. I know that this may be a small thing, but idk what to feel. Am I a snowflake? idk guys.
I just want to release my emotions rn. Thank you!
TLDR: I am having a hard time understanding my GF.
submitted by Intrepid-Sea8240 to relationships [link] [comments]
Am I a snowflake overreacting? Me (M23) and my GF (F22) is in a relationship for more than a year now
I should say, we have a lot of happy moments together, and I really love her. But you know, sometimes, I feel that she is being unfair to me.
Throughout our relationship, she was always angry to me even in the smallest of things. Well, these are small things, like she's getting angry when I am too busy with the things I need to do, and I cannot have some time with her (she's too clingy), or I raised my voice slightly. But my biggest concern is, she is always very moody. A turbulent one.
There are times when we are so happy then suddenly, she will not talk to me anymore. I did not do anything wrong, she just constantly says that she is not on the mood. You know, after a while, it will really drain you out since I am also tired from all of my works and study, then she will be like that.
There are a lot of occasions I can cite with it but what happened today makes me feel so sad and confused.
Today is our monthsary. Last night, I am not feeling well. In anticipation of not going to school and celebrate our day together (we are in a same university), I made my gift for her last night (an artwork, I am an artist so I decided to gift her a work of mine). Even tho I am not feeling well and so exhausted with my day, I draw the whole night just to send it to her as a monthsary gift. She saw the artwork and only reacted heart on it, and said it's cute. She's replying coldly, but I just shaked it off. Until I called her before going to sleep, and she is somewhat irritated and angry to me. So cold. I asked her what is wrong, but she says nothing. Then we slept
This morning, I just cannot go to school because im not feeling well. So I said it to her and called her. Again, she is so cold and somewhat irritated with me. I asked her what is wrong since I am now bothered by her actions since last night. She said, nothing. She is just not in the mood according to her. Idk what to feel that time. I am not feeling well, and she will treat me like that? I know that she is disappointed because we will not celebrate our monthsary today, but I just can't go because of my condition.
Hours passed, she is not texting me or updating me. Even though I am hurt with the way she treated me last night and earlier, I still muster the effort to chat her how's it going on her side. Also, I asked my friend/classmate to buy her a chocolate and put my message for her on it, since I want her to still feel special even if I am not there because of my condition. But still, she's cold to me. Rn, she's avoiding me. Idk guys
AM I VALID TO FEEL SAD AND DISAPPOINTED? IT HAS BEEN A YEAR LIKE THIS.
I know that she's disappointed, but isn't it that my reason is valid? I am so sorry if I am overreacting folks, but I really feel so underappreciated.
I love her so much, that is why I am hurt like this. I know that this may be a small thing, but idk what to feel. Am I a snowflake? idk guys.
I just want to release my emotions rn. Thank you!
TLDR: I am having a hard time understanding my GF.
2024.04.24 11:11 Intrepid-Sea8240 Me (23M) and my GF (22F) is now 1 year together. I am struggling to understand her rn, can you give me some advice?
Hi! How are you guys! Just want to share our situation here. Idk If I am just overreacting, but I feel so sad, drained, and confused.
Me and my GF is in a relationship for more than a year now. I should say, we have a lot of happy moments together, and I really love her. But you know, sometimes, I feel that she is being unfair to me.
Throughout our relationship, she was always angry to me even in the smallest of things. Well, these are small things, like she's getting angry when I am too busy with the things I need to do, and I cannot have some time with her (she's too clingy), or I raised my voice slightly. But my biggest concern is, she is always very moody. A turbulent one.
There are times when we are so happy then suddenly, she will not talk to me anymore. I did not do anything wrong, she just constantly says that she is not on the mood. You know, after a while, it will really drain you out since I am also tired from all of my works and study, then she will be like that.
There are a lot of occasions I can cite with it but what happened today makes me feel so sad and confused.
Today is our monthsary. Last night, I am not feeling well. In anticipation of not going to school and celebrate our day together (we are in a same university), I made my gift for her last night (an artwork, I am an artist so I decided to gift her a work of mine). Even tho I am not feeling well and so exhausted with my day, I draw the whole night just to send it to her as a monthsary gift. She saw the artwork and only reacted heart on it, and said it's cute. She's replying coldly, but I just shaked it off. Until I called her before going to sleep, and she is somewhat irritated and angry to me. So cold. I asked her what is wrong, but she says nothing. Then we slept
This morning, I just cannot go to school because im not feeling well. So I said it to her and called her. Again, she is so cold and somewhat irritated with me. I asked her what is wrong since I am now bothered by her actions since last night. She said, nothing. She is just not in the mood according to her. Idk what to feel that time. I am not feeling well, and she will treat me like that? I know that she is disappointed because we will not celebrate our monthsary today, but I just can't go because of my condition.
Hours passed, she is not texting me or updating me. Even though I am hurt with the way she treated me last night and earlier, I still muster the effort to chat her how's it going on her side. Also, I asked my friend/classmate to buy her a chocolate and put my message for her on it, since I want her to still feel special even if I am not there because of my condition. But still, she's cold to me. Rn, she's avoiding me. Idk guys
AM I VALID TO FEEL SAD AND DISAPPOINTED? IT HAS BEEN A YEAR LIKE THIS.
I know that she's disappointed, but isn't it that my reason is valid? I am so sorry if I am overreacting folks, but I really feel so underappreciated.
I love her so much, that is why I am hurt like this. I know that this may be a small thing, but idk what to feel. Am I a snowflake? idk guys.
I just want to release my emotions rn. Thank you!
submitted by Intrepid-Sea8240 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]
Me and my GF is in a relationship for more than a year now. I should say, we have a lot of happy moments together, and I really love her. But you know, sometimes, I feel that she is being unfair to me.
Throughout our relationship, she was always angry to me even in the smallest of things. Well, these are small things, like she's getting angry when I am too busy with the things I need to do, and I cannot have some time with her (she's too clingy), or I raised my voice slightly. But my biggest concern is, she is always very moody. A turbulent one.
There are times when we are so happy then suddenly, she will not talk to me anymore. I did not do anything wrong, she just constantly says that she is not on the mood. You know, after a while, it will really drain you out since I am also tired from all of my works and study, then she will be like that.
There are a lot of occasions I can cite with it but what happened today makes me feel so sad and confused.
Today is our monthsary. Last night, I am not feeling well. In anticipation of not going to school and celebrate our day together (we are in a same university), I made my gift for her last night (an artwork, I am an artist so I decided to gift her a work of mine). Even tho I am not feeling well and so exhausted with my day, I draw the whole night just to send it to her as a monthsary gift. She saw the artwork and only reacted heart on it, and said it's cute. She's replying coldly, but I just shaked it off. Until I called her before going to sleep, and she is somewhat irritated and angry to me. So cold. I asked her what is wrong, but she says nothing. Then we slept
This morning, I just cannot go to school because im not feeling well. So I said it to her and called her. Again, she is so cold and somewhat irritated with me. I asked her what is wrong since I am now bothered by her actions since last night. She said, nothing. She is just not in the mood according to her. Idk what to feel that time. I am not feeling well, and she will treat me like that? I know that she is disappointed because we will not celebrate our monthsary today, but I just can't go because of my condition.
Hours passed, she is not texting me or updating me. Even though I am hurt with the way she treated me last night and earlier, I still muster the effort to chat her how's it going on her side. Also, I asked my friend/classmate to buy her a chocolate and put my message for her on it, since I want her to still feel special even if I am not there because of my condition. But still, she's cold to me. Rn, she's avoiding me. Idk guys
AM I VALID TO FEEL SAD AND DISAPPOINTED? IT HAS BEEN A YEAR LIKE THIS.
I know that she's disappointed, but isn't it that my reason is valid? I am so sorry if I am overreacting folks, but I really feel so underappreciated.
I love her so much, that is why I am hurt like this. I know that this may be a small thing, but idk what to feel. Am I a snowflake? idk guys.
I just want to release my emotions rn. Thank you!
2024.04.24 01:04 Exodys03 Fingerprints
I know a lot of discussion has been had about the quality and usefulness of fingerprints from Paul Stine's cab. SFPD clearly believed that the fingerprints obtained were both from Zodiac and, although incomplete, useful enough to test against fingerprints of potential suspects and rule out suspects based on fingerprints alone.
My question is two-fold. The first being are these prints really viable to rule out suspects and could this comparison be done manually or by computer? The prints presented look like an absolute mess to my untrained eye.
https://zodiackiller.com/ZPrints.html
The second question relates to my own long-held person of interest because I can provide what MAY be a full fingerprint and handprint profile for him despite him, to my knowledge, never being arrested.
Some of you may know my person of interest but he was a rather notable artist, living in San Francisco, once living on Jackson St. about a mile from the Stine's scene (although not at the time of Stine's murder). He was a talented assemblage artist and short filmmaker (and friend of Richard Gaikowski).
In 1972, my individual applied for a teaching job at San Jose State University. When informed that he would need to provide fingerprints for a background check, he refused, citing that his fingerprints belonged solely to himself as an artist, that they had intrinsic value and that he would be filing a copy of his fingerprints with the Library of Congress.
After extensive back and forth discussion with the university, he agreed to have himself voluntarily fingerprinted at the San Jose Police Department in January, 1974 (two weeks after the Exorcist letter, which is the only letter chock full of palm prints).
My individual then took this full set of prints and made these into an art project consisting of 20 lock boxes containing the full set of prints along with copious documentation about his battle with the university over his fingerprints. He carefully documented the fingerprinting process at the police station including photos of the actual fingerprinting.
He apparently agreed to provide the university with one set of this "artwork" but I'm not clear if this was ever provided or whether he was ever employed there. He did, however, mail a copy of his handprint to his father in Kansas. His father (who my individual apparently hated) subsequently gave this "artwork" away to a gallery.
I have honestly questioned the possibility that my individual may have actually had another individual stand in for the fingerprinting because he was known to frequently play games with his identity, declaring himself dead on two occasion and using imposters to stand in for him at exhibitions. He has also claimed to have real or perceived alter personae, creating artwork under at least half a dozen other names.
Sorry for the long post but I guess I'm wondering if people believe the existing Zodiac prints are legitimate and viable and whether an expert could compare these with a full set of prints from a suspect. Are the palm prints from the Exorcist letter comparable?
Also wondering folks thoughts on the bizarre behavior of refusing fingerprinting despite not having a criminal record but turning it into both an artistic cause and actual art project. This "Prints" work, by the way is part of a collection with the SF Museum of Modern Art.
submitted by Exodys03 to ZodiacKiller [link] [comments]
My question is two-fold. The first being are these prints really viable to rule out suspects and could this comparison be done manually or by computer? The prints presented look like an absolute mess to my untrained eye.
https://zodiackiller.com/ZPrints.html
The second question relates to my own long-held person of interest because I can provide what MAY be a full fingerprint and handprint profile for him despite him, to my knowledge, never being arrested.
Some of you may know my person of interest but he was a rather notable artist, living in San Francisco, once living on Jackson St. about a mile from the Stine's scene (although not at the time of Stine's murder). He was a talented assemblage artist and short filmmaker (and friend of Richard Gaikowski).
In 1972, my individual applied for a teaching job at San Jose State University. When informed that he would need to provide fingerprints for a background check, he refused, citing that his fingerprints belonged solely to himself as an artist, that they had intrinsic value and that he would be filing a copy of his fingerprints with the Library of Congress.
After extensive back and forth discussion with the university, he agreed to have himself voluntarily fingerprinted at the San Jose Police Department in January, 1974 (two weeks after the Exorcist letter, which is the only letter chock full of palm prints).
My individual then took this full set of prints and made these into an art project consisting of 20 lock boxes containing the full set of prints along with copious documentation about his battle with the university over his fingerprints. He carefully documented the fingerprinting process at the police station including photos of the actual fingerprinting.
He apparently agreed to provide the university with one set of this "artwork" but I'm not clear if this was ever provided or whether he was ever employed there. He did, however, mail a copy of his handprint to his father in Kansas. His father (who my individual apparently hated) subsequently gave this "artwork" away to a gallery.
I have honestly questioned the possibility that my individual may have actually had another individual stand in for the fingerprinting because he was known to frequently play games with his identity, declaring himself dead on two occasion and using imposters to stand in for him at exhibitions. He has also claimed to have real or perceived alter personae, creating artwork under at least half a dozen other names.
Sorry for the long post but I guess I'm wondering if people believe the existing Zodiac prints are legitimate and viable and whether an expert could compare these with a full set of prints from a suspect. Are the palm prints from the Exorcist letter comparable?
Also wondering folks thoughts on the bizarre behavior of refusing fingerprinting despite not having a criminal record but turning it into both an artistic cause and actual art project. This "Prints" work, by the way is part of a collection with the SF Museum of Modern Art.
2024.04.19 07:57 adulting4kids Newsletter #2 January 4, 2024
January 4, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
submitted by adulting4kids to writingthruit [link] [comments]
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Russell Brand:
- "The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope."
- Robert Downey Jr.:
- "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
- Eminem (Marshall Mathers):
- "I knew that my first thought was always negative. But now I have learned to just brush it off."
- Demi Lovato:
- "I had to learn the hard way that I can’t do parties anymore. Some people can go out and not be triggered, but that’s not the case for me."
Cited Readings on Addiction and Recovery:
- "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction" by Gabor Maté:
- This book provides a compassionate and holistic understanding of addiction, exploring its biological, psychological, and societal roots.
- "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff:
- A memoir that chronicles a father's struggle to understand and support his son through addiction and recovery.
- "Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions" by Russell Brand:
- Russell Brand shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, offering insights into the 12-step program and mindfulness practices.
- "The Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous):
- The foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing guidance, stories of recovery, and the principles of the 12-step program.
- "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" by David Sheff:
- David Sheff explores the science of addiction and potential solutions, examining both personal and societal perspective.
- Anthony Hopkins:
- "I believe that we all have a basic need to feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we feel threatened, and when we feel threatened, we tend to react in various ways."
- Nicole Richie:
- "I have to be careful. I have to live in balance. I can’t stay up all night but then need to be on time in the morning. But I’m finding my way."
- Elton John:
- "I am a survivor. I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even for someone like me."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I was the wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic. I never did it when I worked. I never took drugs before 5 p.m. I never, ever took painkillers until 5 p.m."
- "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" by Maia Szalavitz:
- This book challenges traditional views on addiction, exploring the role of learning and choice in the development and treatment of addiction.
- "Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction" by Marni Mann:
- A personal memoir that offers a raw and honest account of addiction, detailing the author's journey from addiction to recovery.
- "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy:
- This investigative work explores the opioid crisis in America, shedding light on the complex factors contributing to addiction.
- "Clean: The Journal" by Chris Niosi:
- This interactive journal provides prompts, exercises, and reflections for individuals in recovery, helping them navigate their journey.
- "Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery" by Bill Clegg:
- Bill Clegg shares his personal experiences of recovery in this memoir, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding one's life.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Matthew Perry:
- "I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I've learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about failure is you get to learn from it."
- Drew Barrymore:
- "Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it."
- Rob Lowe:
- "I'm nearly nine years sober, and there's a great quote I read about three years ago that had a huge impact on me. It's from the great Winston Churchill, who said, 'Success is never final, and failure is never fatal.'"
- Kristen Johnston:
- "I’ve been sober for over 14 years now, and the way I live my life is, I don’t think of it like I stopped drinking; I think of it like I started living."
- "High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life" by Tiffany Jenkins:
- A memoir that provides a gripping account of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's journey to rebuild her life.
- "Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford:
- This book offers a comprehensive guide to various forms of addiction and provides practical strategies for recovery.
- "The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living" by Clare Pooley:
- A personal and humorous account of one woman's journey to sobriety, sharing insights and reflections on life without alcohol.
- "Guts" by Kristen Johnston:
- Kristen Johnston's memoir delves into her experiences with addiction and recovery, providing a candid and humorous perspective.
- "This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life" by Annie Grace:
- Annie Grace explores the psychology of alcohol consumption and provides insights to help individuals change their relationship with alcohol.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Craig Ferguson:
- "I had a simple perception of success as getting things that I thought I needed to be happy. I thought that happiness was success. I don’t think that anymore."
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
- "I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes those things take you to the most amazing places."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I know my limits. I know that if I drink again, I will die. Every morning I wake up, I make that choice."
- Steven Tyler (Aerosmith):
- "It’s not about how much you drink. It’s about why you drink. It’s when life gets good, do you celebrate? Or when life gets tough, do you drink?"
- "In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction" by Kate Holden:
- A memoir that explores the author's experience with addiction and her journey toward recovery.
- "Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden:
- This book addresses the specific challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics and provides guidance on healing and recovery.
- "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray:
- A personal and practical guide to quitting alcohol, sharing the author's journey to sobriety and the positive changes it brought to her life.
- "The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath" by Leslie Jamison:
- Combining memoir and research, this book explores the cultural and personal aspects of addiction and recovery.
- "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir" by Lisa F. Smith:
- Lisa Smith's memoir chronicles her journey from high-functioning addiction to recovery, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of sobriety.
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
2024.04.14 17:42 Biggles79 The historicity of Fallout's nuclear 'rule of thumb'
The new Fallout TV series has resurrected not only an old piece of video game mythology but a bit of bad history that underpins it. The show effectively makes 'canon' a popular misconception that the thumbs-up pose of the franchises ‘Vault Boy’ mascot character reflects a literal ‘rule of thumb’ from the atomic age (and no, this isn’t the origin of the phrase either). The idea is that if you can cover a nuclear mushroom cloud with your raised thumb with outstretched arm, you’re at a safe distance from harm. Much more on that below but first, let’s get the pop culture bit out of the way. Vault Boy was not, in fact, intended to reflect this supposed rule - that was debunked by Fallout 1 & 2 executive producer Brian Fargo and the artist responsible for that pose, Tramell Isaac. If you actually look at the draft artwork, it's much clearer that he’s looking at the ‘camera’, not into the distance ovearound his thumb. He’s just giving a thumbs-up, a reassuring wink, and a smile. That’s it. To be fair to the TV show, Vault Boy's gesture IS presented purely as the classic positive one. The dark explanation occurs in a specific and separate scene, presenting a dark *alternate* meaning of putting up a thumb in the face of nuclear threat. It also takes place in an alternate reality, so it's not saying that the thumb was a real method in our universe. None of this, of course, prevents people from assuming that it was, which is the primary reason for this post.
The historical claim that underlies the Fallout thumb myth is summarised in this Inverse.com article seeking to debunk the idea but swallowing the idea that it originates in Cold War history:
“Americans used to be taught that if a nuclear bomb exploded in the distance they should hold out their arms, stick up their thumbs, and see if the cloud was bigger or smaller than their opposable digit. If the cloud was bigger than your thumb, teachers explained, you’d know that you were in the radiation zone and should start running.”
That article and this new Kyle Hill video cover the practical/plausibility aspect to the ‘rule’ (there isn’t one), but of course people will still do things that are arguably not worth doing. The infamous “duck and cover” method in the US or the ‘Protect & Survive’ series of public information films in the UK were arguably of minimal utility in the event of nuclear attack, and the same might apply here. The problem is that I can find no mention in any 20th century US or UK civil defence manual or informational/instructional film. I can’t even find any secondary or tertiary sources that don’t reference the Fallout games. Given how frequently other nuclear survival advice is referenced both in and out of period, it seems highly unlikely that someone wouldn’t have located an equivalent source for this one.
I have, however, identified the likely origins of the myth and it isn’t (as one might expect if it isn’t historical) inspired purely by the Fallout image. Perhaps the most significant source here is none other than FEMA, in their ‘Community Emergency Response Team Basic Training Instructor Guide’ (2011, p.8-25):
“As a rule of thumb, if you can see any of the incident when you hold up your thumb, you’re too close!”
At face value this is the same thing, albeit from long after the end of the Cold War. It’s obviously post-Fallout but aside from FEMA being unlikely to base advice on a video game, you will soon see that this is definitely not where it came from. It definitely does pertain to nuclear attacks, however. The main slide notes talk about nuclear devices, fallout, and even the flash of a nuclear explosion. Depending how this training was actually delivered in person one might emerge with the impression that FEMA really are recommending that people should use a thumb to help them deal with nukes. However, that doesn’t actually seem to be the intent. Note that the actual relevant sentence here refers to the resulting “incident”, not the “event” itself (i.e. a nuclear or ‘dirty’ bomb explosion). There’s no suggestion that you can, or should, base any decisions on the apparent size of a mushroom cloud. It’s about distancing yourself from the immediate aftermath, presumably any visible blast damage, fire, plumes of smoke etc. I can’t rule out that the author didn’t think that this *might* include a mushroom cloud, but we already know that the method doesn’t work for that, and one would hope that FEMA know this too. Although the sentence appears on a ‘nuclear’ page of the document, it very likely was meant to apply to any incident dealt with by it. This is because we know that the ‘rule’ definitely wasn’t created for that purpose. It is actually a long-standing piece of advice from the wider world of emergency response. It’s not meant to save you from any kind of primary explosion (although it could help with secondaries). It’s not even meant to apply only to a radiological incident. In fact given the rarity of such incidents it would mostly *not* apply to those, and I can’t find any other direct use of it viz nuclear incidents. The oldest cite for the ‘rule’ is the 1987 book ‘Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured’ (Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, p.426) states:
“...hazardous materials accidents involve small quantities of toxic materials…the Hazmat Rule of Thumb is one way to determine the size of the danger zone. In this method, the EMT's arm is held out straight, with thumb pointing up. The EMT then centers his thumb over the hazardous area. The thumb should cover all the hazardous area from view. If the hazardous material can still be seen, the EMT is too close and the zone should be enlarged.”
Since this isn’t about immediate reaction to any kind of ongoing explosion but rather the hasty establishment of a safe perimeter following any kind of hazardous incident (leak, spillage, flood etc), it makes a great deal more sense than the nuclear bomb thumb myth.
Interestingly, there may be a separate, parallel origin online. In a post on AskReddit on 30 November 2010 user LeTroniz asked how long they would have to live if they saw “...a mushroom cloud in the distance…if it (the explosion) is as big as my thumb with my arm fully stretched out?”. This was just one of several proposed aspects to their question, including if the mushroom cloud was “as big as my hand with my arm fully stretched out” - so they were not necessarily referencing any pre-existing ‘rule of thumb’. One of the responses ran with the thumb thing and did some calculations based on a 2 megaton bomb, concluding that “if it's as big as your hand, you're fucked. If it's as big as your thumb, you're golden. It's the inbetween sizes you have to worry about.” This only got one reply and a few upvotes, and doesn’t seem to have spread the idea very widely. Three years later, two years after FEMA uploaded their document, u/Tacos_Bitch (account now deleted) posted this on the same sub:
“If you see an explosion, and the fireball is bigger than the thumb of your extended arm -- you're close enough to inhale toxic shit and should probably run.”
Their comment was nothing to do with nuclear explosions per se, but a subsequent commenter made the connection back to nuclear weapons and Vault Boy. Either of them might have seen the 2010 post or the FEMA document but the fact that the OP didn’t merely recite the nuclear origin and instead referred to “toxic shit” may indicate familiarity with this idea from its general emergency response origins. In any case it’s at that point that the idea went ‘viral’, appearing on Fallout and various other places across the internet and even prompting the above responses from the Fallout creators.
So, the nuclear ‘rule of thumb’ is (sort of) a real thing and certainly wasn’t just made up, either with respect to the Fallout games in particular or to Cold War mythology in general. However, it pertains to the immediate aftermath of any serious hazardous incident, not to nuclear explosions still in progress. It dates from the 1980s, not the 1950s or ‘60s, and was never taught in schools, only to emergency responders. And I think it bears repeating, this was NEVER taught as a way to dodge explosions. Multiple people likely made the logical leap and were spreading the myth orally, but it was only when someone speculatively made the connection to a popular media franchise in 2013 that it concretised with respect to nuclear explosions and to Cold War history. Now that the creators of the TV adaptation of Fallout have embraced the myth, it’s only going to spread further and more widely. Hopefully this post helps to mitigate that slightly.
Sources: embedded within the post.
submitted by Biggles79 to badhistory [link] [comments]
The historical claim that underlies the Fallout thumb myth is summarised in this Inverse.com article seeking to debunk the idea but swallowing the idea that it originates in Cold War history:
“Americans used to be taught that if a nuclear bomb exploded in the distance they should hold out their arms, stick up their thumbs, and see if the cloud was bigger or smaller than their opposable digit. If the cloud was bigger than your thumb, teachers explained, you’d know that you were in the radiation zone and should start running.”
That article and this new Kyle Hill video cover the practical/plausibility aspect to the ‘rule’ (there isn’t one), but of course people will still do things that are arguably not worth doing. The infamous “duck and cover” method in the US or the ‘Protect & Survive’ series of public information films in the UK were arguably of minimal utility in the event of nuclear attack, and the same might apply here. The problem is that I can find no mention in any 20th century US or UK civil defence manual or informational/instructional film. I can’t even find any secondary or tertiary sources that don’t reference the Fallout games. Given how frequently other nuclear survival advice is referenced both in and out of period, it seems highly unlikely that someone wouldn’t have located an equivalent source for this one.
I have, however, identified the likely origins of the myth and it isn’t (as one might expect if it isn’t historical) inspired purely by the Fallout image. Perhaps the most significant source here is none other than FEMA, in their ‘Community Emergency Response Team Basic Training Instructor Guide’ (2011, p.8-25):
“As a rule of thumb, if you can see any of the incident when you hold up your thumb, you’re too close!”
At face value this is the same thing, albeit from long after the end of the Cold War. It’s obviously post-Fallout but aside from FEMA being unlikely to base advice on a video game, you will soon see that this is definitely not where it came from. It definitely does pertain to nuclear attacks, however. The main slide notes talk about nuclear devices, fallout, and even the flash of a nuclear explosion. Depending how this training was actually delivered in person one might emerge with the impression that FEMA really are recommending that people should use a thumb to help them deal with nukes. However, that doesn’t actually seem to be the intent. Note that the actual relevant sentence here refers to the resulting “incident”, not the “event” itself (i.e. a nuclear or ‘dirty’ bomb explosion). There’s no suggestion that you can, or should, base any decisions on the apparent size of a mushroom cloud. It’s about distancing yourself from the immediate aftermath, presumably any visible blast damage, fire, plumes of smoke etc. I can’t rule out that the author didn’t think that this *might* include a mushroom cloud, but we already know that the method doesn’t work for that, and one would hope that FEMA know this too. Although the sentence appears on a ‘nuclear’ page of the document, it very likely was meant to apply to any incident dealt with by it. This is because we know that the ‘rule’ definitely wasn’t created for that purpose. It is actually a long-standing piece of advice from the wider world of emergency response. It’s not meant to save you from any kind of primary explosion (although it could help with secondaries). It’s not even meant to apply only to a radiological incident. In fact given the rarity of such incidents it would mostly *not* apply to those, and I can’t find any other direct use of it viz nuclear incidents. The oldest cite for the ‘rule’ is the 1987 book ‘Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured’ (Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, p.426) states:
“...hazardous materials accidents involve small quantities of toxic materials…the Hazmat Rule of Thumb is one way to determine the size of the danger zone. In this method, the EMT's arm is held out straight, with thumb pointing up. The EMT then centers his thumb over the hazardous area. The thumb should cover all the hazardous area from view. If the hazardous material can still be seen, the EMT is too close and the zone should be enlarged.”
Since this isn’t about immediate reaction to any kind of ongoing explosion but rather the hasty establishment of a safe perimeter following any kind of hazardous incident (leak, spillage, flood etc), it makes a great deal more sense than the nuclear bomb thumb myth.
Interestingly, there may be a separate, parallel origin online. In a post on AskReddit on 30 November 2010 user LeTroniz asked how long they would have to live if they saw “...a mushroom cloud in the distance…if it (the explosion) is as big as my thumb with my arm fully stretched out?”. This was just one of several proposed aspects to their question, including if the mushroom cloud was “as big as my hand with my arm fully stretched out” - so they were not necessarily referencing any pre-existing ‘rule of thumb’. One of the responses ran with the thumb thing and did some calculations based on a 2 megaton bomb, concluding that “if it's as big as your hand, you're fucked. If it's as big as your thumb, you're golden. It's the inbetween sizes you have to worry about.” This only got one reply and a few upvotes, and doesn’t seem to have spread the idea very widely. Three years later, two years after FEMA uploaded their document, u/Tacos_Bitch (account now deleted) posted this on the same sub:
“If you see an explosion, and the fireball is bigger than the thumb of your extended arm -- you're close enough to inhale toxic shit and should probably run.”
Their comment was nothing to do with nuclear explosions per se, but a subsequent commenter made the connection back to nuclear weapons and Vault Boy. Either of them might have seen the 2010 post or the FEMA document but the fact that the OP didn’t merely recite the nuclear origin and instead referred to “toxic shit” may indicate familiarity with this idea from its general emergency response origins. In any case it’s at that point that the idea went ‘viral’, appearing on Fallout and various other places across the internet and even prompting the above responses from the Fallout creators.
So, the nuclear ‘rule of thumb’ is (sort of) a real thing and certainly wasn’t just made up, either with respect to the Fallout games in particular or to Cold War mythology in general. However, it pertains to the immediate aftermath of any serious hazardous incident, not to nuclear explosions still in progress. It dates from the 1980s, not the 1950s or ‘60s, and was never taught in schools, only to emergency responders. And I think it bears repeating, this was NEVER taught as a way to dodge explosions. Multiple people likely made the logical leap and were spreading the myth orally, but it was only when someone speculatively made the connection to a popular media franchise in 2013 that it concretised with respect to nuclear explosions and to Cold War history. Now that the creators of the TV adaptation of Fallout have embraced the myth, it’s only going to spread further and more widely. Hopefully this post helps to mitigate that slightly.
Sources: embedded within the post.
2024.04.14 06:11 StoryLord444 The 6th floor part 3
[Phone answers]
Automated Voice: Thank you for calling the Grand Dolphin Hotel, where luxury meets elegance. For reservations, press 1. For room service, press 2. For concierge assistance, press 3. For all other inquiries, press 4.
[User presses 4]
Automated Voice: Thank you for choosing to speak with our guest services team. Please hold while we connect you.
[Soft instrumental music plays]
Automated Voice: Your call is important to us. All our representatives are currently assisting other guests. Please continue to hold, and we'll be with you shortly.
[After a brief pause]
Automated Voice: Thank you for your patience. You are now being connected to a member of our guest services team.
[Call connects]
Guest Services Representative: "Good evening, and thank you for calling the Grand Dolphin Hotel. My name is Miss Brooks. How may I assist you today?"
User: "Hello, I would like to rent a room."
Guest Services Representative: "Of course, sir! Thank you for choosing the Grand Dolphin Hotel. May I have your name and the dates you'd like to reserve a room for?"
User: "My name is Alex Blackwood. I would like to book a room for today, May 23. Preferably on the 6th floor," I replied over the phone, conveying my request clearly.
Guest Services Representative: "Thank you, Mr. Blackwood, for providing your information. We can certainly accommodate your request for a room on May 23rd. However, I must inform you that due to ongoing renovations, the sixth floor is currently unavailable for reservations. Would you prefer a room on a different floor?"
User: "No, thanks. I specifically want a room on the 6th floor," I asserted firmly, reiterating my preference to the person on the other end of the line.
Guest Services Representative: "I understand your preference, Mr. Blackwood. However, I'm afraid the sixth floor is temporarily closed for renovations, and we are unable to accommodate any reservations for that floor at the moment. Is there any other floor you would consider?"
Confusion clouded my expression as I glanced at my boss, only to find his demeanor shifting to one of anger.
With a soft whisper, he uttered, "Let me take the phone."
User: "Hello, this is his boss. What seems to be the issue?" my boss inquired, his demeanor radiating authority as he took control of the situation.
Guest Services Representative: "Hello, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it seems we may have lost the connection momentarily. As I was explaining to Mr. Blackwood, the sixth floor is currently undergoing renovations and is unavailable for reservations. Would you like me to assist you with any other inquiries?"
User: "No, he specifically asked for the 6th floor. Give him what he requested, or we'll take this to court," he asserted firmly, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Guest Services Representative: "I understand your concern, sir. However, for the safety and comfort of our guests, we cannot accommodate reservations for the sixth floor at this time. We have a wide range of other luxurious rooms available on different floors that I would be happy to assist Mr. Blackwood in booking. Can I help you with any other arrangements?"
User: "Connect me to your boss. I have something to say to him," he demanded with authority, his tone brooking no argument.
Guest Services Representative: "Of course, sir. Please hold for a moment while I connect you to my supervisor."
[The call is placed on hold]
Supervisor: "This is Mr Hawkins. How may I assist you?"
User: "My worker asked for a room on the 6th floor, and your front desk lady isn't letting him have the room." He responded.
Supervisor: "I apologize for any inconvenience, sir. However, as I'm sure my colleague explained, the sixth floor is currently closed for renovations. We prioritize the safety and comfort of our guests, and unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions at this time. I understand your concerns, and I assure you that we have a wide range of other luxurious rooms available on different floors. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
User: "He's a journalist, and you have to accommodate his request for the room. It's essential for his job, so give him the room, or I'll take you to court. It's the law, so you have to comply," he demanded assertively, citing legal obligation.
Supervisor: "I understand your concerns, sir. Given the importance of Mr. Blackwood's work as a journalist, we are willing to make an exception and accommodate his request for the sixth floor. However, I must emphasize that this decision is solely for this particular circumstance and does not set a precedent for future reservations. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we appreciate your understanding."
User: "That's what I thought," he replied, his tone filled with satisfaction as the matter was resolved in our favor.
Supervisor: "Certainly, sir. When Mr. Blackwood arrives, he can inform the front desk, and we will arrange for him to meet with me in my office. Is there a specific time that works best for him, or should we coordinate upon his arrival?"
User: "Yes, he'll be there now," my boss responded, acknowledging the directive.
Supervisor: "Thank you for confirming, sir. We look forward to Mr. Blackwood's arrival. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. Have a pleasant day."
[The supervisor hangs up the call.]
"Wow, they were hard to convince," I remarked with a short laugh, relieved that the matter had been resolved.
"Well, it's best you get down there now since we told him you'll be there immediately. And be safe too," my boss reiterated, underscoring the importance of both promptness and safety.
"Alright," I said, rising from my seat. I grabbed my bag and keys from my desk before making my way downstairs to my car. Sitting in the driver's seat, I took a moment to look up the address, mindful of the fact that I lived in New Haven.
On my way to the hotel, I found myself waiting at a traffic light. From where I sat, I could already see the Grand Dolphin Hotel towering in the distance, its brilliance standing out amidst the surrounding buildings. Now, I understood why they called it The Grand Dolphin Hotel—it truly was a marvel.
As the light turned green, I pressed the gas pedal, making my way towards the hotel entrance. Pulling into the driveway, I was greeted by a hotel assistant dressed in impeccable attire.
"May I take your car, sir?" he asked in a professional tone.
"Of course, just don't scratch my car," I replied, tossing him the keys as I stepped out of the vehicle. Walking towards the entrance, as I walking inside I was welcomed by the golden glass doors, which opened to reveal a luxurious red carpet, inviting me into the opulent surroundings of the Grand Dolphin Hotel.
As I stepped through the golden glass doors of the Grand Dolphin Hotel, I found myself enveloped in an atmosphere of opulence and grandeur. The lobby stretched out before me, adorned with lavish furnishings and intricate details that spoke of luxury.
To my left, a gleaming marble reception desk stood, manned by impeccably dressed staff ready to assist guests with their needs. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a warm and inviting glow over the space. The walls were adorned with ornate artwork and intricate tapestries, adding to the sense of elegance.
In the center of the lobby, a grand piano took pride of place. Its polished surface gleamed under the soft lighting, and the rich tones of classical music filled the air as a skilled pianist played with effortless grace. The melody danced through the room, adding to the ambiance and elevating the experience for guests.
Around the perimeter of the lobby, plush seating arrangements beckoned weary travelers to rest and relax. Luxurious sofas and armchairs upholstered in rich fabrics provided a comfortable place to unwind, while occasional tables adorned with fresh flowers and elegant décor added a touch of sophistication.
As I took in the sight of the lobby, I couldn't help but be impressed by the attention to detail and the sense of refinement that permeated every corner. The Grand Dolphin Hotel truly lived up to its name, offering a luxurious and unforgettable experience from the moment guests stepped through its doors.
The roof of the Grand Dolphin Hotel's lobby soared overhead, a masterpiece of architectural design. Constructed of intricately carved wood and adorned with delicate moldings, it created a sense of grandeur and spaciousness. The ceiling rose to great heights, supported by elegant columns that added to the room's majestic ambiance.
Hanging from the ceiling were several magnificent chandeliers, each a work of art in its own right. Crafted from sparkling crystal and intricately wrought metal, they cascaded from the ceiling in a dazzling display of opulence. The chandeliers cast a warm, inviting glow over the lobby, their light reflecting off the polished marble floors below.
As guests moved through the lobby, they couldn't help but be captivated by the beauty and grandeur of the chandeliers, their twinkling lights adding to the magical atmosphere of the Grand Dolphin Hotel. Whether admiring the intricate details of the ceiling or basking in the soft glow of the chandeliers, visitors were sure to be transported to a world of luxury and sophistication.
Walking up to the desk, I stood in line behind a lady, patiently waiting my turn. After a few minutes, it was finally my chance to speak.
"Hello, I paid for a room on the 6th floor. I was told you're supposed to lead me to your boss or the owner of the place," I said, maintaining a professional demeanor.
She nodded and grabbed the phone, dialing a number. "Hello, Mr. Hawkins? He's here for the 6th floor," she said into the receiver. After a brief pause, she listened to the response before replying, "Yeah, of course. I'll let him know." Hanging up the phone, she looked up at me with a professional smile.
"He'll be up shortly. Make sure you take a seat. Thank you for coming to the Grand Dolphin Hotel," she said, her smile warm and welcoming.
I returned her smile and complied with her request, making my way to a seat in the lobby. As I settled into the comfortable chair, I immersed myself in the soothing strains of classical piano music that echoed through the room, reminiscent of tunes from the '80s. The elegant melody filled the air, transporting me to a world of tranquility and refinement as I awaited Mr. Hawkins's arrival.
After a few minutes of waiting, I was greeted by Mr. Hawkins. "Nice to meet you, sir," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.
I reached out my hand to give him a handshake, as I was finna introduce myself, he cut me off.
"I already know your name. I'm a big fan of your books, Mr. Blackwood," he said with a smile, releasing my hand.
"Come with me to my office to discuss further details," he said, motioning for me to follow him. part 4
submitted by StoryLord444 to Storyworld [link] [comments]
Automated Voice: Thank you for calling the Grand Dolphin Hotel, where luxury meets elegance. For reservations, press 1. For room service, press 2. For concierge assistance, press 3. For all other inquiries, press 4.
[User presses 4]
Automated Voice: Thank you for choosing to speak with our guest services team. Please hold while we connect you.
[Soft instrumental music plays]
Automated Voice: Your call is important to us. All our representatives are currently assisting other guests. Please continue to hold, and we'll be with you shortly.
[After a brief pause]
Automated Voice: Thank you for your patience. You are now being connected to a member of our guest services team.
[Call connects]
Guest Services Representative: "Good evening, and thank you for calling the Grand Dolphin Hotel. My name is Miss Brooks. How may I assist you today?"
User: "Hello, I would like to rent a room."
Guest Services Representative: "Of course, sir! Thank you for choosing the Grand Dolphin Hotel. May I have your name and the dates you'd like to reserve a room for?"
User: "My name is Alex Blackwood. I would like to book a room for today, May 23. Preferably on the 6th floor," I replied over the phone, conveying my request clearly.
Guest Services Representative: "Thank you, Mr. Blackwood, for providing your information. We can certainly accommodate your request for a room on May 23rd. However, I must inform you that due to ongoing renovations, the sixth floor is currently unavailable for reservations. Would you prefer a room on a different floor?"
User: "No, thanks. I specifically want a room on the 6th floor," I asserted firmly, reiterating my preference to the person on the other end of the line.
Guest Services Representative: "I understand your preference, Mr. Blackwood. However, I'm afraid the sixth floor is temporarily closed for renovations, and we are unable to accommodate any reservations for that floor at the moment. Is there any other floor you would consider?"
Confusion clouded my expression as I glanced at my boss, only to find his demeanor shifting to one of anger.
With a soft whisper, he uttered, "Let me take the phone."
User: "Hello, this is his boss. What seems to be the issue?" my boss inquired, his demeanor radiating authority as he took control of the situation.
Guest Services Representative: "Hello, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it seems we may have lost the connection momentarily. As I was explaining to Mr. Blackwood, the sixth floor is currently undergoing renovations and is unavailable for reservations. Would you like me to assist you with any other inquiries?"
User: "No, he specifically asked for the 6th floor. Give him what he requested, or we'll take this to court," he asserted firmly, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
Guest Services Representative: "I understand your concern, sir. However, for the safety and comfort of our guests, we cannot accommodate reservations for the sixth floor at this time. We have a wide range of other luxurious rooms available on different floors that I would be happy to assist Mr. Blackwood in booking. Can I help you with any other arrangements?"
User: "Connect me to your boss. I have something to say to him," he demanded with authority, his tone brooking no argument.
Guest Services Representative: "Of course, sir. Please hold for a moment while I connect you to my supervisor."
[The call is placed on hold]
Supervisor: "This is Mr Hawkins. How may I assist you?"
User: "My worker asked for a room on the 6th floor, and your front desk lady isn't letting him have the room." He responded.
Supervisor: "I apologize for any inconvenience, sir. However, as I'm sure my colleague explained, the sixth floor is currently closed for renovations. We prioritize the safety and comfort of our guests, and unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions at this time. I understand your concerns, and I assure you that we have a wide range of other luxurious rooms available on different floors. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
User: "He's a journalist, and you have to accommodate his request for the room. It's essential for his job, so give him the room, or I'll take you to court. It's the law, so you have to comply," he demanded assertively, citing legal obligation.
Supervisor: "I understand your concerns, sir. Given the importance of Mr. Blackwood's work as a journalist, we are willing to make an exception and accommodate his request for the sixth floor. However, I must emphasize that this decision is solely for this particular circumstance and does not set a precedent for future reservations. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we appreciate your understanding."
User: "That's what I thought," he replied, his tone filled with satisfaction as the matter was resolved in our favor.
Supervisor: "Certainly, sir. When Mr. Blackwood arrives, he can inform the front desk, and we will arrange for him to meet with me in my office. Is there a specific time that works best for him, or should we coordinate upon his arrival?"
User: "Yes, he'll be there now," my boss responded, acknowledging the directive.
Supervisor: "Thank you for confirming, sir. We look forward to Mr. Blackwood's arrival. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. Have a pleasant day."
[The supervisor hangs up the call.]
"Wow, they were hard to convince," I remarked with a short laugh, relieved that the matter had been resolved.
"Well, it's best you get down there now since we told him you'll be there immediately. And be safe too," my boss reiterated, underscoring the importance of both promptness and safety.
"Alright," I said, rising from my seat. I grabbed my bag and keys from my desk before making my way downstairs to my car. Sitting in the driver's seat, I took a moment to look up the address, mindful of the fact that I lived in New Haven.
On my way to the hotel, I found myself waiting at a traffic light. From where I sat, I could already see the Grand Dolphin Hotel towering in the distance, its brilliance standing out amidst the surrounding buildings. Now, I understood why they called it The Grand Dolphin Hotel—it truly was a marvel.
As the light turned green, I pressed the gas pedal, making my way towards the hotel entrance. Pulling into the driveway, I was greeted by a hotel assistant dressed in impeccable attire.
"May I take your car, sir?" he asked in a professional tone.
"Of course, just don't scratch my car," I replied, tossing him the keys as I stepped out of the vehicle. Walking towards the entrance, as I walking inside I was welcomed by the golden glass doors, which opened to reveal a luxurious red carpet, inviting me into the opulent surroundings of the Grand Dolphin Hotel.
As I stepped through the golden glass doors of the Grand Dolphin Hotel, I found myself enveloped in an atmosphere of opulence and grandeur. The lobby stretched out before me, adorned with lavish furnishings and intricate details that spoke of luxury.
To my left, a gleaming marble reception desk stood, manned by impeccably dressed staff ready to assist guests with their needs. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a warm and inviting glow over the space. The walls were adorned with ornate artwork and intricate tapestries, adding to the sense of elegance.
In the center of the lobby, a grand piano took pride of place. Its polished surface gleamed under the soft lighting, and the rich tones of classical music filled the air as a skilled pianist played with effortless grace. The melody danced through the room, adding to the ambiance and elevating the experience for guests.
Around the perimeter of the lobby, plush seating arrangements beckoned weary travelers to rest and relax. Luxurious sofas and armchairs upholstered in rich fabrics provided a comfortable place to unwind, while occasional tables adorned with fresh flowers and elegant décor added a touch of sophistication.
As I took in the sight of the lobby, I couldn't help but be impressed by the attention to detail and the sense of refinement that permeated every corner. The Grand Dolphin Hotel truly lived up to its name, offering a luxurious and unforgettable experience from the moment guests stepped through its doors.
The roof of the Grand Dolphin Hotel's lobby soared overhead, a masterpiece of architectural design. Constructed of intricately carved wood and adorned with delicate moldings, it created a sense of grandeur and spaciousness. The ceiling rose to great heights, supported by elegant columns that added to the room's majestic ambiance.
Hanging from the ceiling were several magnificent chandeliers, each a work of art in its own right. Crafted from sparkling crystal and intricately wrought metal, they cascaded from the ceiling in a dazzling display of opulence. The chandeliers cast a warm, inviting glow over the lobby, their light reflecting off the polished marble floors below.
As guests moved through the lobby, they couldn't help but be captivated by the beauty and grandeur of the chandeliers, their twinkling lights adding to the magical atmosphere of the Grand Dolphin Hotel. Whether admiring the intricate details of the ceiling or basking in the soft glow of the chandeliers, visitors were sure to be transported to a world of luxury and sophistication.
Walking up to the desk, I stood in line behind a lady, patiently waiting my turn. After a few minutes, it was finally my chance to speak.
"Hello, I paid for a room on the 6th floor. I was told you're supposed to lead me to your boss or the owner of the place," I said, maintaining a professional demeanor.
She nodded and grabbed the phone, dialing a number. "Hello, Mr. Hawkins? He's here for the 6th floor," she said into the receiver. After a brief pause, she listened to the response before replying, "Yeah, of course. I'll let him know." Hanging up the phone, she looked up at me with a professional smile.
"He'll be up shortly. Make sure you take a seat. Thank you for coming to the Grand Dolphin Hotel," she said, her smile warm and welcoming.
I returned her smile and complied with her request, making my way to a seat in the lobby. As I settled into the comfortable chair, I immersed myself in the soothing strains of classical piano music that echoed through the room, reminiscent of tunes from the '80s. The elegant melody filled the air, transporting me to a world of tranquility and refinement as I awaited Mr. Hawkins's arrival.
After a few minutes of waiting, I was greeted by Mr. Hawkins. "Nice to meet you, sir," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.
I reached out my hand to give him a handshake, as I was finna introduce myself, he cut me off.
"I already know your name. I'm a big fan of your books, Mr. Blackwood," he said with a smile, releasing my hand.
"Come with me to my office to discuss further details," he said, motioning for me to follow him. part 4
2024.04.13 20:34 DetectiveFork A Possible Source for the Thunderbird Photo?
 | Could the Missing Thunderbird Photo be a false memory? Here's one old newspaper article that could have been the trigger. submitted by DetectiveFork to Cryptozoology [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/jcdbcf0ghauc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=47f09363a96912f2c148d6ecb3546d1d37a35979 By Kevin J. Guhl Memories of the Missing Thunderbird Photo are so vivid. A monochrome photograph of a group of men, about half a dozen, posing with some type of flying prehistoric beast or impossibly large bird of prey suspended from a wall. Or some variation thereof. It was seen in an old book or periodical, strikingly recalled but forever out of reach for rediscovery. But what if the Thunderbird Photo is the product of jumbled and faded recollections, melded by later influence into a mental picture of something that was never there? If so, can we track down the initial trigger that generated this powerful image? Today we unveil one possibility. Could the Thunderbird Photo be a false memory? Mark Hall, author of "Thunderbirds: America's Living Legends of Giant Birds" (the seminal book on the topic), wrote, "My own expectation at this point in time is that there is a picture of a large dead bird somewhere in an old book. I think that a small number of people have actually seen that particular record. I think that many other people are only responding to the description of that kind of a photograph and are confusing that description with some picture they have seen of a commonplace bird." Mark Chorvinsky, the editor of Strange Magazine who completed the most exhaustive investigation ever taken into the Thunderbird Photo, said many of his trusted colleagues who investigated the anomalous insisted they had seen the photograph. "Why would so many people be certain that they saw it if they did not? But on the other hand, if the photo does not exist, how valuable are first-person accounts, which are the foundation for the widespread belief in many phenomena? If the t-bird photo is merely a false memory, how many other recollections of various phenomena are too?" Zoologist and author Dr. Karl Shuker proposed that a trigger for the Thunderbird Photograph might have been a photo of a marabou stork held up via its wings by African tribesmen, an image that was published in many popular books during the early 1970s, including "The Guinness Book of Records." Shuker wrote that while some skeptics might completely dismiss the Thunderbird Photo as urban folklore, he wondered if "at least some of those people who claim to have seen it have actually seen a superficially similar picture, depicting some large but known species of bird with wings outstretched, and years later have mis-remembered what they saw, erroneously believing that they had actually seen the thunderbird photo. Such an event would be a classic case of false memory syndrome." Dr. Karl Shuker suggested that this photograph of a marabou stork with African tribesmen, published in \"The Guinness Book of Records\" during the 1970s, might be a memory trigger for the Missing Thunderbird Photo. Included here on a Fair Use, educational basis. Our memories aren't like digital recordings, pristinely preserved for all time. They are highly malleable and often unreliable. Criminal psychologist and memory expert Dr. Julia Shaw describes how "post-event information" can influence our memories and come from many possible sources, such as discussing an event with others in person or online, reading articles about the event or related events, or seeing photos taken by ourselves or others. We are also prone to "memory borrowing," appropriating someone else's experiences as our own. People unintentionally confabulate disparate fragments of information into meaningful contexts, explaining how some have impossible memories of early childhood that are derived from stories told by parents, old photographs, etc. One 2008 study demonstrated that just showing participants photos of specific locations they had never visited made them more likely to mistakenly report having visited those places a week or two later. "Any source of information has the potential to change our memories post hoc," wrote Shaw. Why does this happen? As explained by Shaw, memory is made possible by the neuronal plasticity of our brains. Our brain cells—neurons—form networks that connect and store related information, enabling us to learn and adapt. It is an essential survival mechanism. According to scientific theory, wrote Shaw, "every time a memory is recalled it is effectively retrieved, examined, and then recreated from scratch to be stored again." Therefore, any time an event is remembered, it would be prone to corruption by present stimuli, replacing the original memory with a falsified version. The description of the Thunderbird Photo might be so evocative and mysterious that it has the power to convince people they've seen it, possibly incorporating memories of similar information stored in their brains. And this phenomenon has been happening to scores of people over the past several decades. Memories of the Thunderbird Photo are so pervasive that it is an oft-cited example of The Mandela Effect, a situation in which numerous people recall something as real which is provably false. The namesake of this effect is South African President Nelson Mandela, who some recall dying in prison during the 1980s when in actuality he died a free man in 2013. The commonality of such false memories has led to the fantastical notion that we are all catching glimpses of parallel universes in which these alternative realities, such as the Thunderbird Photo, exist. First False Memories? When readings accounts of the Thunderbird Photo, it's interesting to note that the source of the image tends to vary with the age of the witness. Men's adventure magazines, a staple of news racks in the mid-20th century, are a frequently remembered source of the Thunderbird Photo, especially during the 1960s. These vividly illustrated periodicals were known for their high-octane, lurid adventure tales and somewhat exaggerated reporting on burly men encountering exotic locales and women. The first widely printed description of the Thunderbird Photo appeared in one of these magazines, the May 1963 issue of SAGA, in an article by Jack Pearl called "Monster Bird That Carries Off Human Beings!" As one example, prolific Fortean investigator Stan Gordon recalled seeing the Thunderbird Photo in a men's adventure magazine in a bookstore during the late 1960s while attending college in Pittsburgh. "(There) were so many magazines like Saga and all those great magazines. And it was that kind of magazine, like an outdoor magazine. It was a larger, color magazine they had the picture in, but I don't remember which one," said Gordon. Like many other witnesses, Gordon recalls—albeit faintly—that the photograph showed several men standing with a huge, overgrown bird. John Keel, famed chronicler of the paranormal and author of "The Mothman Prophecies," recalled the photo a bit differently. "It looked like a pterodactyl or something; it had an enormous wingspread," he said. "The thing was sort of nailed to a barn, or hanging from a barn or something, and these men — a large group of men — were standing in front of it. They all were very rustic-looking, like real farmers. And one guy had on a top hat and they referred to him in the caption as a college professor, but he was probably just another cowboy... I would say it was like the 1880s or something." Keel believed he had seen the photograph of the "huge, black, pterodactyl-like creature" during the 1950s or 1960s, probably "in a men's magazine like Saga or True" or a tabloid like "The Tattler, Midnight, and other imitations of the National Enquirer." Witnesses who grew up in the later 20th century, from the '70s through the '90s, often recall having seen the Thunderbird Photo in a book, generally one about strange phenomena. One oft-cited source is the Reader's Digest tome "Mysteries of the Unexplained," originally published in 1982 and reprinted several times. The book DOES include a passage on surviving pterodactyls and one alleged example that emerged from ancient limestone and promptly perished, startling French workmen who were digging a railway tunnel in 1856. The book, however, did not contain the infamous Thunderbird Photo. Artist Andrew Minniear, who provided the Thunderbird Photo sketch used as the header image on ThunderbirdPhoto.com, said, "The photo I remember seeing and approximating in my sketch came from a dinosaur book in my elementary school library around 1990 or 1991. I remember that the photograph clearly showed an eagle or otherwise recognizable bird of prey and NOT a pterodactyl as is commonly shown in 'reproductions' of the original photograph. I also clearly remember a line of five or six men dressed in western garb standing in front of the barn wall with their arms outstretched, fingertip to fingertip to demonstrate the measure of the wingspan." The Lost Thunderbird Photo by Andrew Minniear. Used with permission. Starting in the 1990s, artistic recreations of the Missing Thunderbird Photo began to surface. It's likely that people who remember seeing the photo during the internet era are accurately recalling seeing one of these fakes online. Digital artist Chris Smith witnessed this first-hand when he posted his superb take on the photo online in 2010 and to this day it is the go-to example shown in articles, videos and TV programs about the Tombstone Thunderbird. These creators don't always make it clear that the image is artwork and not the real deal. The Tombstone Pterosaur by Chris Smith. Used with permission. However, there is an older generation who claimed to remember seeing the Thunderbird Photo long before the internet, New Age-section books or men's magazines. And in their memory, the photo appeared in a late 19th century or early 20th century newspaper. While the photo was originally said to have debuted in the Tombstone, Arizona Epitaph newspaper during the late 1800s, that claim has been proven inaccurate. The April 26, 1890 edition of the Epitaph featured a wild story about ranchers shooting down a dragon-like beast the size of a Boeing 737 on the desert outside town. It contains elements of the tale associated with the Thunderbird Photo, although it's not about a giant bird and there is no photograph, not even a mention of one. According to Mark Boardman, current editor of The Tombstone Epitaph, the earliest known photograph to appear in the publication was a 1907 ad for an act at the opera house. “Photos were very sporadic through the 1920s, interspersed with drawings and other illustrations,” he said. However, two of the earliest writers to mention the Thunderbird Photo stated that it appeared in a newspaper. Northcentral Pennsylvania resident Hiram M. Cranmer wrote a letter to FATE magazine that was published in its September 1963 issue and appears to have been the same source Pearl used for his article in SAGA. Thus far, it is the earliest published reference to the Thunderbird Photo that has been located. Cranmer claimed that there were massive birds in rural, mountainous Pennsylvania which boasted incredible wingspans between 25-35 feet. He dubbed them "thunderbirds" after the storm entities, frequently described as giant birds, that are central to the beliefs of many Native American groups. In his letter, Cranmer wrote, "Sometime about the year 1900 two prospectors shot and carried into Tombstone, Ariz., on a burro one of these birds. When nailed against the wall of the Tombstone Epitaph its wingspread measured 36 feet. A picture showed six men, with outstretched arms touching, standing under the bird. Later, a group of actors dressed as professors were photographed under the bird, with one of them saying, 'Shucks, there is no such bird, never was, and never will be.'” Cranmer expanded on this tale in a follow-up letter published in the March 1966 edition of FATE, writing: "Previously I have been able to get information about other birds through FATE’s readers. The most interesting was the thunderbird. A lady in Tombstone, Ariz., gave me a splendid account of a thunderbird two prospectors shot and brought into Tombstone and nailed on the side of the newspaper building, the Tombstone Epitaph. Its wingspread measured 36 feet. A picture was taken of six men standing under it with arms outstretched and fingers touching. The photo was copied in many newspapers. The editor notified colleges in states west of the Rockies asking them to examine the bird but no one came. So he got six actors dressed as professors wearing tall hats worn in the 19th Century to pose with the bird. One of them was quoted as saying, 'There ain’t no such bird, never was, and never will be.' The picture was circulated in papers all over the United States.” Robert R. Lyman Sr., who lived near Cranmer in northcentral Pennsylvania, documented the region's history of giant bird sightings in his 1972 book "Amazing Indeed: Strange Events in the Black Forest." He referenced Cranmer's information about the Thunderbird Photo, but added, "I saw that picture in a daily paper. Many other persons remember seeing it. No one has been able to find it in recent years." So, according to the claims of Lyman and Cranmer, it appears the Thunderbird Photo might have been syndicated in newspapers across the United States. This author and other researchers continue to scour digital archives, seeking the elusive, legendary photograph. But what if faded recollections are at play here, and witnesses like Lyman and Cranmer are misremembering images they did see in a newspaper, which merged with accounts of the photo and the Tombstone Epitaph article years later to create a false memory? Based on this hypothesis, let's examine one potential candidate that could have served as a trigger for people who remembered seeing the Thunderbird Photo in an early 20th century newspaper. The American Weekly "Roc" Article In 1896, publisher William Randolph Hearst introduced The American Weekly, a magazine included with his newspapers as a Sunday supplement. Each issue of The American Weekly featured sensationalistic illustrations and text, some of it fictionalized. It's 12-24 large-format pages were "filled with scantily clad showgirls and tales of murder and suspense," wrote illustration historian Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. Hearst and his rival Joseph Pulitzer were known for fueling yellow journalism during the late 1890s as each battled to gain the most readers via pulse-pounding reporting that increased the popular appeal of their newspapers. Content from The American Weekly would appear in Hearst's papers under various mastheads, sometimes titled simply as "Magazine Section" and credited to one of Hearst's three syndicates, International Feature Service, Newspaper Feature Service or King Features Syndicate. The Hearst company opened up distribution of The American Weekly to newspapers outside its ownership in 1938, and the magazine persisted in some form until 1966. Morrill Goddard, the editor of Hearst's flagship New York Journal who launched The American Weekly (first as American Sunday Magazine) in 1896, said, "Nothing is so stale as yesterday's newspaper, but The American Weekly may be around the house for days or weeks and lose none of its interest." Unfortunately, The American Weekly was printed on fragile newsprint, and few copies have survived to the present day. The Sunday, Feb. 13, 1921 of The American Weekly included a full page article headlined, "Did Sinbad-the-Sailor Really See a "Roc"? The article recounted Sinbad the Sailor's first encounter with the gigantic bird, the Roc, as told in the Arabian Nights. Deserted by his shipmates on a desert island while napping, Sinbad stumbled upon a large dome which turned out to be the Roc's massive egg. When the monstrous bird returned and approached its nesting place, the sky darkened as if covered by a thick cloud. Sinbad crept toward the bird and used his turban to fasten himself to the Roc's leg, which was the size of a tree trunk. When the bird ascended, it carried him away to a walled valley carpeted with diamonds and other jewels. "The legends of prehistoric times and the tales of mythology are always based upon something—what sort of creature, then, was it that flew through the skies and inspired this tale of Sinbad in ages long gone by?" the article pondered. The piece then went on to describe some of the massive winged creatures that lived in ages past. This included the Pteranodon, in particular the first North American specimens, discovered by Yale College professor Othniel Charles Marsh in November 1870 in western Kansas. Marsh estimated a wingspan of not less than 20 feet. The American Weekly article also focused on a few enormous but flightless extinct birds, including the "parrot-like" Diatryma (now called Gastornis) that stood more than six-and-a-half feet. A nearly complete skeleton was discovered in northwest Wyoming in 1916. Explorer Marco Polo assigned the Roc's island home to Madagascar, which was also the home of Aepyornis, the nearly 10-foot-tall elephant bird. With Aepyornis having gone extinct within memory of the Malagasy people, it had become associated with the legendary Roc. The article described the Malagasy traveling to Mauritius to purchase rum, and using the petrified eggs of the elephant bird to carry it back. The eggs held approximately two gallons. Finally, the piece showcased a photo of a man standing next to a recreation of an extinct, 14-foot-tall moa of New Zealand. Crucial to this discussion, the article also contained a series of illustrations that display elements similar to what Cranmer later described in his two letters to FATE that referenced the Thunderbird Photo. The central imagery of the Thunderbird Photo is a massive flying creature, wings outstretched and mounted on the exterior wall of a building. Some people remember it as being a barn. Others say there wasn't a building at all. But in the earliest description of the photo, Cranmer wrote, "When nailed against the wall of the Tombstone Epitaph its wingspread measured 36 feet." The American Weekly article included the following drawing depicting the Pteranodon's wingspread compared to a common sight of the day, a trolley car. It does not seem a stretch that the side of the trolley car could be misremembered as a building. https://preview.redd.it/6jcgij3diauc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9dbb8e20bf568f56761e3e056d83fabba7b0a74 The next most distinctive element of the Thunderbird Photo is approximately half a dozen men in period clothing, possibly cowboys, standing in front of the creature, arms outstretched to demonstrate the creature's enormous wingspan. "A picture showed six men, with outstretched arms touching, standing under the bird," Cranmer wrote. But Cranmer added another odd detail (and thereby inferred there might have been multiple versions of the photo): "The editor notified colleges in states west of the Rockies asking them to examine the bird but no one came. So he got six actors dressed as professors wearing tall hats worn in the 19th Century to pose with the bird." While the American Weekly article doesn't depict a group of people, it does include two separate images of a man standing next to a gigantic, extinct avian as a size comparison. The first is a photo of a man standing beside a recreation of a moa. The second is a drawing of a man posing underneath a massive Pteranodon, its wings draped above his head. And the man in question is smartly dressed in a suit and a top hat. https://preview.redd.it/csv97pxhiauc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=d51d94c16cbdac3d14ccc168c2ae7e5b672713d5 Finally, along the top of the article is a detailed illustration of the Roc in flight, massive wings spanning the page and Sinbad dangling from one of its talons. It resembles the bird—not pterosaur—that Cranmer stated was the subject of the infamous photograph. "Roc" might as well have been interchangeable with "Thunderbird" in the way Cranmer described the monster birds inhabiting his home state of Pennsylvania and other regions: "I first saw such a bird in April, 1922," he wrote. "I was standing by my gate at dusk when one flew over heading north. It passed a pine tree with branches spreading 50 feet, so I could estimate its wingspread fairly accurately. It was 35 feet." Lyman also claimed to have personally witnessed these birds, writing: "About 1940 I saw a huge bird which I am certain was a thunderbird. It was on the ground in the center of the Sheldon Road, about two miles north of Coudersport. It was brownish in color. Legs and neck were short. It was between three and four feet tall and stood upright like a very large vulture. When I was about 150 feet away it raised to fly. It was plain to see its wingspread was equal to the width of the roadbed, which I measured and found to be 25 feet. I will concede it may have been 20 feet but no less. The wings were very narrow, not over one foot wide." https://preview.redd.it/dgozh8jviauc1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=44d9c961eba0bf4fabf4c43bc75b24f48d5fb507 All of the elements of the Thunderbird Photo are present in the artwork that accompanies the Feb. 13, 1921 American Weekly article about historical analogs to Sinbad's Roc: a giant feathered bird, a large flying creature spread out along an exterior surface, and a man in a top hat standing beneath a colossal, winged beast. Cranmer was 30 in 1921 and Lyman was 26. It's likely that they both might have read the eye-catching "Roc" article in the popular and widely published American Weekly. Cranmer somehow learned of the 1890 Tombstone Epitaph article, as well, whether it be from a woman in Arizona or perhaps from its inclusion in Major Horace Bell's 1930 book, "On the Old West Coast: Being Further Reminiscences of a Ranger." Both men were deeply invested in tales of giant birds soaring over Pennsylvania. Knowing what we do about the malleability of memory, it's feasible that Cranmer's interest in "Thunderbirds," his knowledge of the 1890 Epitaph story (which doesn't mention a photograph but suggests one could have been taken, as the beast is being hauled into town at the article's conclusion), and vague memories of the American Weekly piece could have merged into a mental stew recollection of late 19th century Arizona men posed with their mammoth trophy bird. In Cranmer's mind, the dragon of the original tale, which did somewhat resemble a Pteranodon with its alligator-like head and leathery wings, might have been replaced with a giant, feathered bird. Lyman, who was aware of Cranmer's account of the Thunderbird Photo when he penned his 1972 book, could have unknowingly appropriated the photo's striking description into his own memory, blending with past triggers. Author, naturalist and pioneering cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson popularized the search for the missing photo he believed he once owned, starting a Fortean obsession in the early 1970s that has never abated. Sanderson's description of the photo matched Pearl's SAGA article. According to Chorvinsky, it's likely that Cranmer mailed the same letter to FATE and SAGA, but SAGA ran it first, albeit as an unreferenced source in Pearl's article. Therefore, future accounts of the photo all have a direct lineage to Cranmer. And in that way, the 1921 "Roc" article is one potential source for the Missing Thunderbird Photo. Although likely just happenstance, this hypothesis manages to synthesize the competing claims that the Missing Thunderbird Photo depicts either a giant bird or a pterosaur, as both were present in the 1921 article. Since Cranmer, the earliest known source of information about the photo, attested that it was a bird, perhaps the idea that it shows a flying reptile extinct for millions of years is wishful thinking. Or, perhaps the "Roc" article influenced multiple early witnesses in different ways, spreading its roots deeper within the Thunderbird Photo mythos. On the other hand, many people are certain they have seen the real Thunderbird Photo, and I am not going to be the one to tell them any differently. As Keel said when questioned by Chorvinsky, "I have a clear memory of the photograph, you know. It's one of those photographs that sticks in your mind. It's not something that I read about, it's something I saw." Before we go, I want to acknowledge Cat Ann ( u/PM_MeYourEars ), my friend and fellow Thunderbird Photo researcher who passed away earlier this year. She and I came across this 1921 article independently and both drew similar conjectures. I already miss sharing such discussions with her, and always will. |
2024.04.12 07:57 adulting4kids Newsletter #2 January 4, 2024
January 4, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
submitted by adulting4kids to writingthruit [link] [comments]
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Russell Brand:
- "The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope."
- Robert Downey Jr.:
- "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
- Eminem (Marshall Mathers):
- "I knew that my first thought was always negative. But now I have learned to just brush it off."
- Demi Lovato:
- "I had to learn the hard way that I can’t do parties anymore. Some people can go out and not be triggered, but that’s not the case for me."
Cited Readings on Addiction and Recovery:
- "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction" by Gabor Maté:
- This book provides a compassionate and holistic understanding of addiction, exploring its biological, psychological, and societal roots.
- "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff:
- A memoir that chronicles a father's struggle to understand and support his son through addiction and recovery.
- "Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions" by Russell Brand:
- Russell Brand shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, offering insights into the 12-step program and mindfulness practices.
- "The Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous):
- The foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing guidance, stories of recovery, and the principles of the 12-step program.
- "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" by David Sheff:
- David Sheff explores the science of addiction and potential solutions, examining both personal and societal perspective.
- Anthony Hopkins:
- "I believe that we all have a basic need to feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we feel threatened, and when we feel threatened, we tend to react in various ways."
- Nicole Richie:
- "I have to be careful. I have to live in balance. I can’t stay up all night but then need to be on time in the morning. But I’m finding my way."
- Elton John:
- "I am a survivor. I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even for someone like me."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I was the wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic. I never did it when I worked. I never took drugs before 5 p.m. I never, ever took painkillers until 5 p.m."
- "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" by Maia Szalavitz:
- This book challenges traditional views on addiction, exploring the role of learning and choice in the development and treatment of addiction.
- "Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction" by Marni Mann:
- A personal memoir that offers a raw and honest account of addiction, detailing the author's journey from addiction to recovery.
- "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy:
- This investigative work explores the opioid crisis in America, shedding light on the complex factors contributing to addiction.
- "Clean: The Journal" by Chris Niosi:
- This interactive journal provides prompts, exercises, and reflections for individuals in recovery, helping them navigate their journey.
- "Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery" by Bill Clegg:
- Bill Clegg shares his personal experiences of recovery in this memoir, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding one's life.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Matthew Perry:
- "I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I've learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about failure is you get to learn from it."
- Drew Barrymore:
- "Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it."
- Rob Lowe:
- "I'm nearly nine years sober, and there's a great quote I read about three years ago that had a huge impact on me. It's from the great Winston Churchill, who said, 'Success is never final, and failure is never fatal.'"
- Kristen Johnston:
- "I’ve been sober for over 14 years now, and the way I live my life is, I don’t think of it like I stopped drinking; I think of it like I started living."
- "High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life" by Tiffany Jenkins:
- A memoir that provides a gripping account of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's journey to rebuild her life.
- "Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford:
- This book offers a comprehensive guide to various forms of addiction and provides practical strategies for recovery.
- "The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living" by Clare Pooley:
- A personal and humorous account of one woman's journey to sobriety, sharing insights and reflections on life without alcohol.
- "Guts" by Kristen Johnston:
- Kristen Johnston's memoir delves into her experiences with addiction and recovery, providing a candid and humorous perspective.
- "This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life" by Annie Grace:
- Annie Grace explores the psychology of alcohol consumption and provides insights to help individuals change their relationship with alcohol.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Craig Ferguson:
- "I had a simple perception of success as getting things that I thought I needed to be happy. I thought that happiness was success. I don’t think that anymore."
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
- "I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes those things take you to the most amazing places."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I know my limits. I know that if I drink again, I will die. Every morning I wake up, I make that choice."
- Steven Tyler (Aerosmith):
- "It’s not about how much you drink. It’s about why you drink. It’s when life gets good, do you celebrate? Or when life gets tough, do you drink?"
- "In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction" by Kate Holden:
- A memoir that explores the author's experience with addiction and her journey toward recovery.
- "Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden:
- This book addresses the specific challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics and provides guidance on healing and recovery.
- "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray:
- A personal and practical guide to quitting alcohol, sharing the author's journey to sobriety and the positive changes it brought to her life.
- "The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath" by Leslie Jamison:
- Combining memoir and research, this book explores the cultural and personal aspects of addiction and recovery.
- "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir" by Lisa F. Smith:
- Lisa Smith's memoir chronicles her journey from high-functioning addiction to recovery, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of sobriety.
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
2024.04.10 02:45 musicorloseittv MusicOrLoseItTV Reddit Community Rules Updated: 2024 April 13 - New Info On NSFW, Cussing, Copyright, Cover Songs, AI
 | MusicOrLoseItTV Reddit Community Rules Updated: 2024 April 13 submitted by musicorloseittv to musicorloseittv [link] [comments] Don’t be intimidated by this long post. A concise list of the rules is displayed at the main homepage for this musicorloseittv subreddit community. Please ensure you familiarize yourself with the rules. I aim to make this community as friendly and fun as possible. I don’t enjoy removing posts or banning. A link to these rules is included in an automatic welcome message sent to all new members. Rule breaking posts will be removed if found. Depending on the severity, rule breaking may result in a warning, temporary ban, or permanent ban. Rules feedback is welcome in the comments area. What’s New?• In order to be more helpful to creators, the “Feedback Request Limitations” rules section elaboration has been updated to state that in a post’s text body only (not the title), mentioning something to the effect, “I am happy to answer any questions about the song or video in the replies” is ok. In attempt to avoid pesky pleas for engagement disguised as feedback requests and doing the utmost to connect music fans and music creators, this gives music creators a bit more latitude. Music creators here are strongly encouraged to read: 10 Ways Music Or Lose It Supports And Encourages Music Creators.• A new section titled “NSFW Content / Cussing / Vulgarity / Graphic Violence Are Not Allowed” has been added to the rules. This includes information about what types of cussing is not allowed at this community. • A new section titled “Required Information In Posts” has been added to the rules. Instructs “Title & Link Share Only” method and also including a link to lyrics are now required. Instructs when to use warnings regarding possible seizure trigger risks and, when allowable, especially sensitive content. • A new section titled “Music Creators / Journalists / Vloggers Must Contact Mods After Joining At Least Once” has been added to the rules. It’s important for music creators, journalists, and vloggers to know who the mods are. • “Share Original Source Links • Copyright” has been changed. It is now “Copyright & Original Source Links” and clarifies that music creators in this community cannot post cover songs or remixes or mashups here unless you have licensing/authorization. It’s also clarified that AI music shared must not violate copyright law. • A previous section titled “Health & Safety” was eliminated. It included information about “promoting and/or glorifying drugs/gangs/violence” which is now covered in the “NSFW Content / Cussing / Vulgarity / Graphic Violence Not Allowed” rules. It also included a requirement to caution members about “Possible Seizure Trigger Risk Warning” which is now covered in the “Required Information In Posts” section. Elaboration Of The Rules1 Have FunYou’re welcome to post your favorite music and initiate music-related discussions within the reasonable bounds of all numbered rules listed below. 2 Respectful Conduct Treat others respectfully. • If you disagree with an opinion, engage in disagreement respectfully. • If you post topics, instead of hate, post to celebrate. • This community abides by the “In-Person Social Party Standard” outlined here: https://www.reddit.com/musicorloseittv/comments/1c08fls/comment/kyuslvi ➤ Elaboration: ‣ “In-Person Social Party Standard” Explanation: If you were at a pleasant in-person social gathering, everyone would be expected to behave respectfully and politely. If someone becomes offensive by brazenly being rude or instigating conflict, you’d expect the host to make the offender stop or leave. ‣ Free Speech VS Freedom Of Association: Social media venues are the digital-town-square and, despite being so-called “private companies,” are often operating as in-effect governments. While I personally demand government and social media venues allow me utmost free speech, this does not require me to accept any conduct from anyone else on an induvial basis or private group basis. I expect government to let me live peacefully in my home yet that doesn’t mean after inviting guests over I should then be forbidden from ordering them to leave if they behave offensively to me in my personal space. ‣ Higher Standards For Online Discussions: This community is meant to be a fun place for music fans and music creators to enjoy music together. Personal attacks have no place here regarding race/nationality, age, religion/non-religion, gender, medical conditions, economic status, political views, or being LGBT+. Mocking someone’s death is unwelcome here. ‣ Be Uplifting – Not Needlessly Upsetting: When a member of this subreddit community shares favorite music, unless they’re specifically inviting debate, there’s no need to declare your dislike of the music someone else is enjoying – especially when it seems it would serve no purpose other than unnecessarily being a downer on their enjoyment. ‣ Examples Of Ways To Respectfully Disagree (Only When Debate Is Invited):
10 Ways to Disagree Online Without Being a Jerk https://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2018/june/10-ways-to-disagree-online-without-being-jerk.html 3 NSFW Content / Cussing / Vulgarity / Graphic Violence Are Not Allowed Cussing, extremely sexual, intoxicant glorifying, gang promoting, violent, or especially scary/gory/maleficent content is not allowed here. • If you wish to share content you feel justifies an exception for artistic merit or important societal discussion, contact mods for consideration. A “Message the mods” option is at the homepage. • No sexual/violent/gross/sexual innuendo usernames. ➤ Elaboration: There is a vast library of music available for humanity to choose from with plenty of music that is suitable for this community’s rules. ‣ Zero Tolerance: Any discovered interactions that appear to be an adult inappropriately interacting with someone underage will be removed, reported to Reddit, and reported to authorities. Any such offender will be permanently banned. ‣ Appropriate Conduct: I want to ensure adults here are utmost responsible regarding what’s shared among the presence of community members who are aged 13-17 as allowed by Reddit. If you are unsure if the music you are thinking about sharing in this community is ok or not, ask yourself, “Would a typical parent/guardian likely find this music to be acceptable in the presence of their 13-17yo teens? If an adult stranger wanted to share this with my child/grandchild/nibling, would I be ok with that?” If no, don’t share it. Mod reserves right to override members’ judgment calls and remove any content. ‣ Cussing: Regarding hard cussing, even some adults are uncomfortable with it. Any variations of F word, S word, C word, D word, N word (er or a), ahole word(s), or sexually vulgar words are not allowed here. This includes versions in other languages and emojis used in a vulgar manner. Be considerate of people of different faith backgrounds and do not use religious words in a manner likely to be offensive. Despite infrequently cussing in my personal life at times, I try not to cuss around strangers out of consideration of their comfort levels. This rejection of cussing is in accordance with the aforementioned, “In-Person Social Party Standard.” This applies both to music shared and also language used in posts and comments. ‣ Exceptions For Artistic Merit And Important Societal Discussions: As mentioned above, if you wish to share content you feel justifies an exception for artistic merit or societal discussion, contact mods for consideration. A “Message the mods” option is at the homepage. However you must be willing to accept if “no” ends up being the answer. Songs or videos depicting addiction in a manner that does not glorify intoxicants will likely be allowed with an “Especially Sensitive Content Warning.” Content warnings will be discussed below. An example of this is the music video “The Actor” by Alt-J because the drug addiction addressed is done in a serious manner. Songs or videos depicting difficult subject matters important for societal discussion will likely be allowed with an “Especially Sensitive Content Warning.” Content warnings will be discussed below. An example of this is the song “Simmer” by Hayley Williams which includes the F word when refencing a potential abuser. ‣ Usernames: After “me too,” one would think social media sites would be more mindful about not allowing sexually vulgar usernames. If someone walked up to your spouse/partner and/or your teens at an ordinary social event and identified themselves in a sexually graphic manner, you wouldn’t tolerate it. Sexually vulgacrass/violent/gang/drug-reference/offensive/controversial usernames are not allowed here. ‣ Trolling: anyone suspected of trying to circumvent the unallowed cussing and unallowed content rules by seemingly repeatedly testing the limits will be warned and possibly banned. ‣ Members Who Wish To Be Designated Curators: This Music Or Lose It subreddit community will at times offer select music fans and select music creators to collaborate as discussion leaders or music curators for special posts such as Song Of The Day. Curator collaborators cannot have NSFW profiles nor profiles displaying extremely sexual, crass, intoxicant glorifying, gang promoting, violent, or especially scary, gory, maleficent content. It’s the mod’s judgment call. Anyone can easily create a second Reddit profile free of that type of content. Especially when using the app, Reddit makes it easy to switch from one account/profile to another. ‣ Moderator Mental Health: For my own mental health and well-being, I do not want to be bombarded with crassness, vulgarity, graphic violence, and disturbing images. I personally feel there’s an excess of this type of music content at this point in history. I want to contribute to sharing music that – whether joyful or sad – can reasonably be expected to be suitable for the widest range of people possible. There are plenty of places online where crass for the sake of scoring shock value views can be shared. If crass/vulgaviolent/disturbing music content is your primary interest, this community isn’t the right one for you. No subreddit community can be everything to everyone. ‣ Mods Can’t Catch Every Violation: There’s no humanly-possibly way a moderator can catch every rule violation. Reddit provides mods no tools to know if any members have a criminal record. Reddit appears to provide mods no tools to distinguish 13-17yo profiles from 18+yo profiles. If you see something you suspect is inappropriate, dangerous or illegal, you can report the post. To report, look for three horizontal dots in the post/reply area > then click and a menu of icons will appear > select the flag icon. ‣ Resources: Parenting, Media, and Everything in Between https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/online-safety Cybersecurity Awareness Program Parent and Educator Resources https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/cybersecurity-awareness-program-parent-and-educator-resources 4 Required Information In Posts Posts must be done using “Title & Link Share Only” method so that accompanying URL images are likely to be visible • “⚠️Possible Seizure Trigger Risk Warning” is required for vids with flashing visuals or extremely fast and frequent edits or dizzying images • “⚠️Especially Sensitive Content Warning” is required for rules-compliant content that might be especially upsetting to vulnerable people • A link to lyrics must be included. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ “Title & Link Share Only” Method: At https://www.reddit.com/musicorloseittv/comments/1aexdgp/seeming_solution_to_the_problem_of_accompanying the post titled “Seeming Solution To The Problem Of Accompanying Link Images Not Appearing In Desktop View” shows screenshots how to do the “Title & Link Share Only” method properly. The post also explains why this is important to this community’s music fans and music creators. Failing to post using this method tends to result in the images accompanying URL links not being visible to members accessing this community on desktop/laptop web browsers. Each new member should receive an automated welcome greeting. The greeting includes a link explaining why the “Title & Link Share Only Method” is best. ‣ Possible Seizure Trigger Risk Warning In Post Titles: If you share content with strobes, flashing lights, especially dizzying visuals, and/or an especially high amount of numerous fast edits, include in your post title “Possible Seizure Trigger Risk Warning.” This is important to do, being mindful of people with vulnerable medical conditions such as photosensitive epilepsy. Use your best reasonable judgment. Include the ⚠️ emoji with these warnings. ‣ Reference: Epilepsy Foundation Files Criminal Complaint And Requests Investigation In Response To Attacks On Twitter Feed -- Use Of Flashing And Strobing Lights, Including Gifs And Videos, Harmful To People With Epilepsy And Seizures https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/epilepsy-foundation-files-criminal-complaint-and-requests-investigation-response-attacks ‣ Especially Sensitive Content Warning: If you want to share allowable music that might be upsetting to vulnerable people who have experienced abuse, PTSD, addiction, mental medical conditions, or other circumstances worthy of utmost sensitivity, include a waring in the post title or in the post text-body. When in doubt, contact mods beforehand. A “Message the mods” option is at the homepage. Include the ⚠️ emoji with these warnings. Example: ⚠️ Especially Sensitive Content Warning: The following song and music vid reference drug use. Mod has approved this post as an allowable, discretionary exception to rule #3 for important societal discussion. ‣ Lyrics: A lyrics link is required in the post-body section. Lyrics websites include Shazam, Lyrics . com, LyricFind, and AZLyrics/Musixmatch. If song is non-English, include English translation link. Don’t re-post lyrics in text body if you are not copyright owner. Lyrics are now required in order to be utmost inclusive to people for whom English is a second language and also people deaf/hard of hearing, experiencing hearing loss, learning disability, attention deficit, and autism. This is required even for lyrics videos so that people with these difficulties have additional aid to follow along at their own pace. Alternatively, if you share a Spotify link that includes lyrics or a YouTube vid with the lyrics in the upload description, instead of providing a lyrics link URL, you can cite that in the post-body section. This is not required if song is instrumental or has incomprehensible anti-oration instead of actual words. Examples: (note - to be clear, the URL text does not have to be visible in the post - in standalone posts, Reddit will automatically transform URLs into showing the URL's accompanying image) Nat King Cole - Unforgettable https://youtu.be/iF7kOq0peAU Lyrics or David Kushner - Daylight https://youtu.be/PZtwxD5Myk0 Lyrics available in video upload description or James Horner - Rose https://youtu.be/iUH0dEe1jvA Lyrics N/A, has incomprehensible anti-oration instead of actual words or Hans Zimmer - Inception: Time - Orchestra Version https://youtu.be/SswRnJgX1_s Lyrics N/A, instrumental ‣ References: How Closed Captions Benefit More Than the Deaf and Hard of Hearing https://www.rev.com/blog/caption-blog/how-captions-benefit-more-than-the-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing Importance of Captions for Everyone https://www.usu.edu/accessibility/captions/benefits 5 Copyright & Original Source Links Suspected copyright violations will be removed from this community. • Share official source links for content such as songs/vids/ + news reports + social media posts. • Music creators may share only music and visuals they entirely created themselves or are licensed/authorized to use. • Music creators cannot post unauthorized covers/remixes/mashups. • AI music shared must not violate copyright law. • Lawful parody and legitimate fair use is welcome. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ To Music Creators: share only music you entirely created and own all aspects of (audio and visuals). If you did not create any aspect of the audio and visuals that are a part of the music you share (such as artwork accompanying your song on Spotify or your music video’s footage) then you must have licensing/authorization to use the audio and visuals which you didn’t create. This means in this community you cannot post covers/remixes/mashups of other music entertainers’ content unless you have licensing/authorization to use that material. If you’re using aspects of copyrighted or creative commons or “free” material, your original-source upload description must confirm you’ve got permission (or licensing) to use the copyrighted material. Suspected violations will be removed at mods’ discretion. You are strongly encouraged to upload your best and/or newest original content. ‣ To Music Fans: Please share music links directly from the official profiles of music entertainers from well-known mainstream sources like YouTube or SoundCloud. Alternatively it's ok to upload live performances from official channels’ music shows, talk shows, and awards shows in instances which it's likely a licensing agreement has occurred between the copyright owner and this type of uploader. Music Or Lose It does not support uploading from unofficial channels because that will dilute view counts. Links from channels that re-upload entertainers’ music in collage vids (using images they likely don’t own copyright to) if found will be removed. ‣ YouTube's Unique Copyright Detection System: YouTube appears to allow random people to upload famous entertainers’ music and then appears to give any money made from that uploaded music to the copyright owner. When this happens and the upload is allowed to remain, it is reasonably presumed those types of YouTube uploads from random people seem to have been entered into an in-effect licensing agreement. Because of that in-effect licensing agreement, posted YouTube links of dance-routines, remixes, and mashups may be allowed here as an exception to the above-mentioned requirements. It's up to the discretion of the mods. ‣ Copyrighted Photos, Clip Art & Images: uploads of photos, clip art, and images you don’t own the copyright to if found will be removed. ‣ Don't Copy & Paste News Reports: do not repost the entire text of a journalist’s report in your posts. Instead - just post the link to their report. Suspected violations if found will be removed. ‣ Artificial Intelligence (AI): Music created using artificial intelligence must comply with copyright law. Legislation is presently evolving regarding this type of music’s impact on copyright holders’ and celebrities’ likeness. See: Elvis Act Becomes Law as Tennessee Leads the Nation. While lawful parody will be considered, AI music suspected of copyright violations will be removed. It’s up to mod’s discretion. ‣ Fair Use & Parody: Music Or Lose It is a strong supporter of fair use and entirely opposes how venues like YouTube are set up to allow automatic disputes that result in frequent demonetization of music reviews and video essays playing small excerpts of copyrighted music. However it’s also clear some content creators don’t fully understand fair use. If a post here is suspected of failing fair use standards and indeed violating copyright, it will be removed. ‣ References:
Reply to the supportive comments you receive. • If your post gets popular, reply to at least five of the comments. • If you hope people will reply to and upvoter your posts - then you can understand other members also hope to receive the same support. • Reciprocate the encouragement. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ To The Music Fans: We should treat others as we wish to be treated. All music fans who post here probably want to connect with other music fans hoping someone will write something nice about what they’ve shared. If you see a post by someone else with 0 comments, please consider sparing some time to post something nice to make your fellow music fan feel less alone – as time permits now and then. The more potential new members see upvotes and plentiful replies, the more they’re likely to join. The more new people who join, the more the things you post are likely to be upvoted and replied to. ‣ To The Music Creators: This Music Or Lose It subreddit community wants to be as welcoming as possible to music creators. It’s one of the few subreddit communities that embraces “self promoting.” I totally understand some creators are already inundated with numerus tasks and may not like online forums’/communities’ expectations of engaging – such as replying to other people’s posts. As a creator myself, I used to totally dislike that expectation because I felt it was unreasonable. However, now that I have experience as a moderator, anecdotally I can relay that it seems creators who find time to interact with this small community get more replies on their own posts. Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you want to be heard and seen then imagine other music creators do too. As time permits now and then, reply something nice on another music creator’s post. If your Reddit username is the same as your brand username, replying genuinely (not spammy) to posts increases brand name visibility and creates the type of goodwill that makes people want to support you. If you haven’t already, at https://www.reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion be sure to read “Guidelines for self-promotion on reddit.” 7 Goods, Services & Scam Prevention Event tickets may not be sold/traded here • Goods + services may be sold so long as you link to a trusted site such as like Fiverr, Ebay or Etsy where you can publicly be rated. • Use caution before exchanging personal information or money. • Resources: Scams and fraud by USAGov https://www.usa.gov/scams-and-fraud + How To Avoid a Scam by Federal Trade Commission https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam ➤ Elaboration: ‣ Be Vigilant To Anyone Trying To Get Money And/Or Personal Info From You: If anyone offers services to increase my status as a content creator, I research them with utmost scrutiny. It’s entirely ok to ask questions such as “Do you have an online presence where I can confirm you’re a real person with your legal name and location – such as LinkedIn?... Do you have uploaded proof of your credentials… Do you guarantee your results?... Do you offer contingency basis?... Are you on any public websites where the goods or services you offer has been rated such as Fiverr, Ebay or Etsy?” Feel free to copy and paste these questions to use if you conclude they’re helpful. 8 Participation Fairness “Wait For 8” Rule: wait until 8 others post here before you post again. • Re-sharing the same content must be limited to every 2 weeks • Mod announcements, contests, and posts to promote discussions by designated members and select curators are exempt • There is no limit to legitimately replying (not spamming) to other people’s posts. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ “Wait For 8” Rule: This prevents inappropriate feed dominating. In the past, some music fans joined and excitedly shared numerous favorite songs -- post after post after post -- within minutes of joining. Some music creators joined and immediately shared numerous songs they made. Communities overtaken by feed dominators seem to result in poor engagement. Instead of a bombardment of feed dominating by 1 person, it’s better when community members get to experience a variety of posts. ‣ No Limit to Legitimately Replying To Other Posts: So long as you’re not spamming or disingenuously replying to self promote, there is no limit to replying to other peoples’ posts. Repeatedly posting the same text as a response to numerous posts (or to other members’ replies) is not legitimate. ‣ Exemption: There is an exception to this rule for the monthly summary and also community announcements/updates/contests/polls posted by the moderators. However, even the mods must be mindful of spacing those types of posts out, in order to not get carried away with inundating members with those types of posts. There is also an exception to this rule for discussions of cultural events (award shows, album release by major superstar, etc…) initiated by the moderators. An additional exception to this rule is for community members appointed by mods as select curators to initiate themed discussion posts - such as Song Of The Day. Likewise exempt designated community members still need to be mindful of avoiding feed dominating. 9 Music Creators / Journalists / Vloggers Must Contact Mods After Joining At Least Once If you are a music creator, journalist, or vlogger who wishes to post your content in this community, you must contact the mods at least once to familiarize yourself with them. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ Why It’s Important For Creators To Make Contact With Mods After Joining: Akin to how you would introduce yourself to a host of a pleasant in-person social gathering you were invited to and attend, you need to make contact with mod of this musicorloseittv subreddit community at least once after you join. After joining, mod typically sends a check in type message to music creators, journalists, or vloggers who join. A reply to that message suffices as contact. If somehow you don’t receive a message from mods, then be sure to send one to the mods. A “Message the mods” option is at the homepage. This is important so that you know how to reach mods in case you have any questions. What’s more, at times there are contests for music creators and mods may need to contact you with questions pertaining to the contests. We want to ensure there is open communication. 10 Feedback Request Limitations Feedback requests by content creators in-effect disguising as pleas for engagement will be removed. • Feedback can only be requested once a quarter when something very specific is asked before/during project creation or for demo versions. • For elaboration see: https://www.reddit.com/musicorloseittv/comments/1asro52/rule_update_limiting_feedback_requests_to_works ➤ Elaboration: ‣ To The Music Creators: It’s worth emphasizing so I repeat: This Music Or Lose It subreddit community wants to be as welcoming as possible to music creators. It’s one of the few subreddit communities that embraces “self promoting.” At https://www.reddit.com/musicorloseittv/comments/1bxhfs6/10_ways_music_or_lose_it_supports_and_encourages you are encouraged to read “10 Ways Music Or Lose It Supports And Encourages Music Creators.” ‣ Please Don't Try To Bypass The Feedback Request Limit: Writing something such as "Let me know what you think" is in-effect asking for feedback. If found, this type of post will likely be removed. It's not necessary. The existence of the comments section is already prompting a call for feedback. In your post’s text body only (not title), mentioning something to the effect, “I am happy to answer any questions about the song or video in the replies” is ok. ‣ Resources For Self Promoting: At https://www.reddit.com/musicorloseittv/comments/1asro52/rule_update_limiting_feedback_requests_to_works the post includes a list of numerous places for music creators to best seek feedback at. 11 High Quality VS Low Quality Using all-caps, excessive emojis, “live,” or “spoiler” to bait for extra attention will be removed. • Teasepreview content and content only accessible by subscription will be removed. • Ensure posted questions aren’t something you can easily find in an online search. • Ensure post titles are clear and not vague. • Cite sources when making extradentary claims. ➤ Elaboration: 👎 Low Quality Post / Reply Behavior Likely To Be Removed:
👍 High quality post examples
‣ When Numerus Emojis Are Ok: While adding more than 2 emojis in post titles may result in removal if found, using numerous emojis are ok as substitutions for bullet point characters when you post something with a lot of text - to break up the monotony. ‣ Suspicious Links: Links from suspicious websites that may be dangerous if found will be removed. 12 Moderators May Delete Anything At Our Discretion If suspected rule breaking, conflict instigating, off topic posts, illegal content/conduct, or Reddit TOS violations are found then it will be removed and may result in banning. ➤ Elaboration: ‣ Discretion Of Mods: Mods cannot anticipate every bad scenario possible. Mods are within our rights to remove anything that we feel devalues this community. If a post is removed, it should remain in the “Posts” log of a member’s Reddit profile with a red trash can icon. The member can therefore still access the removed post and comments. Only the member themselves can permanently delete a post from their own profile’s “Posts” log. Rule Updates History
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2024.04.05 07:57 adulting4kids Newsletter #2 January 4, 2024
January 4, 2024
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
submitted by adulting4kids to writingthruit [link] [comments]
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊🕛🥳 I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits.
♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓⛎ I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology📒 that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.🏆🪶🥠🥡
🌹🌹🌹Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a 🌹🌹🌹Anthology chapter👀 introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.👀🌹
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!🕛❤️🔥
🔥This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!🔥
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
This is our featured subject for January. We are going to focus on getting ready for working towards sobriety, if you struggling with bad habits or are addicted to something that's causing you more harm than good - check out the resources, articles and readings that are designed to accomplish the initial assessment of getting clean 🫧🪥. No judgement, no mandatory participation, just some things that are designed to make it easier to start that process.
January 4, 2024
🏠🏡 JANUARY = CLEAN UP YOUR HOUSE MONTH You are the house!🏠🏡
Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Russell Brand:
- "The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope."
- Robert Downey Jr.:
- "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don't change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal."
- Eminem (Marshall Mathers):
- "I knew that my first thought was always negative. But now I have learned to just brush it off."
- Demi Lovato:
- "I had to learn the hard way that I can’t do parties anymore. Some people can go out and not be triggered, but that’s not the case for me."
Cited Readings on Addiction and Recovery:
- "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction" by Gabor Maté:
- This book provides a compassionate and holistic understanding of addiction, exploring its biological, psychological, and societal roots.
- "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction" by David Sheff:
- A memoir that chronicles a father's struggle to understand and support his son through addiction and recovery.
- "Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions" by Russell Brand:
- Russell Brand shares his personal journey through addiction and recovery, offering insights into the 12-step program and mindfulness practices.
- "The Big Book" (Alcoholics Anonymous):
- The foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous, providing guidance, stories of recovery, and the principles of the 12-step program.
- "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy" by David Sheff:
- David Sheff explores the science of addiction and potential solutions, examining both personal and societal perspective.
- Anthony Hopkins:
- "I believe that we all have a basic need to feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we feel threatened, and when we feel threatened, we tend to react in various ways."
- Nicole Richie:
- "I have to be careful. I have to live in balance. I can’t stay up all night but then need to be on time in the morning. But I’m finding my way."
- Elton John:
- "I am a survivor. I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of pitfalls, even for someone like me."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I was the wildly controlled drug addict and alcoholic. I never did it when I worked. I never took drugs before 5 p.m. I never, ever took painkillers until 5 p.m."
- "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" by Maia Szalavitz:
- This book challenges traditional views on addiction, exploring the role of learning and choice in the development and treatment of addiction.
- "Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction" by Marni Mann:
- A personal memoir that offers a raw and honest account of addiction, detailing the author's journey from addiction to recovery.
- "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy:
- This investigative work explores the opioid crisis in America, shedding light on the complex factors contributing to addiction.
- "Clean: The Journal" by Chris Niosi:
- This interactive journal provides prompts, exercises, and reflections for individuals in recovery, helping them navigate their journey.
- "Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery" by Bill Clegg:
- Bill Clegg shares his personal experiences of recovery in this memoir, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of rebuilding one's life.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Matthew Perry:
- "I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I've learned a lot from my failures, but the best thing about failure is you get to learn from it."
- Drew Barrymore:
- "Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it."
- Rob Lowe:
- "I'm nearly nine years sober, and there's a great quote I read about three years ago that had a huge impact on me. It's from the great Winston Churchill, who said, 'Success is never final, and failure is never fatal.'"
- Kristen Johnston:
- "I’ve been sober for over 14 years now, and the way I live my life is, I don’t think of it like I stopped drinking; I think of it like I started living."
- "High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life" by Tiffany Jenkins:
- A memoir that provides a gripping account of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's journey to rebuild her life.
- "Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction" by Christopher Kennedy Lawford:
- This book offers a comprehensive guide to various forms of addiction and provides practical strategies for recovery.
- "The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living" by Clare Pooley:
- A personal and humorous account of one woman's journey to sobriety, sharing insights and reflections on life without alcohol.
- "Guts" by Kristen Johnston:
- Kristen Johnston's memoir delves into her experiences with addiction and recovery, providing a candid and humorous perspective.
- "This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life" by Annie Grace:
- Annie Grace explores the psychology of alcohol consumption and provides insights to help individuals change their relationship with alcohol.
More Quotes from Individuals in Recovery:
- Craig Ferguson:
- "I had a simple perception of success as getting things that I thought I needed to be happy. I thought that happiness was success. I don’t think that anymore."
- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
- "I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes those things take you to the most amazing places."
- Jamie Lee Curtis:
- "I know my limits. I know that if I drink again, I will die. Every morning I wake up, I make that choice."
- Steven Tyler (Aerosmith):
- "It’s not about how much you drink. It’s about why you drink. It’s when life gets good, do you celebrate? Or when life gets tough, do you drink?"
- "In My Skin: A Memoir of Addiction" by Kate Holden:
- A memoir that explores the author's experience with addiction and her journey toward recovery.
- "Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics" by Herbert L. Gravitz and Julie D. Bowden:
- This book addresses the specific challenges faced by adult children of alcoholics and provides guidance on healing and recovery.
- "The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober" by Catherine Gray:
- A personal and practical guide to quitting alcohol, sharing the author's journey to sobriety and the positive changes it brought to her life.
- "The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath" by Leslie Jamison:
- Combining memoir and research, this book explores the cultural and personal aspects of addiction and recovery.
- "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir" by Lisa F. Smith:
- Lisa Smith's memoir chronicles her journey from high-functioning addiction to recovery, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs of sobriety.
I'd like to see how you all are feeling about the content that gets posted here. I sometimes post on my profile,🔥 usually longer articles from scholarly pursuits. I have a newer subreddit based on my Tarot content, at tarotjourneys for the most recent content that I have been working on in that subject area. I'm not sure if I will have new subreddits for different subjects, or if I can keep it together here. I am going to be posting and cross posting so join both or don't, just read and connect with me here, or there!
Also next week will be the first contest in the annual anthology that will be good for you guys to start getting involved in this community. Post will go up on the 8th and stay up one week. There is going to be a three week option for submitting and then we will be selecting the first winner 🏆 on February 7th. Announced on February 9th. Next month contest will be February 8th. And so on.
Prizes for the short story and poetry is $100 cash and promotions, as well as a place in the annual anthology! Our artwork is going to be a prize of $50 and featured in materials and online, then it will be a Anthology chapter introduction, and compete for the cover, with the monthly winners. The same dates apply to the three different contests.
Anyone can enter, up to three submissions in each category! First entry in each category is free. Each additional entry is just $10 via PayPal or Cash App. If you don't have the ability to pay, we have a few waiver.
Our sponsors will be featured in the first post so even if you don't want to enter, read about us then!!!
This will be a great way to get published! I can't wait to see you guys enter!
This is January 4, 2024 newsletter #2.
2024.04.03 14:28 Bilking-Ewe sElf - Gizmodgery
 | I am just posting some stuff I don’t see on here already. Self is just a fun band and how much more fun can you have than making an album with children’s toys? The Cover of What A Fool Believes is pretty terrific. submitted by Bilking-Ewe to vinyl [link] [comments] From Wikipedia: Self (stylized as sElf) is an American alternative pop rock band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The band is led by Matt Mahaffey.[1] The band currently consists of Chris James (keyboards, piano, samplers, guitar, backing vocals), Mac Burrus (bass guitar, keyboards, horns, backing vocals), and Jason Rawlings (drums). Past members include Matt's brother, Mike Mahaffey (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Timm Nobles (bass guitar). Mahaffey cites Electric Light Orchestra, Prince, and Pixies as some of his biggest musical influences. Gizmodgery is the fifth studio album by alternative pop/rock band Self.[4][5] It released in 2000 by Spongebath Records. The LP was recorded entirely with children's toy instruments.[6] It was released in the short-lived HDCD format. The album contains a cover of the Doobie Brothers' hit song "What a Fool Believes".[7] "Trunk Fulla Amps" appears twice on the album, the second version with the expletives removed. The song references and parodies a variety of rock artists, including Freddie Mercury/Queen, ELO, Glenn Danzig/Danzig, and Lenny Kravitz.[citation needed] The Japanese import version of the album contains the bonus track "Resurrect", and alternate artwork. |
2024.04.02 06:00 requiesticat Big In Japan, plus new details about the OVA we're searching for
 | I was looking into that "Big In Japan" AMV people found and went down a rabbit hole. According to saucenao, the preview image is from an old 90s anime called Ceres, Celestial Legend/Ayashi no Seresu. Specifically, that thumbnail was taken from the second episode of Ayashi. The girl in the image is the main character, and has blonde hair which is colored differently depending on the artwork, appearing to be white in some drawings. submitted by requiesticat to SakisanNoBashitsu [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/5ej6cz06ozrc1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6e6ba9958ed84fc03c04931f6d67b75c1a4b774 https://preview.redd.it/cbgi5v57ozrc1.jpg?width=253&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c262256f26c9af499d396ce61bcf1624d361e6cc https://preview.redd.it/e4d4ie71pzrc1.jpg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2881f46c3ed2af73e10ff9113fd4b523ea187262 A few recollections cite that they may have watched a bootlegged hentai based on an existing work, so I searched to see if this show has an adult spinoff. This led to discovering a website on geocities which catalogues OVAs from around that time period (I first checked their review of Twin Angels out of curiosity). Haven't looked through all of them yet, but maybe we can use this for research purposes. Each review features images from the OVA and a short summary. https://www.geocities.ws/kyosan16/reviews.html This is unrelated, but someone asked on a different subreddit about an anime they saw that they didn't know the name of. It sounds really similar to Go For A Punch. When a commenter suggested this was Saki Sanobashi, OP stated that fit the bill. They also mentioned a detail I haven't seen people bring up before, which involved a scene of one of the girls squeezing someone's hand hard enough to crack bones. A specific plot recalled is that the girls were trapped in a locker room by the yazuka as punishment for something (most likely crimes), which matches up with what was described in the post. While I'm hesitant to bother users who have provided recollections of GFAP, it might be worth asking if anyone remembers seeing that specifically, and can provide more details. As for whether OP is being honest here, I don't think they were aware Saki existed to begin with, so in this case they could very well be telling the truth. |