Snoozic

I listen to music to help me sleep.

I know a lot of people need some noise for them to fall asleep. I can't do silence. I remember once upon a time, sleeping at my school buddy's house out along Priory Drive at Nettlestone - for those of you not anywhere near the Isle of Wight, that used to be a very, very quiet little berg. After nine, the place is quiet as the grave.

I couldn't sleep. At all. I found it impossible. Admittedly I was just coming into the insomnia that I currently still suffer from, so that might have been a contributing factor - but still.

So living in the middle of town suits me. I've lived on a main road; I've stayed in a house backing onto a busy rail line and I found that easy, no problem. I just need SOME noise.

I found out quite accidentally that some kinds of music really do help, when I actually settle down to sleep.

Yeah, I was as surprised as you are.

Other albums help me sleep; a lot of scores and soundtracks, including The Hunt For Red October, Kingdom Of Heaven, the game soundtracks to Anno 1800 and Frostpunk, and... also Schindler's List?

I dunno, it just helps. Has for years.

But I also have a Spotify playlist, named [zZzZz]. You can click the linky to give it a listen, or I will maybe embed it here?

But for those of you that don't use Spotify, here's the list.

• Zero 7 - Give It Away
• Robots With Rayguns - Breathless
• Trees And Jets - Goldfish (feat. Monique Hellenburg)
• Robots With Rayguns - Desire
• Zero 7 - I Have Seen (feat. Mozez)
• Savlonic - The Roll
• Gigamesh - I'd Do It Again (feat. Gavin Turek)
• Zero 7 - Destiny (feat. Sia & Sophie Barker)
• Air - Alone In Kyoto
• Zero 7 - When It Falls
• Timecop1983 - Neon Lights (feat. Josh Dally)

Hope those links work.

Yeah, there's a lot of Zero 7 in there - three of them from the same album. Two RWR songs too. But I think you can see what they all have in common; lots of keys, lots of synthy sounds, and with two exceptions, generally a low-mid BPM.

It all generates a kind of mental soundscape; like a city, late at night, people outside moving around but none of it coming in to affect you. Like the world is going about its business, and you are safe to get the rest that you need to get.

I could (and maybe should) add to the list a little, at some point. There's a couple of Portishead tracks that would work really well, like Roads; some soundtrack songs that I wish were available, like Nightstalker from Ghost In The Shell.

Here's the scene from the movie it's from.

I've had to rely on music to get to sleep a lot more often than usual, for obvious reasons. So this has kind of been in my mind recently.

Just a small diversion from the world at large.

Thank you for reading. Support your humble author via Patreon or Kofi, or follow social media on the right. See you next week.

Readers Request - Irredeemable, Ironheart, Outrage, Animals

You know the drill by this point, people. I asked for some questions, comments or topics - I will answer them. Got some good ones here. Without further ado.

Your 3 favourite characters from popular fiction that are morally problematic.

Megatron - problematic for obvious reasons, he's a tyrannical despot at the best of times, but like he's cool, you know. Roy Batty - yeah murder is sticky but if you want change, sometimes you gotta pop the mega-wealthy people's heads. The Emperor of Mankind - whoops I accidentally a galactic genocide.

Redeemable Tory Cabinet member.

...so I've stared at the list of current members of the cabinet and.... like... none. ...just... I can't. There are none. None. No. Sorry. None.

Separating artist from works - Harry Potter from J.K Rowling for example.

Ooookay. Well. ...if you want to like the art in question while not agreeing with the artist, that is probably okay - BUT - the art isn't actually separate. For one thing, they are probably still drawing royalties, every time you buy a Hufflepuff scarf or a Gary Glitter-themed mug.

For another - well, when someone creates a piece of art, it is almost never totally divorced from who they actually are. It is informed by their attitude, by their thought process, by their life experience. It's why books written by very wealthy people that include poor people - or vice versa - rarely feel terribly realistic, or clearly push a specific agenda relating to those people without any actual realism behind it.

Many authors do a fantastic job of worldbuilding but make a world totally informed by their worldview of this planet, and their experiences of it, however limited. It's hard to step outside of how you see things, and what things, specifically, you have seen. It's why a lot of the old sci fi books are, frankly, pretty racist and pretty sexist. It's why we renamed the Campbell Award to the Astounding Award - because scifi shouldn't be rewarded in the name of a racist and segregationist who didn't believe in lung cancer or medical regulation.

I, personally, have a hard time with it. But then I think too much about stuff. I can probably do a serious over-read into most things if you give me a title and an angle. (Wreck-It Ralph? Totally all about just staying in your lane and never wanting to change your life.) So if you the reader can read a book and be chill with the author being shit in the ways they are shit? That's different strokes I guess. But more importantly - be AWARE of the author's attitudes, the musician's angle, the director's bias. Be aware of it, so that you are informed as to why they might make certain decisions in their creative process.

And if you ARE going to keep loving the work and also recognise the artist's general shitness - do be aware that some people might want to make sure that your consumption of the work isn't tacit agreement with the author's attitude.

If that notion confuses you, well, try reading Mein Kampf on public transport. Yes yes Godwin's Law let's move on

Cannibalism for fun and profit.

This sounds like a guide book for private equity firms. Hey folks - if you don't know how private equity firms work, read Mortal Engines. The book about mobile cities chasing down other cities, stripping them for anything they want, then discarding the refuse. Then imagine this applies to companies that you use, like Toys R Us. Guess what the refuse is? Jobs and stores.

And how can this beeee?

FOR BEE IS THE BEESATZ HADERACH

(You'd best appreciate the 20 minutes I just spent photoshopping this)

Why have my bowels just exploded?

Poor life choices and the unyielding certainty of biochemistry.

Sci-fi movie plots with elements that don't make sense (eg. Movies that release sequels that contradict the premise of the others).

Okay so I was suggested Terminator for this BUT the moment that you bring in time travel everything gets screwy, especially if your premise doesn't specifically state that the Grandfather Paradox exists. SO. Terminator gets a pass - so does Back To The Future. However. Offenders include Transformers (The history changes every movie and a couple characters literally vanish or appear out of nowhere and one even DIES and then just comes back in the next movie for no apparent reason) and Universal Soldier (basically the fact that this even has sequels is a mystery to me but apparently they all kind of pretend the other sequels don't exist).

Not following that example - The Core doesn't make sense AT ALL. It's like a script writer saw a seven year old's plasticine model of the earth's inner workings and based the movie entirely on it without doing any further reading. The remake of Total Recall - so wait there's a train that runs THROUGH THE EARTH to AUSTRALIA? Angels & Demons - that's not how Antimatter works! Battlefield Earth, WHY BATTLEFIELD EARTH!? And do not even get me STARTED on Armageddon -

(It is at this point that a sedative was administered)

🔥🔥🔥🔥

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

😭😭

(fire fire fire fire scream scream scream cry cry)

Yeah pretty much mate

Wild speculation about the overarching themes / plots of MCU phases 4 & 5.

So like I don't know about Phase 5 at all, because I believe a lot of that will depend on how Phase 4 is received. Eternals, for example, can rewrite EvErYtHiNg and introduce a whole new metaplot. I have no idea what they are going to do with Thor. I don't know if I will like what they are going to do with Spider-Man. I have hopes? But... like... the main drive of the thing has had a lot of its guts ripped out, so I think now there will be a bit of a flail about while the movie industry works out how everything works again. I want Black Widow to do REALLY well because they did her SO dirty with InfinEndgame. Outside of that. Powerless to speculate... but Black Panther II should be about Shuri taking over. And I want an Ironheart movie, dammit. I WANT IRONHEART.

Best book of 2020 as recommended by you please dear.

Got to be honest. I have found reading pretty difficult, this year. I am very much not caught up. And given that this year has been a trash fire I am going to reach back and claw back To Be Taught If Fortunate from 2019 by Becky Chambers, because, please god just give me this.

Ok of the last decade 😁

phew okay. The best book written this decade that I have read is either A Closed And Common Orbit, also by Becky Chambers - or This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Runners up include Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy and Dessa's My Own Devices.

Required though about boobies, without using a picture or comment you've made before. Maybe if you fancy going serious instead of silly something to do with breast/testicular cancer?

A fantastic use of a trope that I was getting a bit bored of! Check yourself. Always check yourself. Get it checked. I know, I know, it's a pain. Do it anyway. If the idea of talking to your doctor about a medical problem makes you nervous, interrogate yourself about it - is it because of you or because of your doctor? Get a different doctor. Check yourself. Be safe, people. Have a grope.

How about an element (or two) of Magical Girl Manga that you think are good?

So you know what? I will admit that I am not speaking from a position of absolute knowledge here, I've not watched many - but I appreciate the fact that a lot of them are created by women, a lot of them thus feature some not-awful writing of women and girls in a genre that usually doesn't do that. And we like that.

The lack of mixed race heritage characters and npcs in things like dnd5e or pathfinder etc. Or the overabundance of mixed species characters in those games. Or even something about to what extent species and races are portrayed in d&d and how one substitutes for the other.

Haaaah sticky one. So. Um. RPG that originated in the mid-70s, based on tropes created by fantasy authors from a lot before that time, so race is... a bit... iffy. Given that a lot of the traits that make up each of the classic fantasy races were... let's say... influenced by the culture of the folks that concocted them, it's a big old hard-to-untangle mess. In short - mixed-species characters are often popular because it's a neat way to get stuff and have ready-to-go social acceptance (or censure) written into your background, AND you can look neat. While, a lot of game companies who (for decades) have had an overwhelmingly white male staff have felt uncomfortable in how to deal with race in terms of ethnicity. It's a big house of cards and a lot of the cards on the bottom of the house have "A Bit Racist" written on them in big letters.

The outrage surrounding 'Cuties' and whether it's founded on the facts or stirred up sensationalism...

Okay. So. DISCLAIMER. I have not seen this movie. I don't WANT to watch this movie, after having observed the outrage from an external perspective, and also learned about the actual subject matter (though to repeat, I haven't actually watched it, this has come from reading several reviews and summaries). It is about a sensitive topic - how the societal pressure on girls to be sexual entities influences girls that are clearly too young to be seen that way, and how they will be the ones that not only bear the cost for it but also get the blame. It explicitly ties into the director's experience growing up in France and being French-Senegalese. It's about how girls are sexualised, and how friggin wrong that is.

And then, it gets put up on Netflix, and the marketing department decides to just take a big steaming shit in everything the movie is trying to tell you. I'm just going to show you the posters that were used for this movie - the one on the left is for its domestic release, and the one on the right is the Netflix poster.

I apologise. This may well upset you.

And of course, everyone is taking a swing at the director for it.

I'm willing to bet she probably handled the subject matter with more thought and sensitivity than whoever came up with the poster on the right. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of people will be unwilling to direct their anger at the actual forces that make things like this happen.

Of course, there is no way to expect that sensationalism won't get stirred up - even on topics that aren't so emotive as this. News sites run on clicks, not accuracy; and people don't read full articles, or do any research. I, myself, have fallen into this camp repeatedly. Yes, dear reader, even your humble blogger isn't immune to outrage.

How Battlestar Galactica is still so relevant 17 years on (race wars, the role of religion in politics, there's even a pandemic! (The Woman King))

The writing for this show was super, super good. Like fantastic. It had its moments of rubbish, but for the most part, it was superb. Especially the internal politics; the power struggles; the creeping paranoia. It's very, VERY relevant. The entire plotline involving the military coup takeover, the elections, the imbalance between Galactica and Pegasus - just... so, so good.

And also how this could be linked to how much of battlestar was inspired by DS9 that is still relevant today and as a well made statement about world war 2 and the civil rights movement still being important then as well as now... and the comparison of these two for cultural and societal elements compared to the expanse as a series please x

Christ okay um. DS9 is probably my favourite Trek. I like Discovery a lot, but DS9 tops it if only for the actual content. Sure, there's a lot of Holodeck episodes, but every Trek has that, right? What I love is the politics of the thing. And the way that the Federation is not only not always the best candidate for the job, but also, not always even in the right. It's about military and civic authority, about what people do when pushed, about the ugly side of trying to bring peace and order to a place that classically didn't have any (or did have, at the end of a Cardassian rifle).

The Expanse... is probably my favourite scifi TV series? I think? The character writing is superb, the politics are believable, the science makes sense until the thing comes along that doesn't and that is ACTUALLY a plot point, it looks great, it sounds great, and essentially - it joins the aforementioned series in portraying facets of politics accurately through the lens of accessible characters. It shows various governmental interactions, diplomacy at many different levels too. It shows how regular people suffer the actions of the few and the powerful. It shows how, in the end, however alien the foe, the cruelest enemy to humanity is itself in its worst moments. So does Babylon 5, which also joins this list.

If someone wanted to understand how power and politics works on Earth, today, they would not be ill-advised to consume a smattering of the series discussed before. It will be, at the very least, insightful.

Summing up the past year using song titles?

...you asked for it.

• We Didn't Start The Fire
• Masters Of War
• Sickness
• Everything's Ruined
• Isolation
• Virus
• The Final Countdown
• Bulls On Parade
• Ten Thousand Fists
• Land Of Confusion
• The Sound Of Silence
• Fire & Rain
• Routine Pain
• Times Like These

...that's not actually a bad playlist, thinking about it.

First rain after a spell of dry weather.

Not a big fan of rain (it hurts my joints) but I know it's necessary - and in some cases lifesaving. So. Let it rain.

Current favorite song, album, artist, and genre. (Four different, though related, questions really in one.)

Favourite SONG - The acoustic version of Crabulon by Evil Scarecrows. ...just listen to it, you'll get it.

Favourite ALBUM - Moron Police - A Boat On The Sea. Like, their albums before this one, I can take or leave. This thing sounds fantastic.

Favourite ARTIST - Spanish Love Songs. Hands down. I've gone back and listened to their back catalogue and it's fantastic

Favourite GENRE - ...well, honestly, a mixture; but if forced to pick I suppose the music I throw on to listen to the most when not looking for a specific artist, right now, is synthwave in the vein of Timecop1983, Kavinksy, FM-84 and Night Runner - and adjacencies like Gunship.

1 Actor and 1 Actress that you think give the best 'smolder' look?

For the consideration of the Academy, Henry Cavill...

...and Eva Green.

With an honorable mention for Pedro Pascal.

Done and done.

RBG

May the memory of this righteous one be a blessing. Now push back. In memory of everything she ever stood for, and every right she ever fought to give you. Push back on all fronts. ALL fronts.

Worst offending countries using Covid to push through political agendas.

...see this is a difficult one because of all the countries that have been doing the worst, most heinous right-wing shit since the virus hit, they're all the ones that just ram through legislation they like anyway. And where a lot of it doesn't reach big news because, you know, global epidemic and measures specifically taken to make sure nobody notices...

Pretty sure we might be tied with the US though.

Can I get a review of my cats?

You wish to enter CAT BATTLE 2020!? CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER!!!

1. PUMPKIN! Clearly very much needs to headbutt. A specialist in the arena. She hasn't been pet recently. Fix it. FIX IT. 12/10 for technique.
2. NOVA! Her fang attacks are more effective than headbutts, even if less commonly used. You get more pets with nuzzles than nips. 12/10 for music taste.
3. MR SMAUG! Clearly this cat's skin condition can't stop him being a speed demon. He did it all for the locusts. Gecko Theft Auto. 12/10 for peepers.

In summary. All of these cats are winners. Extra treats and pets for all. ESPECIALLY MISTER SMAUG.

The wonders of baconated grapefruit.

Do you mean two grapefruit stacked one on top of the other with cheese slices in a burger bun with several slices of bacon on top, as served in international fast-food restaurant chain Wendys?

Wouldn’t you be depressed if you were a dangerous alien cat lizard and your human stopped talking to you?

Mate I'm depressed now and my human still talks to me imagine the state of THAT. ...also I mean they stopped talking to Coeurl after he ate a handful of the crew.

If I sneeze in the woods and nobody else is there to hear the sound, do I have the virus...

If you live in England, probably - the government has been gagging for you to catch it - but good luck getting a fucking test. Your nearest site might be IN the fucking woods.

Which county has the sexiest borders?

Italy. I mean. The boot is just kinda horny.

Milkshake choice if your favourite is not available

Uuuuuh... I guess... banana?

Carbonated milk with or without the pulp?

I absolutely hate that I have had to think about this. ...but never, ever with pulp.

And on that final, cursed question, I shall take my leave and ride into the sunset. Thank you for your contributions, folks. I will catch you next time.

Thank you for reading. Support your humble author via Patreon or Kofi, or follow social media on the right. See you next week.

Brave Faces, Everone

Fair warning, this one is going to get a little dark as it goes on. It's going to talk about depression and suicide, so consider yourself warned.

Sometimes I get swept up in musical obsessions.

I say sometimes. It happens semi-regularly. Either a song I already knew that has just come back into my life in a big way, like The Pavilion (A Long Way Back) by Coheed & Cambria...

...or something that is totally new to me that just totally sweeps me off my feet, like May I Have This Dance, by Francis & The Lights (this version featuring Chance the Rapper).

Around four weeks ago I did a thingy on the social media wherein I asked for a band name, and I would throw out my favourite song by that band. It was neat, because I liked seeing what everyone else's was - I picked up a couple of bands that I hadn't really thought much about prior to that - and I also gave a serious thought to bands for whom I had only listened to one or two songs.

Well, someone (thanks Gareth) gave me Spanish Love Songs as a band - so I grabbed the only song of theirs that I really knew, which was this one: Losers.

It was two weeks later that I thought, hey - that song I put up. Maybe I should go back and listen to the rest of the album - named Brave Faces Everyone. Why not.

And that's when it happened.

Why would someone who suffers from serious depression - and has done for a long ass time, definitely longer than they have been diagnosed, probably since middle school - want to listen to a lot of songs that are... objectively sad?

The same reason as people ride roller coasters and watch horror movies, of course. Just from a different angle.

When you have this particular mind-chemical malfunction, everything sucks. Like, it absolutely sucks. Sadness is a byproduct, rather than the main effect, but it's an inescapable one at times. You get to feel fucking sad, sometimes without warning, for no apparent reason.

Sometimes you want to feel sad for an actual reason. You want to understand why. You want to know why, you want it to have a context. Just like there's different kinds of fear, there's different kinds of sadness - just try watching Schindler's List and Blade Runner, for two examples.

Music can do this, can lead to all different flavours of sadness. Barber's Adagio for Strings, example. Itzhak Perlman's main theme from Schindler's List. This version of Brandi Carlile's Party Of One, which also features Sam Smith. Round Here, by Counting Crows.

Spanish Love Songs bring forth a very specific form of sadness, in me, and that is in no small part due to Dylan Slocum's songwriting finesse and his voice. I know I bang on a lot about singers and their voices, but his voice is perfect.

The very first song on this album - Routine Pain - begins with this:

On any given day, I'm a six of ten

Bed to desk to bar, eyes on the floor

Still apologizing for the way I've been

Each breath more full of shit than the one before

I mean... that's a statement.

I don't think I can write an entire screed about the instrumentation - it's very good but it isn't anything I can be particularly insightful about. Suffice to say that all of it is a superb accompaniment for the stories that we are being told, and the pleading, entreating, broken voice telling them.

That speaks to me. Right? It being inescapable that the singer feels the song they are singing. That they aren't unaffected, that they can't be, because that song is coming from a part of them. That they are telling you a part of their truth. You are being shown a facet of the person behind the microphone and the lyric sheet.

This, from Beachfront Property:

Said: "it's the end of days

And you're still pissing in the wind"

Don't believe in God

But figured he'd be a better planner than this

The entire album is filled with gems like this, little moments of song that jump out and grab you. That sink in and make you think.

One song in particular, though, really got its hooks in me.

It's called Optimism (As A Radical Life Choice), and the first time I heard it, I literally had to put down the mini I was painting and stare at my speaker until the song was finished.

Can't even have my coffee without exploiting someone

Or making another millionaire, or billionaire

What would it take to be happy?

I'll probably start with the money

It was as I listened that I realised another point of sad music, and why it is important.

Armageddon on my mind

I'll try to smile all the time

Like Hell's a construct that I need

To make amends or keep myself clean

And yes, I'm aware it's fleeting

See, a big part of depression - a big aspect of how it can fuck you up so badly - is because it isolates you. It cuts you off from all the good feeling in the world. It separates you mentally and emotionally from everyone that isn't going through this, convinces you that this is all on you.

It tells you that you are alone.

One thing that music does - even music about being isolated, even music about being alone - is tell you that, at least one other person has felt this, and is feeling it. At least one other human being has stood on the same spot that you currently occupy. A person has been where you are, and has felt what you felt; and as the truth of the words sink in, the numbness cracks.

But I'm done dying on the inside

Now that everything is dying outside

The sky is letting go

Of holding on like a crying child

Sure, often, it cracks into tears; it fades away to reveal a surface raw and aching and tired, but you are feeling it, you are feeling something, and it's okay to do so. Before the sociological conditioning that we've been at the mercy of our entire lives kicks in and shames us into feeling guilty for daring to have an emotion we can't adequately conceal.

But for those few moments, you actually want to live; and that's when the chorus speaks for you.

Don't take me out back and shoot me

I know my circuits are faulty

Now I've only ever been a kid

Pointing out dead dogs on the road

Take me down in the landslide

Can we weather this high tide?

I'll wear you out waiting for me to implode

Don't take me out back and shoot me

How eloquently a song can advocate for a person's mindstate. How devastatingly it can take that simplest, most basic plea that - when it gets really bad - we aren't even capable of voicing aloud, when every ounce of brain chemistry is yanking the wheel toward the oncoming lane.

We're trying. Please, don't give up on us.

Don't take me out back and shoot me.

It's been a tough few months. It's been a tough half-a-year. We're all suffering. I daresay almost all of us have lost people in one way or another. Times like these lead to thoughts like these, and anything we can do to navigate our way out of the shadows and want to be saved is a bonus.

Look after yourselves and each other.

No pushing my Patreon this week. Instead, consider donating to Papyrus UK. They work in suicide prevention. Thank you. Sorry this was a rough ride, but - sometimes it has to be.

A Soul To The Universe

The title of this blog is from a quote from Plato:

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

Stirring stuff.

What's your favourite piece of music from a movie?

Sometimes the right musical accompaniment can absolutely make a scene; and sometimes they can become absolutely iconic in their own right, even removed from the cinematic context they were originally presented in. I don't know a lot of people who wouldn't know Chariots of Fire, even if they haven't seen the film - and they will probably associate it with running in slow motion, at least.

Because I can, I'm gonna throw a bunch of different bits of movie score at you (with one honorable mention that isn't TECHNICALLY score but is CLOSE), and talk about why I like them. Where possible I will link you to the scene as it happens in the movie - otherwise, we'll have a nice little chat about it.

Fair warning: there will be spoilers for the movies below. If you haven't seen them, me talking about them may well clue you in on plot elements best left secret.

The Medbay (Alien Covenant, Jed Kurzel)

Well jesus this whole bit is literally horrible

So this anxiety-inducing collection of noises plays over an entire sequence of an infected member of the crew of the Covenant being brought about a shuttle, taken to the med bay, and then something awful happening to him. This awful thing explodes out of his back, kills the crewmate in the room with him, and leads the surviving crewmate to such terror that she accidentally blows up the fucking shuttle trying to kill the little bastard.

The way it all happens, the way it all pans out, is so tense - so frantic - I forgot to breathe for the entire scene. It's what horror is all about. The panic, the alarm, the wrongness. The entire thing having been okay if only the hundred things that went wrong didn't go wrong. If only the floor wasn't slippery. If only the door was tougher. If only, if only, if only.

Probably my favourite bit of the movie.

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky (Laputa / Castle In The Sky, Joe Hisaishi)

Just before this opening sequence, all we know is that the world of Castle In The Sky - my favourite Ghibli movie - has airships, air pirates, military spies, and a girl with a necklace who would rather fall from aforementioned airship than let the necklace fall into the hands of aforementioned air pirates.

Then you are treated to this gorgeous, glorious piece of music by the master Joe Hisaishi himself, and presented with the animation above - which not only sums up the history of the world you're about to inhabit for the next hour and a half, but also tells you the plot, if you're careful enough to pay attention.

The piece is masterful. Emotive, soaring and gentle by turns, touching, epic in scope. A constantly-descending chord structure that gently reminds you that this title sequence is playing out while a girl is, literally, falling from the sky.

Just breathtaking.

Anakin's Betrayal (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, John Williams)

If any one good thing came out of the prequels, it was the music.

For two and a half movies, the watcher waits for the moment; the point wherein the Emperor seizes control of the Republic, takes over the Senate, and begins the destruction of the Jedi. We know it is coming. We all know it is coming, and god help us, we're ready for it by the time it rolls around.

And aside from a ropey moment involving Yoda (god I hate every prequel scene involving Yoda), what you witness is a total betrayal. The armed forces that the Jedi have been fighting alongside, become friends with, even been on first name terms with in several places, turning on them and cutting them down with absolute impunity.

It's more than the brutal murder of all a whole bunch of the Jedi. It's the moment that the tables turn. And front and centre is Anakin Skywalker who cements his place in this entire thing - just after helping Palpatine murder Mace Windu - by massacring all the kids in the temple. (He has past form in terms of kid-murder, it bears mention.)

That's how the piece feels. It's a fall from grace of the highest order, an act of awful brutality; this is the moment that the clouds roll in and everything goes dark. Sure, there's other bits of music from Star Wars that are more iconic and stand-out, but this is just... breathtaking.

New Dawn Fades (Heat, Moby / Joy Division)

This is technically a song in its own right (even the instrumental version of a cover of a song) but - hey, I did say there would be an honourable mention.

Cutting through the Los Angeles night, two men, one of them chasing the other, hounding him down toward an inevitable destructive conclusion. The tenacity with which these men pursue their goals, the total embrace of their lifestyle to the point of breakdown.

I love Michael Mann's film work, the way he paints the parts of a city that most people don't even think about. I love how the blasting guitars and the rhythm section is like a constant onslaught of noise; like a barrage on the senses, all things travelling towards the witness at high speed, a crash imminent.

And the scene that follows? The two of them drinking coffee together? Absolutely stellar.

Burn It All (Black Panther, Ludwig Goransson)

The king is dead. All hail the king. Killmonger has overthrown T'Challa and become both Black Panther and king of Wakanda - and he does the next thing in the playbook of the coup... he pulls up the ladder behind him, destroying the route to power. He will be the last king, or nobody will be. He burns the herb that grants the Black Panther his power, torching it in a symbolic demolition of the traditions that make Wakanda, Wakanda.

And then he walks to the throne, in a beautiful shot that starts upside down, the world gone horribly awry, twisting slowly into focus as the new reality settles in: Killmonger is king.

The mournful singing and traditional music undercut by the sharp trap beats, the instantiation of the new over the old, interweaving but not synchronising; a harsh visitor from a different tradition. A spear point in the heart of that which once was normal.

I really like this movie - oh, and the guy that composed the score? Also did The Mandalorian.

Sea Wall (Blade Runner 2049, Hans Zimmer / Benjamin Wallfisch)

This is what it comes down to; a last all-or-nothing scramble, not to save the world, not to save the revolution, not to protect the people you care about, but to do the thing that you believe you should be doing. To do the one right thing, that you know you can do, in that moment in time. To do the good thing, even if humanity sees you as being nothing but a tool that will do whatever it is told.

While the Vangelis-helmed score of Blade Runner was a sumptuously designed electronic ensemble, it still held together with a structure, much like the city of Los Angeles it was based in; it was broken, scattered, wired up and buzzing, but it still had edges and corners. The score of 2049 shows the world as falling apart, a degradation of those aforementioned structures, a distortion of everything that existed before; snarling angry synths and the constant, overpowering crush of oppression and mother nature alike.

Here the electronic noise of the city echoes in as if from far away; we start with the pounding pulse beats of a chase, and end up with this flowing, swelling reverberation, unstoppable as the tide as it sweeps in to wash away everything it touches. The savage subtonal growl of distortion sits below it, the violence that K and Luv inflict upon each other over the fate of Rick Deckard, beating each other half to death even as the ocean threatens to claim them both.

Moody, dark, insidious, angry. No wonder I like it so much, it reminds me of me when I first wake up in the morning.

The Alien (Annihilation, Ben Salisbury / Geoff Barrow)

There were so many good choices for this movie, but I had to go with this one.

Throughout the entire movie, the group move through The Shimmer, finding how it and everything within it has been changed. They, too, change. Move away from who and what they were, alter until they are not themselves, or are far enough removed that looking back on who they were is a gulf that can't be crossed again. It is about change, it is all about change.

Until an object is discovered - a being - an alien - that begins as nothing but noise and light, a concept more than anything. And it takes shape, and form, and copies that which it sees, until it has become a simulacra. While Lena (played superbly by Natalie Portman) has become a totally different entity to the person that agreed to enter The Shimmer, she finds that this being - in mere moments - becomes the person that she was all along. This bafflingly inhuman object, taking form as she watches.

There are no answers, here. There is no explanation. There is only this object, the changes wrought inside and out, and the promise that there will always be part of the universe that you will not understand.

There's a lot of others that don't make this list but really should - The Prowler from Spider-Verse, First Encounter from Arrival, Nightstalker from Ghost In The Shell (the original one not that rubbish one), Bishop's Countdown from Aliens, I Could Have Done More from Schindler's List, to name but a few.

It all comes down to this: sometimes the score makes the scene. Sometimes the score IS the scene.

Flight to the imagination, and life to everything.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Readers Request - Ace, Voyager, Jonathan Frakes

That's right, due to it being my birthday next Tuesday it's another round of Readers Request, so let me just get something out of the way.

There we go. Okay. Let's get to it.

Of all the Dr Whos and companions which are your favourites individually and the best pairing. - My favourite doctor is a hard choice, but I think I'd end up going with David Tennant - on the understanding that I haven't watched the most recent doctor - and my favourite companion is, was, and always WILL be Ace. Best combination? Tennant and Martha. Any day.

And why is it bonnie Langford? - Sorry...

Did you get any nice participation prizes for managing a whole year of meeting the minimum requirements for being not dead? - I got a Redemptor Dreadnought that I am looking forward to having anxiety over painting... and then actually painting, obviously.

Is Rasta Nav real? - Jah bless.

What was your best birthday gift ever? - This. I was on left of stage way up in the nosebleeds but it was mindblowing. The travel back was a bit of a lark, but...

Best Weird Al parody - I dunno about the BEST one - but my FAVOURITE one is this one:

Where were Voyager 1 and 2 when you were born and how far have they gone since then? What perspective does this knowledge give? - Buckle in for this one, folks.

When I was born, Voyager 1 was almost two years travel out from its encounter with Titan, and was well into its Extended Mission. Eight years from that point, it would take the last picture of the solar system needed for the System Family Portrait, below.

Voyager 2 was almost a year's travel beyond Saturn after its close encounter, and three and a half years away from its encounter with Uranus.

They are both travelling at different average speeds, so they have both travelled a different distance since I was born; Voyager 1 has travelled 20,386,209,600 kilometers (at around 17km/s), and Voyager 2 has travelled 18,587,426,400 kilometers (at 15.5km/s). Those are some big numbers. For comparison - that's around 136 and 124 AU respectively; that's 136 (or 124) times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Simply a massive distance.

What perspective does this give me? ...well. ...we're very, very small, in terms of the universe. Perhaps we could ease up on the ego for a while, give everyone else a break.

What song caught you off guard in a moment? Not necessarily a song that made you remember a person, but say out in the world you suddenly heard a song and went 'wait what?' - The Disturbed cover of Sound Of Silence. I was listening to the album the day it came out; the rest of the album is just... okay, you know? Mediocre. Just listening away while I was doing something else. Then this song comes on and I am pole-axed for the entire runtime. Just absolutely blown away. I listened to it on repeat for the rest of the day - I must have listened to it at least two dozen times the day it was released. Just absolutely kicked my ass.

Favorite doughnut from Krispy Kreme? - Simple chocolate ring.

If limitations of covid/ space/ time etc weren’t existing - how/where/when would you spend your birthday? - So. If we also assume that my health was okay, aka no limb and joint failure and no lung issues - get a few rooms in a nice hotel in a city somewhere. A hotel with a nice hotel bar. Perhaps close to the beach. Spend a week just eating local food, occasionally buying funky things. Sounds like a ball.

What is your zombie apocalypse plan - Go jack a car. Drive it to Co-Op, ram-raid the doors, get into the back. Load as many canned goods, bottles of water etc as I can into one of their trucks. Drive the truck down to the harbour. Steal someone's boat. Boat out into the middle of the solent, not over a sand bank. Drop anchor. Wait. Zombies can't swim.

If you could learn one art/craft/making-skill, what would it be. - I would love to be able to play music. Guitar perhaps? I know I know cliche but... failing that, drawing cartoon-style.

If you could have any animal in the world as a tame pet (and assuming space/supplies etc weren't a concern), what would it be. - One of THESE bad boys

If you could institute one policy that every government in the world has to follow, what would it be. - Universal Basic Income funded by enhanced corporate and capital gains tax - and if those taxes are avoided or not paid, then your company gets nationalised, immediately. Time to start giving something back.

Are criminality and deviance the same? When does something cease to be deviant and become criminal? - Criminality is a breach of legality; deviance is a diversion from accepted standards. It bears mention that something being morally wrong is also separate and distinct from both of these factors. A deviance should be considered criminal if it is, well, against the law. If it's a deviance that nobody even thought to make illegal - well, how many people does it hurt? How much potential for damage does it have? Is it harmful to society as a whole? That's the questions you gotta ask.

Should scientists be looking for genetic explanations for criminality/sexuality etc? If not, why not? - Well... what if they find that there is one? ...can you trust that information in the hands of today's governments and corporations? Given that it is relatively easy to get genetic material from someone. Ask not how this technology would be used by the most benevolent ruler - ask how it would be used by the most greedy, autocratic, self-interested power-monger you can imagine. If they can determine behind closed doors that someone has a predilection toward criminality, then they will be able to justify doing something about it, or not, as they see fit. Which just means another tool with which to punish and persecute and oppress people. But of course, any Eton graduate's children wouldn't be subject to such scrutiny, surely? And thus the system becomes not only pointless, but dangerous. And in terms of sexuality - imagine Russia (and its current massively homophobic/traditionalist authoritarian attitude) mandating that every child be checked for genetic sexuality. Given how they treat anyone that isn't heterosexual, would it be ethical for that information to be in their hands? We all know what governments are capable of doing. That's also assuming that either of these genetic tests are 1) 100% accurate and 2) overriding of nurture or life experience. Nobody is born a criminal.

Should politicians be held criminally accountable for actions that they take within their roles? If not why not. - Yes. Absolutely. If that would make them afraid of doing things which could lead to people dying, or getting hurt, or committing fraud - GOOD. They're MEANT to be accountable. That's why we elect them. Not that you'd think it, given how much this current crop of bastards can get away with before even thinking about resignation; and I am pretty sure our local MP could literally stab someone in the street and still pick up a 70% share of the vote, because he has a blue rosette. They should also explicitly be viable targets for class action suits.

What is your favourite smell? - New book.

Which is your favourite emotional state/emotion? - Uuuuh... that's... a tough one. I guess... belonging, combined with happiness and satisfaction? I think.

This video of Jonathan Frakes asking you things -

No, no, happy, at least 15%, no, not very, no money whatsoever as long as I had a comfortable bed, no, yes his name is Tom, sorta, only that the 49ers lose whenever I watch them, no, no, no, no, they sure have the income for it, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, I think this question really dates this video because no, YES WHENEVER I SEE IT

What franchise did you have high hopes for, only for you to become disappointed as time went on? - God so many, but let's say that the biggest two were the Alien vs Predator movies and the Michael Bay Transformers movies. The rage I could vomit into the cosmos over those, I swear to god. How do you fuck up just about every single aspect of five whole movies and still make money?

What franchise/thing would you like revived (toys/cartoons/films etc) - Centurions, Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors, Swat Kats, Visionaries, the second run of Thundercats, the Patlabor anime, Animorphs, the Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, a movie or TV series based on the Rising Stars comic by J Michael Straczynski, Squats in Warhammer 40,000, jeez all sorts...

Interesting bits of Steam Punk that you've come across? - I'm not massively into steam punk stuff myself; now if you ask me, the really cool shit is diesel punk. I think steam punk got very popular very quickly, which immediately 1) dilutes the initial ethos into something you can sell literally everywhere and 2) means that everything gets a steam punk iteration, which... kind of undermines the entire thing. Besides - Victorian values are icky, even if they do result in big rolling cities that eat other cities.

Top 5 things you've enjoyed about Doctor Who -  Daleks in general. The special weapons Dalek from Remembrance Of The Daleks, the first episode I ever saw. Some of the music. Some actual wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. And this speech:

Well folks. That's it. That's this week. Thank you for coming along for the ride. Next week, we're back on it.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Greyspace

I'm going to open by stating that, more importantly than whatever drivel I talk about this week - Breonna Taylor's killers still need to be brought to justice, and this brand new spate of lynchings that the police are calling suicides is symptomatic of exactly the reasons why the protests were as universal and as large as they were. No justice, no peace. Black lives matter.

Okay, so... do any of my chronic illness / medicated / mental health people experience the thing where days and times kind of blur together into one seamless mass?

I've been having that a lot lately, and I've taken to calling it Greyspace.

No, not these greys.

Basically... with Covid-19 making it a huge risk for me to leave the house - and I am significantly at risk, I already only have about 50% lung capacity - and a bunch of businesses and things closed anyway... days have been much the same. The only thing that changes is the news. So it's easy to forget which day it is, to lose track of what time of day it is. Which can be unpleasant.

What this has meant is that I have been running entirely dry in terms of inspiration. I haven't been much able to read, nothing has been catching my attention, writing has felt like it's required herculean effort. It's been a bit shit honestly.

So I was honestly at a loss as to what to write about today. Voices clearer and better than mine are tackling current issues; I can't speak with any clarity or closeness about the CHOP, or about Juneteenth and how it should absolutely be a national holiday (which it should), or about how the Trump rally in Tulsa was a monumental failure, or about how my government is just consistently failing at even the most basic tasks, without just repeating things that other people have already said.

Luckily my friends and accomplices on Facebook stepped in. And in an impromptu Readers Request - more like a Friends List Suggest - I'm going to natter about the things they said I should natter about.

Without further ado.

The evolution of what it means to be a good father?

Appropriate given that it is Father's Day in the UK. Been almost eight years since my dad passed away too. I think that the core of being a good father remains pretty much the same as it always has been - be a supportive source of strength, that teaches the important lessons that need to be taught. I just think that the things surrounding that have changed. The nature of those lessons, for example.

We're breaking down a lot of the old impediments that were in our way to being whole people. "Never Did Me Any Harm" behaviours have come under the spotlight and found to be, actually, doing harm. We can talk about our feelings and our emotional states and be vulnerable - and we don't explode or melt. We are becoming better people, slowly. For the most part. And that has to be hard, because... well, my father was from the Lebanon, putting him firmly into the traditionalist kind of camp in this country. We are taught how to be parents by our parents, either by what to mimic or what to change. So there's a lot of deconstruction to do in the space between being raised and raising our own.

I don't envy the challenge, but I think it's good for the world that fathers can increasingly be less stern authoritarians and more human beings.

The importance of t shirt designs

Very important. I have a LOT of t shirts - honestly I am basically just a teenager from the nineties, 98% of my wardrobe is tees - and my favourite ones all have corporate logos from the Alien universe or the flight info from the Nostromo or whatever.

As a pride month fundraiser for Gendered Intelligence, TomSka is offering up a rather neat shirt that is inspired by his I Like Trains kid from the ASDFMovie series. That's a cool design. I should get one myself.

Boobies (sorry, had to)

Ah, a callback. However, I shall not pander.

Current favorite tunes to listen to

Well - I am listening to RTJ4 on repeat pretty much, great album; favourites include Walking In The Snow and Goonies Vs E.T. I'm also enjoying No More Kings and CrazyEightyEight. A bunch of tunes by Goldfish. I guess if I'd have to share anything specifically right now - aside from protest tunes - it would be this, by Bakermat.

I dunno about the anti-taco propaganda... but...

What will the current UK government do next that kills healthy brain cells for everyone who hears about it?

No Deal Brexit. That's the agenda now, seeing as the government is bored with actually saving us from preventable COVID deaths, and will remain so until the big old wave from their opening up on last Monday hits us. BuT aT lEaSt We CaN bUy TiM tAmS

Favourite childhood film and how you think it may have impacted upon you in adult life?

It's hard to pick out just one but - let's go with the Goonies. Which is always going to be the first thing I think of when people say Sean Astin. Keep your Lord Of The Rings...

The thing I took away from that is the importance of experience. The importance of having the anecdote. To go do the thing as best you can and to have a story to tell afterwards. The importance of stories themselves.

Oh, and pirates. Pirates are cool.

What you've done to diversify your world in the last 3 weeks. Any new favorite creations by black artists, or something that you wish to learn more about.

I have to be honest. My media consumption has been pretty minimal recently. This would be the ideal time to catch up on a bunch of stuff, educate myself, but I've been singularly lacking in the drive to do so. Which is on me, really.

Along the same lines, discuss Juneteenth, and the whitewashing of history. Esp from the perspective of someone outside the country

THIS I have done more of. I knew of Juneteenth before now but this is the first year I seriously read into it - of course it isn't taught as part of the curriculum here in school, we don't learn about our own history outside of a white-man context, let alone anyone else's. I'd like to see it turned into a national holiday.

Whitewashing of history is massive. The amount of people who love Churchill in this country - not DESPITE him having starved 3-4 million people to death, but with literally no knowledge of that happening - is testament to that. The statues and street names of slave owners, who are all held up as philanthropists and merchants, and when you ask - of what? People scratch their heads.

Even in this country we learn the state approved Thanksgiving myth, even though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Figure that one out.

A friend of mine recently aired the thought of, how many conservative politicians in this country come from families that were made wealthy by slave trading. I can say with a degree of confidence that, in a way, it was probably most of them.

Puddings

Yorkshire. Please. (In all seriousness I'm not a big dessert man. I mean I am a big man. I am just not massively into dessert.)

Earliest memories.

I think I've talked about my earliest memory before but - ONE of my earliest memories involves being in the garden at my aunt's house, drinking from a can of ginger beer an pretending I was really cool. And my idea of what was cool at the time involved having a ponytail, being really muscly and having a gravelly voice. Like a genuine unironic 80s action movie star. So like. Essentially I was pretending that I was Tim Cappello.

I know. I know.

Small ways that you find happiness in your life despite the trashfire that is 2020

Seeing other people succeed.

That's the big thing. Seeing people I know do okay, have their victories, make things they like and that people appreciate. Seeing people make their plans, talk happily about the online experiences they've had.

Seeing change happen, even if it is small, and being fought against by the powers that be; because in the face of a grinding constant push downwards, seeing the occasional boost up, even against adversity, even watered down by every possible measure, is a small victory.

The light of hope is small, and flickering, but it exists. And it doesn't always.

Maybe we'll be okay.

Thanks for putting up with me this week. It's been a splooshy one, in my brain. So. Perhaps something more cogent and relevant to current affairs next week.

Sorry.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Some Casual Banter

Lacking any further inspiration I decided to do a casual ask of what people would want me to talk about - not a full blown Reader's Requests, but more of a... Pals Postulate?

I got some good ones.

The first one, though...

See I could have gone my entire life not knowing this existed. And then it was brought to my attention by the birthday boy - happy birthday Chris by the way - and now I have to acknowledge its existence, and so do you.

Thanks, r/crappyoffbrands - I guess.

Random Acts of Kindness :) - See, this is nice. This is real nice. Random acts of kindness are great. When the current state of the world is so cruel - and I am not looking at anyone in particular, but the government doesn't help (pick one, any one) - the kindness of strangers can be that little thing that makes your day. So a challenge for all my readers: be kind to someone you don't know in the next week. In a small way. Just try it. In whatever way you can, given our current pandemic scenario.

One thing that has made you happy (or smile) today. - This image of my villager in Animal Crossing surrounded by ill-gotten wealth.

Self isolation self care - Christ, uh. ...I don't know. ...do the things you need to do, don't be too hard on yourself if you don't or can't. Be kind to yourself. That's the important thing. Try and do something each day that you want to. Don't beat on yourself because of the state of the world. It's not your fault, and it is going to affect your mental state. Specifically if you are tired and lacking a creative spark, that's a trauma response. You can't just "oh well bugger it" your way through that. Be kind to yourself.

Favorite piece(s) of escapist fiction. - I find myself going through and reading comics and books that I already know, at times. Like I'll go back and read Lovecraft or Rising Stars or similar. I like watching movies I am familiar with, too, or chortling through old MST3K episodes. Remember that cheesy movie from the 80s/90s that is awful but that you kind of like? Bang THAT on. I like stuff like Empire Records, or Blues Brothers. Something with good music is a must.

Gardening (my potatos just started sprouting!) - I am AWFUL at gardening, which is probably no end of shame to my mother. Physically incapable of engaging in it for more than two minutes at a time, I don't know my Gardenias from my Chrysanthemums, I could probably keep a cactus alive but that's only fifty fifty... but I'm glad you are having success! Especially with potato - one of my favourite things ever.

Concellation, how to get over con cancellation blues - ...see... I have difficulty with this because I find myself having to cancel so much myself. Have done for years. It sucks. I don't really have an answer for it; not a good one, anyway. In the end I had to dial back my expectations of things I could do, health and budget considering. Though the thing that I would probably comfort myself with, over the current crop of con cancels and event cancels and stuff - I could use the money I was spending on that to, when isolation has been over for a week or so, rent a house for a weekend with the people I was gonna see at Con and have a RIOTOUS party. This shit WILL end, and when it does, it's going to be so sweet.

Having more time on ones hands, but suffering even more lethargy while everyone else seems to be learning new skills or doing fabulous buildy things. - Ah, two fallacies to defeat here. One: Not everyone else is doing fabulous amazing things or learning stuff. Sure, some people are, but a lot of people aren't, and - honestly, some people are just like that. They always have something going on. Two: You aren't a worse person because you aren't doing that shit. Everyone is on low ebb and low energy right now. We as a nation - as a SPECIES - are currently undergoing a combination of anxiety and depression brought on by external factors. As someone that suffers from both of those on a daily basis and has done since for over two decades, not being able to learn Italian when you are afraid for the health of those you care about and crushed by the state of the world isn't a crime, it's normal. Focus on what makes you feel better and helps you cope, not what other people are doing.

Glad it's not just me - See above.

Isolation meme's - I haven't really kept on top of these but I will present a couple below that I liked.

"This Is Us", An Article In The Washington Post - Yeah. Like I read this and just nodded the entire way through. I am very privileged insofar as my mixed race hasn't led to any actual problems in my life, really. But this is just... yeah. Accurate.

Favourite toy lines and when they bringing em back - Gawd. M.A.S.K., Jayce & The Wheeled Warriors, Centurions, Starcom, Transformers - all of those NEED bringing back, aside from Transformers, which only had a lull and never really went away. The current line is frankly amazing compared to G1.

Question people lack of commitment to Sparkle Motion. -

What is it about your 20's that screams, ' itll never happen to me/mine"? - Hate to say it but that isn't a 20s thing, that is a people thing. It's across the entire generational spectrum, even if it is mostly prevalent in your childhood years and bleeds out when you hit your mid-20s (because by then it HAS happened to you or yours). The majority of people fucking about in this current climate of nonsense are certainly old enough to know better. Most of the 20 year olds have been told they are essential and forced to risk their lives with no pay rise or protective equipment. They are keenly aware it may happen to them. They just don't get a choice - it is that or be made homeless and starve.

Isolation.... People who live alone in isolation.... How to cope and not go mental in isolation... - I count myself lucky insofar as I cope with being alone really well - I like my own company. I know other people that aren't so lucky. I don't really know the answer to this, aside from trying to make sure you stay in electronic contact with the people that you can. I know it isn't much, but it's way too easy to slip into not doing that, too, so keep it up. Voice-call people that you know would be okay with talking. Play games with folks. Download Virtual Tabletop, pay cards with folks. That's about all I got... oh, and listen to music literally as much as you can.

Best ways to represent passage of time in movies/series. - Okay, there's a lot of good entries for this one. But for propriety, I am picking Red Dwarf, Season 5, Episode 4...  Quarantine. When Lister is marking up the days on the chart, and turns around, with a fucking great black eye, looking awful. That's all of us right now.

Something light maybe - a list of the cutest baby animals?? The best reasons for day drinking? Ways to show you love someone? Most uplifting music of the last 3 decades? - The cutest baby animal is a Skunk, there is no contest, though raccoons and pigs are close. The best reason for day drinking is the song Never Forget You by the Noisettes. Lots of way to show someone you love them, all sorts of kinds of ways - touches, words, sharing music, gifts, thoughtfulness. All sorts of ways. The most uplifting music of the last 3 decades is a hard one but have some Hozier, because this song is amazing.

Eddie vs Thor - I think that given who asked me this, this is the Eddie vs Thor that you are talking about. But instead I am going to deal with Eddie Brock vs Thor, God Of Thunder. Thor wins that fight because Eddie Brock is a journalist and Thor is the God Of Thunder.

And now a personal statement.

My people. We can get through this. I know it sucks, right now. It does. But we can do this, and there might just be a better place waiting for us afterwards.

If any of you need me, drop me one. I'm here.

...also if any of your friends have patreons or kofi accounts or are selling art, take them up on it. We're all hurting right now.

Yes, that was a cheap plug.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

And The Ninja Is A Theoretical Physicist

I can't remember how long ago it was that someone introduced me to Ninja Sex Party, but it was a fairly long time ago. I had just started playing my favourite Pathfinder character ever so I think, about, nine years ago.

There's this band called Ninja Sex Party, right. And there's two people in the band - and one of them is called Ninja Brian, and he's a theoretical physicist, and the other guy is called Danny Sexbang, and this is one of their songs, it's called Dinosaur Laser Fight.

Okay, I say, and watch and listen.

Right.

Puerile? Yes. Nonsense? Yes. Infectious. Funny. Suspiciously packed with actual musicality, despite it clearly being a joke.

I must learn more.

I do learn more.

This is them.

Right?

Okay so their style is kind of poppy sexy funny haha whatever - but as I mentioned before. There's some genuine talent in here. Like Danny Sexbang (right, obviously) isn't just some guy laughing at his inability to last more than 180 seconds in sexual intimacy. He's an accomplished vocalist. He has a great voice, you KNOW I like great voices.

I only find out later that he's Daniel Avidan, of Game Grumps. But that's another story.

More and more, as their career as musicians progress, the music side of things comes to the fore. They fall in with a band named Tupperware Remix Party, who are futuristic superheroes from the planet funk (obviously). TWRP became NSP's backing band in 2015. They release cover albums - three of them so far - and those cover albums contain a wide selection of genuinely good stuff. Like, here's the NSP cover of Photograph by Def Leppard.

Right?

They don't work in isolation, either - Danny does vocal spots in a bunch of other songs. Ninja Sex Party plus Arin Hanson (internet shouter and animator) form a band called Starbomb that do a lot of video game parody stuff; Arin appeared as a vocalist on a TWRP track which also featured The Protomen (ALSO awesome), called Phantom Racer.

Danny gave vocals to this song by a band called Night Runner, called Magnum Bullets, which I have listened to once a day since this video came out.

Which...well where is this all leading me?

To my favourite Ninja Sex Party song, which is called, First Date.

Now if you go back and listen to the very FIRST NSP song I linked at the beginning here - you listen to that, and then... come and listen to this.

Just the sheer improvement between the two - the sheer development and evolution of the sound - you can't ignore it. Dinosaur Laser Fight is a fun bouncy rock-pop song about dinosaurs. First Date sounds like it could actually be a full-blown 80s style single release.

So the content of the song is still fun and jokey but it's less about penis jokes and the strange creature that stalks the band and tries to kill them. It's not the lyrics that matter so much. It's the melody, it's the instrumentation. It soars. It uplifts. It feels like driving with the top down. It feels like being Young And Alive, just like the song says.

It's great. It's feel-good. Danny gets to stretch his legs, vocally...

...and there is one part that I absolutely adore, that is probably not worth getting as worked up over as I do. But you all know I love a key change right?

"Let's kill five guys tonight! We'll share a cherry cola while we blast a savage drive-by!"

...key changes UP to the natural escalation of...

"Let's kill ten guys tonight! ...you know what, first date, let's pump the brakes on the murders..."

...then key changes back DOWN to...

"Let's kill five guys tonight! I'll take you back to your place and we'll craft a perfect alibi!"

And you don't get just how happy that makes me, how much that made me laugh the first time I heard it.

I have an entire playlist of songs on Spotify that makes me smile like an idiot, here it is.

This is one of them.

Just an excuse for me to prattle about some music I like, because, why not?

I know that right now everyone is getting hit pretty hard by the lockdown, and the pandemic causing it. We're all hurting. Look after each other.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.