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JAG18

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  1. JAG18
    If you've seen my posts in the "What Are You Listening to Right Now" and "Official Music Topic" you'd know I like and listen to a lot of music. Also, if you've seen my posts there you'd know that I don't necessarily have the best taste in music. Regardless, in no particularly order, here is a list of the music I've been liking and listening to this year so far.
     
     
    1. “Real Love” – Florrie
    Florrie (English singer Florence Arnold) has been active in music for many years now and has released a lot of great, 80’s influenced, pop music, but her latest single “Real Love” (released just in time for Valentine’s Day) is her first song to be released by a major label serving as a first taste before her debut album comes out late this year. “Real Love” is an amazing pop love-ballad with good lyrics and Florrie’s usual stellar vocals. Just a side note, the song is just a little similar to Taylor Swift’s “Style” a song Florrie said she loved and has even covered.
     
    2. “Hummingbird” – Kyla La Grange
    An incredible electro-pop song about being, to quote Grange,
    “…hovering between the different versions of yourself…about how having too many choices makes you dissatisfied because you always think you'd be happier if you'd chosen the thing you didn't choose, which usually isn't true…”
    This has been one of my favorites since it came out in April and is a solid pick for one of the best songs of 2016. Give it a listen.
     
    3. “In My Blood” – The Veronicas
    The first new music to come from the Aussie rock/pop duo since their 2014 self-titled album. “In My Blood” is a different sound from what we’re used to from The Veronicas being the kind of dance pop you’d except to hear at night clubs or music houses, but regardless it’s an amazing dance song for the summer.
     
    4. “Criminal + Dreamers” – Willa
    A more obscure release from electro-pop Canadian new comer Willa (Ali Milner) who debuted her first single “Stay the Night” (Track 4) in 2014. This debut EP features 8 songs and overall makes for a very good listen; album opener “Swan” (which also has a radio edit at the EP’s end) is more rock-influenced with Willa belting out some defiant lyrics about not being eye-candy (I’m not a swan/pretty in the pond). The next two tracks “Criminal” and “Hey” as well as fifth track “Stare” are my favorites featuring some interesting and solid production and wonderful vocals from an artist who all fans of pop should keep an eye on.
     
    5. “Hero” – Maren Morris
    For whatever reason, most of my favorite LPs for each year are released in the second half of the year; which probably explains why this debut from Texas native Maren Morris is the only LP to be featured on this list. This is a solid country album with more to offer than just Morris’ breakout hit “My Church” (about the strong connection between music and driving) and follow up single “Rich”, which I would recommend particularly to fans of Kacey Musgraves. Favorite tracks include, “Sugar”, “80’s Mercedes”, and “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry”.
     
    6. “Summer EP” – Cassadee Pope
    I very much enjoyed Pope’s debut album “Frame by Frame” (2013) and eagerly anticipated her follow up album all of last year; whether the release of this EP is a sign the album is coming sooner or later is unknown to me. Either way, the four tracks presented here are all very good and very much what Cassadee Pope fans have been hoping for. Opening track “Summer” is a fun, upbeat, perfect for the summer song, but I personally prefer either “Piano” or “Alien” for their superior writing. Third track “Kisses at Airports” is the only genuine low point for me, but is still fine; a great EP overall.
     
    7. “Bella Goldwin”
    Another debut EP from a rising Canadian female pop artist; the really outstanding track here is opener “Higher Than Life”, which is a deeply moving, atmospheric song, about death and wishing to be reunited with a lost loved one. The performance here by Goldwin is absolutely amazing and is the heart of this incredibly sentimental and touching song. The rest of the EP also features the artist’s quality vocals (except for the third track, which is almost entirely instrumental) and good song writing; definitely worth a listen.
     
    8. “Bubblebath” – That Poppy
    This is a very good debut EP that features four very fun pop songs. My personal favorite is "Money" although like I said this all quite good especially if you're a fan of less-serious kind of bubblegum pop. All in all a solid EP, which is definitely going to put me on the look at for future music from this artist.
     
    9. CHVRCHES
    The marvelously talented band that defies genre description and released one of my favorite albums from 2015 (“Every Open Eye”) released a good song for the video game “Mirror’s Edge Catalyst” called “Warning Call” written from the perspective of the game’s heroine. They also just came out with a different version of one of the best tracks off their last album, but this time featuring none other than Hayley Williams the front woman for rock stalwart Paramore; both these songs our definitely worth a listen.
     
     
    That’s what I’ve been listening to and loving so far this year, again like I said most of my favorite music is released in the second half of the year, but still I’m both pretty happy with the music that’s come out this year and also very optimistic for the future. Speaking of the future, I’m greatly anticipating three LPs in particular from pop stars Tove Lo and Charli XCX as well as from the amazing pop/rock sister band HAIM.
  3. JAG18

    Goodbye Blog

    By JAG18,

    For now?
     
    Yeah, my premier membership is up in a day or two and I've decided to not renew it. I'll admit it's been fun; having a blog (that I'll be the first to admit I didn't update enough) and neat images under my member title, but I don't really get enough out of it to justify buying another year or even lifetime membership. Still, like I said I had fun and I got to help support a site I love a lot so it's all good.
     
    And hey, never say never right? Maybe, I'll change my mind some day, but until then it's goodbye blog.
  4. JAG18

    Music Questionnaire #2

    By JAG18,

    Following up on my last entry here is another music questionnaire this one asking the question, "If your life were a movie what would the soundtrack be?"  I'll go ahead and say that this one was rougher than most of these questionnaires I've done and that's saying something.  Either way, here's mine, go ahead and leave yours in the comments if you want. 
    1. Opening Credits:

    “Flood My Mind” – Ivy Levan (ehhhh)


     
    2. Waking Up:

    “I Think I Love It” – Alexandra Stan (That is not at all like my usual reaction to waking up)


     
    3. First Day at School:

    “The Man” – Taylor Swift (No comment)


     
    4. Falling In Love:

    “She Weirdo” – She Nova (Well, I guess beggars can’t be choosers)


     
    5. First Fight Scene:

    “My Love” – Anna of the North (is that who I’m fighting for?  In which case this sort of makes sense…)


     
    6. Breaking Up:

    “I Like Myself (Most of the Time)” – K.Flay (I guess after a break-up I do need to feel good about myself)


     
    7. Prom

    “1, 2, 3 dayz up” – Kim Petras; SOPHIE (fun, danceable song so I guess it fits)


     
    8. Life

    “Don’t Call Me Up” – Mabel (no comment)


     
    9. Mental Breakdown

    “Strawberry Shortcake” – Melanie Martinez (WHAT WAS IN THAT CAKE?!)


     
    10. Driving:

    “There Will Be Blood” – Kim Petras (Oh dear Mata Nui no)


     
    11. Flashback:

    “wish you were gay” – Billie Eilish (I think this one almost fits the story)


     
    12. Getting Back Together:

    “Ready Set Let’s Go” – KOYOTIE (eh, fine)


     
    13. Wedding:

    “Just a Boy” – Olivia O’Brien (worst one yet)


     
    14. Birth of Child:

    “Insomnia” – Daya (no, no, no that’s what comes AFTER they’re born)


     
    15. Final Fight Scene:

    “That Call It Love” – KOYOTIE (love hurts)


     
    16. Death Scene

    “You and I” – Owl Eyes (A little too upbeat for a death scene)


     
    17. Funeral:

    “Mother’s Daughter” – Miley Cyrus (OK, let’s just finish this)


     
    18. Ending Credits:

    “Ghost 2 U” – Jinka (Could have been worse)


     
    Favorites: 2, 4, 9, 14

  5. JAG18

    Twilight Zone Abridged

    By JAG18,

    Not too long ago I was re-watching (or watching for the first time more often then not) all 5 seasons of the original run of "The Twilight Zone" (I talked about it here when I started) and while making my way through I was reading A.V. Club's reviews of each episode. The recent talk of Jordon Peele's reboot (which I haven't seen) made me think back to the review of "To Serve Man" mostly a point the author made about how the episode was basically a plot twist in search of a story, which lead to the following discussion in the comments section:
     
     
    I'm just wondering if this would be a good idea for a zero budget "Twilight Zone" adaption made by a bunch of broke high school/film school students. You know, 5 minute or less minisodes uploaded straight to Youtube, with the whole point being to get to the twist as quickly as possible. Now, I'd be the first to argue that "Twilight Zone" was more than it's twist, but as a cheap spin-off it might be fun to see. I'd watch it.
  6. JAG18

    Music Questionnaire #4

    By JAG18,


    Music
    I haven't done one of these in awhile mostly because I don't visit this site that often anymore, but also because I only have four of these and I've covered three of them already in this blog (find them all here).  The three I've already covered I found circa 2011 and had a lot of fun with them in high school, but this new one I found years later (maybe 2016) on deviantart from user Amei-San.  It is a little longer than the others (25 questions) so if time or playlist size is an issue keep that in mind.  Either way, since I haven't used this one much (or done any of these in awhile if we're being real) why not use my Favorite Songs of 2021 Playlist? 
     
    The Fourth Music Quiz: 

     
    1. If someone stole your favorite item, what would you yell out of anger?
    “Cry Little Sister” – CHVRCHES (OK, that is funny, not super appropriate, but funny)
    2. You trip and fall in front of your crush, they say:
    “The Very First Night (Taylor’s Version)” – Taylor Swift (No comment I guess?)
    3. A moment of disappointment hits you, what do you mutter?
    “Harshest Critic” – Alison Ponthier (Oof, that’s almost too perfect)
    4. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?
    “Crash and Burn” – Maggie Lindemann (Well, that could actually happen so…)
    5. What's the best way to describe your closest friend?
    “Inferno” – Sub Urban; Bella Poarch (Hey a BIONICLE book title, not bad)
    6. Best movie of all time?
    “Love Took Her For a Ride” – Bella Goldwin (Sounds like a movie title, but not for a good movie)
    7. Best make-out spot to take someone?
    “brutal” – Olivia Rodrigo (No comment, next)
    8. A song that would play during a wicked torturing of your enemies?
    “Whatever It Takes” – Zyra (NO MERCY)
    9. A theme song that would play every time your parent(s) enter a room?
    “Nothing” – Jetty Bones (Not feeling it)
    10. You're walking home and you find 20 bucks, what you say?
    “Conman” – Shima; Sumire (Yes, this is very sussy)
    11. Your Theme song?
    “Player of Games” – Grimes (That’s funny if you remember I used to be active in Games and Trivia, but doesn’t really fit now)
    12. The end of the world is near, your reaction?
    “Everyone Is Disappointing” – ari hicks (Wow)
    13. A good song to kill to?
    “Creep” – carolesdaughter (Double wow)
    14. Someone broke your heart, what will you do now?
    “Flux” – Poppy (That is actually kind of fitting)
    15. Your make-out song?
    “virtual reality” – Renforshort (starting to get the feeling either the quiz or my playlist is trying to make me feel bad)
    16. You punch someone in the face, what do they cry out?
    “Burning Bridges” – Sigrid (No comment)
    17. A rock is thrown through your window with a note on it. It says?
    “IH8EVERY1” – Sarah Barrios (Yeah, I got the message)
    18. Someone compliments you on something, your reply?
    “Bonnie & Clyde” – YUQI (Meh)
    19. What does the world and everyone in it think of you?
    “I Don’t Wanna Be Touched” – Meredith Bull (By me?  Ow)
    20. An opening fight scene song?
    “All I Ever Wanted” – Claire Ridgely (Meh)
    21. If you were one of the 7 deadly sins... which would you be?
    “Rumors” – Maria Domark (The odds of it being one of the actually sins was pretty low I think)
    22. Your favorite bedtime story?
    “Build A @#$%&” – Bella Poarch (No comment, but dang it now I got censor this)
    23. The song you'll make your husband/wife dance to when you get married?
    “I Just Needed You” – Pale Waves (OK, not bad)
    24. You and a friend are trapped on an island, how will you decide leadership?
    “Time Of My Life” – UPSAHL  (What?)
    25. How will people remember you when you're dead and gone?
    “Ghost In Me” – Darla Jade (It fits, but I don’t think it should)
    Favorites: 1, 6, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19
     
  7. JAG18
    In my "Best Everything of 2016" list entry, I lamented the fact that I only watched 10 new movies last year and that I was going to try harder to watch more movies this year.
    Well, so far this year I've watch 13 new movies and I regret nothing...well, actually I do kind of regret seeing "Beauty and The Beast" and "Aftermath", but whatever.
     
    So what were these movies and what did I think of them?
     
    "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is one of my favorites of the year so far and I love it. Oddly enough, I just watched the first "Guardians" this past January and I watch the second on a late Thursday night showing.
     
    "Life" is a pretty good sci-fi horror movie and while I noticed the similarities at the time after re-watching all the Alien movies this past month I really noticed how similar "Alien" and "Life" are.
     
    "The Lego Batman Movie" is a lot of fun.
     
    "Kong: Skull Island" and "Power Rangers" are fine summer blockbusters.
     
    "The Great Wall", "Alien: Covenant", and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" are all OK films.
     
    "Silence" is better made and "smarter" than all the above films, but I don't prefer it to any of the above.
     
    While, I thought it was good the first time around I really think I need to re-watch "Split" to form a solid opinion on it.
     
    It's not a great movie, but I enjoyed "Megan Leavey" a lot. Definitely more than I thought I would.
     
     
    And after all that I still need to watch "Logan" and "Wonder Woman", and there are still some movies coming up that I'm really looking forward to ("Dunkirk", "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", "The Last Jedi"). We'll see what happens.
  8. JAG18

    Law Bringer Teaser #3

    By JAG18,


    Writing
    Is an actual short story in OTC. 
    I don't think I have anything else to say.  This is my first time sharing something from the project I've been working on for about six years now (I wrote this story last April) and what better place to share it than BZP?  Read it if you want, upvote, like, reply in the topic whatever.
    Also, this story is a slightly censored version.  The violence in the original isn't that much worse, but I didn't want to risk breaking any rules.  That's partly why I probably won't post another "Law Bringer" story here on BZP so if you want more you'll have to wait until I launch the official "Law Bringer" site, which hopefully will be later this year (fingers cross) and of course I'll drop a link to that when the time comes. 
     
  9. JAG18

    My Favorite Movies

    By JAG18,

    Very recently, Voltex posted in his blog about making a list of every one of your favorite movies from every year you've been alive and I decided to do the same thing. Echoing some of the things he said, I too need something to blog about and I also need to watch more movies especially from the year I was born. I will also add that I need an excuse not to start writing a short story that's a sequel to that "Twilight Zone" episode "To Serve Man".
     
    Now on to the movies!
     
    96: "That Thing You Do"
    97: "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"
    98: "Mulan"
    99: "The Sixth Sense"
    00: "Gladiator" (sorry "Unbreakable" and "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust")
    01: "The Fellowship of the Ring"
    02: "Signs" (sorry "Spider-Man")
    03: "The Return of the King" (sorry "Master and Commander", but I guess that's the story of your life)
    04: "Hotel Rwanda" (sorry "Spider-Man 2")
    05: "Batman Begins"
    06: "Facing the Giants" (I'm not sorry "Spider-Man 3")
    07: "Ratatouille"
    08: "The Dark Knight"
    09: "Star Trek"
    10: "Robin Hood"
    11: "Super 8"
    12: "October Baby"
    13: "Captain Phillips"
    14: "Edge of Tommorow" (sorry five or six other movies that I also really like and everyone else would agree is better than this one)
    15: "Mad Max: Fury Road"
    16: "10 Cloverfield Lane" (sorry "The Neon Demon" for not getting around to watching you yet)
    17: I've only seen 8 films this year so far and "Dunkirk", "The Last Jedi", "Guardians Vol.2", and "Valerian" are still on the way, but at this point I'd probably pick "Life" or "Kong: Skull Island" as my favorite movie of the year with "The Lego Batman Movie" as a strong runner up.
  10. JAG18
    OK, I know I'm getting this up a little later than I wanted to, but regardless here are the rest of my year-end lists for the year of 2016 for your reading pleasure and because I really like making top lists. So, let's start with...
     
     
    Best Movie of 2016: "10 Cloverfield Lane"

     
    You know, I don’t know I make these best movies lists when I do. And the reason I say this is because I watched some of my favorite movies of 2015 (“Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Krampus”) for the first time in 2016 and more than likely I’ll discover my favorite movies of 2016 this year.
    OK setting all that aside, I did really like this movie. Put simply, it’s almost like a two hour episode of one of my favorite TV shows “The Twilight Zone” heck it’s even got a classic Twilight Zone ending. Yeah, I really liked this one.
     
    Honorable Mentions: “I’m Not Ashamed”, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
     
     
    Best Album of 2016: “Royal Blues” – Dragonette

     
    You know what, I could start this by complaining for the millionth time that not one, or two or three, but five albums that I was really looking forward to coming out in 2016 and I thought would be the top half of a decent top 10 list, all got delay until this year, but I'm not going to.
    So, I’ve known who electropop act Dragonette is since early 2015, but this is when I really became a fan after hearing their amazing song “Lonely Heart” a couple of months before they dropped this album. Anyway, this is a really cool album, that I did like a lot (especially songs like "Body 2 Body", "Darth Vader", and "Your Love Can't Touch Me Now") even if at the end of the day there was no competition this year.
     
    Honorable Mentions: “Britt Nicole” – Britt Nicole, “You Can’t Kill Us” – Icon For Hire
     
    Top 10 Songs of 2016:
     
    First things first, the criteria were that the song need to be released between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 or needed to become popular in that same time period (without having appeared on a previous year-end before). Anyway, this was by far the list I spent the most time on and poured the most effort into. Since last January I’ve kept a list in a word document of every song I might want to put on this list resulting in almost 125 nominees. Now, I could list all 50 songs that I ranked and even add my short list to create a Top 75, but I’ll just stick to a top ten. And the winner is…
     

     
    I really like this song (obviously), although it was really, really hard deciding this one over “Chewing Gum” and I’m not entirely sure what puts this song slightly above that one, but whatever this is a great song.
     
    2. “Chewing Gum” – Nina Nesbitt
    3. “Real Love” – Florrie
    4. “Hotter than [karzahni]” – Dua Lipa
    5. “Rockabye” – Clean Bandit; Anne-Marie, Sean Paul
    6. “My Heartache” – Olivia Lane
    7. “The Magic” – Lola Blanc
    8. “Blow Your Mind” (Mwah)” – Dua Lipa
    9. “Play House” – Colette Carr
    10. “That’s So Us” – Allie X
     
    Best Music Video of 2016: “False Alarm” – The Weeknd
    Ok, first off I know that this director has made two music videos and even a full length movie around this concept and I don’t really care, because this music video is really cool and made me not only like "False Alarm" more than I probably would have, but also convinced me that there's a better song to play during an action scene than the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" (well, almost better).
    Of course, now is a good time to mention that I realized something last year and that is the fact that I really don’t watch music video anymore. Not sure why.
     
     
    And that completes all my "best of" lists for 2016, it was a fine year I guess aside from a lot of album delays, but hey that at least means that I have a lot to look forward to this year, right? Actually in point of fact, this week I discovered The Katherines' debut album, "To Bring You My Heart" that would have given Dragonette a run for their money if had come out this year, so hey that's a good start.
  11. JAG18

    The Horror of The Baterra

    By JAG18,


    Bionicle
    Remember the Baterra from the 2009 storyline?  Have you ever asked yourself, "What if they were horror movie villains?"

    Quick refresher (long one at BS01), the Baterra were a group of shapeshifting robots created by The Great Beings to end The Core War...by killing anyone holding a weapon because I guess The Great Beings get their morals from "Chappie".  After the war they did a number on the remaining Skrall on Bara Magna and forced them to move south and become the villains of the 2009 storyline.  The Baterra following the Skrall south was a minor plot point of '09.   
    I'm wracking my brain to remember what it was like in 2009 (which was somehow 14 years ago) when the Baterra were introduced.  I remember Greg hinting at them in answers saying the Skrall were running from something else, which was honestly good hype.  I can't remember how we found out about their origin and purpose, but I know it was before "Yesterday Quest".  Either way, in late 2009 the robots appeared briefly in the Skrall serial and the next year in the really cool graphic novel "Legends of Bara Magna".  (Side note, does anyone remember the effort the community made to get as many people as possible to preorder that comic because Greg said we might not get anymore if doesn't sell well?  Good times.) 
     
    Both of their minor story appearances highlight their potential as horror villains especially the forest ambush in the comic.  Imagining a horror movie with them is pretty easy I mean they're killer robots they can hide in plain sights and can get you before you even know they're there.  Think of the jump scare potential!  And the last thing we learn about them (outside of Greg quotes) is they refused to shut down after the war ended, which also screams horror.  
    Obviously the Baterra (or a Baterra-like robot/creature) would fit right into the slasher or monster genre.  Heck, a Baterra hunting people in a city would basically just be "The Terminator".  I'm bringing up that movie because the Baterra have another connection to that franchise. The second Terminator movie featured the T-1000 a robot made of liquid metal, which according to Greg is how the Baterra shapeshift.  
    Like many pages for things relevant to Bionicle's last years, the Baterra page is littered with small tidbits from Greg made since Bionicle's end.  The liquid metal info being one, which is nice although something I don't like as much is the Baterra being the inspiration for the Bohrok and also them being the same height as the little rolling guys from 2002.  I know I wasn't the only one who imagined the Baterra as tall and slender to be disappointed to learn that.  
    When the story ended the Baterra were on a collusion course with the newly united good guys.  I don't know if Greg would have used the Baterra if he had continued writing the serials, but in all honestly I can't see that going well.  Probably it would have been a minor conflict resolved in a couple of chapters so Greg could focus more on ideas he had more interest in.  The weapons of the Baterra, which slew hundreds of Skrall red shirts would be no match for our heroes' plot armor.  Sure, maybe a couple of minor characters like Trinuma or Vastus would die to build up the tension, but in the end Nuparu or some other tech guy would come up with a clever way to defeat the Baterra and finally put an end to a really cool footnote in the legend of the Bionicle.  
    But, I still want see to that horror story.
  12. JAG18

    The Day Is Finally Here

    By JAG18,


    Writing
    I can't believe it's been over a year since I first teased "Law Bringer" on this blog.  Of course, I've been working on it for much longer than that, but today is the day I get to share it with the world.
    Where does this story start?  With the kid who used to write knockoff as well as actual bionicle fan fiction?  Or the young man who rediscovered an old hobby and stumbled upon a story that eventually grew into something he had to share with at least someone.  
    Whether you liked the story I published in OTC*, or any of the teasers in this blog, or think it has potential (or think I have potential) you can follow me on my journey here.  Or if you'd rather listen instead "Law Bringer" is also on Youtube.  Obviously Bionicle is still an influence on my writing and you can expect some references to sneak in, but even if you just like fast-paced sci-fi action adventure stories than maybe spare a glance at my work.
    Either way, I'm happy this day is finally here and wish me luck! 
     
    *Actually, the short story I posted there is a slightly censored version so if you want to read the official version keep on eye on that space for it. 
  14. JAG18

    Law Bringer Day 2

    By JAG18,


    Law Bringer
    Feature photo is the art for "Meet The Commander".  Above is art for "Meet V Squad".  
    When I sat down to write the first draft of this post a couple of weeks ago I wanted to write something ten times more depressing, angry, bitter, and cynical, but I decided I wanted this to be a happy day since I'm supposed to be celebrating so here's a happier post instead.
    Seven years ago today, I wrote a little story about four stereotypes (cowboy, ninja, killer robot, and ex-military guy) saving a (not very competent) vampire hunter from a horde of vampires.  The little piece grew into something much larger than I could have imagined and lead me down roads I also couldn't have imagined.  
    When I wrote last year's Law Bringer Day post I wrote that I'd be sharing "Law Bringer" with the world soon.  I didn't mean for "soon" to mean nine months, although technically I shared "Meet The Deserter" here in February.  Either way, I had further to go after that, but I reached the midpoint a couple of days ago when I posted "Meet The Commander".
    Now is the hardest part to remain positive with.  The part where I have to admit my greatest accomplishment after all this effort is a feeling of, "At least I did it."
    As for any future plans.  I'm set to finish posting Season 1 at the end of March (taking a couple of breaks to post spin-offs I've posted elsewhere, but not on the substack), which means I'll publish the entire thing together as my first book a month or two after.  
    I need to spit out the weird spin-off "Mors" next spring.  Like write it in a month and revise in another one level speed.  Then the fun begins.  I can work on my prequel, which needs to be ten times more depressing, angry, bitter, and cynical than anything I've ever written before.  As a bonus the social media content will create itself (wish I could say the same for Season 1), which might allow me to actually get an audience.  
    Hopefully, I'll be done with that in late 2024, then the real challenge comes.  I need to write the book that will decide the fate of all of "Law Bringer" forever, but I should stop planning past next year's Law Bringer Day.   
    I'll send off with a quote from Mr. Nightmare, "You'll never know how far you'll get unless you try." 
  15. JAG18

    Best Songs of 2020

    By JAG18,

    Another year has come and gone, which means it is time to share my annual year-end songs list.  For obvious reasons things were different for music this year, but there were still plenty of great songs that were released and if you know anything about my taste in music then you can probably guess that none of those great songs made my list...but regardless these are my favorite songs from 2020 (links to the playlist on Spotify and Youtube at the end of post).
     
     
     
     
    #2. Confessional - Janet Devlin.  Since, number one isn't SFBZP, here my second favorite song of 2020.
     
    #11. The Baddest - K/DA; (G)I-DLE, Bea Miller Wolftyla.  No joke, in a year where I found myself drawn to a lot of dark and depressing music, K/DA provided the one bright spot of nothing, but fun and upbeat music. 
     
    #15. Knife Under My Pillow - Maggie Lindemann.  It only took four years, but Maggie Lindemann finally made I song I like; probably the biggest musical surprise of 2020 for me. 
     
    #29. Really Don't Know - Angie & Jenny.  A brand new pop duo from France are (along with Babyqueen) my pick for new artist to watch out for in the future.
     
    #33. No Rules - Meredith Bull.  Like I said, in a year full of dark, brooding, angsty, downer, and depressing songs this is one of the few happy and fun ones that made my list. 
     
    #54. Skindeepskyhighheartwide - Lawrence Rothman feat. Pale Waves.  I only saw two movies that came out in 2020 and one of them was "The Turning" and I hated it, but two songs off the soundtrack made this list.
     
    #75. Millennia - Luna Shadows.  Luna Shadows, Magdalena Bay and especially Ava Max, were the artists I've listened to before that I come to appreciate and enjoy even more this year. 
     
    #99. Adrenaline - PRXZM.  For whatever reason, EDM didn't do as well on my list compared to years past, by here a song I enjoyed a lot.
     
    JAG's Favorite Songs of 2020 Playlist:
    Spotify - Youtube
  16. JAG18
    This may seem like an odd time to review my Spotify Year in Music since we’re two-thirds of the way through this year and I’m going to be doing this again in December, but whatever I’m going to do it anyway. Now, this Year in Music has particular meaning to me for two reasons, one because I joined Spotify the last couple of days of 2014 so this is my first Year in Music and almost reflects how the medium changed my listening habits the more I used it. And two, the simple fact is I almost exclusively use streaming while listening to music so this almost doubles as a look at my year in music period. Ok, with that out of the way let’s do this.
     
     
    Top Artists
    Marina and the Diamonds – 418 Streams
    Ok, so this is a no brainer, I discovered Marina and the Diamonds last April/May and since then she’s become one of my favorite artists ever. In fact, for good part of the year it seemed like all I was doing was playing her entire three album discography back-to-back non-stop.
     
    CHVRCHES – 402 Streams
    …Which is probably why she has a pretty decent lead over the runner-up who coincidently (or maybe not?) is another one of favorite bands, Chvrches; again a no brainer “The Bones of What You Believe” was one of the first albums I went looking when I first joined Spotify and it’s been a staple of my music listening ever seen. Not to mention they also released their sophomore album “Every Open Eye” in the fall of last year, which only helped them get this second spot and which I’ll talk about again later.
     
    Halsey – 334 Streams
    So, in the three spot we have alt-pop darling Halsey and hey I’m not complaining I loved her debut album that dropped in the summer and, in fact, of my 100 most streamed songs of last year a staggering nine were from either “Badlands” or “Room 93”. I do think it’s kind of cool how almost a year ago I had just discovered her music right before she dropped her debut album and now a year later she already has a number one hit on Billboard (with The Chainsmokers).
     
    Bea Miller – 250 Streams
    First, look at the drop in streams it took to make this list, but whatever, Bea Miller was one of the first artists I discovered via Spotify who I really liked so of course she’d end up here. Although I have noticed that I don’t seem listen to her as much I used to, now I am trying to fix this, but at the end of the day while her EP and debut album made for some great listening last year I’m skeptically if I’ll be very interested in any of her follow ups.
     
    Zella Day – 223 Streams
    I don’t have much to say here, like all the other four she had a major album release last year that I was a big fan of and, as we’ll see soon, “Hypnotic” was a song I couldn’t get enough.
     
    Top 5 Albums
    “The Bones of What You Believe” – Chvrches 200 Streams
    No surprise, not much else I can say about this album.
     
    “The Family Jewels” – Marina and the Diamonds 198 Streams
    Ok, I know if you asked me this at the time I probably would have pegged this as my favorite Marina album in a heartbeat, but now I might actually go for “Froot” instead, but either way this got almost as many streams than both of her other albums put together.
     
    “Kicker” – Zella Day 167 Streams
    Yeah, great album, no further comments.
     
    “Queen of the Clouds” – Tove Lo 158 Streams
    Despite liking “Habits (Stay High)” when it hit radio in late 2014 I didn’t immediately look into Tove Lo’s debut album “Queen of the Clouds” until about April and obviously I liked it a lot.
     
    “Badlands” – Halsey 152 Streams
    For reasons I can’t explain because I don’t fully know myself I decided to listen to the standard version of this album before moving on to the deluxe edition that I exclusively listen to now with the result being that “Badlands” is down here in fifth place. C’est La Vie.
     
    Top 5 Songs
    “Paperweight” – Bella Thorne 53 Streams
    Uh, I can explain…
     
    “Oh No” – Marina and the Diamonds 44 Streams
    For the longest time I jumped on this as my favorite Marina song (probably because it’s off “The Family Jewels” that I talked about earlier) and hey since I just listened to it today maybe it still is, but either way good song.
     
    “Pray to God” – Calvin Harris; Haim 42 Streams
    For the record, I’m here more for Haim than Calvin, but either way this is the song that put Haim on my radar and I couldn’t be happier for it.
     
    “Hypnotic” – Zella Day 41 Streams
    I wrote earlier this was one of my favorites of 2015 and I don’t have much else to say about it, but I do want to point out how close in streams all these songs are with this song only needing two more streams to get the three spot.
     
    “If Only” – Dove Cameron 36 Streams
    I think she’s got a great voice, and that’s all I’m going to say about this being as high as it is.
     
    Top Genres: Pop, Synth Pop, Metropopolis, Indietronica, Dance Pop
    If you’ve seen my posts in What Are You Listening to Right Now? Or just read the previous paragraphs this shouldn’t come as a surprise at all. Although I do find at least a little weird that Country didn’t show up here at all I mean I know I don’t listen to the genre anymore except for some choice acts, but still like I said it’s weird.
     
    Ear-Worm: “Paperweight” – Bella Thorne (streamed 8 times in one day)
    Ok, now time to explain, and well I’m just going to say that I really like this song yes I know it’s flawed (to say the least), but I don’t really care because it connects with me and that’s the only thing that should matter when it comes to music. That being said this on top of my non-existent list of songs that I wish would be covered just because I think that there’s a great song hidden somewhere in here waiting to be made.
     
    Listening Habits:
    Number of minutes listened to in 2015: 22,000 (or 358 hours or 15 days)
    Number of artists streamed: 648
    Number of tracks streamed: 1,943
     
    Since this is just raw stats I’ll post them here and move on.
     
    Outlier: “Music People” –IAMX
    According to Spotify I “ventured into the unknown,” by listening to song, which I guess is a good thing?
     
    Sounds of the Seasons: Most Streamed Artists by Season
     
    Winter: Avril Lavigne (74 streams), Chvrches (73), Cassadee Pope (54)
    So, this reflects my beginnings on Spotify, and is a pretty good example of what I used to listen to back then, not that I don’t still stream Lavigne and Pope, but it’s getting rarer these days to be honest.
     
    Spring: Marina and the Diamonds (165), Tove Lo (142), Chvrches (104)
    Note, the massive spike in the number of streams, which marks when I really got on board this streaming thing and more importantly is a great example of what I’ve always believed that Spotify is great at turning either occasional or non-listeners into much bigger consumers of music. Anyway, as I mentioned before it was around this time I discovered Marina and Tove Lo.
     
    Summer: Marina and the Diamonds (178), Halsey (152), Zella Day (143)
    I wasn’t kidding when I said that I was listening to Marina non-stop after I first discovered her; and also here is reflected the June and August drops of “Badlands” and “Kicker” from Halsey and Day respectively.
     
    Fall: Halsey (182), Chvrches (130), Melanie Martinez (119)
    I really liked Halsey’s album, and the drop of their stellar sophomore effort “Every Open Eye” in September precipitated the return of Chvrches in these rankings (although I do find it interesting that nothing off that album made any waves here either in the form of a top album or top song). Also, in August I made, what might still be, the best discovery off of Spotify’s much buzzed about “Discover Weekly” playlist namely Melanie Martinez. And it was the appearance of her song “Pity Party” on aforementioned playlist that made me an instant fan the second I heard it.
     
     
    And that was my Year in Music and I can’t wait to see how much my listening changed in December when my next Year in Music comes out.
  19. JAG18

    And We're Back Baby!

    By JAG18,

    Thanks to the great generosity of Bfahome this blog has returned from the ashes (for a little while anyway).
     
    Expect entries about the same inane things I used to blog about (mostly music and uh...stuff) shortly!
     
    Until then, bye!
  20. JAG18

    Spotify Year in Music 2016

    By JAG18,

    With another year almost come and gone Spotify has sent all its users their year in music, which means it’s time to talk about how I listened to music in 2016. This time around, Spotify was a lot less revealing having replaced a dedicated site with a simple email with regrettably less detailed statistics, but whatever it’s still interesting (to me) so let’s go with it.
     
    In numbers:
    This year I listened to 35,330 minutes of music (580 hours, 24 days), which is way up from last year’s 22,000 minutes. And also 1,309 different artists (double last’s year number of 648). However one place I lagged behind is in the number of unique tracks I listened to: 1,720 as opposed to 1,943 last year.
     
    Top Tracks:
    “Pray to God” – Calvin Harris feat. Haim: you know, while writing this I just realized that this was also my second most played song of 2015.
    “Red Eye” – Kid Cudi feat. Haim: this is the year I went from being a passive fan of Haim to them being my third or fourth favorite bands ever, which is my guess as to why they’re featured on both of my top two tracks.
    “Oh No!” – Marina and the Diamonds: probably still favorite Marina and the Diamonds song so I’m not surprised.
     
    Top Artists:
    Marina and the Diamonds
    Chvrches
    The Veronicas
    Charli XCX
    Halsey
     
    As I mentioned already, I was so happy when I saw that I’m in the top one percent of Marina fans and CHVRCHES is still one of my favorite bands ever. The Veronicas I discovered this year just in time to see their great new tracks drop “In My Blood” and “On Your Side”. Charli XCX is an old favorite of mine who released a pretty great EP earlier this year and Halsey is a more recent favorite. I’m more than a little surprised not to see Dua Lipa here or even Kyla La Grange, but whatever.
     
    Top Genres: Pop, Post-Teen Pop, Dance Pop, Indietronica, Metropopolis
    The only change from last year is that I’ve apparently stated listening to less synthpop and replaced it with Post-Teen Pop.
     
    Favorite Day to Listen (more like the day I have the most time to listen): Monday
     
    Your Top Songs 2016 Wrapped:
    Finally, Spotify also takes your one-hundred and one most streamed songs and puts them in a single playlist for you, and these are the first ten tracks on that playlist.
     
    “Hummingbird” – Kyla La Grange
    “Hotter Than [Karzahni]” – Dua Lipa
    “Higher Than Life” – Bella Goldwin
    “Chewing Gum” – Nina Nesbitt
    “Lush Life” – Zara Larsson
    “Love Is the Name” – Sofia Carson
    “Blow Your Mind (Mwah)” – Dua Lipa
    “Real Love” – Florrie
    “Pray to God” – Calvin Harris feat. Haim
     
    Unsurprisingly, many of my favorite songs of this year as well as an obvious old favorite; the other eighty-one songs are about the same.
     
    And that’s all I have to share from this year in music; as I said not as detailed as last year, but then I guess it’s kind of a moot point seeing as I do have a Last.fm account (although unfortunately one I didn't get 'til this past July) so I have some pretty elaborate statistics of my listening habits over there. Either way, I hope you some enjoyment out of this and look out in the coming weeks for all of my music related year-end lists.
  21. JAG18
    Get it On:




    - Spotify

     
    Another year come and gone, which means it's time to roll out my list of my favorite songs of the year!
    This was my fourth year doing a favorite songs list and like always since January first I've been compiling my "nominees" into a word document as I find them; unlike previous years though I started work on this list a little bit early than normal (early October). Sorry, couldn't help myself.
     
    Anyway on the list itself, if you know my taste in music then you know what to expect, various forms of pop music with a few sprinkles of other genres like EDM. CHVRCHES, K.I.D, Clean Bandit, Princess Chelsea, Alice Glass, Cyn, Meg Myers, Pale Waves, Lila Gold, and Allie X are just a few of the artists represented on the list.
     
    So, check out the list if any of that interests you and be sure to share the songs you loved most from 2018 in the comments below.
  22. JAG18
    ...'Cause I would have played them non-stop. 
    So, needless to say, I wasn't a very happy teenager in high school and back then (as is still true today) when I feel sad or down I tend to listen to sad songs to cope and every once in a while I come across a song that make me thing, "Wow, I really wish I had this song back in high school."  Although being honest, my music tastes were a lot more narrow back then so I'm entirely sure if I would have liked these songs even if I had heard them at the time, but regardless here's a short list of the songs I wish had existed in high school. 
    (Also, I've still never learned how to use code so get ready for giant screen stretching videos.)
    “Normal” – Sasha Sloan
    Choice Lyrics:
    "So keep on playing that song that I don't like
    I just wanna feel normal for the night
    Keep on kissing that guy that's not my type
    I just wanna feel normal for the night."
    Gotta start with a song from the sad girl herself.  This song is from early 2018 and I discovered almost the day it dropped.  The desire to want to change bits of who you are or to like things that you wouldn't normally in order to gain some level of acceptance by others is, of course, a quintessential part of high school and is actually still something I really connect with to this day so this is a song I've listened to quite a lot. 
    “Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)” – Sky Ferreira
    Choice lyrics:
    "Nobody asked me if I was okay
    No, no, no, no, no, no, no
    Nobody asked if I was okay,"
    Cheating a little bit, 'cause this song was released in 2013 when I was still in high school, but obviously I wasn't listening to Sky Ferreira back then.  Anyway, is this song repetitive and super on the nose?  Yes.  But, that does that mean that I don't like it and wouldn't have sung along so hard to it back in the day?  Karzahni no. 
    “Jesus Christ” – Luna Shadows
    Choice lyrics:
    "Or do I divide and fall apart
    Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark,"
    Alright, to kept it straight.  This song was released in late 2017, I didn't start listening to it until early this year while I was on a super Luna Shadows kick, but the song itself is actually a cover of a song from 2004 so yeah, that's that.
    The funny thing about this one, is that I think what I connect to the most in the lyrics now is different then what I would have connected to when I was younger, which is some interesting food for thought I guess. 
    “mad at God” – Sarah Saint James
    Choice lyrics:
    "No I don’t wanna be bitter, or come across as a quitter
    But I’m getting kinda tired
    I’m mad at God
    Causе if he exists why do I still feel like this?"
    So this song, is actually pretty new and what made me want to do this blog entry in the first place.  Other than that, I don't know what else to say about this one, 'cause like Sky Ferreira's song it is pretty self-explanatory I think.  Perhaps something funny to mention is it that I mostly listened to Christian music back in high school and I'm pretty sure that this song would not have gone over well with Christian music fans either then or today. 
     
    And that's my short list.  Share in the comments below if you can relate to anything in this entry or maybe share some songs that got you through high school. 
    -JAG
  23. JAG18

    I Think I'm a Hummingbird

    By JAG18,

    Recently I was reading "The Hedge Knight" graphic novel, which is based on a "A Game of Thrones" prequel and there is one bit where two characters are discussing a particularly mean and nasty prince (Aerion the Monstrous) who, being a Targaryen and all, believes himself to be a dragon (the Targaryen sigil). One of the two characters then comments that he wishes that the prince were a Fossoway (whose sigil is an apple) so that he would believe that he were, well, an apple.
    Now I of course got a good laugh out of this at the time, but it's also made me think of my own armorial achievement which if you want to see for reference you look either at my avatar or below.
     

    Actually this version is missing both my motto ("Truth is truth") and battle cry ("To hope's end and heart's breaking!); of course the "complete" version on my computer is also missing my supporters (hedgehogs) so c'est la vie.
     
    Anyway back on topic, what I'm saying is since my charge is a hummingbird does that mean if I were that prince I would believe myself to be a hummingbird? Well, I suppose that's better then being an apple right? At least I don't have to worry about someone touching me and making me lose my apple juice.
    Plus they are lots of cool facts about hummingbirds right? [see here]
     
    Speaking of my armorial achievement, remember if you ever see anyone on any website with it as their avatar then odds are pretty good that it's me (especially if the username is some variation of JAG18). It's not technically official because in order to make a coat of arms official (to my knowledge) is you need to be either a member of the British realm or a direct descendant of a British subject (which I am) and then pay a few thousand pounds. So, if I ever have several thousand pounds laying around that I'm not using then I know what I'll be spending them on.
  25. JAG18

    New Yu-Gi-Oh Ban List

    By JAG18,

    (Yes I know this is a little old, but I just found out about this the other day so I'm gonna talk about it now.)
     
    For those who don't know, in the Yu-Gi-Oh card game you can only have up to three copies of a single card in any one deck; exceptions being semi-limited, limited, and forbidden cards of which you can only have two of, one of, and none of respectively. What cards are limited and forbidden is decided by Konami with their frequently updated Limited and Forbidden List the latest update of which came out a couple of weeks ago.
     
    Now, the fact that I'm just now talking about this now should tip you off as to how involved I am with this game. Basically I watched the show growing up, but didn't really into the game until last winter when I started playing online at Dueling Nexus. Now, I'll be up front and say I honestly don't make my own decks for scratch I just watch the big Yugi-tubers and stalk the YGO reddit for deck lists. Sure, building decks is fun, but I'm not a good enough player to know how to build a deck that is even semi-competitive. Plus decks made by people who know what they are doing are funnier to play. Unfortunately, with the new ban list I'm going to need some new decks 'cause some of my favorites got hit hard.
     
    The good news: my all time favorite deck, a combination of Exodia and Trickstars, was completely unaffected; as was my Kozmo deck. I'm not that good a Kozmo player (yet?), but I like it a lot because 1) it's a pretty competitive deck and 2) it's doesn't require an extra deck to be good and I'm a YGO player who doesn't like extra decks.
     
    The bad news: both my favorite go-to Magnet Warrior deck and my Egyptian Gods deck used the Brilliant Fusion engine, which used 3 copies of a now limited card. It'll take some looking around to get both of those decks playable again.
     
    The worst news: You know that true hero who performed well at a regionals with a
    ? A Gren Maju deck. A deck that no one knew or cared about until he came up with it? Yeah, well one of the most important cards in the deck (Golden Sarcophagus) is now limited. That's a shame, because I love gimmick decks and especially gimmick decks that can actually win games and I've had a lot of luck playing with various Gren Maju decks. I'm sure that guy had a panic attack when he got the news.  
    OK, super nerdy blog entry over. I would be more torn up over all this if I was playing YGO right now (which I'm not) and probably by the time I do decide to start playing again they'll be another new ban list to adapt to so yeah until then just be sure to pay your respects to the once great Gren Maju.
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