The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[Trollheart]

It's perhaps appropriate that, as tomorrow marks the fourth year of my original journal (well, since my original original one in 2008, which was deleted) and also the second anniversary of this thread, a member who was coming to the same conclusions as I that April evening in 2011 and preparing to leave has decided instead to do what I did, and give it another go here. Hopefully he'll have reason to be glad he did. More about him later.

But now, as they say, on with the show.

Come with Anteater as he steers the ship steady as she goes on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ravaganza.html and brings us to harbour at “Westocasty songs by artistes usually known for other styles”, and he ain't kidding, with bands like Suspyre, Daft Punk and Foreigner in the frame

then http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-oblivion.html, speaking about his number one girl (can you guess who?) and also highlighting the phenomenon of REAL superheroes on the streets of America. Yeah, only in the Land of the Free...

Black Francis becomes the latest member to step outside of the confines of one journal, and in hsi new one he's looking at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ms-nes-ps.html with Aerobiz Supersonic, Digimon 3 and a whole lot of other titles no doubt that I have never played, heard of or knew existed, having never ever possessed anything close to a games console. Video Wars between Ki and BF in the wind? Meanwhile in his regular journal, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-journey.html he's still looking at that album from KAS Product.

Innerspaceboy only has the one journal, but does he pack a lot into it! This week in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html there's the Innerspace Hot 100, Sherlock Holmes and the case of the ruinous RFI, and even the shadowy Illuminatus can be found lurking within those digital pages. What do you mean, they don't exist? Yeah. Sure they don't...

After a somewhat rocky start and a threat to exit quickly,and as hinted at in the intro, joenorwood77 has calmed down and done the sensible thing and opened a journal to promote his http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...band-week.html. He'll be listening to the entire discography of one band every week and choosing his top five tracks, and if you want to join him in his endeavours, or just read about how he does, you can catch him there.

Machine is reviewing Tyler the Creator's Cherry Bomb in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-its-dumb.html

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...de-sparks.html continues with A Woofer in tweeter's clothing, more than thirty years before Twitter!

Which rather quickly brings us around to me. Now, as mentioned in the intro tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html, my first ever journal (after the original version was deleted) and I'm trying to mark that by running some of the first sections I created in that journal. So this week we have a return for “The Secret life of the Album cover” and “Gobsmacked!”, the former featuring Rainbow's iconic album sleeve for Rising while the album that had me so bowled over is Sean Filkins with War and peace and other short stories. There's also an amalgamation of two sections, as I merge “Two sides of the same coin” and the long-absent “Gone solo in the game” and look at the often similar solo paths taken by two of prog rock's giants, Fish and Peter Gabriel. There's also room for the return of “The Hook”, with Aneka. Remember her? Yeah, thought not.

To Batty's intense annoyance, I begin my coverage of “The Apprentice” in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-emporium.html, with episode one of the US and UK versions, and the Irish one to follow, while we're finishing up 1968 in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html with a look at the debut albums from Jethro Tull and Soft Machine, second efforts from The Nice and Procol Harum and .... the Pretty Things? Hmm. Yeah. Heading towards 1969 soon!

And we close with excitement reaching fever pitch as 1984's top three take shape in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html, with Celtic Frost just outside at four, and Metallica taking the number three slot. Anyone like to lay any money on numbers two and one?


has to go to Batty, for his entertaining and informative expose of real-life superheroes, and also for his restraint in not mocking them too much at all. Excelsior!

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Among Us Walk the Superheroes!!!

They are not cosplayers. They are not hobbyists. They are not like you and me. These are men and women who take the law and their lives into their hands to suit up, with homemade uniforms and cellphones to call the real police, in order to fight crime. Just. Like. Batman. I bet you thought superheroes were confined to the pages of comic books; you would be wrong. There are indeed "real" ones walking the streets today, and I shall highlight the most hilar-I mean, notable individuals.

Mr. Xtreme

I think the name says it all. From his intimidating goggles, to his knick knack-covered body armor, this is clearly a man for whom the word "extreme" is not just an idea, but a way of life. Security guard and volunteer fire fighter by day, by night Mr. Xtreme patrols the streets of San Diego to discourage violent crime, and even participates in community outreach programs. Not a man to go by half measures, he has even established the so-called "Xtreme Justice League", with whose members he teams up for patrols and volunteer work. His identity and marital status remain a closely guarded secret.

(Video removed)


Keep up the good work, Mr. Xtreme. We are xtremely proud of you.

Motor Mouth

Can you guess what Motor Mouth's special ability is? It's a stun gun. But first he'll try to talk his way out of a confrontation while patrolling nighttime San Fransisco, California with his team, the Northern California Protectorate -- part of a larger group that operates up and down the West Coast.

But he's not all talk -- remember, he has a stun gun. During 2010 riots caused by the verdict in a racially sensitive court case involving the shooting death of an unarmed African American man, Motor Mouth and his fellow super heroes bravely took to the streets of Oakland to try to maintain order.


(Video removed)


As you can see from his impressive physique, Motor Mouth's namesake is a versatile weapon. Keep on motoring, man.

Zetaman

Like any self respecting real life superhero, Zetaman does his share of late night patrols, but his real passion is community outreach. The thing that really sets him apart from his peers is that he has his own Youtube reality show, The Real Adventures of Zetaman, which documents his "adventures" (i.e. Toys for Tots kinda ****).


(Video removed)


Surely, a cartoon series will be soon to follow.

Nyx

... I'm sorry, what was I saying? Oh right, in a "field" dominated by men, Nyx is an exception. Operating out of New York, she concentrates her work on protecting the homeless. But where other superheroes are more open about their patrols, using their intimidation factor as a deterrent, Nyx prefers to operate in the shadows: “Like the night, I cannot be proven or disproven to certain degrees; and also much like the night, when morning comes, there will be no trace of me.”


(Video removed)


You know, I think those crazy, crazy, mother****ing crazy kids just might make it.

Phoenix Jones

I suppose that there would inevitably emerge an anti-hero in the real life superhero movement. Phoenix Jones is that man, along with his Rain City Superhero Movement. A professional MMA fighter in his civilian life, he has been arrested after using peppery spray against an assailant, and been involved in numerous other altercations which have given him a rather dubious reputation with the Seattle police.
(Video removed)
I don't know about you people, but knowing that heroes like these are out in the streets, protecting the innocent, makes me feel much safer to step outside my house. So, I salute you, oh Justice League wannabes of dubious mental capacity. Now, will one of you fall into a vat of toxic waste and get laser eye beams already?

So nobody got in touch and said “Do me! Do me!” Nobody contacted me about featuring their journal here either...

so I started looking through the section for one that might be interesting, and up popped herself.

I thought, yeah, this one deserves to be highlighted. What I read of it I really liked and though Steph didn't quite keep it up to date in the same way as others did and do, it's a real Urban case of quality trumping quantity. She may not write that much, but when Wolverinewolfweiselpigeon writes, people take notice. So we're going to start going through http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-tripping.html as the latest of the

(I should note that I haven't spoken to WWWP, and so before I obtain permission from her to do so, I will not be featuring any extracts from her journal here, in case she would rather I did not.)

As ever, I will be doing this in two-month blocks each week, so with her journal opening in June of 2012 , and after an interesting introduction WWWP got down to business with “Music I found through Music Banter”, including Elliot Smith, The Olivia Tremor Control, Yo La Tengo (featuring the lady herself rendering a beautiful cover of one of their songs, and showing just how much talent she has: not just a pretty face, though she's certainly that too), Arab Strap and Mountain Goats.

Then there was a gap of a year. Yeah. Well, she said she was dealing with some stuff but wanted to relaunch the journal, and so coincidentally a year and a month later, July 2013 she started her themes, the first of which was Bikes, Beers and Brownies, and featured Wingnut Dishwasher Union, Badbadnotgood, R Stevie Moore, Cody ChestnuTT, then there was a slight break to talk about The Antlers' Hospice. I know how you feel Steph: that album ripped my heart out too, in a really good way. Stunning. This was followed by Belle and Sebastian, Why? (no, they're a band, dummy! Insert obligatory “Who's up next” joke here...) and Casiotone.

Finally we had one of the very best posts ever in all the time I've been here, her mini-short story “The Feeling Seller” before she embarked upon a track-by-track analysis of Lucius' The Lucius EP and that's where we leave it for this week. More next Sunday!

So tomorrow I begin what will be my fourth year posting in my main journal, and I must say it's been a blast. Hope to continually improve it over the next four years and more (what do you mean, the only way to improve it would be to shut it down? Who let Batty in here?) and who knows, maybe add a few more to my growing list of journals. Nah, only kidding. Or am I? Time will tell. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Maybe.

Till next week,
Toodles!

[Black Francis]

Thnx for the mention TH but i don't wanna compete with KI.

I follow his journal and saw it was doing well and that made it easier for me to start one but with a different concept.

The post of the week was great, i gotta check Batlord's journal out.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

then http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-oblivion.html, speaking about his number one girl (can you guess who?) and also highlighting the phenomenon of REAL superheroes on the streets of America. Yeah, only in the Land of the Free...

****'s world wide, man.

Real life British superheroes find crime hard to find - Telegraph

[Key]

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have a lot of things I want to put in my journal(s) but I couldn't find the motivation to write them out.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Ki

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have a lot of things I want to put in my journal(s) but I couldn't find the motivation to write them out.

Don't worry, my awesome entries made up for your lack of mediocre ones.

[Key]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Don't worry, my awesome entries made up for your lack of mediocre ones.

I was just about to say the same thing, but then I realized I haven't posted anything in a while.

[Trollheart]

And now it's time for another instalment of "Woodland Life" with Professor Dickie Attenborough...
As winter retreats and spring gives way to summer, one of the most wonderful events in nature takes place, as those rare creatures, Journalisticus Escribus Major, also known as the lesser-spotted Journal Author, who have been hibernating through the harsh, cold months, come peeking out of their burrows and sniff the morning air. These creatures are timid, and enjoy their comforts, so if there is still a chill in the wind they will retreat back into their burrows, to wait for the day to warm. Eventually, though, if you have the patience you will be rewarded by the sight of the first tentative snouts, small round eyes long unused to the bright sunlight blinking as they slowly emerge, looking around and padding the soft earth around them. Satisfied, they begin to walk on the grass and, gaining confidence with each stride, their eyes enlarging as they adjust to the light, they can be seen moving in the direction of the newsagent or corner store, in their traditional search for cigarettes, chewing gum and newspapers.

Come with me now, as we go where no camera has been before, and explore what they have been up to while locked away from the winter. Mind your step and be very quiet, for there may be young 'uns in the burrow, and we don't want to frighten them. Slowly now, and carefully....

It seems we have come too soon to catch a glimpse of Insectivore Progressia, the Anteater, as it is still sleeping soundly in its burrow, but we are very lucky to see the rather rare creature called Musicus Electronica Videographicus, more commonly known as Aux-in. We can see that in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...continuum.html it proudly displays the evidence of its work --- mind your feet there! --- with the second part of The Bangers Only Club featuring Reepublic, Cicada and Third Party among others, as well as its take on metal electronica (?) with Koven, Loadstar, Diamond Eyes and more. It even has a review of A song across wires by BT and In the air by Morgan Page. A busy little creature indeed!

Leaving quietly, and leaving everything exactly as it was when we found it: NO you may NOT take that rare dub house special edition mix CD! Put that DOWN! Now you've got your scent on it, and it may not return here for fear of being discovered! Didn't I ask you to restrain yourselves? Sigh! Put it down, and on we go to

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ms-nes-ps.html where the sounds of beeps and casio music and lasers firing inform us that the Franciscus Sable or Black Francis is well into its reviews, with Zelda, Uncharted Waters, Metal Gear and more. No I don't know what they are. NES: I assume it's some sort of tribal god or something. Let's move on. Good god! How many times have I to tell you people? Put that controller down: it's probably got a game in progress. Is everyone here now? Fine, QUIETLY now...

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html seem to include wedding bells! Yes, we are privileged to witness that most rare of events here in the world of the Journal Authors, the wedding, which will be suitably nerd-themed (nerd-core I believe the innerspaceboy is calling it). As if that were not enough, we see evidence too of its aversion to 24-bit audio, The Personal, Portable Media Cloud and a review of Electronic Music by The Electrosoniks. Another busy little animal, certainly.

A somewhat new addition to life around here, only recently arrived to the area is joenorwood77, which has been working on its http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...band-week.html --- please, don't touch its lists: I'm sure they're all very much ordered as it wants them --- and this week it's looking at Third Eye Blind while over at

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...is-arcade.html there are games turning into MMORPGs (probably some figure of their legends, I'm really not sure. A wise man, maybe? I'll look it up when I get back) such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Elder Scrolls and of course World of Warcraft, then there are Pokemon cards (Now this one I do know: Pokemon is the All-God of the ancient Shintoslants, said to have created the world with the four sacred words: “Gotta Get Them All” --- nobody knows what it means and it has remained a hot topic of debate among theological scholars...) as well as number six in its top ten games, with “Paranautical Activity” and then games it thinks there are too many sequels to.

Next to the Ki's burrow is that of its mate, the LiL, which is working on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...de-sparks.html with more songs from the band the female of this species just can't stop talking about.

A little way off we find a new creature who has just very recently moved into the area. It is slightly apprehensive, given the raw alpha-male power given off by the Ki, but seems to be beginning to settle in and in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...your-time.html it's writing about a band called Foetus

and an odd little creature that lives on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...crap-heap.html is the Pet_Sounds, which though young is far more mature than its appearance suggests. It is currently trying to ingratiate itself with the powerful Axus Guitarus Divinicus, also known as Plankton, by reviewing its album Krill. It seems to have worked, as the stronger creature has ceased sniffing menacingly outside the Pet_Sounds' burrow, and they seem to have come to a mutual acceptance of each other. Secure in its safety, the little creature is now also reviewing more of its top fifty Beatles tracks, with “Dear Prudence” and “Back in the USSR” .

And now we come to the most odd little denizen of these Woods of Journal Land, the Trollheartus Longwindicus Maximus. This is a creature that is physically unable to write a sentence without it becoming a paragraph, a paragraph without it turning into a page, and so on. One of the most industrious creatures in the whole wood, it can spend literally days on its work, ignoring all outside stimuli and only stopping to consume a chocolate bar and a glass of fizzy orange before hurrying back to its lair to feverishly pick up its work again. Prone to hurt feelings, it remains convinced it is usually right and yet this is also, paradoxically, one of the gentlest and most nurturing creatures in the forest. Legend has it that it was the Trollheartus that built this mighty wood with its own hands, though that is probably apocryphal, if not total nonsense. Let's investigate its den and see what we can find.

After something of a hiatus while it worked on its content indices, the little animal is back hard at it and in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html there is “Never mind the movie” with the Click OST, as well as a helping of MUSH with Art Garfunkel, while in a bitter dispute with the Batlordicus Metallum Jestericus, the creature presents “The Apprentice” in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-emporium.html, this time the Irish version. Another of its projects (it has many, and can work on them all, having sixteen arms and four heads, all working independently of each other) is http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html, where it wraps up 1968 with Soft Machine, Procol Harum and The Pretty Things. Finally, as promised there is the beginning of coverage of the graphic novel Watchmen in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-2000-ad.html.

As we leave that cave behind us, the sound of screaming guitars and bellowed vocals tells us we are approaching the lair of the Soldiera Unknownus, which is almost finished its look at 1984 in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html, as Scorpions, as expected, take the number two slot. This creature however works in concert with the earlier mentioned Insectivore Progressia, the Anteater, on another work, which they title http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...78-2015-a.html. A most exceptional find, as these creatures rarely if ever work together, the last one I can recall was when the Trollheartus and the Batlordicus attempted to resolve their differences over Star Trek: Voyager. They now only see each other at weddings and funerals. The Toto album being reviewed this week, anyway, is “Past to Present”, a retrospective.

One of the oldest and most respected (and feared) of these woodland creatures is the Hatemonger Urbanicus, which has for the last while been working on a relaunch of its flagship journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...who-thing.html. This week it was proudly presented, with a full introduction and setup before the creature related the first full Doctor Who story. There is a buzz of excitement around the wood at the re-emergence of this much-missed journal; you can feel it in the air and hear it in the chittering, whooping cries they send to each other as they jump, crawl, climb and slither through the forest.

A strange ritual these little creatures engage in after emerging from hibernation is the awarding of prizes and titles to each other. Well, research would indicate that it is the Trollheartus that actually instigates and awards the prizes. These are usually for well-written or interesting entries in their Journals, and the first we can witness right now, as we look into this week's

and it goes to innerspaceboy, for its incredibly inventive and interesting description of how it plans to tie the knot with its mate:

Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

MASSIVELY funky news, everyone!

I am presently planning my ultimate nerd-core wedding. The event will celebrate love, live action role playing, fandoms, filesharing, and crazy obscure cult music perfect for freaks like us.

THE LOCATION -

Portmeirion, UK - on the set of The 1967 BBC cult classic, The Prisoner!



The Costumes

I will be LARPing as Number 48 - the anarchistic chaotic-neutral character in the final episode.



My partner will be dressed in the finest Victorian splendor and will carry a replica of Kaylee's parasol from Firefly.



The Invites

Each guest will receive an invitation themed in their favorite fandom, and will be invited to show up dressed as their favorite character.

The Music

My favorite DJ from the UK will be spinning all our favorite music - Doctor John, Tom Waits, the Funky Meters, Skull Snaps, Lemon Jelly, and other delightful madness.

The Ring - A Symbol of Love... and Piracy



Together, my lady and I came up with the perfect concept for my ring. Pictured below is an uncirculated coin from the micronation of Sealand. It is one of the only items ever produced by the country. Sealand is the home of HavenCo - a pirate server network responsible for petabytes of filesharing traffic. Fortunately, the prince of Sealand has made piracy legal in their country by royal decree.



This coin - one of approx. 1000 in the world, will be formed into a wedding band by a silversmith in Oregon.



My lady is a proud anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist, and as such she hates diamonds and gold. Also the thrifty type, she challenged me to find a beautiful antique 1920s-era engagement and wedding ring for under $100. Mission accomplished and she is going to LOVE what I've put together for her. (Keepin' that under wraps for now.)

Officially becoming Lord and Lady

We are also submitting applications for Lord and Ladyship of Sealand.



The Proposal

The proposal will take place at the famous Genesee Country Museum which features costumed interpreters in restored historic buildings, breathing life into an authentic 19th-Century village.

We'll be dressed in full period regalia and I'll surprise her in the music parlor of the octagon house, built in 1870.



The Catering

We are thrilled to have Cereal Killers - the finest selections of breakfast cereal from all over the world, catering our event!



I'll likely get a projector and show a VHS of 80s cartoons during the reception.



We're crafting all the event decor ourselves, we're designing all the print media, and our photographer friends will capture the entire event for reddit to fawn over.

It's going to be an incredible wedding.

(Sorry that some pictures had to be edited out: the maximum image count, you know... Trollheartus Longwindicus Maximus)

Fascinating! Another award given out by the Trollheartus is its

which this week is presented to the small electronic creature, Musicus Electronica Videographicus, the Aux-in, for its fine and diligent work in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...continuum.html.

But hush! It seems we may be even luckier than I thought! Here comes the Trollheartus, snuffling and waddling our way, and I think it's about to ... yes, yes! This is just incredible! It's sitting down, punching something up on its screen and, if we're very very quiet, we may be able to hear it recount the latest of its


“The last time we looked into WWWP's journal we got as far as July 2013. Now we move on to (Yes yes! It has a lovely speaking voice, which one would not expect from so ugly a creature. I agree. But please, keep your voices down. We don't want to scare it away!) August, as she explored the Lucius EP and then gave us her top five make out songs, top five songs for driving and then floated an idea that would have involved prizes, but seemed to think better of it after some negative feedback.

Nothing as negative or shocking though as when October rolled around, and she posted “Five things my boyfriend said before he raped me.” I won't dwell on this as it was some time ago, and I'm sure she wants to forget it, as do we all. It would, however, be the end of the year before she would be strong enough or want to post again..."

That was just ... indescribable! Wait till they hear about this back at base camp! What a singular opportunity, and we were there! Absolutely unprecedented.

Well, I think the creatures are coming back to their lairs now, clutching packs of Rothmans and cans of Budweiser and Metal Hammer magazines, so it's time for us to gently leave these timid little creatures and let them get on with their lives. Make sure you haven't left anything behind you; they can detect if you've been here if your'e not careful you know. Now, gently ... gently! ... close the door and follow me back down the path. Are we all here? Good. The bus is just over that rise.

(If you would like to make a donation to help the conservation of these exceptional little animals and protect their habitat, send a stamped, addressed envelope to PO Box 9901, Dublin, Ireland, or visit www.savetheirhabitat.com. Thank you.)

Till next week,
Stay out of my burrow, strangers!
Toodles!

[Black Francis]

Boy, you really haven't been a gamer in your life, Have you Trollheart? I can't believe you don't know Nes refers to the original Nintendo system, as in this.



As in, everybody and their momma knows the Nes! i'd be surprised if you didn't play it yourself.

i dig the Franciscus sable nick
And not that anyone cares but im gonna finish reviewing Kas product in my other journal.. eventually.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Black Francis

Boy, you really haven't been a gamer in your life, Have you Trollheart? I can't believe you don't know Nes refers to the original Nintendo system, as in this.



As in, everybody and their momma knows the Nes! i'd be surprised if you didn't play it yourself.

i dig the Franciscus sable nick
And not that anyone cares but im gonna finish reviewing Kas product in my other journal.. eventually.

Yes, I realize Trollheart's jokes are like opening a box of Lucky Charms only to find that there are no marshmallows, but he was joking.

[Aux-In]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Fascinating! Another award given out by the Trollheartus is its

which this week is presented to the small electronic creature, Musicus Electronica Videographicus, the Aux-in, for its fine and diligent work in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...continuum.html.

You see that MusicBanter? You see that? I'm a star!



Thanks for letting everyone know about my legend status, and the write-up, Trollheart. Not just aux-in, thee aux-in.