Dad before his time

I guess I actually use this thing now. Justin. CT. Stuff. I run cthouseshows.tumblr.com and standingwavepromotions.tumblr.com and play in mandalsct.tumblr.com On a quest to listen to every song I own. Keep up with jblau1 on last.fm when it decides to work.

[froghag-deactivated20200816]

everybody wants to rule the world but its to the tune of everybody wants to be a cat from aristocats

[pangur-and-grim]

listen. LISTEN. I dont give a rats ass about the moral or ecological consequences, I want Every Extinct Animal To Be Brought Back To Life

[markrosewater]

36 legendary bears please

Magic: The Gathering - Bear Supply.

[she-nya-nigans]

they love laundry day

[she-nya-nigans]

he’s wiggly but surprisingly photogenic

[she-nya-nigans]

I attempted a photoshoot today. They just wanted to play in the blanket.

[eleanorchidi]

so i spent time on this

[moogsandmoods-deactivated202006]

The human brothers band

[markrosewater]

Constructive criticism: I, as well as others I know do not like the recent social justice turn the art has taken. This includes but is not limited to: weird hair colors in battlebond, blatantly non conformist depictions of men and women alike (but mostly women ie. Estrid the masked and warlord rada), and no sexy men or women. If you, (or more properly the art direction team) would change his we would be very pleased.

One of the things I like to do with my blog is use it to help educate. I believe a lot of the narrowness of the world comes from people simply not being exposed to a wider range of ideas.

Let me start with one of the most important life lessons I’ve learned being a game designer for over twenty years. The world is not designed solely for one person’s (or one group’s) perspective. For example, I don’t design Magic so that every card is aimed at the same player. There are tons of different Magic players and they each want something different out of the game. If I designed every card for the competitive Standard player, for instance, a lot of players wouldn’t be getting the cards they want.

The art and the creative elements of the game are the same way. What is exciting to one player might be of no interest to another player. The colored hair, which you seem not to like, might be the very thing that makes another player connect to that character.

The goal of art diversity much like the goal of mechanical diversity is to allow as many different players as possible to find things that they connect with. This means that not every card creatively is for every player just as not every card mechanically is for every player.

But there’s something even more important at stake. By providing a wide range of offerings, we let people sample things they might not be aware of if they only self-select for the portion of the world they’re familiar with. A Standard player, for example, can be introduced to the world of Commander, something they would never learn about if we only made competitive Standard cards.Another thing that can happen as you open yourself up to diversity is an expanding of what “beauty” can mean. Everyone needs some beauty in their life and holding tight to such a narrow definition can actually restrict your ability to be happy and enjoy the world around you.Finally, it’s important to understand the impact of what you’re asking for as it relates to the needs of others. Asking for everything to cater solely to you (or your group) at the expense of other people’s needs can cause actual harm. Part of growing as a person is understanding that your needs don’t exist in a vacuum and that you have to take other people’s needs into account.

[animalwoonz]

[she-nya-nigans]

[flavoracle]

TV Shows Reimagined - “Hoarders: Buried Alive”

Out: A series basically acting like mental illness porn that focuses on poor people struggling to live in a state of constant anxiety and executive dysfunction

In: A show that investigates how the wealthiest 1% of Americans manage to keep a choke hold on 40% of the nation’s net worth, causing the bottom half of the population to live in a state of constant anxiety and executive dysfunction

[buttrockfanfic]

Day 501, 1606:17, 2996-2999

2996. Donovan Wolfington - Scary Stories You Tell In the Dark - I’m not huge on the mix, but the songs are sick punk. DW got progressively heavier as they aged, Scary Stories really embraces that energy in a way that Stop Breathing didn’t.

2997. Steriogram - Schmack! - Kinda like what I imagine old Kid Rock to sound like but with a 90′s alternative flair. Steriogram layer rapping and singing and turntable sounds like a less angsty Linkin Park, and it’s cool. Standout harmonies, a couple snoozer tracks but the good ones are worth keeping.

2998. Emo Side Project - A Schwab Too Faour - Still not into this.

2999. Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes - Chevelle is dangerously mainstream for my tastes. They can be bland and predictable, but at least they’re not cheesy. I think I’d be bored writing and playing it but I really enjoy listening to it. It bops. Melodies are sick, and the scattered harmonies are even better.

[buttrockfanfic]

Day 500, 1604:42, 2991-2995

2991. The Jazz June - The Scars to Prove It - It’s got some alright songs but it definitely feels like a compilation.

2992. Pain of Salvation - Scarsick - The bad news is that I love this. It’s pretentious music by pretentious people but damn if it isn’t engaging. Dan can nail a melody in the same way he can’t nail a poetic narrative.

2993. Pain of Salvation - Scarsicker - As if Scarsick wasn’t great, shortening all the songs makes it even easier to digest.

2994. Scary Kids Scaring Kids - s/t - For a bit I was convinced SKSK was underrated but I think they got as far as they deserved. The three songs I have are aight.

2995. Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites - Remember dubstep? That moment of collective confusion when Hot Topic stalwarts discovered that EDM could “go hard” and “upset their parents” just like emo. I wish that still qualified as noteworthy instead of what we get now. Even personally, dubstep was the first phase I went through that I could immediately identify as a phase when I got out. Anyways, even this early on Sonny kept things digestible and melodic, which is aight.

[buttrockfanfic]

Day 499, 1601:15, 2987-2990

2987. Caliban - Say Hello to Tragedy - I’ve made a lot of mistakes but filling out my Caliban discog is by far among the worst.

2988. The Creatures - Say, Pt. 1 - Ostensibly bright but the vocals will haunt you if you’re not careful.

2989. The Creatures - Say, Pt. 2 - The remixes are neat, instead of flattening out the structure they highlight certain parts effectively.

2990. Scars On Broadway - s/t - Unfortunately for System of a Down, they truly are greater than the sum of their parts. Their parts aren’t that great. Scars waves vulgarity and politics around like limp pool noodles; they never really point. Serj was good at framing serious issues directly and indirectly, Darren kinda meanders and never gets there. Basically, it sounds like unrefined System b-sides. Not that Serj’s solo work is so stellar but it’s better than this.

[buttrockfanfic]

Day 498, 1599:08, 2986

2986. Say Anything - s/t - Even Max Bemis is like “eh” when he looks back at this. Seriously it’s in an interview. There’s nothing wrong per se but it’s super narrow in musical and lyrical scope compared to In Defense. Probably should have been an EP, since the next LP did basically this but better.

[buttrockfanfic]

Day 497, 1598:21, 2981-2985

2981. Eurythmics - Savages - Bouncy 80′s-slapback pop, replete with funky compressed guitar and drum machines.

2982. Now, Now - Saved - Hypnotic, crystalline pop with religious lyrical undertones. It’s sick. The synths and synth drums that usually take a backseat to harder textures drive the record. It’s hard to stop listening.

2983. Saves the Day - s/t - Lyrically iffy but man they got hooks.

2984. Isis - Sawblade EP - Noisy post-metal, all screeching. Like a train that never stops crashing. Sick.

2985. The Killers - Sawdust - For b-sides this is pretty tight but also mostly pop, foreshadowing Brandon’s solo career.