#granicus

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Granicus - Bad Talk

[whattolearntoday]

A bit of May 22nd history...

334BC - Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army defeat Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Granicus (pictured)

1906 - Wright Brothers are granted a patent for their “flying machine”, having applied 3 years earlier

1933 - 1st modern sighting of Loch Ness Monster

1947 - 1st US ballistic missile fired

2015 - Ireland becomes 1st country in the world to legalize same sex marriage by popular vote

[cincinnatusvirtue]

Alexander III “The Great” Part 2: Where one empire falls, so must a new one rise...

Alexander the Great and the Macedonian army crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor in 334 BC.  The composition of his army at this point was primarily Greek but did include some non-Greeks as well.  It consisted of a mix of cavalry and infantry.  His cavalry included light cavalry mixing Greek and Thracian horsemen.  While his elite cavalry was the heavy cavalry known as the Companions of which Alexander always lead into battle personally, leading his royal contingent, it was made of the Macedonian landed nobility which was personally quite loyal to the king.  This was combined with Thessalian heavy cavalry from Central Greece as well.  His infantry included missle and melee infantry ranging from the phalanx or phalangists to his hoplites and hypaspists and various armed skirmishers both Greek and Thracians such as the peltasts.

The Macedonian army was faced by the Persians who called on forces from all across the empire.  Persians, Bactrians, Scythians, Sogdians, Syrians, Indians and even Greeks as mercenaries.  They too had infantry, cavalry, archers and even armed chariots.  Memnon of Rhodes, a Greek mercenary commander in Persian service advocated for a strategic withdrawal and scorch and earth tactics which would stretch Alexander’s supply lines and deny his forces food and supplies to forage or “live off the land”.  However, the Persian satraps of Anatolia saw this move as both undermining to morale and not worthwhile because the scorched earth would be their own fertile lands, hurting long term commerce.  Their contention was to fight the Macedonians head on before they ventured too far into the Persian Empire.

The first major battle, was the Battle of Granicus fought in May 334 BC in what is now western Turkey along the Granicus river, as was often the case Alexander would fight many of his classic battles along rivers.  For his part this was strategic, the Persian armed chariots could not be effective on muddy river banks where mobility was slowed.  The Persians knew the Macedonians would attempt to cross the river and hoped to slow their  advance their by bunching up the Macedonian forces.  The battle started with a feint attack on the Macedonian left, commanded by a trusted general, Parmenion who commanded the Thracian and Thessalian cavalry.  The Persians shifted many of their forces to meet this attack but in doing so weakened part of their line, Alexander personally lead his noble Companion cavalry into battle in a flying wedge formation.  In the melee, Alexander personally killed a number of Persian nobles but was nearly killed himself by one until a timely intervention by a Greek general named, Cleitus the Black severed the Persian’s arm clean off with sword still in their hand, saving Alexander’s life.  The Macedonian center now had time bought and moved its phalanxes into place across the river, supported by the bulk of the army now pushed back the Persians, the speed of their advance surprised the Persian forces who after some tough fighting retreated.  The retreat happened before they could commit their forces, namely the Greek mercenaries to battle.  This resulted in the Macedonians killing their fellow Greeks in a general massacre, viewing them as a traitors for having served the Persians.  Granicus was a resounding Macedonian victory, their first major one over the Persians.

The battle opened up Anatolia to the Greeks who began conquering the lands.  Some Persian satraps in the next several months surrendered their territory without a fight, hoping to spare their damage.  Alexander sometimes let Persians stay in their positions of power so long as they supplied his army and swore loyalty to him.  Gradually, Alexander worked his way along the coast to neutralize the Persian naval bases that could cut off supply lines back to Greece.  He also visited the city of Gordium which contained the fabled Gordian Knot which presented a riddle to many in the ancient world, the complicated and varied tied knot was a puzzle that required challengers to unravel it, the one who solved the puzzle was said to be destined to rule all of Asia.  Many had contemplated how to unravel the knot but failed.  Alexander’s solution was simple, cut the knot with his sword.

From Anatolia, Alexander hoped to advance into Syria and threaten the Levant.  It was at this point that the Persian Shah, Darius III personally lead an army to counter the Macedonian threat.  Darius’s army actually ventured behind the Macedonian army hoping to cutoff its supply lines and trap it deep in Persian territory with no hope of reinforcement.  Alexander did however rise to meet Darius.  They did do along the Southern Anatolian coast along a small river called Issus.  The Battle of Issus was fought in a narrow ground between the mountains and the sea, the ground was chosen by Darius to limit the mobility of the Macedonian cavalry which had been so effective at Granicus.  Darius’s army was as typical of the Persian forces was multiethnic and once again they relied on Greek mercenaries, arguably their best troops which Darius placed at the center with his royal bodyguard.  The Macedonian advance across the river was slowed by the river itself, the Persians fortifying their bank of the river and the Greek mercenaries hard fighting.  However, Macedonian hypaspists, tasked with guarding the phalanxes weak and vulnerable flank and rear managed to break through a line in the Persian-Greek forces.  This allowed Alexander to see an opportunity to strike unexpectedly at the heart of the Persians.  Taking his Companion cavalry, Alexander drove his force on a right flank maneuver and then wheeled toward the Persian center, straight at Darius.  The speed and fury of the Macedonian charge at the Persian King of Kings completely unnerved Darius and he fled in his chariot.  This collapsed the morale of the Persian center which also fled.  On the left flank of the Macedonians, Persian cavalry held back Parmenion’s left flank cavalry.  Ever the observer and adapter to the situations on the battlefield, Alexander would wheel his forces  to hit the Persians now exposed rear.  This surprise attack combined with the holes being punched in their mercenary forces and the flight of their king lead to a rout of Persian forces.  The Macedonians pursued and killed off many retreating Persians, gaining yet another decisive victory.  In the wake of this, Alexander captured members of Darius’s family including his wife, mother and two daughters.  Alexander held them as prisoners though they were by all accounts well treated during their captivity.  Darius himself retreated to the Persian capital in Babylon.  

Over the next year or two Alexander consolidated his gains in Anatolia and advanced down the Syrian coast, taking the Levantine cities either by surrender and sparing them destruction or in the case of Tyre and Gaza having to besiege them and after many months finally captured both.  Alexander then advanced to Egypt where he was proclaimed Pharaoh.  He also visited a temple where the Egyptian priests declared him the son of their supreme god, Amon Ra.  He introduced the Greek presence into Egypt and the Levant, something that was to last for centuries with the Greeks serving as Pharaohs of Egypt until Roman rule, with a Greek-Egyptian named Cleopatra being their last famed ruler, a descendant of the Ptolemaic dynasty that was established by one of Alexander’ s general, Ptolemy in the wake of Alexander’s death.  Something new was happening due to Alexander and the Hellenic presence in Egypt.  Greek and Egyptian culture to a degree synthesized and Greek culture was being spread to Persia’s various provinces.  He would also found the first of many cities bearing his name, Alexandria, now one of Egypt’s major cities.  It would become a famed center of learning and culture throughout the ancient world, blending Greek, Egyptian, Persian and other traditions into one center.  This was to become a hallmark of Alexander’s rule and legacy, as he would spread Hellenic culture to other parts of the world and increasingly it would blend with the local culture becoming a hybrid of East meets West.  Reflected in art, religion, currency, governance, commerce, day to day life and military tradition.

Meanwhile, back in Greece the mighty Sparta which had remained silent during Alexander’s Asian and African adventures finally rose up to challenge the Macedonians, Alexander nor his father directly fought the legendary Spartans and the question was raised who was mightier Sparta or Macedon.  Antipater, one of Alexander’s generals who stayed behind in Greece would answer that burning question.  The Macedonian army crushed the Spartans at the Battle of Megalopolis virtually fighting to the last man, killing their king in battle too.  This subdued the Spartan rebellion and Greek discontent over taxes and Alexander’s rule in general.

Darius III offered several attempts at negotiations with Alexander as all of Persia’s western provinces and African ones, namely Egypt, were being conquered, some without a fight which was a humbling experience for the Persian Shah.  His last offer at peace was to offer half of the Persian Empire to Alexander, all the Western provinces, to become co-rulers of the empire, to taken several thousand pounds of silver and gold as payment and to arrange a marriage between Alexander and one of his daughters.  Alexander did seriously consider the offer and all but one of his generals argued against it.  Alexander, refused seeking to have all the empire and not just half.  The war would continue.

Alexander now marched his forces into Mesopotamia or modern Iraq with the goal of taking the Persian political capital, Babylon.  Darius is believed to have anticipated the Macedonians would take a more direct route through the deserts of central and southern Iraq which with extreme heat and lack of supplies would drain their army.  Darius however, once again realized he was dealing with no ordinary for.  Alexander ever the clever strategist took his army on an unexpected route through Northern Iraq instead, nearing mountains that would shade or cool his forces from the intense heat of the deserts to the south.  This caught the Persians off guard and Darius was forced to instead move his own army northward.   Some Persians figured the Tigris River which the Macedonians numbering shy of 50,000 men would have to ford was too deep and strong.  However, Alexander’s army did cross and was now moving toward Babylon on the east side of the river.  Darius decided to find ground of his own choosing to meet and defeat the Macedonians.  He found it on a relatively flat plain east of modern Mosul, Iraq at a place called Gaugamela. 

By choosing an open expansive battlefield, Darius hoped not to be boxed in the way he had at Issus, this would allow more room for his chariots and cavalry to maneuver.  His force was estimated by modern scholars of being upwards of 100,000.  It included Indian war elephants and various contingents and mercenaries from all over the Persian Empire as was usual.  Alexander however as was often the case, took an unexpected maneuver and initiative which offset the Persians.  He moved his Companion cavalry from their right flank far out on what appeared to be an outflanking maneuver which deceived the Persians into thinking this was an maneuver that needed to be countered and indeed they sent a large force of cavalry from their left to meet and clash with the Macedonians.  As the Persians drew their forces to mirror and counter Alexander’s deep flank, they weakened their own center as was Alexander’s plan.  The deep flank was joined by his phalanx and hypaspists infantry which Alexander had gradually disengaged them from the flanking maneuver to meet the Persians center which fixed them in place.  Meanwhile, the Persian chariots armed with javelin throwers advanced only for the Macedonian regiments to part forming alleys for the chariots to pass through without causing damage, before the chariot riders were killed themselves.  Parmenion and the Thracian-Thessalian cavalry on the left also fixed the Persian right flank in place.  It was now time for Alexander’s decisive move.   The deep flank and the fixing in place of the Persian forces effectively weakened the Persian center by creating a gap which like at Issus, Alexander could strike at Darius’s jugular once more by driving his flying wedge Companion heavy cavalry right at the Persian center and split it’s force into pieces.  Darius, once again caught off guard by the Macedonian deception and fury fled the battlefield, causing panic and routing in his forces.  Parmenion’s left flank however was in jeopardy and just like as Issus, Alexander had to lead a counter charge to save his left from being overwhelmed which was encircled by Persian cavalry on all sides.  Darius fled and evaded capture or death as Alexander had hoped, but preservation of his army was more key to the long term goals of Alexander.  He attacked the Persians in their rear with some breaking off to loot the Macedonian camp before they were dispatched themselves.  The rest of the Persian army fled as the Macedonians shifted their forces to left to relieve Parmenion.  It was another victory and ultimately the final blow needed to defeat Darius and the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

Alexander entered the Persian capital of Babylon which he claimed to enter as a liberator, he also went onto the cities of Susa and the ceremonial capital of Persepolis which was in the Persian heartlands of modern Iran, he burned Persepolis as payback for the Persians burning Athens 150 years earlier in the Persian invasion of Greece under Xerxes.  Now he was declared by his new Persian nobility Persian Shah himself and Lord of Asia, in addition to his titles as King of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League and Pharaoh of Egypt.  Effectively the Persian Empire ceased to be a real force at least in the western provinces.  Darius gave an impassioned speech to carry on the war in the eastern half of the empire which remained unconquered.  However, his satraps, especially one by the name of Bessus had enough of defeats and retreat by Darius, they took him prisoner and murdered their Shah.  Bessus was then self-proclaimed Shah but Alexander viewed Bessus as little more than an impostor, with himself as the real Shah and he considered the act of murdering Darius, the rightful ancestral King of Persia as cowardly and little more than petty and unjust, a crime punishable by death.  

Darius’s body would be recovered by Alexander as he set off in pursuit of Bessus.  He gave him a proper burial in the ancestral tombs of his dynasty.  Alexander had respect for Darius’s position and an appreciation of the Persian monarchy’s history even if they were enemies on the battlefield.  He now set about trying to consolidate a hold on his conquests through a mix of his Macedonian generals and Persians who proclaimed loyalty to him, becoming his new nobility and serving as provincial administrators.  He began to administer Persia, though largely as Persia had been run, seeing himself not as a new conqueror but as rightful inheritor to the prior Persian dynasty, this admiration for Persia along with the adoption of certain Persian customs and the maintenance of Persian governors and administrators by Alexander started to cause some resentment among his generals who unlike Alexander simply despised the Persians and felt Greek traditions superior.  The first cracks in Alexander’s otherwise impenetrable self-armor were starting to appear.  Yet, there was much work to do, such as the capture of Bessus and the conquest of the eastern remnants of the nominal Persian Empire.   Alexander’s gaze was fixed to the east to the ends of Persia and beyond, to the edge of the known world...

[paint-pilot]

here's that same horse and my trainer's dog begging me for a piece of a cookie at camp

[vinylspinning]

Strife: Rush (1975)

The band was called Strife; the album was called Rush; the year was 1975.

And, while the Canadian power trio called Rush was busy weaving progressive rock fantasies about By-Tors, Snowdogs and Necromancers, the English threesome named Strife was digging through a mid ‘70s detritus of hard rock, glam rock, prog rock, even soul music (*) for a viable direction.

Heck, put it that way, and the men of Strife actually seem like a better bet to make it than a bunch of Hobbit-loving Canucks, but -- to borrow a phrase from the sports world -- sorting the victors from the losers, my friends, well “that’s why they play the game.”

And the Liverpool-based Strife had been playing the rock ‘n’ roll game since 1969, diligently paying their dues in Merseyside pubs, in the lobbies of uninterested record labels, and even, for a brief stint in L.A. (where they were oddly backed by soul man Edwin Starr!), before finally landing a deal back home with Chrysalis Records.

This full-length debut arrived 45 years ago and showed incredible promise right out of the gate, thanks to the relentless hard rock assault of “Back Streets of Heaven” and the unexpected cherry on top provided by with a glam-style girl group chorus! (**)

The ladies return for a couple of turbo-Motown bash-ups in “Magic of the Dawn” (dedicated to Starr) and “Life is Easy” (also featuring a horn section), while the driving “Better Man than I” stuffs the patented, John Lee Hooker blues lick into a glitter rock jumpsuit.

But Strife’s remaining material traffics in more predictable sounds from earlier in the decade, like the post-psychedelic reverie and apocalyptic climax of “Indian Dream,” the churning Budgiean proto-metal of “Man of the Wilderness,” and the twelve-minute title track’s spacey jam, reminiscent of Hawkwind and, ironically, Rush’s imminent 2112!

All of which puts this album right in my ‘70s retro-rock wheelhouse, but, at the time, simply condemned Strife to the “dinosaur rock” category, just as soon as Johnny Rotten and his coterie of safety-pined anarchists started laying waste to the British Isles in ‘76.

Not helping matters, Strife members John Reid (vocals/guitar), Gordon Rowley (bass/vocals) and David Williams (drums) not only looked their age (***), but had faces only radio could love (see above ****), and not even radio seemed interested.

But Strife soldiered on, regardless, via 1977’s independently released School EP and ‘78’s Back to Thunder, on Gull Records, before surrendering to the inevitable, when Rowley moved on to play with the absolutely godawful Nightwing.

* As punk rock lurked in a dark alleyway, ready to pounce.

** Think T.Rex’s “20th Century Boy.”

*** Old ... those white boy afros went out of style in ‘69!

**** Surely the ugliest hard rock power trio since Brooklyn’s Dust.

More Obscure Mid ‘70s Hard Rock: Agnes Strange's Strange Flavour, Armageddon’s Armageddon, Back Street Crawler's The Band Plays On, Baker Gurvitz Army’s Elysian Encounter, Bedlam’s Bedlam, Black Sheep’s Black Sheep, Black Spirit’s Black Spirit, Blackfoot’s No Reservations, Blackfoot Sue’s Nothing to Hide, Blue Goose’s Blue Goose, Brownsville Station’s Motor City Connection, Bux’s We Come to Play, Cain’s A Pound of Flesh, Diamond Reo’s Diamond Reo, Dirty Tricks’ Dirty Tricks, Earth Quake’s Rocking the World, Elf’s Trying to Burn the Sun, Epitaph’s Outside the Law, Gedō’s Gedō, Goliath’s Hot Rock & Thunder, Good Rats’ Ratcity in Blue, Granicus’ Granicus, Granmax’s A Ninth Alive, Growl's Growl, Hammersmith’s Hammersmith, Hustler’s High Street, Legs Diamonds’ Legs Diamond, Magi's Win or Lose, Mariah's Mariah, Max Webster’s Max Webster, Mother’s Finest’s Mother’s Finest, Moxy’s Moxy, Murasaki’s Murasaki, Nitzinger’s Live Better Electrically, Nutz’s Nutz, Painter’s Painter, Pentagram’s First Daze Here, Piper’s Piper, Plus’ No Pisar el Infinito, Primevil's Smokin' Bats at Campton's, Silver's Children of the Lord, Starz’s Starz, Stepson’s Stepson, The Storm’s The Storm, Strider’s Exposed, Target's Target, Thunderhead's Thunderhead, Tiger’s Tiger, Trooper's Trooper, Truth and Janey’s No Rest for the Wicked, Widowmaker’s Widowmaker.

[vinylspinning]

Hammersmith: Hammersmith (1975)

Several years ago, the estimable Day After the Sabbath blog hipped me to an obscure Canadian group called Painter, which issued a very solid but solitary self-titled opus in 1973, and then seemingly vanished without a trace.

Well, I recently discovered that three out of five “painters” -- singer Doran Beattie, lead guitarist Dan Lowe and bassist Royden Morice -- didn’t wait long to recruit drummer James Llewellyn and second guitarist Jeff Boyne, before resurfacing in a new outfit called Hammersmith.

This eponymous release followed in 1975, and the good news AND bad news is that little had changed, sonically speaking, during Painter’s transition to Hammersmith.

Meaning: this was good news for the few of us who liked the band, in the first place, but bad news for the general public, which remained largely unimpressed with this new effort.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves ...

Having launched their careers way back in the ‘60s, as 49th Parallel, the core members of Painter/Hammersmith were seasoned pros, if nothing else, so they could churn out melodic hard rock like “Late Night Lovin’ Man,” “Nobody Really Knows (Why the Sun Goes Down)” and “Low Ridin’ Ladies” in their sleep.

What they couldn’t do so well was get their funk on, though they sure as hell tried, again and again, on less memorable fare like “Money Rock,” “Breakin’ Down” (disco bass alert!) and the quasi-epic “Open Up the Sky,” where things even got a little jazzy.

But the impressive harmonized vocals and overall knack for catchy songs they’d displayed in their previous incarnation carried right over to Hammersmith standouts like “I’ve Got a Right to Know” and “Feelin’ Better,” both of them power pop nuggets, released halfway between Big Star and Cheap Trick.

Alas, Hammersmith would enjoy neither the former’s belated critical recognition, nor the latter’s mainstream acclaim, so they broke up, instead, after issuing a sophomore LP called It’s for You (likely to get reviewed here one day) in 1976. 

However, lead guitarist Lowe would go on to a successful producer’s career and was later involved in the development of a 3-D stereo enhancing algorithm called QSound, used by scores of major league artists in the studio, as well as in cell phone technology!

More Hammersmith: It's for You!; plus Painter's Painter.

[vinylspinning]

Buffalo: Only Want You for Your Body (1974)

Sydney-based Buffalo were arguably Australia’s greatest heavy rock threat, pre-AC/DC, and 1974’s Frankenstein-referencing Only Want You for Your Body (boasting Spinal Tap-like cover art -- not sexy, sexIST! -- only the ‘70s could sanction) was their third long-player in as many years.

Technically, speaking, its songs and production were also a little more focused than the oftentimes trippy, post-psych meanderings of ‘72’s Dead Forever debut, and even some of the pile-driving epics found on ‘73’s utterly essential Volcanic Rock, but I’m not quite sure if they were better ...

Titillating opener “I’m a Skirt Lifter, Not a Shirt Raiser” was quite the lurid foot-stomper, but a lumbering cover of Ten Years After’s “I’m Coming On” ironically bogs down in Black Sabbath worship, right down to Pete Wells’ busy bass and Jimmy Economou's thud-happy kit-pounding.

And while the sci-fi departure of “Dune Messiah” (obviously based on Frank Herbert’s masterwork) offers some much-needed variety to Dave Tice’s ribald lyrics (suitably delivered with gritty, echo-laden vocals), “Stay with Me” closes side one on an entirely forgettable note.

Luckily, side two is all killer, no filler, beginning with the head-nodding chug-grooving monster single “What’s Going On,” which established a sonic drug cocktail for countless 1990s stoner rock bands to imbibe, backed by one of the most well-rounded performances of Buffalo’s career. 

But the band’s locomotive was still John Baxter’s wildly distorted six-string, so the fireworks only really start when he gets to stretch out on the groupie chronicle “King’s Cross Ladies” and the politically apocalyptic “United Nations” -- both of them album standouts. 

And that’s why the guitarist’s stunning, ill-advised sacking following the tour to support Only Want You for Your Body sowed the seeds of Buffalo’s undoing, as they attempted (unsuccessfully) to compose more commercial material on a subsequent pair of poorly received LPs. 

As a result, modern-day lovers of ‘70s hard rock and heavy metal generally see this third opus as the last, relevant chapter of the Buffalo story worth “reading” -- myself included.

p.s. -- Some of these words originate in my All-Music Guide review of Only Want You for Your Body.

More Buffalo: Volcanic Rock.

[vinylspinning]

Atlee: Flying a Head (1970)

Remember that band, Highway Robbery? 

You know, the obscure hard rock power trio heralded by collectors, far and wide (actually, neither far nor wide), for their excellent (and only) 1972 album, For Love or Money?

Well Atlee was the band that preceded them, harboring two of three future ‘Highway Robbers,’ guitarist Michael Stevens and drummer/vocalist Don Francisco, here working alongside keyboardist Bruce Schaffer and vocalist, bassist, songwriter and band namesake Atlee Yeager.

Atlee, the band, also proved a one-album-wonder, with this now very rare, 50-year-old release, and there have been several occasions in recent years in which I almost shelled out small fortunes for dilapidated copies, only to stumble upon this pristine example for just $12, my patience rewarded!

Not least because Flying a Head is just good, not great, and certainly not worthy of king’s ransom (you’ve been warned), since Yeager’s songs lack that magic spark, even when performed by four, highly competent musicians in a variety of styles, none of them groundbreaking nor original.

There’s the smoking heavy blues of “Rip it Up,” where Stevens shreds like its 1980, not 1970, the conversely dreamy “Painted Ladies,” the hippie anthem “Let’s Make Love,” the funky “Dirty Old Man” (including drum solo), and the southern rocker “Dirty Sheets.”

Elsewhere, Yeager vents his disdain for all those “Jesus People,” with their outstretched hands, and Stevens just can’t stuff enough slide guitar into “Swamp Rhythm,” but he sure does try, leaving no doubt that it was he, not Atlee, who deserved top billing in this band.

And that’s basically what he would seek in Highway Robbery, alongside Francisco and vocalist/bassist John Livingston Tunison IV, once Atlee’s brief and undistinguished run with the hapless ABC Dunhill label fizzled out.

Not that ‘72’s aforementioned For Love or Money would fare much better on RCA (at least not until geeks like me rediscovered, decades later), and Stevens wasn’t heard from again until a pair of late ‘70s efforts by Big Wah-Koo, featuring one-time Chicken Shack bassist Andy Silvester.

As for Atlee Yeager, he followed Flying a Head with an equally nondescript solo album in 1973, before vanishing into oblivion.

More One-And-Done ‘70s Hard Rock Bands: Alamo’s Alamo, Ancient Grease's Women and Children First, Armageddon’s Armageddon, Asterix’s Asterix, Boomerang’s Boomerang, Bux’s We Come to Play, Charlee’s Charlee, Copperhead's Copperhead, Curly Curve’s Curly Curve, Goliath’s Hot Rock & Thunder, Granicus’ Granicus, Head Machine’s Orgasm, Head Over Heels’ Head Over Heels, Highway Robbery’s For Love or Money, Incredible Hog’s Volume 1, Kahvas Jute’s Wide Open, Leaf Hound’s Growers of Mushroom, Navasota’s Rootin’, Night Sun’s Mournin’, Orang-Utan’s Orang-Utan, Pluto’s Pluto, Road’s Road, Steel’s Steel, Ursa Major’s Ursa Major, Warpig’s Warpig, Weed’s Weed.