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783 results for “someodd”
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I just got called a #Nazi by someone who mentioned me in a post then later deleted it.
So I will call that person a #coward because they can't stand by their convictions the way the Nazis did.
Name calling is so over rated and stupid. Insecure people shouldn't have to be able to influence diversion like this on a constant basis.
this exact response is the reason why centralized platforms target you now.
Here's a fact for you guys.
#Hitlerian ideology existed far longer than the #European attempted #colonization of everything into a #German #Reich which effectively makes #Nazism prone to regional difference, all be it one with the potential #historical #power to have long lasting consequences on the people who at the time, didn't see it coming as satellite states emerged from it.
So let's face it. I'm not #German I'm #Canadian and speak #English and no other #language as such.
For anyone who really wants to know, the term #neonazi exists for people who #self-identify as being simpathetic to Hitlerian doctrine.
I've #studied this extensively, because I think in a lot of ways, we never concluded #WWII completely from the #human #psyche and that is very frustrating to see this #tribal resurgence come back into #living #memory again.
So let's say that the year is 1940 something and not 2020 something. And let's point out the fact, that #National #Communism is an idea that got exported 80 some odd years into the #future to now.
Even if that's the case, the world has changed a lot since that time. And we've gotten stupider as a result of being primarily lazy with our own ambitions.
This is how dumb you guys are for doing this. And I know what you try to #suggest as such. That we are in such a #state of irreparable #disagreement, that this is the best you can come up with to #distance yourself from any sort of wider #context that doesn't fit your #narrative of #people who disagree with you.
So what? Can we not have an honest conversation about a few things without making solutions barred by political disconnectivity? That's exactly what the Nazi's proposed to do accept their solution wasn't just silence, it was death and destruction on a scale that has never truly went away ever since subsequent governments around our world, came into power and upgraded weapons systems continuously while operating elite networks from the shadows. In an effort, to instigate things like the #world #economic #forum and other big #thinktank organizations into a much broader sense of hostility than any of us individually call for as citizens of any and every nation.
I will say it loudly and #proudly as such. I am not someone who wants any group of people to face a premature end of their life on this planet, based on factors that nobody can control. And even if we can, I still want us to live our lives unimpeded by political #violence of any kind. And that includes #faith based groups to get along within #community spaces that do not challenge monomorphic #dominance at every step of the way.
I am disgusted at the #tribalism going on infecting every aspect of a normal #life facing my generation. And to just throw words like this out there, without any existential #planning or forethought on how this entire wretched #ideology can finally meet the dustbin of #history as such, to put it to #rest has no basis in #reality at all.
Look. I'm against people controling my life in ways I don't want them to. But that's true for all of us. So if you're going to name call, just remember that not everyone will take that lying down with a straight face and not move a mustle in the direction of a #fighting stance your way afterward.
I will not react in that manner, because I do put #peace and #prosperity first. And I don't censor people if they have opposing views to my own. But that's me. It's not you, and if you're that much of a coward to the point where you essentially do the same thing, only after you #feel #safe behind a cyber void, all the power to you.
But I bring this up publicly because reputations like this, although they're not supposed to, they actually do effect how highly you rank as a content provider. And on a shared internet, that carries more weight than you might think. Especially in today's toxic divided world where prayer is so much needed more so than ignorance and stupidity, where none can be found.
I don't want to live in a world where people start literally weaponizing eternity over a personal choice of faith. Nor do I want to live in one, where not choosing faith of any kind, let alone mandated ones, will land you as a person who is a continuous victim of statelessness by your actual neighbor in kind.
The Abrahamic religions are a perfect example (one of many in context) that have done more harm to divide people, than any other group in human history combined. And I am not one to book ban, but if those religions want to continue spewing their vile trash all over the place, it's time to set a precedent. But even still, that requires rethinking your approach to lead by example, and not paying attention to the example someone else can't lead by. Which again, makes book banning, the thing the Nazi's did, utterly archaic and barbaric to me
Wake up people. We don't live in a world that's so hard done by, that it can't be repaired. And it starts with refusing to use a tool at your disposal against someone you barely even had words with, because you can, in a way that significantly challenges their right to coexist alongside you.
The only way you'll learn discernment, is by understanding this as a core concept. I have all the tools at my disposal as a server instance owner to really stick it to people if I choose to. But so too does the US government own nuclear weapons to stick it to us if they chose to. And I count my blessings every time I wake up, and we haven't regressed that far into mass destruction to which there is no return. So likewise, because and due to that, I practice discernment out of choice, even when I can legally get away with being a lot harsher. I do not do so out of pity, but out of respect.
So let's take a second and thank the Nazi's for coming into our lives. Not for their ideology, or their vile addiction to power and hatred. But because they taught us, to be better people to not be like them because they failed at suppressing the human spirit.
I don't want to see you pull some shit online you wouldn't in get away with in real life. Not because I want you to be oppressed, but because the more we treat our communities like bridges connecting real people together, the less likely we'll respond to situations with outlandish and stupid methods of containment until and unless we have no other choice but to defend against systematic collapse.
Please know the power of your presence and use it. I don't want to have to be the only one who does. I'm fully aware that I'm not in control of what someone else does. But so long as they're not doing something to you that you wouldn't want, let them be and move on. That's what being responsible gets you in 2026.
I wish I didn't have to spell this out. But honestly, what hurts me more so than the accusation of something that isn't even real. Is that, you use that as a justification to do something that is real, with lasting consequences on not just reputation, but disinterest without a trail of provocation to go along with it. It'd be not unlike setting your neighborhood ablaze because the pizza delivery guy was 5 minutes late.
If this kind of antisocial behaviour isn't course corrected, our 30 something year old generation will be the last to have known the meaning of true freedom as we know it, because people like you, will get more attention by being underhanded, rather than straight up and honest about where we stand. And as such, would force the natural rather than enforced suppression of sudden unpredictability, back where it rightfully belongs. In the could have been moments of our lives, but not in the never were enactments of them.
Or in other words, focusing on the self you become not as a hot headed entity, or a cold calculating monster. But the one in between, that sees both sides, and not just the one you embody because you think it's going to matter to a fault, rather than a cause.
Stay informed, and know you are not alone in caring for the same things I do. History doesn't always get things right, but that's why we talk about it, rather than remaining silent and hoping it goes away on its own.
For some situations, that can happen. But this isn't one of them.
Thank you for all that you are. I appreciate you.
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The New London Spy – edited by Hunter Davies (1966)
I was standing in Waterstones Nottingham on Saturday, contemplating the British History section and hoping to find a book about London in the 60s. Obviously, I’m eagerly anticipating David Kynaston’s next volume (current eta 24 Sept 2026), but that’s not going to end up suiting my research purposes anyway. My next writing project will be set between Summer 1968 and early 1969—it’s a 10-years-later follow-up to my forthcoming novel Hard Rain. My current understanding is that Deep Into the Sixties is going to cover just one year, between 1965 and 1966, which leaves me high and dry. It’ll probably be a considerable time before we see anything by Kynaston that covers 67-69. I’ve already read Sandbrook’s White Heat, but I wanted a history that zoomed in on the mid-late 60s, preferably with a London focus.
Maybe I should write it myself.
In the meantime, here is my bang-up-to-date review of a 60-year old guide book to swinging London. It’s not a history, and it still doesn’t cover my target period, but it actually reads like the kind of thing an historian might use as a source. In fact, it is: I ordered it after coming across a quote from it in White Heat.
It’s a really quite unusual guide book, with chapters on the criminal underworld, the gay and lesbian scene, prostitution, and even homelessness. It is unflinching, a Rough Guide long before there were rough guides.
Allow me to take you on a short tour of some of the weirdness. It’s a guide book, right? So you’d expect some mention of London Hotels. But this book does not restrict itself to mere places to stay for the visitor to London. In fact, it begins like this:
If you come to London from the provinces and dislike the way your friends live, or they refuse to have you, or you have none; […] if you were living with somebody and they have thrown you out; if you are a foreigner and have nowhere else to go—then you must put up at an hotel.
The book then goes on to dismiss most of the hotels in London as bad. And then goes into specific requirements and offers some suggestions. The first is Sex. But then it says, ‘The simple rule is, don’t do it.’ The next section is Divorce, and the one after that is Animals. You then get, in order, sections on Honeymoons, Work, and Suicide. Yes, you read that right. There is advice here on how to go about commiting suicide in a London hotel.
An hotel is quite the best place. Choose one that is fairly central and has a good reputation-however unjustified—to live up to.
Whether you favour the pill or the blade, take a room with bath and telephone near a hospital—you might change your mind half-way. Any hotel in Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, or the north side of the Strand will do.
Take care to commit suicide in the hotel, not from the hotel, however tall the building-jumping is the wrong way out, if you want tidiness and privacy. Hotel managements hate suicides, but it will save your family and friends from having to clean up the mess, and your remains will be disposed of discreetly and with a minimum of publicity. Your estate will have to foot the bill if you are suc-cessful, so to avoid more trouble than is necessary, pay in advance.
As a last gesture to society you might leave your body to the hospital that would have saved your life if you had telephoned in time; they never have enough.
The New London Spy is edited by Hunter Davies, of Beatles biography fame. There’s a list of contributors at the front, but it’s impossible to say which of them wrote which bit. There are some odd italicised post-scripts which might be the work of Davies himself. For example, at the end of the Art Galeries section:
At the Hyde Park corner end of Knightsbridge there is a long island composed of rounded cobbles in the middle of the road. Watch the behaviour of any lady wearing high heels who makes her way onto it.
It is odd, but amusing as well. In the chapter on Woman’s London, you find this advice:
Fortnums has a jolly restaurant where you can have tea without being kicked to death by the populace, and Harrods has a superb assignation centre in their Banking Hall—a lot of back-to-back leather sofas occupied by mysterious people reading The Listener.
The point I’d make about all this is that the authors seem to be poking fun at the very notion of visiting London, so that the whole book seems to come across as an in joke. I think they collectively delight in the idea of an American tourist picking up this book only to find a chapter which details what to drink if you can’t afford alcohol (meths), the best hotels in which to commit suicide, and the pros and cons of the four or five different ways of picking up a prostitute. It’s all very reminiscent of Nancy Mitford’s U and Non-U essay.
There’s a useful guide to what the various codes on sex workers’ postcards mean:
‘Rubber and rainwear made to measure, phone Miss Rodd at Riverside…’ —she goes in for all the kinky stuff with the tight fitting rubber clothing and high heeled boots.
‘Lovely fireside rugs made to order, Fulham…’ —Here is a girl who specialises in intercourse on the floor with all the forms of perversions thrown in for good measure.
‘Riding boots always for sale, Park…’ —Riding crops used for beatings.
It’s bonkers, really, a strange mixture of really quite practical and useful information (including contact names and phone numbers!) and … well, everything you always wanted to know about sex London but were afraid to ask.
#1960s #60s #Books #England #Europe #London #Sixties #SwingingLondon #Travel #TravelGuides -
#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 BackroomMy name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.
They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.
“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.
I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.
The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.
“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.
The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”
As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.
When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.
Lo, seeker
And the sought
Night breeze
Moth on the fly
Gem unrecognizedI had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk
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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 BackroomMy name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.
They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.
“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.
I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.
The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.
“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.
The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”
As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.
When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.
Lo, seeker
And the sought
Night breeze
Moth on the fly
Gem unrecognizedI had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk
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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 BackroomMy name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.
They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.
“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.
I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.
The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.
“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.
The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”
As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.
When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.
Lo, seeker
And the sought
Night breeze
Moth on the fly
Gem unrecognizedI had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk
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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 BackroomMy name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.
They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.
“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.
I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.
The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.
“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.
The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”
As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.
When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.
Lo, seeker
And the sought
Night breeze
Moth on the fly
Gem unrecognizedI had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk
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#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Grimoire Obscuriea I: Part 10
#Wss366 BackroomMy name is Sumika, and I’m a witch. However, I’m nothing like a yamauba, a mountain witch. I’m more like Sabrina: an ordinary store clerk who met a couple of foreign women interested in crystals, pentagrams, and charms.
They say you should show, not tell. So I would like to show you.
“Crystals, Charms, and Divination.” I read the title out loud as I rang up the price. Our brightly lit bookstore was close enough to the “American University” that we stocked many foreign titles: English, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and of course, Japanese, along with books that would never sell downtown. This was one of them: an eclectic collection of information on Western New Age magic.
I recognized the woman at the counter. She often haunted the corner where we kept metaphysical books. She was an exotic European lady with blue eyes, pale skin, and long ginger hair that stuck in my memory.
The friend who was with her was also foreign, with short brown hair and a plain face. I vaguely remembered her as well.
“Would you have a copy of this?” the second woman asked, showing me a slip of paper with the title “Love Charms and Potions” written on it.
The title seemed very specific, but we had some odd things, so I said, “I’ll look in the #backroom.”
As I suspected, we didn’t have that book, but I found a leather notebook, so old that the cover had cracked. The faded gold title read “Grimoire Obscuriea.” At first, I thought it might be a valuable antique the owner had mislaid, but as I flipped through the stained pages, I found that most of them were blank. That was except for the first page, which was filled with crudely written Latin. The spidery letters were blurred with frequent blots.
When the light in the room flickered, the letters in the first few lines seemed to jumble, then resolve into a poorly constructed tanka. I wasn’t sure how I could have missed it at first.
Lo, seeker
And the sought
Night breeze
Moth on the fly
Gem unrecognizedI had no idea what it meant, but that was the case with most poetry, especially old stuff with archaic courtly symbolism.
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #MythPunk
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GPT 5.2 is the first model where active positioning is counter-productive
A key part of using LLMs has been positioning in the sense of the role we ask it to play in our interaction with it. Prompt engineering treated this positioning as an entirely explicit process in which you have to define this role and its related elements (e.g. style, process, format) in a comprehensive way. As models have become more advanced this explicit positioning has become decreasingly necessary* because the model is able to infer your intended positioning from the form and content of what the user presents. This created a delicate balance in which a little bit of steering was helpful but active positioning didn’t always make a positive contribution to the process.
I’m finding that GPT 5.2 is the first model where any attempt to actively position makes the model less rather than more useful to me. A caveat is that I’m usually working with large chats, often with supportive documents, so there’s a lot of context. Its still much less fluent in its attunement to Claude but it can clearly discern the problem space I’m working in through the provided context. When I ask it to take on a specific role (e.g. “please respond to me in the role of a psychoanalytical theorist who is helping me test my grasp of these ideas”) the responses become more generic. It seems to lose its attunement because the existing context gets subsumed into the generic patterns associated with the role.
Is anyone else having this experience? If this is a widespread experience it’s extremely significant because it suggests we’re reaching the point where actively exercising agency over the model now begins to make it less useful than it is if you just passively accept the model’s behaviour. As a whole GPT 5.2 feels very strange to me and quite unlike the other models I know well. It’s exceptionally fast and powerful there are some odd features of user-model interaction which I’ve not experienced before.
*Indeed I think it was always overstated but that’s a different blog post.
#agency #AI #artificialIntelligence #ChatGPT #GPT52 #LLM #openAI #positioning #technology
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AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads By Dolphin Whisperer“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Though it may present a bit hyperbolic to say that Poland’s black and death metal scenes trample those of many other countries, the tension of young fervor and tradition weighs heavy in the hearts of riffslingers with something to say. We don’t wish turmoil on anyone, but with great struggles often comes an urge for loud, clear, and calamitous expression. New to the scene, Tarnobrzeg’s Blindfolded steps forth with their debut full-length What Seeps through Threads, a culmination of deathly tactics learned and refined over the course of their six years as a band. Boasting a range of influences from the swinging low-end drama of Gojira to the tumultuous fretboard fire of Decapitated, Blindfolded has a vision for something new from paths well-loved in the listening community. The Rodeö, however, is unforgiving. But every now and then, something comes out of left field to spark our spurs with fascination. – Dolphin Whisperer
Blindfolded // What Seeps through Threads [July 1st, 2025]
Gardenstale: This year’s Dormant Ordeal is an easy lister in my books, so it should come as no surprise that a Rodeö candidate using a pretty similar sound with a proggy twist elicits a big FUCK YEAH from me. Blindfolded brings an ingenious, potent mixture of Polish death metal with winding, labyrinthine structures, plenty of melodic licks, and burly, Vader-esque vocals. No fear of getting lost in wank, these guys hijack the hippocampus and the frontal cortex alike. “Frenzy of Exultations” alone should provide you with enough neck-snappery to use your vertebrae for confetti. It’s one of those rare albums that manage to unite groove, melody, technical chops (including an excellent drummer!), and sheer blunt brutality. And though it starts strong, it only gets better as it rolls on, with “Gates of Janus” building to an unforgiving steamroller with a hypnotic Gojira-esque riff and what might be the solo of the year. Death metal shouldn’t be too polished, but apparently, it can never be too Polish.1 4.0/5.0
What Seeps Through Threads by Blindfolded
Dolphin Whisperer: One part ambitious song structure and one part ferocious death metal groove, the young Polish Blindfolded strikes a hook-loaded balance of Oldpethian grandeur and riff-aggressive PolDeath whiplash. And, as a culmination of this fusion, a churning atmosphere embodies the acoustic intros and amplified tear-aways that propel What Seeps through Threads across a generous and genre-honing fifty-some-odd minutes. While retaining a modern compression in guitar attack and drum composition that helps throttle knotty fretwork into headbanging ears (“Great Day of His Wrath,” “Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgement”), the nimble troupe finds expressive string jangle in the longform lurches, like expositional title track or closing hop of “Gates of Janus.” No matter how long any track extends here, with the stankface-loaded “Frenzy of Exultations” even pushing the ten-plus minute mark, Blindfolded retains a sense of smart riff development, coordinated phlegmy mic assault, and punchy rhythmic adornments that keeps What Seeps stepping ever closer to greatness. Blindfolded hardly sounds like an act whose deathscapades totaled a mere ten minutes before this full-length sweep. And with as weighty a sound as they’ve assembled, it’s only a matter of a little refinement in transition and spaciousness in sound capture that sees the young Poles going toe-to-toe with their celebrated countrymen and hyped deathmongers alike. 3.5/5.0
Alekhines Gun – What a debut! Forming in 2019, Blindfolded seek to make a serious impression in their first outing. What Seeps through Threads is a well-crafted release which manages to meld theatrical songwriting with a Blood Mantra-era Decapitated sense of frantic assault. Weaving Opeth song structures throughout, Blindfolded manage to shift from chug-riddled pain-bringing (“Aeonian Lie”) to the moody solos which lend pathos and dynamics in song structure. A spacious mix lets everything ring out, from bass warbles to Bartłomiej Fucia’s gruff vocals, which maintain an understandable intonation instead of leaning in on sheer brutality. Despite all of the songs being rather lengthy, (the shortest coming in at just shy of six minutes), a healthy ebb-and-flow throughout keeps riffs from repeating often or devolving into monotony. What Seeps through Threads nails the “album as a journey” aesthetic, rendering its near-hour-long runtime far shorter than it sounds. A keen sense of drama in the composition imbues each song with its own identity, while still serving the greater album narrative. I don’t know if this was a concept album or not, but if it isn’t, Blindfolded should certainly pursue such ideas as they have the talent and skill for a high-class of aural storytelling. In the meantime, come and enjoy a remarkably mature release from Poland’s newest offspring. 3.5/5.0
Thyme: When it comes to death metal, I’m like Lynyrd Skynryd, which is to say a “Simple Man.” Give me a heaping plate of meat ‘n’ taters death and I’m good to go, but that’s not to say I can’t enjoy a platter requiring a more refined palate. With debut album What Seeps through Threads, Blindfolded, and not that bunch guided sightlessly into the forest, offer a plate full of progressive death metal requiring me to dress nice, sit up straight, and know which is the fucking salad fork. Hailing from Poland, these five relative unknowns are poised to crash my impending end-of-year party with their Opeth-meets-Archspire brand of techened death. Kacper Wąsik and Marcel Kucharski present a shredding tour de force, showcasing myriad guitar skills comprised of massive, vicious riffs and a maelstrom of solo work that flows from the technically precise to the emotionally melancholy (“The Great Day of His Wrath,” “In The Eye of Maelstrom”) and, for some added spice, silky smooth jazz-guitar interludes (“Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgment”) that you won’t see coming but won’t kick out of bed. Bartloniej Fucia’s voice—a perfect blend of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Oliver Rae Aleron—complements the instrumentation, rounded out by Zygmunt Haliniarz’s bass and Kacper Rajfur’s stellar drumming. From the opening piano strains of “What Seeps through Threads” to the impeccable closer “Gates of Janus,” Blindfolded presents an album full of dramatic tension and incredible performances. Beautifully brutal, What Seeps through Threads was not on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s likely you’ll see Blindfolded’s name pop up again, at least for me, come list season. 4.0/5.0
#2025 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Archspire #Blindfolded #DeathMetal #Decapitated #DormantOrdeal #Gojira #IndependentRelease #Jul25 #Opeth #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SelfRelease #Vader #WhatSeepsThroughThreads -
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads By Dolphin Whisperer“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Though it may present a bit hyperbolic to say that Poland’s black and death metal scenes trample those of many other countries, the tension of young fervor and tradition weighs heavy in the hearts of riffslingers with something to say. We don’t wish turmoil on anyone, but with great struggles often comes an urge for loud, clear, and calamitous expression. New to the scene, Tarnobrzeg’s Blindfolded steps forth with their debut full-length What Seeps through Threads, a culmination of deathly tactics learned and refined over the course of their six years as a band. Boasting a range of influences from the swinging low-end drama of Gojira to the tumultuous fretboard fire of Decapitated, Blindfolded has a vision for something new from paths well-loved in the listening community. The Rodeö, however, is unforgiving. But every now and then, something comes out of left field to spark our spurs with fascination. – Dolphin Whisperer
Blindfolded // What Seeps through Threads [July 1st, 2025]
Gardenstale: This year’s Dormant Ordeal is an easy lister in my books, so it should come as no surprise that a Rodeö candidate using a pretty similar sound with a proggy twist elicits a big FUCK YEAH from me. Blindfolded brings an ingenious, potent mixture of Polish death metal with winding, labyrinthine structures, plenty of melodic licks, and burly, Vader-esque vocals. No fear of getting lost in wank, these guys hijack the hippocampus and the frontal cortex alike. “Frenzy of Exultations” alone should provide you with enough neck-snappery to use your vertebrae for confetti. It’s one of those rare albums that manage to unite groove, melody, technical chops (including an excellent drummer!), and sheer blunt brutality. And though it starts strong, it only gets better as it rolls on, with “Gates of Janus” building to an unforgiving steamroller with a hypnotic Gojira-esque riff and what might be the solo of the year. Death metal shouldn’t be too polished, but apparently, it can never be too Polish.1 4.0/5.0
What Seeps Through Threads by Blindfolded
Dolphin Whisperer: One part ambitious song structure and one part ferocious death metal groove, the young Polish Blindfolded strikes a hook-loaded balance of Oldpethian grandeur and riff-aggressive PolDeath whiplash. And, as a culmination of this fusion, a churning atmosphere embodies the acoustic intros and amplified tear-aways that propel What Seeps through Threads across a generous and genre-honing fifty-some-odd minutes. While retaining a modern compression in guitar attack and drum composition that helps throttle knotty fretwork into headbanging ears (“Great Day of His Wrath,” “Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgement”), the nimble troupe finds expressive string jangle in the longform lurches, like expositional title track or closing hop of “Gates of Janus.” No matter how long any track extends here, with the stankface-loaded “Frenzy of Exultations” even pushing the ten-plus minute mark, Blindfolded retains a sense of smart riff development, coordinated phlegmy mic assault, and punchy rhythmic adornments that keeps What Seeps stepping ever closer to greatness. Blindfolded hardly sounds like an act whose deathscapades totaled a mere ten minutes before this full-length sweep. And with as weighty a sound as they’ve assembled, it’s only a matter of a little refinement in transition and spaciousness in sound capture that sees the young Poles going toe-to-toe with their celebrated countrymen and hyped deathmongers alike. 3.5/5.0
Alekhines Gun – What a debut! Forming in 2019, Blindfolded seek to make a serious impression in their first outing. What Seeps through Threads is a well-crafted release which manages to meld theatrical songwriting with a Blood Mantra-era Decapitated sense of frantic assault. Weaving Opeth song structures throughout, Blindfolded manage to shift from chug-riddled pain-bringing (“Aeonian Lie”) to the moody solos which lend pathos and dynamics in song structure. A spacious mix lets everything ring out, from bass warbles to Bartłomiej Fucia’s gruff vocals, which maintain an understandable intonation instead of leaning in on sheer brutality. Despite all of the songs being rather lengthy, (the shortest coming in at just shy of six minutes), a healthy ebb-and-flow throughout keeps riffs from repeating often or devolving into monotony. What Seeps through Threads nails the “album as a journey” aesthetic, rendering its near-hour-long runtime far shorter than it sounds. A keen sense of drama in the composition imbues each song with its own identity, while still serving the greater album narrative. I don’t know if this was a concept album or not, but if it isn’t, Blindfolded should certainly pursue such ideas as they have the talent and skill for a high-class of aural storytelling. In the meantime, come and enjoy a remarkably mature release from Poland’s newest offspring. 3.5/5.0
Thyme: When it comes to death metal, I’m like Lynyrd Skynryd, which is to say a “Simple Man.” Give me a heaping plate of meat ‘n’ taters death and I’m good to go, but that’s not to say I can’t enjoy a platter requiring a more refined palate. With debut album What Seeps through Threads, Blindfolded, and not that bunch guided sightlessly into the forest, offer a plate full of progressive death metal requiring me to dress nice, sit up straight, and know which is the fucking salad fork. Hailing from Poland, these five relative unknowns are poised to crash my impending end-of-year party with their Opeth-meets-Archspire brand of techened death. Kacper Wąsik and Marcel Kucharski present a shredding tour de force, showcasing myriad guitar skills comprised of massive, vicious riffs and a maelstrom of solo work that flows from the technically precise to the emotionally melancholy (“The Great Day of His Wrath,” “In The Eye of Maelstrom”) and, for some added spice, silky smooth jazz-guitar interludes (“Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgment”) that you won’t see coming but won’t kick out of bed. Bartloniej Fucia’s voice—a perfect blend of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Oliver Rae Aleron—complements the instrumentation, rounded out by Zygmunt Haliniarz’s bass and Kacper Rajfur’s stellar drumming. From the opening piano strains of “What Seeps through Threads” to the impeccable closer “Gates of Janus,” Blindfolded presents an album full of dramatic tension and incredible performances. Beautifully brutal, What Seeps through Threads was not on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s likely you’ll see Blindfolded’s name pop up again, at least for me, come list season. 4.0/5.0
#2025 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Archspire #Blindfolded #DeathMetal #Decapitated #DormantOrdeal #Gojira #IndependentRelease #Jul25 #Opeth #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SelfRelease #Vader #WhatSeepsThroughThreads -
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads By Dolphin Whisperer“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Though it may present a bit hyperbolic to say that Poland’s black and death metal scenes trample those of many other countries, the tension of young fervor and tradition weighs heavy in the hearts of riffslingers with something to say. We don’t wish turmoil on anyone, but with great struggles often comes an urge for loud, clear, and calamitous expression. New to the scene, Tarnobrzeg’s Blindfolded steps forth with their debut full-length What Seeps through Threads, a culmination of deathly tactics learned and refined over the course of their six years as a band. Boasting a range of influences from the swinging low-end drama of Gojira to the tumultuous fretboard fire of Decapitated, Blindfolded has a vision for something new from paths well-loved in the listening community. The Rodeö, however, is unforgiving. But every now and then, something comes out of left field to spark our spurs with fascination. – Dolphin Whisperer
Blindfolded // What Seeps through Threads [July 1st, 2025]
Gardenstale: This year’s Dormant Ordeal is an easy lister in my books, so it should come as no surprise that a Rodeö candidate using a pretty similar sound with a proggy twist elicits a big FUCK YEAH from me. Blindfolded brings an ingenious, potent mixture of Polish death metal with winding, labyrinthine structures, plenty of melodic licks, and burly, Vader-esque vocals. No fear of getting lost in wank, these guys hijack the hippocampus and the frontal cortex alike. “Frenzy of Exultations” alone should provide you with enough neck-snappery to use your vertebrae for confetti. It’s one of those rare albums that manage to unite groove, melody, technical chops (including an excellent drummer!), and sheer blunt brutality. And though it starts strong, it only gets better as it rolls on, with “Gates of Janus” building to an unforgiving steamroller with a hypnotic Gojira-esque riff and what might be the solo of the year. Death metal shouldn’t be too polished, but apparently, it can never be too Polish.1 4.0/5.0
What Seeps Through Threads by Blindfolded
Dolphin Whisperer: One part ambitious song structure and one part ferocious death metal groove, the young Polish Blindfolded strikes a hook-loaded balance of Oldpethian grandeur and riff-aggressive PolDeath whiplash. And, as a culmination of this fusion, a churning atmosphere embodies the acoustic intros and amplified tear-aways that propel What Seeps through Threads across a generous and genre-honing fifty-some-odd minutes. While retaining a modern compression in guitar attack and drum composition that helps throttle knotty fretwork into headbanging ears (“Great Day of His Wrath,” “Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgement”), the nimble troupe finds expressive string jangle in the longform lurches, like expositional title track or closing hop of “Gates of Janus.” No matter how long any track extends here, with the stankface-loaded “Frenzy of Exultations” even pushing the ten-plus minute mark, Blindfolded retains a sense of smart riff development, coordinated phlegmy mic assault, and punchy rhythmic adornments that keeps What Seeps stepping ever closer to greatness. Blindfolded hardly sounds like an act whose deathscapades totaled a mere ten minutes before this full-length sweep. And with as weighty a sound as they’ve assembled, it’s only a matter of a little refinement in transition and spaciousness in sound capture that sees the young Poles going toe-to-toe with their celebrated countrymen and hyped deathmongers alike. 3.5/5.0
Alekhines Gun – What a debut! Forming in 2019, Blindfolded seek to make a serious impression in their first outing. What Seeps through Threads is a well-crafted release which manages to meld theatrical songwriting with a Blood Mantra-era Decapitated sense of frantic assault. Weaving Opeth song structures throughout, Blindfolded manage to shift from chug-riddled pain-bringing (“Aeonian Lie”) to the moody solos which lend pathos and dynamics in song structure. A spacious mix lets everything ring out, from bass warbles to Bartłomiej Fucia’s gruff vocals, which maintain an understandable intonation instead of leaning in on sheer brutality. Despite all of the songs being rather lengthy, (the shortest coming in at just shy of six minutes), a healthy ebb-and-flow throughout keeps riffs from repeating often or devolving into monotony. What Seeps through Threads nails the “album as a journey” aesthetic, rendering its near-hour-long runtime far shorter than it sounds. A keen sense of drama in the composition imbues each song with its own identity, while still serving the greater album narrative. I don’t know if this was a concept album or not, but if it isn’t, Blindfolded should certainly pursue such ideas as they have the talent and skill for a high-class of aural storytelling. In the meantime, come and enjoy a remarkably mature release from Poland’s newest offspring. 3.5/5.0
Thyme: When it comes to death metal, I’m like Lynyrd Skynryd, which is to say a “Simple Man.” Give me a heaping plate of meat ‘n’ taters death and I’m good to go, but that’s not to say I can’t enjoy a platter requiring a more refined palate. With debut album What Seeps through Threads, Blindfolded, and not that bunch guided sightlessly into the forest, offer a plate full of progressive death metal requiring me to dress nice, sit up straight, and know which is the fucking salad fork. Hailing from Poland, these five relative unknowns are poised to crash my impending end-of-year party with their Opeth-meets-Archspire brand of techened death. Kacper Wąsik and Marcel Kucharski present a shredding tour de force, showcasing myriad guitar skills comprised of massive, vicious riffs and a maelstrom of solo work that flows from the technically precise to the emotionally melancholy (“The Great Day of His Wrath,” “In The Eye of Maelstrom”) and, for some added spice, silky smooth jazz-guitar interludes (“Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgment”) that you won’t see coming but won’t kick out of bed. Bartloniej Fucia’s voice—a perfect blend of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Oliver Rae Aleron—complements the instrumentation, rounded out by Zygmunt Haliniarz’s bass and Kacper Rajfur’s stellar drumming. From the opening piano strains of “What Seeps through Threads” to the impeccable closer “Gates of Janus,” Blindfolded presents an album full of dramatic tension and incredible performances. Beautifully brutal, What Seeps through Threads was not on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s likely you’ll see Blindfolded’s name pop up again, at least for me, come list season. 4.0/5.0
#2025 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Archspire #Blindfolded #DeathMetal #Decapitated #DormantOrdeal #Gojira #IndependentRelease #Jul25 #Opeth #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SelfRelease #Vader #WhatSeepsThroughThreads -
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads By Dolphin Whisperer“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Though it may present a bit hyperbolic to say that Poland’s black and death metal scenes trample those of many other countries, the tension of young fervor and tradition weighs heavy in the hearts of riffslingers with something to say. We don’t wish turmoil on anyone, but with great struggles often comes an urge for loud, clear, and calamitous expression. New to the scene, Tarnobrzeg’s Blindfolded steps forth with their debut full-length What Seeps through Threads, a culmination of deathly tactics learned and refined over the course of their six years as a band. Boasting a range of influences from the swinging low-end drama of Gojira to the tumultuous fretboard fire of Decapitated, Blindfolded has a vision for something new from paths well-loved in the listening community. The Rodeö, however, is unforgiving. But every now and then, something comes out of left field to spark our spurs with fascination. – Dolphin Whisperer
Blindfolded // What Seeps through Threads [July 1st, 2025]
Gardenstale: This year’s Dormant Ordeal is an easy lister in my books, so it should come as no surprise that a Rodeö candidate using a pretty similar sound with a proggy twist elicits a big FUCK YEAH from me. Blindfolded brings an ingenious, potent mixture of Polish death metal with winding, labyrinthine structures, plenty of melodic licks, and burly, Vader-esque vocals. No fear of getting lost in wank, these guys hijack the hippocampus and the frontal cortex alike. “Frenzy of Exultations” alone should provide you with enough neck-snappery to use your vertebrae for confetti. It’s one of those rare albums that manage to unite groove, melody, technical chops (including an excellent drummer!), and sheer blunt brutality. And though it starts strong, it only gets better as it rolls on, with “Gates of Janus” building to an unforgiving steamroller with a hypnotic Gojira-esque riff and what might be the solo of the year. Death metal shouldn’t be too polished, but apparently, it can never be too Polish.1 4.0/5.0
What Seeps Through Threads by Blindfolded
Dolphin Whisperer: One part ambitious song structure and one part ferocious death metal groove, the young Polish Blindfolded strikes a hook-loaded balance of Oldpethian grandeur and riff-aggressive PolDeath whiplash. And, as a culmination of this fusion, a churning atmosphere embodies the acoustic intros and amplified tear-aways that propel What Seeps through Threads across a generous and genre-honing fifty-some-odd minutes. While retaining a modern compression in guitar attack and drum composition that helps throttle knotty fretwork into headbanging ears (“Great Day of His Wrath,” “Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgement”), the nimble troupe finds expressive string jangle in the longform lurches, like expositional title track or closing hop of “Gates of Janus.” No matter how long any track extends here, with the stankface-loaded “Frenzy of Exultations” even pushing the ten-plus minute mark, Blindfolded retains a sense of smart riff development, coordinated phlegmy mic assault, and punchy rhythmic adornments that keeps What Seeps stepping ever closer to greatness. Blindfolded hardly sounds like an act whose deathscapades totaled a mere ten minutes before this full-length sweep. And with as weighty a sound as they’ve assembled, it’s only a matter of a little refinement in transition and spaciousness in sound capture that sees the young Poles going toe-to-toe with their celebrated countrymen and hyped deathmongers alike. 3.5/5.0
Alekhines Gun – What a debut! Forming in 2019, Blindfolded seek to make a serious impression in their first outing. What Seeps through Threads is a well-crafted release which manages to meld theatrical songwriting with a Blood Mantra-era Decapitated sense of frantic assault. Weaving Opeth song structures throughout, Blindfolded manage to shift from chug-riddled pain-bringing (“Aeonian Lie”) to the moody solos which lend pathos and dynamics in song structure. A spacious mix lets everything ring out, from bass warbles to Bartłomiej Fucia’s gruff vocals, which maintain an understandable intonation instead of leaning in on sheer brutality. Despite all of the songs being rather lengthy, (the shortest coming in at just shy of six minutes), a healthy ebb-and-flow throughout keeps riffs from repeating often or devolving into monotony. What Seeps through Threads nails the “album as a journey” aesthetic, rendering its near-hour-long runtime far shorter than it sounds. A keen sense of drama in the composition imbues each song with its own identity, while still serving the greater album narrative. I don’t know if this was a concept album or not, but if it isn’t, Blindfolded should certainly pursue such ideas as they have the talent and skill for a high-class of aural storytelling. In the meantime, come and enjoy a remarkably mature release from Poland’s newest offspring. 3.5/5.0
Thyme: When it comes to death metal, I’m like Lynyrd Skynryd, which is to say a “Simple Man.” Give me a heaping plate of meat ‘n’ taters death and I’m good to go, but that’s not to say I can’t enjoy a platter requiring a more refined palate. With debut album What Seeps through Threads, Blindfolded, and not that bunch guided sightlessly into the forest, offer a plate full of progressive death metal requiring me to dress nice, sit up straight, and know which is the fucking salad fork. Hailing from Poland, these five relative unknowns are poised to crash my impending end-of-year party with their Opeth-meets-Archspire brand of techened death. Kacper Wąsik and Marcel Kucharski present a shredding tour de force, showcasing myriad guitar skills comprised of massive, vicious riffs and a maelstrom of solo work that flows from the technically precise to the emotionally melancholy (“The Great Day of His Wrath,” “In The Eye of Maelstrom”) and, for some added spice, silky smooth jazz-guitar interludes (“Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgment”) that you won’t see coming but won’t kick out of bed. Bartloniej Fucia’s voice—a perfect blend of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Oliver Rae Aleron—complements the instrumentation, rounded out by Zygmunt Haliniarz’s bass and Kacper Rajfur’s stellar drumming. From the opening piano strains of “What Seeps through Threads” to the impeccable closer “Gates of Janus,” Blindfolded presents an album full of dramatic tension and incredible performances. Beautifully brutal, What Seeps through Threads was not on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s likely you’ll see Blindfolded’s name pop up again, at least for me, come list season. 4.0/5.0
#2025 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Archspire #Blindfolded #DeathMetal #Decapitated #DormantOrdeal #Gojira #IndependentRelease #Jul25 #Opeth #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SelfRelease #Vader #WhatSeepsThroughThreads -
AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Blindfolded – What Seeps through Threads By Dolphin Whisperer“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Though it may present a bit hyperbolic to say that Poland’s black and death metal scenes trample those of many other countries, the tension of young fervor and tradition weighs heavy in the hearts of riffslingers with something to say. We don’t wish turmoil on anyone, but with great struggles often comes an urge for loud, clear, and calamitous expression. New to the scene, Tarnobrzeg’s Blindfolded steps forth with their debut full-length What Seeps through Threads, a culmination of deathly tactics learned and refined over the course of their six years as a band. Boasting a range of influences from the swinging low-end drama of Gojira to the tumultuous fretboard fire of Decapitated, Blindfolded has a vision for something new from paths well-loved in the listening community. The Rodeö, however, is unforgiving. But every now and then, something comes out of left field to spark our spurs with fascination. – Dolphin Whisperer
Blindfolded // What Seeps through Threads [July 1st, 2025]
Gardenstale: This year’s Dormant Ordeal is an easy lister in my books, so it should come as no surprise that a Rodeö candidate using a pretty similar sound with a proggy twist elicits a big FUCK YEAH from me. Blindfolded brings an ingenious, potent mixture of Polish death metal with winding, labyrinthine structures, plenty of melodic licks, and burly, Vader-esque vocals. No fear of getting lost in wank, these guys hijack the hippocampus and the frontal cortex alike. “Frenzy of Exultations” alone should provide you with enough neck-snappery to use your vertebrae for confetti. It’s one of those rare albums that manage to unite groove, melody, technical chops (including an excellent drummer!), and sheer blunt brutality. And though it starts strong, it only gets better as it rolls on, with “Gates of Janus” building to an unforgiving steamroller with a hypnotic Gojira-esque riff and what might be the solo of the year. Death metal shouldn’t be too polished, but apparently, it can never be too Polish.1 4.0/5.0
What Seeps Through Threads by Blindfolded
Dolphin Whisperer: One part ambitious song structure and one part ferocious death metal groove, the young Polish Blindfolded strikes a hook-loaded balance of Oldpethian grandeur and riff-aggressive PolDeath whiplash. And, as a culmination of this fusion, a churning atmosphere embodies the acoustic intros and amplified tear-aways that propel What Seeps through Threads across a generous and genre-honing fifty-some-odd minutes. While retaining a modern compression in guitar attack and drum composition that helps throttle knotty fretwork into headbanging ears (“Great Day of His Wrath,” “Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgement”), the nimble troupe finds expressive string jangle in the longform lurches, like expositional title track or closing hop of “Gates of Janus.” No matter how long any track extends here, with the stankface-loaded “Frenzy of Exultations” even pushing the ten-plus minute mark, Blindfolded retains a sense of smart riff development, coordinated phlegmy mic assault, and punchy rhythmic adornments that keeps What Seeps stepping ever closer to greatness. Blindfolded hardly sounds like an act whose deathscapades totaled a mere ten minutes before this full-length sweep. And with as weighty a sound as they’ve assembled, it’s only a matter of a little refinement in transition and spaciousness in sound capture that sees the young Poles going toe-to-toe with their celebrated countrymen and hyped deathmongers alike. 3.5/5.0
Alekhines Gun – What a debut! Forming in 2019, Blindfolded seek to make a serious impression in their first outing. What Seeps through Threads is a well-crafted release which manages to meld theatrical songwriting with a Blood Mantra-era Decapitated sense of frantic assault. Weaving Opeth song structures throughout, Blindfolded manage to shift from chug-riddled pain-bringing (“Aeonian Lie”) to the moody solos which lend pathos and dynamics in song structure. A spacious mix lets everything ring out, from bass warbles to Bartłomiej Fucia’s gruff vocals, which maintain an understandable intonation instead of leaning in on sheer brutality. Despite all of the songs being rather lengthy, (the shortest coming in at just shy of six minutes), a healthy ebb-and-flow throughout keeps riffs from repeating often or devolving into monotony. What Seeps through Threads nails the “album as a journey” aesthetic, rendering its near-hour-long runtime far shorter than it sounds. A keen sense of drama in the composition imbues each song with its own identity, while still serving the greater album narrative. I don’t know if this was a concept album or not, but if it isn’t, Blindfolded should certainly pursue such ideas as they have the talent and skill for a high-class of aural storytelling. In the meantime, come and enjoy a remarkably mature release from Poland’s newest offspring. 3.5/5.0
Thyme: When it comes to death metal, I’m like Lynyrd Skynryd, which is to say a “Simple Man.” Give me a heaping plate of meat ‘n’ taters death and I’m good to go, but that’s not to say I can’t enjoy a platter requiring a more refined palate. With debut album What Seeps through Threads, Blindfolded, and not that bunch guided sightlessly into the forest, offer a plate full of progressive death metal requiring me to dress nice, sit up straight, and know which is the fucking salad fork. Hailing from Poland, these five relative unknowns are poised to crash my impending end-of-year party with their Opeth-meets-Archspire brand of techened death. Kacper Wąsik and Marcel Kucharski present a shredding tour de force, showcasing myriad guitar skills comprised of massive, vicious riffs and a maelstrom of solo work that flows from the technically precise to the emotionally melancholy (“The Great Day of His Wrath,” “In The Eye of Maelstrom”) and, for some added spice, silky smooth jazz-guitar interludes (“Uneasy Absence of Fair Judgment”) that you won’t see coming but won’t kick out of bed. Bartloniej Fucia’s voice—a perfect blend of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Oliver Rae Aleron—complements the instrumentation, rounded out by Zygmunt Haliniarz’s bass and Kacper Rajfur’s stellar drumming. From the opening piano strains of “What Seeps through Threads” to the impeccable closer “Gates of Janus,” Blindfolded presents an album full of dramatic tension and incredible performances. Beautifully brutal, What Seeps through Threads was not on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s likely you’ll see Blindfolded’s name pop up again, at least for me, come list season. 4.0/5.0
#2025 #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Archspire #Blindfolded #DeathMetal #Decapitated #DormantOrdeal #Gojira #IndependentRelease #Jul25 #Opeth #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SelfRelease #Vader #WhatSeepsThroughThreads -
Patti Zlaket – Clock Keeps Tickin’
Patti Zlaket returns with “Clock Keeps Tickin’,” a brand new composition that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates tastefully assembled, cleverly composed, and flawlessly performed music. Although many music outlets deliver excellent recordings on a daily basis, there are only a few artists who know how to tastefully blend sincere emotion with a perfect sonic foundation. On her new composition, Patti Zlaket exemplifies what happens when a powerful vocal performance collides with marvelous soundscapes, delivering one of the finest sonic experiences in recent years. Produced by Tariqh Akoni, known for his work with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Weezer, this composition and her upcoming full-length album also include renowned bass player Lee Sklar, known for his work with Phil Collins, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. With this new composition, Patti Zlaket blends various approaches, techniques, and styles in order to illustrate a lush sonic imagery that will not only appeal to the soft rock fans but also anyone who appreciates wonderful music performed straight from the heart. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” might carry all the fundamental elements of soft rock music, but you’ll also notice how some of the finest qualities borrowed from acoustic rock, alternative, and indie lurk around, decorating, accentuating, and elevating this epic sonic journey to an entirely new level. Perhaps “Clock Keeps Tickin'” shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, but you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia in vocal and musical delivery, arrangements, and ambience. The song seamlessly resonates with all those qualities that made eighties and nineties soft rock music so catchy and memorable. It has been a while since any composition completely nailed this ambiance, and with Patti Zlaket and A-list musicians involved in the entire process, it was such an easy task to achieve. Therefore, all these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and styles resulted in one of the finest soft rock songs you’ll hear this year.
Photo courtesy of the artist.As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon Zlaket’s incredible voice. Her vocal performance serves as a centerpiece, guiding listeners through the expansive sonic universe, commanding attention, and elevating the entire composition to new heights. There’s a particular warmness in her voice that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs you by the collar, and refuses to let go long after “Clock Keeps Tickin'” ends. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances high, mid, and low notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything she intended to achieve with this incredible song. Besides decorating all those segments and orchestrations, Patti Zlaket also contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and possibly mandolin shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives more detail and depth to the ambiance. You’ll hear how all those chord progressions delivered on the acoustic guitar and mandolin perfectly pair with the accentuations, themes, melodies, and harmonies delivered on electric guitar. Although this composition almost entirely shines with straightforward soft-rock time signature, there are also some odd-time rhythmic structures involved along the way that give “Clock Keeps Tickin'” almost jazzy vibes. Lee Sklar’s tremendous contribution provides more heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song while simultaneously binding all the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. You’ll notice all those vividly hearable, detailed, groovy, and luxurious low-ends lurking around and giving that warm feel that perfectly pairs with the hi-ends. Of course, this marvelous composition wouldn’t be complete without an exceptional drumming performance, based upon well-accentuated, flawlessly performed, cleverly arranged beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The entire song has been tastefully, expertly, beautifully written, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced, so the pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
“Clock Keeps Tickin'” carries everything you ever needed from soft rock music. Patti Zlaket made a grandiose comeback on the music scene with this fascinating song, and it’s one of those fine pieces of sonic artistry that you need to check out as soon as possible. This beautiful composition perfectly sums up all her experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills, packed in a one-of-a-kind listening experience rarely heard or seen on a modern music scene. You should immediately place this soft rock on your music radar. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” is available on all streaming platforms.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5RbJU4tXgqtKLikYNVn7Ol?si=b4f378db110247a5
#ACOUSTICROCK #ALTERNATIVEGRUNGE #INDIE #LEESKLAR #MUSIC #PATTIZLAKET #REVIEWS #ROCK #SOFTROCK
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Patti Zlaket – Clock Keeps Tickin’
Patti Zlaket returns with “Clock Keeps Tickin’,” a brand new composition that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates tastefully assembled, cleverly composed, and flawlessly performed music. Although many music outlets deliver excellent recordings on a daily basis, there are only a few artists who know how to tastefully blend sincere emotion with a perfect sonic foundation. On her new composition, Patti Zlaket exemplifies what happens when a powerful vocal performance collides with marvelous soundscapes, delivering one of the finest sonic experiences in recent years. Produced by Tariqh Akoni, known for his work with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Weezer, this composition and her upcoming full-length album also include renowned bass player Lee Sklar, known for his work with Phil Collins, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. With this new composition, Patti Zlaket blends various approaches, techniques, and styles in order to illustrate a lush sonic imagery that will not only appeal to the soft rock fans but also anyone who appreciates wonderful music performed straight from the heart. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” might carry all the fundamental elements of soft rock music, but you’ll also notice how some of the finest qualities borrowed from acoustic rock, alternative, and indie lurk around, decorating, accentuating, and elevating this epic sonic journey to an entirely new level. Perhaps “Clock Keeps Tickin'” shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, but you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia in vocal and musical delivery, arrangements, and ambience. The song seamlessly resonates with all those qualities that made eighties and nineties soft rock music so catchy and memorable. It has been a while since any composition completely nailed this ambiance, and with Patti Zlaket and A-list musicians involved in the entire process, it was such an easy task to achieve. Therefore, all these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and styles resulted in one of the finest soft rock songs you’ll hear this year.
Photo courtesy of the artist.As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon Zlaket’s incredible voice. Her vocal performance serves as a centerpiece, guiding listeners through the expansive sonic universe, commanding attention, and elevating the entire composition to new heights. There’s a particular warmness in her voice that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs you by the collar, and refuses to let go long after “Clock Keeps Tickin'” ends. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances high, mid, and low notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything she intended to achieve with this incredible song. Besides decorating all those segments and orchestrations, Patti Zlaket also contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and possibly mandolin shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives more detail and depth to the ambiance. You’ll hear how all those chord progressions delivered on the acoustic guitar and mandolin perfectly pair with the accentuations, themes, melodies, and harmonies delivered on electric guitar. Although this composition almost entirely shines with straightforward soft-rock time signature, there are also some odd-time rhythmic structures involved along the way that give “Clock Keeps Tickin'” almost jazzy vibes. Lee Sklar’s tremendous contribution provides more heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song while simultaneously binding all the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. You’ll notice all those vividly hearable, detailed, groovy, and luxurious low-ends lurking around and giving that warm feel that perfectly pairs with the hi-ends. Of course, this marvelous composition wouldn’t be complete without an exceptional drumming performance, based upon well-accentuated, flawlessly performed, cleverly arranged beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The entire song has been tastefully, expertly, beautifully written, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced, so the pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
“Clock Keeps Tickin'” carries everything you ever needed from soft rock music. Patti Zlaket made a grandiose comeback on the music scene with this fascinating song, and it’s one of those fine pieces of sonic artistry that you need to check out as soon as possible. This beautiful composition perfectly sums up all her experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills, packed in a one-of-a-kind listening experience rarely heard or seen on a modern music scene. You should immediately place this soft rock on your music radar. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” is available on all streaming platforms.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5RbJU4tXgqtKLikYNVn7Ol?si=b4f378db110247a5
#ACOUSTICROCK #ALTERNATIVEGRUNGE #INDIE #LEESKLAR #MUSIC #PATTIZLAKET #REVIEWS #ROCK #SOFTROCK
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Patti Zlaket – Clock Keeps Tickin’
Patti Zlaket returns with “Clock Keeps Tickin’,” a brand new composition that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates tastefully assembled, cleverly composed, and flawlessly performed music. Although many music outlets deliver excellent recordings on a daily basis, there are only a few artists who know how to tastefully blend sincere emotion with a perfect sonic foundation. On her new composition, Patti Zlaket exemplifies what happens when a powerful vocal performance collides with marvelous soundscapes, delivering one of the finest sonic experiences in recent years. Produced by Tariqh Akoni, known for his work with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Weezer, this composition and her upcoming full-length album also include renowned bass player Lee Sklar, known for his work with Phil Collins, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. With this new composition, Patti Zlaket blends various approaches, techniques, and styles in order to illustrate a lush sonic imagery that will not only appeal to the soft rock fans but also anyone who appreciates wonderful music performed straight from the heart. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” might carry all the fundamental elements of soft rock music, but you’ll also notice how some of the finest qualities borrowed from acoustic rock, alternative, and indie lurk around, decorating, accentuating, and elevating this epic sonic journey to an entirely new level. Perhaps “Clock Keeps Tickin'” shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, but you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia in vocal and musical delivery, arrangements, and ambience. The song seamlessly resonates with all those qualities that made eighties and nineties soft rock music so catchy and memorable. It has been a while since any composition completely nailed this ambiance, and with Patti Zlaket and A-list musicians involved in the entire process, it was such an easy task to achieve. Therefore, all these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and styles resulted in one of the finest soft rock songs you’ll hear this year.
Photo courtesy of the artist.As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon Zlaket’s incredible voice. Her vocal performance serves as a centerpiece, guiding listeners through the expansive sonic universe, commanding attention, and elevating the entire composition to new heights. There’s a particular warmness in her voice that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs you by the collar, and refuses to let go long after “Clock Keeps Tickin'” ends. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances high, mid, and low notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything she intended to achieve with this incredible song. Besides decorating all those segments and orchestrations, Patti Zlaket also contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and possibly mandolin shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives more detail and depth to the ambiance. You’ll hear how all those chord progressions delivered on the acoustic guitar and mandolin perfectly pair with the accentuations, themes, melodies, and harmonies delivered on electric guitar. Although this composition almost entirely shines with straightforward soft-rock time signature, there are also some odd-time rhythmic structures involved along the way that give “Clock Keeps Tickin'” almost jazzy vibes. Lee Sklar’s tremendous contribution provides more heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song while simultaneously binding all the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. You’ll notice all those vividly hearable, detailed, groovy, and luxurious low-ends lurking around and giving that warm feel that perfectly pairs with the hi-ends. Of course, this marvelous composition wouldn’t be complete without an exceptional drumming performance, based upon well-accentuated, flawlessly performed, cleverly arranged beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The entire song has been tastefully, expertly, beautifully written, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced, so the pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
“Clock Keeps Tickin'” carries everything you ever needed from soft rock music. Patti Zlaket made a grandiose comeback on the music scene with this fascinating song, and it’s one of those fine pieces of sonic artistry that you need to check out as soon as possible. This beautiful composition perfectly sums up all her experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills, packed in a one-of-a-kind listening experience rarely heard or seen on a modern music scene. You should immediately place this soft rock on your music radar. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” is available on all streaming platforms.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5RbJU4tXgqtKLikYNVn7Ol?si=b4f378db110247a5
#ACOUSTICROCK #ALTERNATIVEGRUNGE #INDIE #LEESKLAR #MUSIC #PATTIZLAKET #REVIEWS #ROCK #SOFTROCK
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Patti Zlaket – Clock Keeps Tickin’
Patti Zlaket returns with “Clock Keeps Tickin’,” a brand new composition that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates tastefully assembled, cleverly composed, and flawlessly performed music. Although many music outlets deliver excellent recordings on a daily basis, there are only a few artists who know how to tastefully blend sincere emotion with a perfect sonic foundation. On her new composition, Patti Zlaket exemplifies what happens when a powerful vocal performance collides with marvelous soundscapes, delivering one of the finest sonic experiences in recent years. Produced by Tariqh Akoni, known for his work with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Weezer, this composition and her upcoming full-length album also include renowned bass player Lee Sklar, known for his work with Phil Collins, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. With this new composition, Patti Zlaket blends various approaches, techniques, and styles in order to illustrate a lush sonic imagery that will not only appeal to the soft rock fans but also anyone who appreciates wonderful music performed straight from the heart. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” might carry all the fundamental elements of soft rock music, but you’ll also notice how some of the finest qualities borrowed from acoustic rock, alternative, and indie lurk around, decorating, accentuating, and elevating this epic sonic journey to an entirely new level. Perhaps “Clock Keeps Tickin'” shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, but you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia in vocal and musical delivery, arrangements, and ambience. The song seamlessly resonates with all those qualities that made eighties and nineties soft rock music so catchy and memorable. It has been a while since any composition completely nailed this ambiance, and with Patti Zlaket and A-list musicians involved in the entire process, it was such an easy task to achieve. Therefore, all these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and styles resulted in one of the finest soft rock songs you’ll hear this year.
Photo courtesy of the artist.As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon Zlaket’s incredible voice. Her vocal performance serves as a centerpiece, guiding listeners through the expansive sonic universe, commanding attention, and elevating the entire composition to new heights. There’s a particular warmness in her voice that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs you by the collar, and refuses to let go long after “Clock Keeps Tickin'” ends. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances high, mid, and low notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything she intended to achieve with this incredible song. Besides decorating all those segments and orchestrations, Patti Zlaket also contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and possibly mandolin shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives more detail and depth to the ambiance. You’ll hear how all those chord progressions delivered on the acoustic guitar and mandolin perfectly pair with the accentuations, themes, melodies, and harmonies delivered on electric guitar. Although this composition almost entirely shines with straightforward soft-rock time signature, there are also some odd-time rhythmic structures involved along the way that give “Clock Keeps Tickin'” almost jazzy vibes. Lee Sklar’s tremendous contribution provides more heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song while simultaneously binding all the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. You’ll notice all those vividly hearable, detailed, groovy, and luxurious low-ends lurking around and giving that warm feel that perfectly pairs with the hi-ends. Of course, this marvelous composition wouldn’t be complete without an exceptional drumming performance, based upon well-accentuated, flawlessly performed, cleverly arranged beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The entire song has been tastefully, expertly, beautifully written, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced, so the pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
“Clock Keeps Tickin'” carries everything you ever needed from soft rock music. Patti Zlaket made a grandiose comeback on the music scene with this fascinating song, and it’s one of those fine pieces of sonic artistry that you need to check out as soon as possible. This beautiful composition perfectly sums up all her experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills, packed in a one-of-a-kind listening experience rarely heard or seen on a modern music scene. You should immediately place this soft rock on your music radar. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” is available on all streaming platforms.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5RbJU4tXgqtKLikYNVn7Ol?si=b4f378db110247a5
#ACOUSTICROCK #ALTERNATIVEGRUNGE #INDIE #LEESKLAR #MUSIC #PATTIZLAKET #REVIEWS #ROCK #SOFTROCK
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Patti Zlaket – Clock Keeps Tickin’
Patti Zlaket returns with “Clock Keeps Tickin’,” a brand new composition that will unquestionably appeal to anyone who appreciates tastefully assembled, cleverly composed, and flawlessly performed music. Although many music outlets deliver excellent recordings on a daily basis, there are only a few artists who know how to tastefully blend sincere emotion with a perfect sonic foundation. On her new composition, Patti Zlaket exemplifies what happens when a powerful vocal performance collides with marvelous soundscapes, delivering one of the finest sonic experiences in recent years. Produced by Tariqh Akoni, known for his work with Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Weezer, this composition and her upcoming full-length album also include renowned bass player Lee Sklar, known for his work with Phil Collins, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others. With this new composition, Patti Zlaket blends various approaches, techniques, and styles in order to illustrate a lush sonic imagery that will not only appeal to the soft rock fans but also anyone who appreciates wonderful music performed straight from the heart. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” might carry all the fundamental elements of soft rock music, but you’ll also notice how some of the finest qualities borrowed from acoustic rock, alternative, and indie lurk around, decorating, accentuating, and elevating this epic sonic journey to an entirely new level. Perhaps “Clock Keeps Tickin'” shines with qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, but you’ll notice a subtle touch of nostalgia in vocal and musical delivery, arrangements, and ambience. The song seamlessly resonates with all those qualities that made eighties and nineties soft rock music so catchy and memorable. It has been a while since any composition completely nailed this ambiance, and with Patti Zlaket and A-list musicians involved in the entire process, it was such an easy task to achieve. Therefore, all these experimentations with various approaches, techniques, and styles resulted in one of the finest soft rock songs you’ll hear this year.
Photo courtesy of the artist.As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon Zlaket’s incredible voice. Her vocal performance serves as a centerpiece, guiding listeners through the expansive sonic universe, commanding attention, and elevating the entire composition to new heights. There’s a particular warmness in her voice that immediately wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs you by the collar, and refuses to let go long after “Clock Keeps Tickin'” ends. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances high, mid, and low notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything she intended to achieve with this incredible song. Besides decorating all those segments and orchestrations, Patti Zlaket also contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and possibly mandolin shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars gives more detail and depth to the ambiance. You’ll hear how all those chord progressions delivered on the acoustic guitar and mandolin perfectly pair with the accentuations, themes, melodies, and harmonies delivered on electric guitar. Although this composition almost entirely shines with straightforward soft-rock time signature, there are also some odd-time rhythmic structures involved along the way that give “Clock Keeps Tickin'” almost jazzy vibes. Lee Sklar’s tremendous contribution provides more heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song while simultaneously binding all the mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. You’ll notice all those vividly hearable, detailed, groovy, and luxurious low-ends lurking around and giving that warm feel that perfectly pairs with the hi-ends. Of course, this marvelous composition wouldn’t be complete without an exceptional drumming performance, based upon well-accentuated, flawlessly performed, cleverly arranged beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The entire song has been tastefully, expertly, beautifully written, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced, so the pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
“Clock Keeps Tickin'” carries everything you ever needed from soft rock music. Patti Zlaket made a grandiose comeback on the music scene with this fascinating song, and it’s one of those fine pieces of sonic artistry that you need to check out as soon as possible. This beautiful composition perfectly sums up all her experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills, packed in a one-of-a-kind listening experience rarely heard or seen on a modern music scene. You should immediately place this soft rock on your music radar. “Clock Keeps Tickin'” is available on all streaming platforms.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5RbJU4tXgqtKLikYNVn7Ol?si=b4f378db110247a5
#ACOUSTICROCK #ALTERNATIVEGRUNGE #INDIE #LEESKLAR #MUSIC #PATTIZLAKET #REVIEWS #ROCK #SOFTROCK
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#TimeTravelingGhost Part 30: Episode 2: 1937: The Hindenburg Part P
#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 8/11. Cold/freezing in your story
By the time we got to the cabin, Emily had calmed down. Instead of a lecture, she said, “The steward must have been in a cold sweat. There he is, fishing for more tips, and you turn out to be a health faddist. Do people in the future actually eat that stuff?”
“It’s popular. You can find it at any supermarket — you do have supermarkets, right?”
“We do, but not in Arkham. Boston has an A&P and a Safeway.”
“I’m sorry, I should have known yogurt might be an anachronism.”
“Forget it; that’s past and gone. It’s hard to believe that yogurt and probably whole wheat bread would become popular.”
“That too, but no flying cars or personal jet packs, but we have no-#fault auto insurance.”
A smile tugged at Emily’s lips. “That’s disappointing. Now, about tipping…”
Once Emily finished her quick lecture on current idioms, we turned our attention to testing our new abilities. We shared the same standard skills, though we each had our own drawbacks. Anything involving dematerialization fatigued me: flying, passing through walls, invisibility. Anything involving materialization fatigued her: visibility, picking up objects, etc. Overdoing it left us cold, shivering, and unable to move.
“I’m worried about your plan,” Emily said. “What if you materialize halfway down and fall? We don’t have any proof you can’t die. You just assumed that.”
“It’s a risk, but we can’t test it. Please don’t test it!” I threw my hands in the air with a look of mock alarm.
Emily missed the joke. “Good Lord, of course I wouldn’t test that.”
That was too much, and I broke out laughing. “And that’s how it happened! To test the theory, the intrepid spy fired three shots from her pocket revolver. The ghost dodged, only to be engulfed in flames as the bullets ignited the hydrogen. And now we return you to our sponsor, Hydrolux, the dish detergent you can count on.”
Emily’s expression set me off again; a moment later, she was laughing too. “You’re quite a card, you know.”
The dinner chime cut off any witty retort I might have had.
“I’m looking forward to it. The menu says we have a choice of Dover #sole or fillet of beef with mushroom sauce—but no flaming cherries jubilee for dessert. Such a shame, just chilled brandied peaches.”
“Better hurry, or you’ll miss it. It wasn’t the spy who caused the explosion; it was the cook when they flamed the crème brûlée. The sole survivor was the dishwasher, who fell into a tub of Hydrolux suds. Seriously, though, watch out. Dinner could be a conversational minefield; you do come out with some odd turns of phrase.”
I gave her a thumbs up as I departed. If she said anything more, I didn’t hear it over the announcement of dinner.
#MircoFiction #TootFic #Serial #PulpFiction #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP #NMTTG
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Tilgate Nature Centre
One of our more visited attractions near us is Tilgate Nature Centre. It’s an inexpensive day out and provides lots of interesting animals to look at, and space for a child to both stare at the animals and run around a lot.
This is another of those places where we’ve done many trips and I’ve taken a handful of photos at each one, so this is another compendium post of images from several visits scattered out over a few years (which is also why my usual kit list for this post contains so many items).
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon EOS 60DCanon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USMCanon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USMCanon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USMSony DSC-RX100 IV Jump to GalleryOur first visit was way back in May 2021. At that point our child was 5 months old, and Covid restrictions had eased after the winter lockdown, so this was one of our first family days out.
The first animals that greet you at the centre are some meerkats. Some of them take their role as greeters very seriously.
1/125sec, f/9, ISO 320, 105mmLet’s bring in some historical context right at the start. Being 2021, I hadn’t used my camera much for quite a while at that point, so was prone to some silly mistakes – such as taking the above picture in Manual mode, rather than Aperture Priority, resulting in some odd settings such as an aperture of f/9, when I’d normally want to take it wide open at f/4 (also I needed to edit the shot dramatically because the exposure was a bit wonky).
The errant Manual mode continued during an encounter with a tortoise that also called this pen home.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 99mmThose are some real amateur settings.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 105mmLuckily by the time we saw this bird I’d realised my error and switched over to Aperture Priority.
1/80sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmNow seems like a good time for my usual disclaimer on any of my posts containing animals: I am terrible at identifying species, and usually find it disingenuous to look it up and present it to you like it’s a piece of information I knew and wasn’t just parroting back at you from a search engine. Especially since these days it involves feeding the image into an AI and hoping it doesn’t hallucinate into telling you it’s a tiger.
Anyway, point is, I don’t know what this bird is.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmIt is a pretty bird, and I caught it just right in the light.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmI did actually give this image to ChatGPT to ask what it was just out of curiosity, and it named it as a Laughing Kookaburra based on, amongst other things, its distinctive call. Not sure how it got that from a still photo.
We also saw these creepy, vulture-cum-Skeksis things having a meaty dinner of something without a head.
1/400sec, f/4, ISO 320, 165mmOur next trip – at least one at which I took any photos – was almost a year later, in April 2022. Once again we were greeted by the meerkats.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmAn alpaca was out and about too.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmI also managed to get another decent shot of the animal that sounds like a kookaburra, even in photos.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 500, 84mmWe went back only a month later for another visit. Thanks to their pen by the entrance we were greeted by the meerkats again.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm 1/500sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmAlthough this time I was distracted by another bit of wildlife on the outside of the pen.
1/125sec, f/4, ISO 100, 100mmAlso in the pen with the meerkats were a few of these things. I don’t know what they are, but they remind me of those examples of terrible Victorian taxidermy.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmI’m not sure if the residents of the Nature Centre change periodically, or if we just did a good job of wandering to different areas. Point is I don’t know what this is, but it seemed to be keeping guard over a bucket of fish.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmIn one of the little buildings is a rodent hut. That gave me a chance to photograph this dormouse. Makes a change from one of my cats bringing one in and leaving it on the living room carpet.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 800, 105mmNot quite as impressive as the staged shots of a dormouse I took at the British Wildlife Centre, but it was the best I had at that point.
Our next visit was in April 2023, because apparently visiting the nature reserve is a spring activity for us. This time, with a two-year-old in tow, I didn’t feel capable of bringing my full DSLR, so made use of my little Sony point-and-shoot.
Once again we saw the alpacas.
1/320sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmTurns out, not all of the animals are alive.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 21.19mmOnce again the kookaburra – if indeed that is what it was, because I still haven’t heard any of these photos make any noise – caught my eye.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmWe also saw this guy, but I suspect he might have been an interloper who snuck in.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmI’m conscious that this post is threatening to slip into a ‘I saw this, then I saw that’ narrative, but frankly it’s basically a small zoo, where we wander from one enclosure to another, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes because you’re chasing a small child that decided to run in that direction, so there isn’t a lot to segue from one creature to the next. Especially when I don’t even know that the creatures are called. Like this colourful bird thing.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmIn one pen a bunch of tortoises were crowding around a heatlamp for warmth.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 160, 25.7mmThis time, the meerkats didn’t greet as at the start, they angrily made sure we left. Well, either that or I just didn’t photograph them on my way in.
1/800sec, f/42.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmOur next visit – and the most recent one in this set – is from April 2024. I genuinely don’t know why we always seem to visit at the same time each year. I think it’s just an easy and inexpensive day out, and if you get there near when it opens it’s pretty quiet too, and must coincide with when the weather starts turning a bit more pleasant. By the same token I couldn’t tell you why we haven’t visited this year.
Anyway, back to the animals. Once again we managed to see some we hadn’t seen previously, with some lemurs running around having fun.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 190mmThere was also an owl with brilliant orange eyes. Usually they’re hiding in their aviary out of sight when we visit, but not this time.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mmUnfortunately he soon moved – and I missed it.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 300mmWe moved on to see this bird. Mostly I loved its still reflection in the water.
1/500sec, f/5, ISO 100, 120mmEventually though we ended up back looking at the kookaburras. This time, one of them was on the floor.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 110mmThere are a few in the cage, and two of them decided to share a worm with each other.
1/160sec, f/5, ISO 100, 70mmAt the time of this visit, some new residents at the nature centre were some wildcats. Of course we had to make sure we saw those.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmI’m not entirely sure what was so interesting to this wildcat, but he was fascinated by it.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmAs they had not long moved in, I presume they were still getting used to their new surroundings.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 210mmWe made our way back through the centre, and found the beautiful owl from earlier had settled down somewhere a little more convenient, and in quite a magnificent pose.
1/60sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmOne of the other animals we hadn’t seen before was an armadillo – although I supposed they’re easy to miss on account of them mostly looking like a rock.
1/320sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, 115mmElsewhere, there was another kind of wild cat, which frankly I’m not sure of the name of. What’s a good cat name? Tiddles. There we go. He was hiding in the bushes near a fence, but luckily I spotted him.
1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmI did spend some time on this particular trip shooting things that weren’t animals on this trip, which seems a good point to put them and the other random non-animal shots I’ve taken on my various visits to the Tilgate Nature Centre into one batch at the end. Think of it as a small, self-contained Random Gems collection to close us out with.
Some of the animal houses are nicely decorated with things reminiscent of Victorian explorers of old, like this assortment of shelves, books and luggage.
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mmThere was also this lovely globe. I didn’t open it up to see if it was full of drink – it certainly looks like it should be.
1/40sec, f/2.8, ISO 320, 12.48mmOn the walk towards the nature centre, in the larger Tilgate Park, there are some lovely plants and flowers, such as this assortment of trees.
1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmOr these roses.
1/200sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mmOr this impressive tree.
1/1600sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmAlthough one of my favourites of these non-animal images is the decorations on this (I believe faux) outhouse in one of the animal houses.
1/60sec, f/3.2, ISO 400, 31mmAnd the last of these images I want to share with you, the outside of this building, adorned with a load of shed antlers from the various deer and reindeer and other antler-possessing creatures.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 70mmAs I said, we’ve not been back to Tilgate Nature Centre since last April. This isn’t a conscious decision, and I’m sure we’ll end up back there before too long.
As always, above is a highlight reel of images. You can see some more, all in chronological order, in the gallery below.
#birds #cats #nature #Photography #sussex #tilgate #wildlife #Zoo
-
Tilgate Nature Centre
One of our more visited attractions near us is Tilgate Nature Centre. It’s an inexpensive day out and provides lots of interesting animals to look at, and space for a child to both stare at the animals and run around a lot.
This is another of those places where we’ve done many trips and I’ve taken a handful of photos at each one, so this is another compendium post of images from several visits scattered out over a few years (which is also why my usual kit list for this post contains so many items).
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon EOS 60DCanon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USMCanon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USMCanon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USMSony DSC-RX100 IV Jump to GalleryOur first visit was way back in May 2021. At that point our child was 5 months old, and Covid restrictions had eased after the winter lockdown, so this was one of our first family days out.
The first animals that greet you at the centre are some meerkats. Some of them take their role as greeters very seriously.
1/125sec, f/9, ISO 320, 105mmLet’s bring in some historical context right at the start. Being 2021, I hadn’t used my camera much for quite a while at that point, so was prone to some silly mistakes – such as taking the above picture in Manual mode, rather than Aperture Priority, resulting in some odd settings such as an aperture of f/9, when I’d normally want to take it wide open at f/4 (also I needed to edit the shot dramatically because the exposure was a bit wonky).
The errant Manual mode continued during an encounter with a tortoise that also called this pen home.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 99mmThose are some real amateur settings.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 105mmLuckily by the time we saw this bird I’d realised my error and switched over to Aperture Priority.
1/80sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmNow seems like a good time for my usual disclaimer on any of my posts containing animals: I am terrible at identifying species, and usually find it disingenuous to look it up and present it to you like it’s a piece of information I knew and wasn’t just parroting back at you from a search engine. Especially since these days it involves feeding the image into an AI and hoping it doesn’t hallucinate into telling you it’s a tiger.
Anyway, point is, I don’t know what this bird is.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmIt is a pretty bird, and I caught it just right in the light.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmI did actually give this image to ChatGPT to ask what it was just out of curiosity, and it named it as a Laughing Kookaburra based on, amongst other things, its distinctive call. Not sure how it got that from a still photo.
We also saw these creepy, vulture-cum-Skeksis things having a meaty dinner of something without a head.
1/400sec, f/4, ISO 320, 165mmOur next trip – at least one at which I took any photos – was almost a year later, in April 2022. Once again we were greeted by the meerkats.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmAn alpaca was out and about too.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmI also managed to get another decent shot of the animal that sounds like a kookaburra, even in photos.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 500, 84mmWe went back only a month later for another visit. Thanks to their pen by the entrance we were greeted by the meerkats again.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm 1/500sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmAlthough this time I was distracted by another bit of wildlife on the outside of the pen.
1/125sec, f/4, ISO 100, 100mmAlso in the pen with the meerkats were a few of these things. I don’t know what they are, but they remind me of those examples of terrible Victorian taxidermy.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmI’m not sure if the residents of the Nature Centre change periodically, or if we just did a good job of wandering to different areas. Point is I don’t know what this is, but it seemed to be keeping guard over a bucket of fish.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmIn one of the little buildings is a rodent hut. That gave me a chance to photograph this dormouse. Makes a change from one of my cats bringing one in and leaving it on the living room carpet.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 800, 105mmNot quite as impressive as the staged shots of a dormouse I took at the British Wildlife Centre, but it was the best I had at that point.
Our next visit was in April 2023, because apparently visiting the nature reserve is a spring activity for us. This time, with a two-year-old in tow, I didn’t feel capable of bringing my full DSLR, so made use of my little Sony point-and-shoot.
Once again we saw the alpacas.
1/320sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmTurns out, not all of the animals are alive.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 21.19mmOnce again the kookaburra – if indeed that is what it was, because I still haven’t heard any of these photos make any noise – caught my eye.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmWe also saw this guy, but I suspect he might have been an interloper who snuck in.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmI’m conscious that this post is threatening to slip into a ‘I saw this, then I saw that’ narrative, but frankly it’s basically a small zoo, where we wander from one enclosure to another, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes because you’re chasing a small child that decided to run in that direction, so there isn’t a lot to segue from one creature to the next. Especially when I don’t even know that the creatures are called. Like this colourful bird thing.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmIn one pen a bunch of tortoises were crowding around a heatlamp for warmth.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 160, 25.7mmThis time, the meerkats didn’t greet as at the start, they angrily made sure we left. Well, either that or I just didn’t photograph them on my way in.
1/800sec, f/42.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmOur next visit – and the most recent one in this set – is from April 2024. I genuinely don’t know why we always seem to visit at the same time each year. I think it’s just an easy and inexpensive day out, and if you get there near when it opens it’s pretty quiet too, and must coincide with when the weather starts turning a bit more pleasant. By the same token I couldn’t tell you why we haven’t visited this year.
Anyway, back to the animals. Once again we managed to see some we hadn’t seen previously, with some lemurs running around having fun.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 190mmThere was also an owl with brilliant orange eyes. Usually they’re hiding in their aviary out of sight when we visit, but not this time.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mmUnfortunately he soon moved – and I missed it.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 300mmWe moved on to see this bird. Mostly I loved its still reflection in the water.
1/500sec, f/5, ISO 100, 120mmEventually though we ended up back looking at the kookaburras. This time, one of them was on the floor.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 110mmThere are a few in the cage, and two of them decided to share a worm with each other.
1/160sec, f/5, ISO 100, 70mmAt the time of this visit, some new residents at the nature centre were some wildcats. Of course we had to make sure we saw those.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmI’m not entirely sure what was so interesting to this wildcat, but he was fascinated by it.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmAs they had not long moved in, I presume they were still getting used to their new surroundings.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 210mmWe made our way back through the centre, and found the beautiful owl from earlier had settled down somewhere a little more convenient, and in quite a magnificent pose.
1/60sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmOne of the other animals we hadn’t seen before was an armadillo – although I supposed they’re easy to miss on account of them mostly looking like a rock.
1/320sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, 115mmElsewhere, there was another kind of wild cat, which frankly I’m not sure of the name of. What’s a good cat name? Tiddles. There we go. He was hiding in the bushes near a fence, but luckily I spotted him.
1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmI did spend some time on this particular trip shooting things that weren’t animals on this trip, which seems a good point to put them and the other random non-animal shots I’ve taken on my various visits to the Tilgate Nature Centre into one batch at the end. Think of it as a small, self-contained Random Gems collection to close us out with.
Some of the animal houses are nicely decorated with things reminiscent of Victorian explorers of old, like this assortment of shelves, books and luggage.
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mmThere was also this lovely globe. I didn’t open it up to see if it was full of drink – it certainly looks like it should be.
1/40sec, f/2.8, ISO 320, 12.48mmOn the walk towards the nature centre, in the larger Tilgate Park, there are some lovely plants and flowers, such as this assortment of trees.
1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmOr these roses.
1/200sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mmOr this impressive tree.
1/1600sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmAlthough one of my favourites of these non-animal images is the decorations on this (I believe faux) outhouse in one of the animal houses.
1/60sec, f/3.2, ISO 400, 31mmAnd the last of these images I want to share with you, the outside of this building, adorned with a load of shed antlers from the various deer and reindeer and other antler-possessing creatures.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 70mmAs I said, we’ve not been back to Tilgate Nature Centre since last April. This isn’t a conscious decision, and I’m sure we’ll end up back there before too long.
As always, above is a highlight reel of images. You can see some more, all in chronological order, in the gallery below.
#birds #cats #nature #Photography #sussex #tilgate #wildlife #Zoo
-
Tilgate Nature Centre
One of our more visited attractions near us is Tilgate Nature Centre. It’s an inexpensive day out and provides lots of interesting animals to look at, and space for a child to both stare at the animals and run around a lot.
This is another of those places where we’ve done many trips and I’ve taken a handful of photos at each one, so this is another compendium post of images from several visits scattered out over a few years (which is also why my usual kit list for this post contains so many items).
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon EOS 60DCanon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USMCanon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USMCanon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USMSony DSC-RX100 IV Jump to GalleryOur first visit was way back in May 2021. At that point our child was 5 months old, and Covid restrictions had eased after the winter lockdown, so this was one of our first family days out.
The first animals that greet you at the centre are some meerkats. Some of them take their role as greeters very seriously.
1/125sec, f/9, ISO 320, 105mmLet’s bring in some historical context right at the start. Being 2021, I hadn’t used my camera much for quite a while at that point, so was prone to some silly mistakes – such as taking the above picture in Manual mode, rather than Aperture Priority, resulting in some odd settings such as an aperture of f/9, when I’d normally want to take it wide open at f/4 (also I needed to edit the shot dramatically because the exposure was a bit wonky).
The errant Manual mode continued during an encounter with a tortoise that also called this pen home.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 99mmThose are some real amateur settings.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 105mmLuckily by the time we saw this bird I’d realised my error and switched over to Aperture Priority.
1/80sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmNow seems like a good time for my usual disclaimer on any of my posts containing animals: I am terrible at identifying species, and usually find it disingenuous to look it up and present it to you like it’s a piece of information I knew and wasn’t just parroting back at you from a search engine. Especially since these days it involves feeding the image into an AI and hoping it doesn’t hallucinate into telling you it’s a tiger.
Anyway, point is, I don’t know what this bird is.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmIt is a pretty bird, and I caught it just right in the light.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmI did actually give this image to ChatGPT to ask what it was just out of curiosity, and it named it as a Laughing Kookaburra based on, amongst other things, its distinctive call. Not sure how it got that from a still photo.
We also saw these creepy, vulture-cum-Skeksis things having a meaty dinner of something without a head.
1/400sec, f/4, ISO 320, 165mmOur next trip – at least one at which I took any photos – was almost a year later, in April 2022. Once again we were greeted by the meerkats.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmAn alpaca was out and about too.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmI also managed to get another decent shot of the animal that sounds like a kookaburra, even in photos.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 500, 84mmWe went back only a month later for another visit. Thanks to their pen by the entrance we were greeted by the meerkats again.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm 1/500sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmAlthough this time I was distracted by another bit of wildlife on the outside of the pen.
1/125sec, f/4, ISO 100, 100mmAlso in the pen with the meerkats were a few of these things. I don’t know what they are, but they remind me of those examples of terrible Victorian taxidermy.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmI’m not sure if the residents of the Nature Centre change periodically, or if we just did a good job of wandering to different areas. Point is I don’t know what this is, but it seemed to be keeping guard over a bucket of fish.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmIn one of the little buildings is a rodent hut. That gave me a chance to photograph this dormouse. Makes a change from one of my cats bringing one in and leaving it on the living room carpet.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 800, 105mmNot quite as impressive as the staged shots of a dormouse I took at the British Wildlife Centre, but it was the best I had at that point.
Our next visit was in April 2023, because apparently visiting the nature reserve is a spring activity for us. This time, with a two-year-old in tow, I didn’t feel capable of bringing my full DSLR, so made use of my little Sony point-and-shoot.
Once again we saw the alpacas.
1/320sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmTurns out, not all of the animals are alive.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 21.19mmOnce again the kookaburra – if indeed that is what it was, because I still haven’t heard any of these photos make any noise – caught my eye.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmWe also saw this guy, but I suspect he might have been an interloper who snuck in.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmI’m conscious that this post is threatening to slip into a ‘I saw this, then I saw that’ narrative, but frankly it’s basically a small zoo, where we wander from one enclosure to another, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes because you’re chasing a small child that decided to run in that direction, so there isn’t a lot to segue from one creature to the next. Especially when I don’t even know that the creatures are called. Like this colourful bird thing.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmIn one pen a bunch of tortoises were crowding around a heatlamp for warmth.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 160, 25.7mmThis time, the meerkats didn’t greet as at the start, they angrily made sure we left. Well, either that or I just didn’t photograph them on my way in.
1/800sec, f/42.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmOur next visit – and the most recent one in this set – is from April 2024. I genuinely don’t know why we always seem to visit at the same time each year. I think it’s just an easy and inexpensive day out, and if you get there near when it opens it’s pretty quiet too, and must coincide with when the weather starts turning a bit more pleasant. By the same token I couldn’t tell you why we haven’t visited this year.
Anyway, back to the animals. Once again we managed to see some we hadn’t seen previously, with some lemurs running around having fun.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 190mmThere was also an owl with brilliant orange eyes. Usually they’re hiding in their aviary out of sight when we visit, but not this time.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mmUnfortunately he soon moved – and I missed it.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 300mmWe moved on to see this bird. Mostly I loved its still reflection in the water.
1/500sec, f/5, ISO 100, 120mmEventually though we ended up back looking at the kookaburras. This time, one of them was on the floor.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 110mmThere are a few in the cage, and two of them decided to share a worm with each other.
1/160sec, f/5, ISO 100, 70mmAt the time of this visit, some new residents at the nature centre were some wildcats. Of course we had to make sure we saw those.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmI’m not entirely sure what was so interesting to this wildcat, but he was fascinated by it.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmAs they had not long moved in, I presume they were still getting used to their new surroundings.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 210mmWe made our way back through the centre, and found the beautiful owl from earlier had settled down somewhere a little more convenient, and in quite a magnificent pose.
1/60sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmOne of the other animals we hadn’t seen before was an armadillo – although I supposed they’re easy to miss on account of them mostly looking like a rock.
1/320sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, 115mmElsewhere, there was another kind of wild cat, which frankly I’m not sure of the name of. What’s a good cat name? Tiddles. There we go. He was hiding in the bushes near a fence, but luckily I spotted him.
1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmI did spend some time on this particular trip shooting things that weren’t animals on this trip, which seems a good point to put them and the other random non-animal shots I’ve taken on my various visits to the Tilgate Nature Centre into one batch at the end. Think of it as a small, self-contained Random Gems collection to close us out with.
Some of the animal houses are nicely decorated with things reminiscent of Victorian explorers of old, like this assortment of shelves, books and luggage.
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mmThere was also this lovely globe. I didn’t open it up to see if it was full of drink – it certainly looks like it should be.
1/40sec, f/2.8, ISO 320, 12.48mmOn the walk towards the nature centre, in the larger Tilgate Park, there are some lovely plants and flowers, such as this assortment of trees.
1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmOr these roses.
1/200sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mmOr this impressive tree.
1/1600sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmAlthough one of my favourites of these non-animal images is the decorations on this (I believe faux) outhouse in one of the animal houses.
1/60sec, f/3.2, ISO 400, 31mmAnd the last of these images I want to share with you, the outside of this building, adorned with a load of shed antlers from the various deer and reindeer and other antler-possessing creatures.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 70mmAs I said, we’ve not been back to Tilgate Nature Centre since last April. This isn’t a conscious decision, and I’m sure we’ll end up back there before too long.
As always, above is a highlight reel of images. You can see some more, all in chronological order, in the gallery below.
#birds #cats #nature #Photography #sussex #tilgate #wildlife #Zoo
-
Tilgate Nature Centre
One of our more visited attractions near us is Tilgate Nature Centre. It’s an inexpensive day out and provides lots of interesting animals to look at, and space for a child to both stare at the animals and run around a lot.
This is another of those places where we’ve done many trips and I’ve taken a handful of photos at each one, so this is another compendium post of images from several visits scattered out over a few years (which is also why my usual kit list for this post contains so many items).
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon EOS 60DCanon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USMCanon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USMCanon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USMSony DSC-RX100 IV Jump to GalleryOur first visit was way back in May 2021. At that point our child was 5 months old, and Covid restrictions had eased after the winter lockdown, so this was one of our first family days out.
The first animals that greet you at the centre are some meerkats. Some of them take their role as greeters very seriously.
1/125sec, f/9, ISO 320, 105mmLet’s bring in some historical context right at the start. Being 2021, I hadn’t used my camera much for quite a while at that point, so was prone to some silly mistakes – such as taking the above picture in Manual mode, rather than Aperture Priority, resulting in some odd settings such as an aperture of f/9, when I’d normally want to take it wide open at f/4 (also I needed to edit the shot dramatically because the exposure was a bit wonky).
The errant Manual mode continued during an encounter with a tortoise that also called this pen home.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 99mmThose are some real amateur settings.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 105mmLuckily by the time we saw this bird I’d realised my error and switched over to Aperture Priority.
1/80sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmNow seems like a good time for my usual disclaimer on any of my posts containing animals: I am terrible at identifying species, and usually find it disingenuous to look it up and present it to you like it’s a piece of information I knew and wasn’t just parroting back at you from a search engine. Especially since these days it involves feeding the image into an AI and hoping it doesn’t hallucinate into telling you it’s a tiger.
Anyway, point is, I don’t know what this bird is.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmIt is a pretty bird, and I caught it just right in the light.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmI did actually give this image to ChatGPT to ask what it was just out of curiosity, and it named it as a Laughing Kookaburra based on, amongst other things, its distinctive call. Not sure how it got that from a still photo.
We also saw these creepy, vulture-cum-Skeksis things having a meaty dinner of something without a head.
1/400sec, f/4, ISO 320, 165mmOur next trip – at least one at which I took any photos – was almost a year later, in April 2022. Once again we were greeted by the meerkats.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmAn alpaca was out and about too.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmI also managed to get another decent shot of the animal that sounds like a kookaburra, even in photos.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 500, 84mmWe went back only a month later for another visit. Thanks to their pen by the entrance we were greeted by the meerkats again.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm 1/500sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmAlthough this time I was distracted by another bit of wildlife on the outside of the pen.
1/125sec, f/4, ISO 100, 100mmAlso in the pen with the meerkats were a few of these things. I don’t know what they are, but they remind me of those examples of terrible Victorian taxidermy.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmI’m not sure if the residents of the Nature Centre change periodically, or if we just did a good job of wandering to different areas. Point is I don’t know what this is, but it seemed to be keeping guard over a bucket of fish.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmIn one of the little buildings is a rodent hut. That gave me a chance to photograph this dormouse. Makes a change from one of my cats bringing one in and leaving it on the living room carpet.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 800, 105mmNot quite as impressive as the staged shots of a dormouse I took at the British Wildlife Centre, but it was the best I had at that point.
Our next visit was in April 2023, because apparently visiting the nature reserve is a spring activity for us. This time, with a two-year-old in tow, I didn’t feel capable of bringing my full DSLR, so made use of my little Sony point-and-shoot.
Once again we saw the alpacas.
1/320sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmTurns out, not all of the animals are alive.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 21.19mmOnce again the kookaburra – if indeed that is what it was, because I still haven’t heard any of these photos make any noise – caught my eye.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmWe also saw this guy, but I suspect he might have been an interloper who snuck in.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmI’m conscious that this post is threatening to slip into a ‘I saw this, then I saw that’ narrative, but frankly it’s basically a small zoo, where we wander from one enclosure to another, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes because you’re chasing a small child that decided to run in that direction, so there isn’t a lot to segue from one creature to the next. Especially when I don’t even know that the creatures are called. Like this colourful bird thing.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmIn one pen a bunch of tortoises were crowding around a heatlamp for warmth.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 160, 25.7mmThis time, the meerkats didn’t greet as at the start, they angrily made sure we left. Well, either that or I just didn’t photograph them on my way in.
1/800sec, f/42.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmOur next visit – and the most recent one in this set – is from April 2024. I genuinely don’t know why we always seem to visit at the same time each year. I think it’s just an easy and inexpensive day out, and if you get there near when it opens it’s pretty quiet too, and must coincide with when the weather starts turning a bit more pleasant. By the same token I couldn’t tell you why we haven’t visited this year.
Anyway, back to the animals. Once again we managed to see some we hadn’t seen previously, with some lemurs running around having fun.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 190mmThere was also an owl with brilliant orange eyes. Usually they’re hiding in their aviary out of sight when we visit, but not this time.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mmUnfortunately he soon moved – and I missed it.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 300mmWe moved on to see this bird. Mostly I loved its still reflection in the water.
1/500sec, f/5, ISO 100, 120mmEventually though we ended up back looking at the kookaburras. This time, one of them was on the floor.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 110mmThere are a few in the cage, and two of them decided to share a worm with each other.
1/160sec, f/5, ISO 100, 70mmAt the time of this visit, some new residents at the nature centre were some wildcats. Of course we had to make sure we saw those.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmI’m not entirely sure what was so interesting to this wildcat, but he was fascinated by it.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmAs they had not long moved in, I presume they were still getting used to their new surroundings.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 210mmWe made our way back through the centre, and found the beautiful owl from earlier had settled down somewhere a little more convenient, and in quite a magnificent pose.
1/60sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmOne of the other animals we hadn’t seen before was an armadillo – although I supposed they’re easy to miss on account of them mostly looking like a rock.
1/320sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, 115mmElsewhere, there was another kind of wild cat, which frankly I’m not sure of the name of. What’s a good cat name? Tiddles. There we go. He was hiding in the bushes near a fence, but luckily I spotted him.
1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmI did spend some time on this particular trip shooting things that weren’t animals on this trip, which seems a good point to put them and the other random non-animal shots I’ve taken on my various visits to the Tilgate Nature Centre into one batch at the end. Think of it as a small, self-contained Random Gems collection to close us out with.
Some of the animal houses are nicely decorated with things reminiscent of Victorian explorers of old, like this assortment of shelves, books and luggage.
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mmThere was also this lovely globe. I didn’t open it up to see if it was full of drink – it certainly looks like it should be.
1/40sec, f/2.8, ISO 320, 12.48mmOn the walk towards the nature centre, in the larger Tilgate Park, there are some lovely plants and flowers, such as this assortment of trees.
1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmOr these roses.
1/200sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mmOr this impressive tree.
1/1600sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmAlthough one of my favourites of these non-animal images is the decorations on this (I believe faux) outhouse in one of the animal houses.
1/60sec, f/3.2, ISO 400, 31mmAnd the last of these images I want to share with you, the outside of this building, adorned with a load of shed antlers from the various deer and reindeer and other antler-possessing creatures.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 70mmAs I said, we’ve not been back to Tilgate Nature Centre since last April. This isn’t a conscious decision, and I’m sure we’ll end up back there before too long.
As always, above is a highlight reel of images. You can see some more, all in chronological order, in the gallery below.
#birds #cats #nature #Photography #sussex #tilgate #wildlife #Zoo
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Tilgate Nature Centre
One of our more visited attractions near us is Tilgate Nature Centre. It’s an inexpensive day out and provides lots of interesting animals to look at, and space for a child to both stare at the animals and run around a lot.
This is another of those places where we’ve done many trips and I’ve taken a handful of photos at each one, so this is another compendium post of images from several visits scattered out over a few years (which is also why my usual kit list for this post contains so many items).
Kit ListCanon EOS R6 Mk IICanon EOS 60DCanon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USMCanon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USMCanon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USMSony DSC-RX100 IV Jump to GalleryOur first visit was way back in May 2021. At that point our child was 5 months old, and Covid restrictions had eased after the winter lockdown, so this was one of our first family days out.
The first animals that greet you at the centre are some meerkats. Some of them take their role as greeters very seriously.
1/125sec, f/9, ISO 320, 105mmLet’s bring in some historical context right at the start. Being 2021, I hadn’t used my camera much for quite a while at that point, so was prone to some silly mistakes – such as taking the above picture in Manual mode, rather than Aperture Priority, resulting in some odd settings such as an aperture of f/9, when I’d normally want to take it wide open at f/4 (also I needed to edit the shot dramatically because the exposure was a bit wonky).
The errant Manual mode continued during an encounter with a tortoise that also called this pen home.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 99mmThose are some real amateur settings.
1/125sec, f/13, ISO 320, 105mmLuckily by the time we saw this bird I’d realised my error and switched over to Aperture Priority.
1/80sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmNow seems like a good time for my usual disclaimer on any of my posts containing animals: I am terrible at identifying species, and usually find it disingenuous to look it up and present it to you like it’s a piece of information I knew and wasn’t just parroting back at you from a search engine. Especially since these days it involves feeding the image into an AI and hoping it doesn’t hallucinate into telling you it’s a tiger.
Anyway, point is, I don’t know what this bird is.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmIt is a pretty bird, and I caught it just right in the light.
1/125sec, f/5, ISO 200, 160mmI did actually give this image to ChatGPT to ask what it was just out of curiosity, and it named it as a Laughing Kookaburra based on, amongst other things, its distinctive call. Not sure how it got that from a still photo.
We also saw these creepy, vulture-cum-Skeksis things having a meaty dinner of something without a head.
1/400sec, f/4, ISO 320, 165mmOur next trip – at least one at which I took any photos – was almost a year later, in April 2022. Once again we were greeted by the meerkats.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmAn alpaca was out and about too.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmI also managed to get another decent shot of the animal that sounds like a kookaburra, even in photos.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 500, 84mmWe went back only a month later for another visit. Thanks to their pen by the entrance we were greeted by the meerkats again.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm 1/500sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmAlthough this time I was distracted by another bit of wildlife on the outside of the pen.
1/125sec, f/4, ISO 100, 100mmAlso in the pen with the meerkats were a few of these things. I don’t know what they are, but they remind me of those examples of terrible Victorian taxidermy.
1/1250sec, f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mmI’m not sure if the residents of the Nature Centre change periodically, or if we just did a good job of wandering to different areas. Point is I don’t know what this is, but it seemed to be keeping guard over a bucket of fish.
1/1250sec, f/4, ISO 100, 105mmIn one of the little buildings is a rodent hut. That gave me a chance to photograph this dormouse. Makes a change from one of my cats bringing one in and leaving it on the living room carpet.
1/80sec, f/4, ISO 800, 105mmNot quite as impressive as the staged shots of a dormouse I took at the British Wildlife Centre, but it was the best I had at that point.
Our next visit was in April 2023, because apparently visiting the nature reserve is a spring activity for us. This time, with a two-year-old in tow, I didn’t feel capable of bringing my full DSLR, so made use of my little Sony point-and-shoot.
Once again we saw the alpacas.
1/320sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmTurns out, not all of the animals are alive.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 21.19mmOnce again the kookaburra – if indeed that is what it was, because I still haven’t heard any of these photos make any noise – caught my eye.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmWe also saw this guy, but I suspect he might have been an interloper who snuck in.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmI’m conscious that this post is threatening to slip into a ‘I saw this, then I saw that’ narrative, but frankly it’s basically a small zoo, where we wander from one enclosure to another, sometimes aimlessly, sometimes with purpose, and sometimes because you’re chasing a small child that decided to run in that direction, so there isn’t a lot to segue from one creature to the next. Especially when I don’t even know that the creatures are called. Like this colourful bird thing.
1/125sec, f/2.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmIn one pen a bunch of tortoises were crowding around a heatlamp for warmth.
1/80sec, f/2.8, ISO 160, 25.7mmThis time, the meerkats didn’t greet as at the start, they angrily made sure we left. Well, either that or I just didn’t photograph them on my way in.
1/800sec, f/42.8, ISO 125, 25.7mmOur next visit – and the most recent one in this set – is from April 2024. I genuinely don’t know why we always seem to visit at the same time each year. I think it’s just an easy and inexpensive day out, and if you get there near when it opens it’s pretty quiet too, and must coincide with when the weather starts turning a bit more pleasant. By the same token I couldn’t tell you why we haven’t visited this year.
Anyway, back to the animals. Once again we managed to see some we hadn’t seen previously, with some lemurs running around having fun.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 190mmThere was also an owl with brilliant orange eyes. Usually they’re hiding in their aviary out of sight when we visit, but not this time.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mmUnfortunately he soon moved – and I missed it.
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, 300mmWe moved on to see this bird. Mostly I loved its still reflection in the water.
1/500sec, f/5, ISO 100, 120mmEventually though we ended up back looking at the kookaburras. This time, one of them was on the floor.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 110mmThere are a few in the cage, and two of them decided to share a worm with each other.
1/160sec, f/5, ISO 100, 70mmAt the time of this visit, some new residents at the nature centre were some wildcats. Of course we had to make sure we saw those.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmI’m not entirely sure what was so interesting to this wildcat, but he was fascinated by it.
1/400sec, f/5, ISO 100, 200mmAs they had not long moved in, I presume they were still getting used to their new surroundings.
1/250sec, f/5, ISO 100, 210mmWe made our way back through the centre, and found the beautiful owl from earlier had settled down somewhere a little more convenient, and in quite a magnificent pose.
1/60sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmOne of the other animals we hadn’t seen before was an armadillo – although I supposed they’re easy to miss on account of them mostly looking like a rock.
1/320sec, f/4.5, ISO 100, 115mmElsewhere, there was another kind of wild cat, which frankly I’m not sure of the name of. What’s a good cat name? Tiddles. There we go. He was hiding in the bushes near a fence, but luckily I spotted him.
1/100sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mmI did spend some time on this particular trip shooting things that weren’t animals on this trip, which seems a good point to put them and the other random non-animal shots I’ve taken on my various visits to the Tilgate Nature Centre into one batch at the end. Think of it as a small, self-contained Random Gems collection to close us out with.
Some of the animal houses are nicely decorated with things reminiscent of Victorian explorers of old, like this assortment of shelves, books and luggage.
1/8sec, f/4, ISO 100, 24mmThere was also this lovely globe. I didn’t open it up to see if it was full of drink – it certainly looks like it should be.
1/40sec, f/2.8, ISO 320, 12.48mmOn the walk towards the nature centre, in the larger Tilgate Park, there are some lovely plants and flowers, such as this assortment of trees.
1/800sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmOr these roses.
1/200sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 70mmOr this impressive tree.
1/1600sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 24mmAlthough one of my favourites of these non-animal images is the decorations on this (I believe faux) outhouse in one of the animal houses.
1/60sec, f/3.2, ISO 400, 31mmAnd the last of these images I want to share with you, the outside of this building, adorned with a load of shed antlers from the various deer and reindeer and other antler-possessing creatures.
1/160sec, f/4, ISO 100, 70mmAs I said, we’ve not been back to Tilgate Nature Centre since last April. This isn’t a conscious decision, and I’m sure we’ll end up back there before too long.
As always, above is a highlight reel of images. You can see some more, all in chronological order, in the gallery below.
#birds #cats #nature #Photography #sussex #tilgate #wildlife #Zoo
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By ClarkKent
Sometimes life takes you to unexpected places. Gina Bafile, who dubbed herself Darkyra Black and founded the band Darkyra, saw her dreams become reality with the release of two albums in 2014 and 2015. Her band started touring in her hometown of Australia shortly thereafter, and apparently, her shows were popular enough to make plans to take them to Europe. Unfortunately, life took a turn for Bafile. In 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to take an indefinite break from her music. Now, nearly 10 years later, Bafile is back at it with the release of her third Darkyra album, Life Force. It’s amazing what modern medicine and the human spirit can accomplish. Through perseverance, Bafile survived a cancer scare, and again through perseverance, she has rekindled her dream and put forth an ambitious record. That in itself is a worthy success story.
The most succinct way to describe the genre of Life Force is standard rock-and-roll with some extra frills. Like many hard rock songs, Darkyra hooks you early with some nice melodies, but then switches to standard rock riffs as rhythm to accompany Bafile’s voice. Synths add some extra personality: on “One Foot in the Grave,” they provide an eerie, gothic atmosphere, while on “Leap Before You Die,” they perform some nice solos. The piano also plays an important role, providing the main source of instrumentation on “Tomorrow Without You” and serving a supporting role on other tracks like “Quiet the Mind.” Pop/rock songs like these live and die by the chorus, and Life Force has some catchy ones. Most tunes follow the traditional pop structure of repeating the chorus once or twice, but a few instead build up to a big chorus in the finale.
Spend enough time with Life Force and you’ll find that there is plenty to appreciate. Surprisingly, the biggest standout is the bassist, Lucio Manca. On songs like “Life Force” and “Quiet the Mind,” his bass absolutely slaps. He steals the show with his grooves, and I wish he had a more prominent role. I know a certain bass-loving Dolphin who would salivate to hear Manca play, and thanks to the crisp production values, his bass clearly stands out. While there are several songs that stand above the pack, such as “Quiet the Mind,” which has a killer chorus, “Celebrity Smile” is the one that I wish Darkyra had used as a model for the rest. 1 It’s the only true symphonic track on Life Force, and when those string instruments and choral chants accompany Bafile’s voice on the chorus, I can’t help but imagine how great this album could have been had Darkyra done more of this.
Life Force unfortunately, suffers from some inconsistencies. Bafile has a strong voice, but at times the songs put too much pressure on her larynx. For example, when she reaches for a higher register on the chorus of “All in Good Time,” her voice strains and grows pitchy. Darkyra also opts for some odd vocal choices, such as a sassy-talk section (“All in Good Time”), some Darth Vader-like whispers (“Quiet the Mind”), and a moment where I confused her for a nasally Gwen Stefani (“Tomorrow Without You”). These moments aren’t the only weaknesses, though. For one, the guitars are pretty bland, often disappearing into the background. Some of the lyrics are questionable as well, such as when Bafile redundantly sings, “You’ve gotta leap before you die / Leap while you’re alive.” Probably the biggest offender is the penultimate tune, “Tested the Water,” which feels completely phoned in and out of tune.
What Bafile has done with Life Force–create an ambitious work of art after life threw a wrench her way–is an inspiration. No matter what I write in these paragraphs, that in itself is a success. And the album is pretty enjoyable. Yes, it has its warts and blemishes, like any record, but I still find myself giddily singing aloud “You’ve gotta leap before you die” and swaying to the violins of “Celebrity Smile” as they replay in my head. I hope next time around, Bafile plays to Darkyra’s strengths more consistently. Bafile and her team have good instincts for creating musical arrangements with strings, piano, and that bass. I look forward to hearing what she does next.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Battlegod Productions
Websites: darkyra.com | darkyrablack.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: June 13th, 2025#25 #2025 #AustralianMetal #BattlegodProductions #Darkyra #GothicMetal #GwenStefani #HardRock #Jun25 #LifeForce #Productions #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal
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By ClarkKent
Sometimes life takes you to unexpected places. Gina Bafile, who dubbed herself Darkyra Black and founded the band Darkyra, saw her dreams become reality with the release of two albums in 2014 and 2015. Her band started touring in her hometown of Australia shortly thereafter, and apparently, her shows were popular enough to make plans to take them to Europe. Unfortunately, life took a turn for Bafile. In 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to take an indefinite break from her music. Now, nearly 10 years later, Bafile is back at it with the release of her third Darkyra album, Life Force. It’s amazing what modern medicine and the human spirit can accomplish. Through perseverance, Bafile survived a cancer scare, and again through perseverance, she has rekindled her dream and put forth an ambitious record. That in itself is a worthy success story.
The most succinct way to describe the genre of Life Force is standard rock-and-roll with some extra frills. Like many hard rock songs, Darkyra hooks you early with some nice melodies, but then switches to standard rock riffs as rhythm to accompany Bafile’s voice. Synths add some extra personality: on “One Foot in the Grave,” they provide an eerie, gothic atmosphere, while on “Leap Before You Die,” they perform some nice solos. The piano also plays an important role, providing the main source of instrumentation on “Tomorrow Without You” and serving a supporting role on other tracks like “Quiet the Mind.” Pop/rock songs like these live and die by the chorus, and Life Force has some catchy ones. Most tunes follow the traditional pop structure of repeating the chorus once or twice, but a few instead build up to a big chorus in the finale.
Spend enough time with Life Force and you’ll find that there is plenty to appreciate. Surprisingly, the biggest standout is the bassist, Lucio Manca. On songs like “Life Force” and “Quiet the Mind,” his bass absolutely slaps. He steals the show with his grooves, and I wish he had a more prominent role. I know a certain bass-loving Dolphin who would salivate to hear Manca play, and thanks to the crisp production values, his bass clearly stands out. While there are several songs that stand above the pack, such as “Quiet the Mind,” which has a killer chorus, “Celebrity Smile” is the one that I wish Darkyra had used as a model for the rest. 1 It’s the only true symphonic track on Life Force, and when those string instruments and choral chants accompany Bafile’s voice on the chorus, I can’t help but imagine how great this album could have been had Darkyra done more of this.
Life Force unfortunately, suffers from some inconsistencies. Bafile has a strong voice, but at times the songs put too much pressure on her larynx. For example, when she reaches for a higher register on the chorus of “All in Good Time,” her voice strains and grows pitchy. Darkyra also opts for some odd vocal choices, such as a sassy-talk section (“All in Good Time”), some Darth Vader-like whispers (“Quiet the Mind”), and a moment where I confused her for a nasally Gwen Stefani (“Tomorrow Without You”). These moments aren’t the only weaknesses, though. For one, the guitars are pretty bland, often disappearing into the background. Some of the lyrics are questionable as well, such as when Bafile redundantly sings, “You’ve gotta leap before you die / Leap while you’re alive.” Probably the biggest offender is the penultimate tune, “Tested the Water,” which feels completely phoned in and out of tune.
What Bafile has done with Life Force–create an ambitious work of art after life threw a wrench her way–is an inspiration. No matter what I write in these paragraphs, that in itself is a success. And the album is pretty enjoyable. Yes, it has its warts and blemishes, like any record, but I still find myself giddily singing aloud “You’ve gotta leap before you die” and swaying to the violins of “Celebrity Smile” as they replay in my head. I hope next time around, Bafile plays to Darkyra’s strengths more consistently. Bafile and her team have good instincts for creating musical arrangements with strings, piano, and that bass. I look forward to hearing what she does next.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Battlegod Productions
Websites: darkyra.com | darkyrablack.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: June 13th, 2025#25 #2025 #AustralianMetal #BattlegodProductions #Darkyra #GothicMetal #GwenStefani #HardRock #Jun25 #LifeForce #Productions #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal
-
By ClarkKent
Sometimes life takes you to unexpected places. Gina Bafile, who dubbed herself Darkyra Black and founded the band Darkyra, saw her dreams become reality with the release of two albums in 2014 and 2015. Her band started touring in her hometown of Australia shortly thereafter, and apparently, her shows were popular enough to make plans to take them to Europe. Unfortunately, life took a turn for Bafile. In 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to take an indefinite break from her music. Now, nearly 10 years later, Bafile is back at it with the release of her third Darkyra album, Life Force. It’s amazing what modern medicine and the human spirit can accomplish. Through perseverance, Bafile survived a cancer scare, and again through perseverance, she has rekindled her dream and put forth an ambitious record. That in itself is a worthy success story.
The most succinct way to describe the genre of Life Force is standard rock-and-roll with some extra frills. Like many hard rock songs, Darkyra hooks you early with some nice melodies, but then switches to standard rock riffs as rhythm to accompany Bafile’s voice. Synths add some extra personality: on “One Foot in the Grave,” they provide an eerie, gothic atmosphere, while on “Leap Before You Die,” they perform some nice solos. The piano also plays an important role, providing the main source of instrumentation on “Tomorrow Without You” and serving a supporting role on other tracks like “Quiet the Mind.” Pop/rock songs like these live and die by the chorus, and Life Force has some catchy ones. Most tunes follow the traditional pop structure of repeating the chorus once or twice, but a few instead build up to a big chorus in the finale.
Spend enough time with Life Force and you’ll find that there is plenty to appreciate. Surprisingly, the biggest standout is the bassist, Lucio Manca. On songs like “Life Force” and “Quiet the Mind,” his bass absolutely slaps. He steals the show with his grooves, and I wish he had a more prominent role. I know a certain bass-loving Dolphin who would salivate to hear Manca play, and thanks to the crisp production values, his bass clearly stands out. While there are several songs that stand above the pack, such as “Quiet the Mind,” which has a killer chorus, “Celebrity Smile” is the one that I wish Darkyra had used as a model for the rest. 1 It’s the only true symphonic track on Life Force, and when those string instruments and choral chants accompany Bafile’s voice on the chorus, I can’t help but imagine how great this album could have been had Darkyra done more of this.
Life Force unfortunately, suffers from some inconsistencies. Bafile has a strong voice, but at times the songs put too much pressure on her larynx. For example, when she reaches for a higher register on the chorus of “All in Good Time,” her voice strains and grows pitchy. Darkyra also opts for some odd vocal choices, such as a sassy-talk section (“All in Good Time”), some Darth Vader-like whispers (“Quiet the Mind”), and a moment where I confused her for a nasally Gwen Stefani (“Tomorrow Without You”). These moments aren’t the only weaknesses, though. For one, the guitars are pretty bland, often disappearing into the background. Some of the lyrics are questionable as well, such as when Bafile redundantly sings, “You’ve gotta leap before you die / Leap while you’re alive.” Probably the biggest offender is the penultimate tune, “Tested the Water,” which feels completely phoned in and out of tune.
What Bafile has done with Life Force–create an ambitious work of art after life threw a wrench her way–is an inspiration. No matter what I write in these paragraphs, that in itself is a success. And the album is pretty enjoyable. Yes, it has its warts and blemishes, like any record, but I still find myself giddily singing aloud “You’ve gotta leap before you die” and swaying to the violins of “Celebrity Smile” as they replay in my head. I hope next time around, Bafile plays to Darkyra’s strengths more consistently. Bafile and her team have good instincts for creating musical arrangements with strings, piano, and that bass. I look forward to hearing what she does next.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Battlegod Productions
Websites: darkyra.com | darkyrablack.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: June 13th, 2025#25 #2025 #AustralianMetal #BattlegodProductions #Darkyra #GothicMetal #GwenStefani #HardRock #Jun25 #LifeForce #Productions #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal
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By ClarkKent
Sometimes life takes you to unexpected places. Gina Bafile, who dubbed herself Darkyra Black and founded the band Darkyra, saw her dreams become reality with the release of two albums in 2014 and 2015. Her band started touring in her hometown of Australia shortly thereafter, and apparently, her shows were popular enough to make plans to take them to Europe. Unfortunately, life took a turn for Bafile. In 2016, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to take an indefinite break from her music. Now, nearly 10 years later, Bafile is back at it with the release of her third Darkyra album, Life Force. It’s amazing what modern medicine and the human spirit can accomplish. Through perseverance, Bafile survived a cancer scare, and again through perseverance, she has rekindled her dream and put forth an ambitious record. That in itself is a worthy success story.
The most succinct way to describe the genre of Life Force is standard rock-and-roll with some extra frills. Like many hard rock songs, Darkyra hooks you early with some nice melodies, but then switches to standard rock riffs as rhythm to accompany Bafile’s voice. Synths add some extra personality: on “One Foot in the Grave,” they provide an eerie, gothic atmosphere, while on “Leap Before You Die,” they perform some nice solos. The piano also plays an important role, providing the main source of instrumentation on “Tomorrow Without You” and serving a supporting role on other tracks like “Quiet the Mind.” Pop/rock songs like these live and die by the chorus, and Life Force has some catchy ones. Most tunes follow the traditional pop structure of repeating the chorus once or twice, but a few instead build up to a big chorus in the finale.
Spend enough time with Life Force and you’ll find that there is plenty to appreciate. Surprisingly, the biggest standout is the bassist, Lucio Manca. On songs like “Life Force” and “Quiet the Mind,” his bass absolutely slaps. He steals the show with his grooves, and I wish he had a more prominent role. I know a certain bass-loving Dolphin who would salivate to hear Manca play, and thanks to the crisp production values, his bass clearly stands out. While there are several songs that stand above the pack, such as “Quiet the Mind,” which has a killer chorus, “Celebrity Smile” is the one that I wish Darkyra had used as a model for the rest. 1 It’s the only true symphonic track on Life Force, and when those string instruments and choral chants accompany Bafile’s voice on the chorus, I can’t help but imagine how great this album could have been had Darkyra done more of this.
Life Force unfortunately, suffers from some inconsistencies. Bafile has a strong voice, but at times the songs put too much pressure on her larynx. For example, when she reaches for a higher register on the chorus of “All in Good Time,” her voice strains and grows pitchy. Darkyra also opts for some odd vocal choices, such as a sassy-talk section (“All in Good Time”), some Darth Vader-like whispers (“Quiet the Mind”), and a moment where I confused her for a nasally Gwen Stefani (“Tomorrow Without You”). These moments aren’t the only weaknesses, though. For one, the guitars are pretty bland, often disappearing into the background. Some of the lyrics are questionable as well, such as when Bafile redundantly sings, “You’ve gotta leap before you die / Leap while you’re alive.” Probably the biggest offender is the penultimate tune, “Tested the Water,” which feels completely phoned in and out of tune.
What Bafile has done with Life Force–create an ambitious work of art after life threw a wrench her way–is an inspiration. No matter what I write in these paragraphs, that in itself is a success. And the album is pretty enjoyable. Yes, it has its warts and blemishes, like any record, but I still find myself giddily singing aloud “You’ve gotta leap before you die” and swaying to the violins of “Celebrity Smile” as they replay in my head. I hope next time around, Bafile plays to Darkyra’s strengths more consistently. Bafile and her team have good instincts for creating musical arrangements with strings, piano, and that bass. I look forward to hearing what she does next.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Battlegod Productions
Websites: darkyra.com | darkyrablack.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: June 13th, 2025#25 #2025 #AustralianMetal #BattlegodProductions #Darkyra #GothicMetal #GwenStefani #HardRock #Jun25 #LifeForce #Productions #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal
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RoboCop: Rogue City (Multiplatform, XPd on a Linux PC via Steam)
In an original story set between the 2nd and 3rd movies of the OG series, take on the role of RoboCop and end a crime wave by taking down the "New Guy" in town. TL;DR: Robo fan? Play this.So right off the bat, this is not a AAA game. There's definitely rough edges here. But that's OK with me, as the things it does do right it does quite well.
Starting with hiring Peter Weller to reprise his role as RoboCop. While it's been .. a while, heh, he does step back into the role rather smoothly. The rest of the voice cast is a bit less polished but for the most part they're fine.
The story is perhaps a bit cookie cutter, but I mean it's a RoboCop game based on the OGs so of course it is. I do like that they give you choices to make tho they, as usual, don't seem to affect the overall game much. Having Robo struggle with his psyche enough he's mandated to talk to a shrink is a nice touch, even if the response options aren't super nuanced.
Gameplay/setting wise, they have pretty much nailed both Old Detroit and the "feel" of RoboCop. From the dirty, crime ridden streets with their amusing graffiti/OCP posters, to the heavy thud of Robo's feet as he walks (which you can turn down in the options, btw). There's more than a few LOL moments, from news stories you read to radio ad broadcasts you can trigger.
I have 22 hours played to complete the story and get 74% of the achievements, which felt like the right amount of time. It ends just before you start to get tired of things like how slow Robo actually is, heh.
Also, it ran well on my Linux PC (7600X/RX6800), locked at 60fps in 1440P. Only thing I noticed was some odd FSR3 ghosting (when I turned around on the streets, the lights reflected on the damp streets mostly), but it wasn't so bad as to be completely distracting.
All in all, this was a fun romp as Robo that I would suggest any fan check out.
#Gaming #VideoGames #PC #LinuxGaming #Steam #RoboCopRogueCity #ShareYourGames
https://robocop-roguecity.com/en -
Times of Need
It took me twenty years to notice the river. I’ve lived and worked by the Tyne since 2003, but in all that time I never took serious account of it, or thought of it as anything other than a bland fact of the landscape: I never really felt it. Oh, I noticed things – things about it, and around it. I noticed objects – like the whole tree trunks which came down the engorged river after inland storms, or the mini-icebergs which appeared from the west like arctic fever dreams after deep cold spells. I noticed weather: the morning river-mist clearing to pink and orange winter skies; the way the Tyne appeared to boil like mercury around the legs of the staithes when evening rain set in. And I noticed wildlife – the black cormorants gliding silently, low to the water like guided missiles; or the pair of friendly shelduck which nested just beneath the cycle path, catching the hearts of passers-by as they chaperoned their offspring.
But something was missed in these observations, something I find hard to articulate. Certainly, I too often felt the need to seek out places away from the river – safer, more familiar territory like suburban parks, or little corners of woodland. I spent lunchtimes riding north, away from the Tyne, or wishing that I could cross it more directly, to get to the under-explored south side. On the occasions that I followed the course of the river I found myself entering mysterious and unexpected lands – like the mini ravine crossed by the Hagg Bank bridge, the arched precursor to the Tyne bridge, which on one silent summer day felt like a ruin abandoned to a jungle – or the seemingly interminable incline of the wooded Blaydon Burn dene, a post-industrial wagonway still strewn with slag and coal dust, and overlooked from its high edges by unreadable red-brick ruins. I was intrigued, but in some odd way overwhelmed; I felt an urge – unexamined, then – to consign the Tyne to the status of a mere geographical feature – something to navigate or avoid, but not to meaningfully interrogate.
A lot has changed in the last twenty years, and in recent times I’ve felt anxiety increase, almost as a general growth in the world, but especially in myself, as all the congregating crises of ecological destruction, climate breakdown and emergent fascism become felt in everything. It seemed to be as a corollary of this that I found myself one day, for the first time, really hearing the voice of the river, and feeling a sudden, epiphanic warmth for its slow, majestic heave. I’d been out already that day on a small work-break, and found myself at the riverside, at low tide, watching a procession of teal methodically billing the mudbanks for breakfast. There were three of them in a line, synchronised, probing alternately left and right as they shucked at the mud. As they passed, they seemed to sense my presence without looking, and veered away to the right to continue breakfasting uninterrupted, without a break to their rhythm. This simple, almost comedic moment had already partially lifted a black mood, and so I went out again that afternoon, in warm autumn sunshine, with the tide high and the teal now absent. I walked slowly towards the quayside, hardly thinking of anything, and realised in a moment that I had been half-consciously listening to something, something which had lulled me into a pleasingly vacant state: it was the gentle, ceaseless slip-slap of the water on the concrete bank. And in that moment I stopped, turned to look back to the west, and saw the great wideness of the Tyne curving solemnly through the wooded landscape: charcoal, slate grey and purple through green. There seemed something European about it, like a northern iteration of the Danube or the Elbe – a link to an ancient, pre-glacial, continental past. The river spoke that day, and I saw it as it really was: a great, timeless force of life, nature on a more than human scale, seen for an instant just as the first humans to arrive here must have seen it: something awesome and abundant, to be feared, cherished, and respected.
After this – and after investing in some decent binoculars – I began to pay closer attention to the river and the life around it; all the activity which had been going on under my nose for years, but which I’d blithely ignored. I made regular stops on my early rides to work to watch the birds on the central mud banks, and saw sights and species I’d never seen before – like the greater black-backed gull, huge even at a distance, which held at bay the awesome combined force of a gang of carrion crows and a fiercely vocal crowd of swooping herring gulls, as it tore at some unidentifiable prize deposited on the exposed mud. On my journeys home I’d pause by the old, disintegrating pigeon lofts to listen for the call of the curlew: that note of upland desolation sounding in the heart of the city. And on lunch-breaks I rode to where the New Burn joins the Tyne, and saw the great congregations of black-headed gulls, redshanks, lapwings and oystercatchers circling around and between the scrap metal plant and the new business park, settling and unsettling from the water’s edge with each passing pedestrian. It felt like there was harmony of sorts here: the cranes lifting the scrap in the cold sunshine, the thoughtful riparian planting by the business park, the ever-shifting flocks, and the workers with their lunchtime sandwiches. It felt like, here and for now at least, there was some balance to be maintained, and some small redress for the wild – something, however compromised, that was worthy of protection.
In this new light, I thought again about the strange assemblage of plants along the riverside – always noticed, but not deeply considered: the massed white froth of the sea asters, the bird-sown rowans and cotoneasters, the sprawling fig trees and creeping raspberries – all that unique mixture of the native and non-native, of garden varieties and misplaced meadow plants, of tough woodland pioneers and surprising seaside specialists. It seemed to confirm something I’d long felt about Newcastle and the north-east: a place that can seem dour and austere from the outside, but which has acted, in the past and maybe still now, like a refuge for those that might be in need of it – a colourful and welcoming home for all. Here, a thousand kittiwakes storm the towers of the Tyne bridge and the Baltic every spring, raising their cacophony over the city noise and the traffic – and the locals curse, and run to avoid the falling shit, but wouldn’t change it for the world.
#birds #birdwatching #books #botany #conservation #curlew #ecology #nature #natureWriting #newcastle #placeWriting #riverTyne