Category: Junior Literary

“Nothing was ever the same after Nevermind” 

Nirvana’s second studio album is quite honestly a masterpiece. The Album is one of few to have a near perfect track list where every song could be a single. Bands of the time like Rage Against the Machine, Primus, and Alice in Chains wouldn’t have seen mainstream success if it weren’t for Nevermind.  The Nevermind era (1990-1991) consists of a much more refined lineup. Dave Grohl replaces Chad Channing, Jason Everman is no longer with the Nirvana crew going on to join Soundgarden. Krist and Kurt remain in their original spots as bassist and lead guitarist. A new producer appears in Butch Vig whose musical accolades is as large his talent. He prior to Nirvana produced the Pixies, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth. So Vig, the ever-experienced hit maker, would hit the studio in late 1990 and early 1991 to start production of Nevermind. 

Nirvana at the time had just been bought out of Sub-Pop by Geffen Records who footed the bill on Nevermind. Which came with a much cleaner sound design unlike the noisy harsh tones of bleach. Drummer Dave Grohl delivers a very powerful performance a lot of Nevermind had Chad Channing demos especially for “Lithium”, “In Bloom” and “Breed”. Dave uses his unique strength and ability to stay on time to play some incredible drum parts which will be greatly appreciated throughout this post. More noticeably is the improved playing of Krist and Kurt, their evolution as guitarists as well as writers in only a couple of years from the last major release is really special and shouldn’t go unnoticed.   

 

The lead off track “Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is the basic Nirvana song everyone has heard and if they haven’t stopped being friends with them.  Also get used to me saying overdub a lot throughout this blog post. Butch Vig was a big fan of making things sound larger almost every single guitar track on this album is dubbed over at least twice with a different amp effect pedal or guitar entirely. This track has no vocal dub, but a fuller guitar tone is heard with a few tracks over the top of the main chord progression. A good use of power chords a F minor progression to be more exact ( F5, B♭5, A♭5, and D♭5). This creates that wall of sound and the guitar solo is tracked a couple of extra times with the main chord progression slightly under it to fill it out.  Vig really wanted to make this track special as the day he heard the original demo he knew it was “A hit”. SLTS has a lot going for it in the studio Dave’s drum track at times is modified and has a element of electronic rock in it. Krists Bass Line is really full and holds its own over the dueling guitar tracks and even peaks out into the main track at times.  

 

“In Bloom” was the first sound city sessions song originally meant to be a Sub-Pop single and had already been demoed by Chad Channing prior. The re-recording featuring Dave Grohl, the new drummer at the time, was much more powerful drum tone and louder cymbals. Grohl also sang the backing vocals on this song and his voice greatly matched Kurt’s. In the recording Kurt and Daves vocal tracks were doubled to have a fuller sound plus Butch Vig said “Dave and Krist had this great groove going” making the song kind of come together.  

“Come as You Are” one of the more popular guitar songs of all time that makes you almost sing the instrumental. The recording of this song was very quick three vocal takes of which Butch and the crew used the first. Two guitar takes of which the extra was for the guitar solo which was retracked to double it. Vig would also have Kurt double his Vocal for harmonies (which Dave Grohl and eventually Pat Smear would sing live).  An electro harmonix chorus effect pedal was used to give the riff a watery echo sound effect.  That adds to a riff that sounds amazing with a clean tone. The tuning is a full step down from normal (DGFCAD) which creates a dull and eerily haunting sound especially with the slight distortion that the Chorus affect adds to the overall tone. This is a fan favorite song and it kind of encapsulates the true Nevermind sound. 

 

 

“Breed” is punk rock notice earlier when I mentioned cleaner less harsh distorted tones well, I lied almost. Some songs feature slight harshness. Nirvana grew with roots of pop and punk, and the poppy punchiness of “Breed” is explained in the in the winding almost screaming of the lyrics. The use of the ride cymbal and crashes at a lot of background groove that pulls you in. The demo of this song (Imodium) featuring Chad Channing has a very similar sound aside from a from winding drum fill that moves the kit.  

 

 

“Lithium” is a pop sound that Kurt was really happy about. The song uses a very nice clean tone, steady drumming and a powerful bass line. At points the guitar track and the overdubs stop completely letting the rhythm section own the song. With that the vocal harmony of Kurt with himself is impeccable, he sings almost a pitch down from his natural baritone voice. 

The story of “Polly” is quite disturbing Kurt details a horrifying event. So as the story unfolds “Polly” is kidnapped by Gerald Friend in Tacoma, Washington. As Kurt sings and plays you start to realize that the song isn’t about the Kidnapped but the Kidnapper and his perspective. How Polly craves freedom and that is out of the question as the guitar slowly chugs along and the pair seemingly sing along A vocal harmony tells the story now complete with both individuals, the evil and innocent speaking together one begging another mocking.  

“Territorial Pissings”  IS AWESOME. The entire song is just Kurt and the gng kind of screaming and making alien noise rock. A almost synth like sound pulls through the guitar with the now famous words of “Come on people now smile on your brother.” Kurt keeps the intensity and fun fact almost every live performance of this song ends in a guitar smashing of some sort.  

 

“Drain you” holds the record for most overdubs on any Nirvana song. This has nearly fourteen tracks of different amps, vocal inflections, guitars, and dubs with an attempt to record Dave Grohl failing. Butch Vig wanted this song to be hauntingly beautiful and, let me tell you it is. Drain you was also Kurts favorite song to play live and really wanted it to be one of the singles to get a music video.  

 

“Lounge act” is a great song with great rhythm. One part of this album I feel is overlooked is the instrumentation and just how improved the band is. Even down to the bass lines which are simple but effective and are much better than their bleach and even Smart session counter parts.  Dave Grohl replaces Chad Channing in a very special way, as always Kurt gives an impressive performance.   

“Stay away” has some spunk to it as the snare builds up almost like marching percussion with Krist trailing the sound with a decent bass groove. Kurt kicks into full force screaming and playing a impressive power barre chord mix on the song.  

 

“On a plain” is one of my personal favorite songs why you didn’t ask well first of screw you dude be cool for once, also because the vocals are very nice plus I really enjoy how the overdub is four to five tracks of Kurt singing it almost sounds like the biblical description of a angels voice one covered and swaddled in the voices of overs.  

 

“Something in the way” the same haunting guitar from Polly reappears here and it does not lose its creepiness. This song is haunting, so much so that it has sent some individuals reeling in tears I’ve almost cried while singing along as despair can really be felt. And as the final track leaves the listener noticeably confused, yet captivated.  

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the title, I’m going to talk about something, something I think I just need to get off my chest. So, for the past few days I been feeling lost and I don’t know what to do for real. So, I guess in a way I’m helping for some help. I know the blog supposed to be about fun things, but I wanted to do something different if that’s ok.

So basically, like I said I’m feeling lost, I would normally do some of my anxiety exercises, but I don’t think they would help, tried listing to music that didn’t work, I even tried writing that didn’t even help. I tried everything that I know but nothing helping, and I don’t feel like I can open up to people for real, they just use what every I tell them against me. I been so stuck on this one problem that I just think that I’m the problem but at the same time I know I’m not the problem.

I’m good at helping other people out with they problem, like I can give out some good advice when it comes down to me helping out with my friends, but I can’t help myself out, what type of stuff is that? So, it looks like I’m have to listen to what y’all have to say, I’m try I don’t even listen my sister for real lol, but I’m trying to take y’all advice.

I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing by just ignoring the problem or if it’s the wrong thing. I know people say you have to face your problems, but the thing is, I have tried but yet I feel like I’m not being understand and that makes me even more mad. Y’all pls just give me some advice. What should I do?

Takin’ Over the Asylum is one of the best shows that I’ve come back to. While a friend of mine was visiting me in July, I remembered a show I hadn’t visited in around two years. Almost immediately, I grabbed my computer and forced them to watch it with me while I went on a nostalgia trip.

Trigger Warning: This blog covers topics relating to self-harm, mental health issues, and things that commonly take place in/ are associated with mental hospitals. Please read only if you’re comfortable!!

Takin’ Over the Asylum is a Scottish series that ran for 6 episodes on BBC Scotland in 1994. It follows a window glazing salesmen at his second job hosting a radio station. Because of his unpopularity at the station he is first shown working in, the salesman Eddie McKenna is sent to be a radio host for a mental hospital in Glasgow named St. Jude’s. The small station that he’s sent to is dingy, unclean, unorganized, and the equipment there for him is breaking down if not already unrepairable. As the short series progresses, he learns to appreciate his opportunity there at St. Jude’s.

Since the series is sent in a mental hospital, a majority of the characters are patients who reside at St. Jude’s. One of the most familiar faces is Campbell Bain who is portrayed by David Tennant. If you don’t recognize that name, David Tennant played the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who, Crowley in Good Omens, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire. Campbell is a “Manic Depressive,” or Bipolar in today’s terms, that dreams of being a popular radio host once he gets out of St. Jude’s. Like with any good character, he is met with obstacles along the way including his father attempting to get him discharged from St. Jude’s before he’s ready to leave.

The rest of the main cast includes:

• Francine, a woman who doesn’t really talk about why she’s there or much of her past before St. Judes until closer to the very end of the series run time, but she has a tendency of self-harm clear in the first episode.
• Rosalie, described as compulsive, is a woman with OCD that has her frantically cleaning anything in reach. The way her OCD manifests is very stereotypical with her being a clean freak; however, her compulsions are not cleaning just to be a stereotype. The reason she cleans is not something that has been a habit for years, but a reaction to trauma she experienced that is discussed in the episode that focuses on her.
• Fergus, a very bright man with Schizophrenia, who constantly escaped St. Jude’s. He is allowed to ask to leave for the day, but he prefers to escape in varying levels of complexity. He doesn’t escape to run away; he always comes back.

For a series released in the early 90s, its representation of the characters has aged surprisingly well. Of course, they rely on stereotypes at times, but they never make light of the place these people are in. The viewer sees a character go through a manic episode, one get sedated, another go through a major depressive episode, and someone get denied from a job they’re overqualified for just because they’re a resident at St. Jude’s. There’s a character in the first episode that doctors assume is crazy and speaking in tongues when really, she’s just homeless and speaking a language no one at St. Jude’s recognizes. 

If you haven’t seen Takin’ Over the Asylum, I recommend it!! It’s a very quick watch, and I don’t think you’ll regret it if you enjoy topics focused on mental health. I tried to be as vague and specific as possible, so there aren’t really any spoilers in there. Please watch it! There are so many things I didn’t cover!!

Trigger Warning for Series: All topics included in blog along with topics such as sexual assault, animal abuse, suicide, and death. If you are not comfortable, please don’t watch and make yourself uncomfortable. Stay safe out there!!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog!! I’m really glad I remembered that this show existed because it was one of my favorites back in around 2022-2023 and more people should talk about it. FunFact: It was the first series where David Tennant played a main character!! Okay, that’s enough for now. ByeBye!!

I wrote a poem for our persona poem assignment about Jeff Buckley (as most of you should already know). Due to this I found out a lot of you don’t know who Jeff Buckley is, so I am deciding to write a bit more about him in this blog post. 

 

Jeff Buckley was born in 1966 and died at the age of 30 in 1997. His father was also a musician, but they only met once. Jeffs’ dad, Tim Buckley, died when he was eight. Jeff Buckley resented his dad and wished to have nothing to do with him. He wanted to make his own name, and he did. He was raised by his mother, Mary Guilbert, and stepfather, Ron Moorhead. He went to school and graduated high school as well as attending the Musicians Institute in Hollywood for a one-year course. He often said he found it a waste of time, but he did say that he appreciated studying music theory. 

Jeff Buckleys public career started in the late 90’s. He stared as a session guitarist, but his singing publicly debuted at his father’s tribute concert in 1991. He started out playing guitar for different bands and studios, playing jazz, reggae, and heavy metal. He then, in the early 90s, joined the band Gods and Monsters after moving to New York. Jeff and the founder of the band, Gary Lucus co-wrote Jeffs songs “Grace” and “Mojo pin”, which appear in his first and only studio album “Grace”. 

The album was released in 1994. He left the band in 1991 to peruse a solo career.  At this point in his life, he gained a following by preforming in coffee houses and clubs. His first commercial record was an EP live at the sin-e. Jeff Buckley did many interviews, and you can find a few videos of these on YouTube. 

Jeff Buckley had many diverse inspirations for his work. Buckley drew inspiration from legendary artists like Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, The Smiths, Patti Smith, Billie holiday, Siouxsie Sioux, Bob Dylan, The Cocteau Twins, and the classical Indian singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Jeff was also inspired by a deeper influence. He drew inspiration from emotional artistic concepts like love, anger, joy, dreams, and the power of literary and musical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. Jeff Buckleys music challenged conventional ideas about genres and sound inspiring many people like Tom Yorke of Radiohead and Matt Bellamy from Muse. He broke the barrier between genres and inspired many to think and feel deeply. He inspired a deeper emotional connection to the music and lyrics being made. 

So, what happened to him? Well in 1997 on May 29th he died. His cause of death was an accidental drowning in the Wolf River in Memphis, Tennessee. His body was found six days later, and they did an autopsy report on his body. No drugs were found in his system. He was found fully clothed. 

The story is that he was in Memphis to record his second album and went swimming in the river with his friend Keith Foti. Keith said that Jeff swam into the water singing the chorus of “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin. Keith looked away and Buckly disappeared in wake of a passing boat, which is a “common occurrence” for the river. I however find this story odd. It just doesn’t seem right to me. I honestly couldn’t tell you why, but I just don’t think this is the real story. It’s just an intuition thing. Why would he have all his clothes while swimming, including his shoes? He was carefree and seemed to just go with the flow, but I highly doubt he would just swim fully clothed with jeans, a shirt, and a pair of combat boots, due to how excited he was for his second album and how much common sense he seemed to have.

After his death, his mother now handles his posthumous legacy due to him not having a will. Some support her while others dislike her. Some commend her for her effort to protect his work. I however disagree. I think she has done nothing to protect his work or to abide by his artistic wishes. She published excerpts from his PERSONAL diary in a book to the WHOLE world. She released unfinished work. A year after his death, she released his second album he was working on before he died, “Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk”. This album consists of demos and raw sessions he had scrapped and wished to rerecord in Memphis. He didn’t want any of the raw sessions or demos to be released. She turned down numerous biopics about Jeff due to them being “too personal” or “straying from reality”. Many believe this was her way of preventing an authentic story to be told.  It has also been rumored that she asked for money from Jeff after he signed to Columbia Records, and he didn’t want anything to do with her after that. I however don’t know what my opinion is of her, and it doesn’t really matter, but I definitely think she has commercialized her son’s life for her own gain. 

 

So why did I decide to write a persona poem about him? Well, I wanted to write about someone who I look up to. I also figured it would be nice to write during the time that I did due to a movie being released in movie theatres. Yes, they finally released a documentary about him after 28 years. I won’t rant about that, but I will say how can we have documentaries about some of the more mainstream people come out the day after their death but for Jeff we had to wait 28 years, it just doesn’t seem right. But I will be watching it when it comes out and I will definitely write a blog about it. 

Anyways thanks for reading my blog. 

 

I’m feeling a bit under the weather today so I’, going to make this as brief as possible since really there isn’t much to cover with menus and levels. 

MENUS:

What I mean by “Menus” is the necessity navigational outlets that will help you find things quicker. For instance, BESTIARAY is under the menu called Bestiary. While books that you also collect on The Path of a Witcher is under the Books menu OR one of the categories in your equipment menu. You’d have to see that for yourself if you wish to play the game, the tutorial walks you through equipment nav. 

Now when you first load in, you will see different options depending on which game version you have. For instance, the complete edition of The Witcher 3; The Wild Hunt, includes two side stories 

Heart of Stone

Blood and Wine. 

These two stories are an extension for Geralt’s lore, more so Blood and Wine than Hearts of stone. If you have not played the game or if you have, whichever is the case the game itself offers you a chance to play the stories separately from the main story. Jumping you right into the beginning of the DLC I believe. I have not actually started the DLC stories separately myself. 

I cannot say for sure if they put you in the appropriate approximate level but if you don’t want the complete conclusion of the entire Witcher lore to end, I don’t recommend starting Blood and Wine yet. 

You will also find the game difficulty setting based on easiest to hardest and then of course New Game + where you keep all of your equipment, but the game is automatically harder.

LEVELS:

THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Levels exist for a reason in every game, while some try to beat a boss while severely under level and can win, this game WILL NOT let you do that without stress. Remember what I said about equipment and tools? It’s for this exact reason.

There will be bounties or rather known as Contracts you will find all throughout the cities you travel too. You won’t know the level until you navigate to your bounty drop down menu through your quest’s menu.

IF YOU SEE A GIANT RED SKULL ON THE SIDE OF THAT BOUNTY DO NOT ENGAGE THAT BOUNTY YET.

I kid you not guys, The monsters you will fight in this game are as realistic as they can get with modern tech today, or during their time in when the game released. (2020 or 2022 I can’t remember)

They will kill you in one hit or knock you down to a sliver of one health left. Now if you’re brave and willing to live on the edge, sure go for it. If you’re safe and would rather figure out what the enemy is (it more than likely will be a much bigger or avian monster) gather materials, then fight it later, congrats you’ll live to see another day especially if you save your game.

(You also only get three health potions when first starting out before you begin upgrades.)

For the love of God please save your game before a big fight or story cutscene. It won’t be every time but get accustomed to saving, the game does quick save but if you don’t save manually, it can crash your game and cause a Permanant error. (Especially on ps4-5 if on disc or not) 

Saving a game before you talk to your bounty contractor will help you a lot in future, and I’ll explain more in the future as well.

SKILLS:

I mentioned Upgrades earlier and this ties in with levels since Every time you level up you gain an Attribute/Ability point.

(I apologize if its blurry, you may have to squint)

The image above is the level up/attribute menu. All the boxes on the right-hand side, that’s how many you can have equipped. The small outer boxes are for mutagens but those will come later. 

You have five trees to choose from: 

Combat, Magic, DNA, Alchemy, and Travel. 

Combat: pretty plain and simple. Fighting skills, leveling them up etc.

Magic: also, very forward. You remember when I mentioned Witcher Signs? Thats the only magic you have, and you can upgrade and further improve them in the blue menu.

The green menu is the Mutagen menu; you select your mutagens there to help your attributes. Match the corresponding color of the mutagen with the colored attribute you’ll see if the mutagen enhances that skill and even more if there’s multiple of the same color, but it has to be on the same side as the offside box. 

Alchemy: this is where you can improve your stock of potions, bombs, and oils. 

Travel: The furthest on the right. These skills will help you as time passes using in-game time such as regeneration, meditation attributes and buffs, it’s like a natural honing for Geralt and his Witcher senses. (Which is an actual skill.) 

You see why these are so important?

You have to spend your points wisely and you can also acquire skills that can be maxed out in three uses of attribute points. You don’t get these points back and you don’t get to equip everything; sometime dire situation calls for dire needs so you will have to spend some to gain an upper hand. 

Let me know how you feel about The Witcher 3, The Wild hunt. I’ve received comments on interests as to wanting to play the game and I’ll gladly answer to any questions you may have or will let you know if it’s in an upcoming blog.  

 

 

 

Hello everyone, hopefully whoever is reading this is doing well. So, I know in my last post I said that I was reading A Game of Thrones and that I would give updates on how I felt about the book in this post. I know that I said that, typed it, whatever. However, I am a big procrastinator, like a huge procrastinator. I could win awards for how much I procrastinate. Because of my procrastination skills I have put off reading the first chapter of Game of Thrones, but I think I’ll have an actual update next week.

So instead of how I feel about A Game of Thrones you all get to hear about how my week has been thus far. It feels good being back at school even though it was nice to have such a long weekend. Does anyone know when MSA’s next break is? If you do, please let me know. Anyway, I got to come back to school with a bunch of new stuff, and some gifts for my friends. Giving gifts is my love language. I won’t say what I got my friends because I still haven’t given them yet, it’s supposed to be a surprise. Unfortunately, one of my friends has guessed the surprise multiple times but I just keep on saying it’s not what he thinks it is. I guess I’ll have to be more creative next time, or more secretive. One of the two.

My week hasn’t been too exciting; I got my math grade up though. Can I have a round of applause? I went out to eat with my friend/roommate. We went to that pizza place down by Betty’s called Ciero’s and then we went into this bakery. I got the biggest cinnamon roll I think I’ve ever seen. Today I’m going to check out and go back. After the bakery we went to dollar general and then came back to school.

Upcoming me and my friends are going to see two movies. Or we’re planning on it at least. The plan is to see the new Conjuring movie which I’m beyond excited for. I love horror movies. We also plan to see Hamilton, which I’m also beyond excited about because I love musicals.

Thank all of you once again for reading my yap session, have a lovely day, and hopefully my next post will be more interesting.

Welcome back to chats with Lydia, with a sprinkle of chaos. This week we are talking about “My Life with the Walter Boys.” If you’re looking for a show with teen drama, love, and suspense, this is for you! But before we get too far into this blog, I would like to inform you that there are LOTS of *spoilers* if you have not seen the new season and are plaining on watching it. Now that we have given are little warnings let jump on into my thoughts on MLWTWB, and the new season, plus how the first was left off. 

Alright, lets jump in. Here’s an overview of the first season, the main character in the show Jackie Howard she’s from New York, her parents and sister passed away in a car accident, all of a sudden, she got the awful news from her uncle while at her school dance that she is now an orphan. Her parents put that she should live with the Walter family in Colorado, since her uncle’s job requires him to travel a lot. So, with that Jackie moved in with the Walter family in Colorado. 

Okay, the Walter family is a really big family, with lots of boys so let me introduce you to the family super quick, before. Since there’s a lot so we don’t get confused whose, who when we get reading. Katherine Walter, (Mother) George Walter, (Father) Will Walter (25) Cole Walter (17) Danny Walter (17) Alex Walter (16) Nathan Walter (14) Jordan Walter (12) Parker Walter (9) Benny Walter (5) Isaac Garcia (16, nephew) Lee Garcia (16, nephew) and last but not least Jackie Howard (15). All but Will live at the Walter household with Katherine, and George. While also all the children are boys exempt Jackie and Parker. 

Now, that I feel you have enough information to go along with this let’s jump in. As I told you in the second paragraph she is in Colorado because her family died. But while living there she made two best friends, Skylar Summerhill, and Grace Wanger. In the first episode Cole left her at school and left at 3:30 on the dot. So, Grace and Skylar offered to take her home and go out for ice cream, quickly their friendship became strong. As we see in season two, they stick together and end up being best friends. 

What we’ve all been waiting for the love triangle. Jackie, Cole, and Alex, I could go on about this forever. When watching I was screaming at the tv, I was going crazy over this. Like what why, when AHH, there was so many emotions going on. In season one she dates Alex, but when they were dating, Cole catches feelings for Jackie. Alex left the need to show off their relationship to everyone at school. Then at Wills wedding Alex got drunk and said, “I love you” and Jackie doesn’t say it back. Then she goes to help Danny pack and finds “the tea pot”(her sister bought her a tea pot, and it broke, she thought it just got tossed but Cole fixed it).  

 

She went out to the garage to confront him about it, and they kissed. Like AHHHH Cole fixed the tea pot!! And before the wedding he decided he was going to do summer school and work on his career. Even in the first episode, she got spaghetti all over her outfit because their pet snake she pulled out scared her, so he brought up a sandwich. Then when they pulled a prank, he took her to the creek to let the siblings cool off for her snitching on sibling code. (sorry for jumping around the show I know it’s a little chaotic)

Almost two years later, and we got season two this had me jumping out of my seat. If you don’t know already, I’m team Cole. I love him and he has changed so much since season one. Jackie left to go to New York for the summer she was thinking of boarding school, but ultimately Kathrine talked her out of it. Now Shes back in Colorado, a few episodes have passed, Jackie and Alex and secretly dating and he is doing Bull riding now. Cole is coaching the football team and working towards being a better man. In the last episode we were left at a cliff Jackie and Cole ALMOST KISSED!! Cole said he loves her, and she said she loves him, Alex walked outside, the Ambulance came for George and season two ended I was so mad at the ending, and I don’t think I can wait for another season! With that I’m going to wrap this blog up see y’all next week!

Guys, I was going to post my Curious George part two, but after a small discovery, this is now a post on the movie/musical Sing Street. So I just found out that Sing Street is coming out with a musical, which is OH so good, but I fear since the movie is pretty unknown, the musical is going to be viewed as random and confusing for those who have not seen the movie. 
Also isn’t the movie technically a musical since it’s based on music and a band?Let me rephrase all that. The musical film is turning into a Broadway musical. 

The whole story is based off a boy named Conner living in Dublin in the 80’s. His family is falling apart, as well as Dublin being very economically depressed. They are running out of money, and in need of a change. The solution his parents come up with is the transfer of Connor’s school. 
He goes from this huge, advanced school to this, poor, broken down, Catholic school. Some notable experiences at this school are: getting bullied by Barry,  meeting Darren, meeting Raphina, and the “Brown shoe” and “makeup” incident. 
After his second day of school, having to walk around campus barefoot since he didn’t have black shoes, and his second encounter with Barry, he meets a kid named Darren. Darren introduces his problem solving business to Connor, to which Connor replies, “who’s she?”

He is referring to Raphina, who is standing across the road looking around. Darren tells Connor that he doesn’t know, and that she doesn’t talk to any of the boys, she just stands outside. Connor decides that he’s going to walk up to her and talk to her.                                                                                                                                            A little bit into this conversation, she mentions that she’s a model and will be heading to London for work soon. An idea pops into Connor’s head which would change the course of everything. He tells her that he has a band, and asks if she would be interested in being in a music video for his song.

 

 

Raphina says that she will try to make it to the video, after making him sing “take on me” by Aha. She gives him her number and that is what set the tone for the whole movie. Darren introduces Connor to his friend Eamon whose dad is in a covers band. His dad is in rehab at the time, so Eamon allows the band to practice at his house with his dad’s instruments. 
They put a band together and make a cover of “Rio” by Duran Duran. Connor shows his older brother this, to which Brendan destroys the tape and gives him a lecture about how if you want to be something in life, you have to make your own music not covers. “Rock and Roll is a risk. You risk being ridiculed.”

 

Now that he has a band, all he needs to do is make an original song for the music video. He and Eamon get together and start adding music to lyrics, which eventually becomes “The Riddle of The Model.” He gives this tape to Raphina, and they shoot the music video. Everything turns out really good, and they begin to work on more music. 
While all this band stuff is going on, we find out that his mom is having an affair on his dad. Brendan was the first one to notice, and then soon after his mom and dad separate.  

The rest of the movie is Connor trying to win Raphina over, as well as him trying to escape the reality of what’s going on with his family and Dublin. By the end of the movie, he runs away to London with Raphina to find record labels  and modeling jobs. By this time they are fully in love, and we have found out that Raphina is an orphan from a girls home. 
Something I would like to mention is the monologue that we get from Brendan a few days before he helps his brother run away. 

“See that guitar? I used to be able to play that guitar. Well. I used to ride hot girls. I could run 200 meters faster than anyone in my school. You’re the youngest, you get to follow the path that machetied through the jungle that is our mad family. I was alone with them for 6 years. You think they’re crazy now? Think about what they were in their late 20’s. Two Catholics, in a rented flat, with a screaming baby, who just got married because they wanted to have sex. They didn’t even love each other. I was in the middle of that, alone. And then you came along, thank God. And you followed the path that I cut for us, untouched. You just moved in my jet stream. And people laugh at me Connor. The stoner. The college dropout. And they praise you which is fine. But once, I was a … Jet engine.”

Brenden is by far the most relatable character in the whole movie. He understands his brother and what he’s going through, and supports his brother, while also carrying the weight of what he used to be. I love his character development through the movie, and the way we find out his backstory slowly. 

I think overall this movie is just super good, and everyone should watch it. Also it’s on Netflix for anyone wondering.

Kay, love you guys. Thank you for reading, cya next week.

This may not be a childhood movie/show, but this 2024 film is amazing. I watched it randomly and I wasn’t disappointed it may be confusing at first to some. I feel if it wasn’t rushed it could be so much better but maybe the vague sense of detail is what makes it great?  I honestly was expecting a cheesy horror movie. “I saw the tv glow” has a great storyline and it leaves it up to the viewer to interpret what certain scenes mean. I honestly like thought-provoking movies. It prioritizes atmosphere and emotions over plot. long after the credits it will still have you thinking about it.

The movie starts with a young middle schooler being introduced to a tv show/book “the pink opaque” by an older girl with a deep love for the show. then they plan to watch the show together by having the young boy pretend he is at a friend’s house for a sleepover. the pink opaque is about 2 girls fighting supernatural beings and they have matching tattoos. they continue this for 2 years until Maddy (older girl) wants to run away with Owen (main character) after her friend leaves her and she becomes depressed. Owen unable to go through with it leaves the girls house crying in tears. This traumatizes and leaves Owen unable to separate tv from reality.

I’m not going to spoil the whole entire movie it’s hard to explain without giving the whole plot away at once.

The pink opaque shows escapism and the struggle with identity; It shows the comfort of not living in reality, but it also shows the horrible downsides it brings. It shows that living in the fantasy world of your favorite tv shows can be fun, but it hinders personal growths and makes it hard for you to live in society. the pink opaque also touches on fear of having an uncertain future and struggling with belonging. The main dilemma it shows is his struggles with sexuality (spoiler incoming) in one scene he can be seen trying on a dress with Maddy and thinking he is a female character from the pink opaque. Maddy and Owens characters grapple with feelings of being different and not fitting into traditional societal expectations.

 

do you have a movie/show you like to watch with your friends?

do you consider yourself normal?

have you ever been distant from reality because of a book or tv show?