Well it is Octobering all over the place now!!!
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| My pond crow-bro |
And I'm here for it. I have acquired Halloween costumes (Pigeon, crow and possibly seagull - cheap and kind of half assed, just the way I like it), so basically, it's smooth sailing through the rest of this month. Oh crap! I still need more candy and non-candy treats to give out! Ok, we're getting there!
Yeah, I've been much busier trying to convince the local murder to come TrickerTreat at my house. I'd read that if you leave out crow friendly food consistently at the same time every day, they will eventually relent and hang out in your yard. Which I want rather badly.
I'm not even trying for the kind of relationship where they knock at my window, ring my doorbell or leave me presents. I just think it would be cool to watch them out my window sometimes and generally have them think of me as "not a bad sort of human".... Though if they decided to stop crapping on my car, that would be cool!
Alas, as yet, the crows in my neighborhood are pointedly unsure about me and have investigated my corvid hors-d'oeuvres without partaking. I think they think (probably rightfully so) that I'm trying to hard. Total corvae-poser!
What's really up: I've seen them stalking our alley pretty effectively, since there's about 90 bags of trash set out there generally, and plenty falls out or is discarded by people wandering the alley. They probably get plenty of goodies. I scared them off a few times trying to add to the food mix by tossing peanuts on the ground (far away from them, but still!) So I think I'm mostly just interrupting their process with my crow-health food when they just want some burger and a few fries!
That said, the crows down by Pond Park have seemingly started to identify that the lady in the yellow hat always has unsalted peanuts and cashews in her pocket and if you stare at her for long enough, she'll throw some and walk away without harassing them. Victory!
I kinda wish pigeons lived nearby because they are credulous and trusting little beasties who would accept me with far fewer rules and regulations, but well, that's part of the charm of crows.
Still, the good news: When I was putting out crow food, I figured I would put out some of our old birdseed as well. We technically have a bird feeder that somebody gave us years back, but the birds were really messy with it and all the seed on the ground attracted rats, so we had to hunt down this plate to catch the seed. We still have this plate but I don't really know how to get the plate on after several failed attempts, so I was like "you know what... plate!" And the dark eyed juncos are a-ok with that:
I'll take it! I get to watch the crows in the "backyard" that is the alleyway outside our living room, so... I guess it works out. I ordered some new feeder equipment because the birds are still messy as teenagers, and because rainy season is coming. Now it's starting to look unsturdy after the fiftieth squirrel attack, but we'll see what happens! In the meantime, I'm peppering our yard with cayenne pepper without a ton of faith this will fend off the rats, and otherwise enjoying the bird rave.
In other great October news, looks like nobody has to move to Los Angeles or go on unemployment at the end of the year: Andrew is starting a new job that's a for-real job with Carbon Robotics. They make autonomous tractors so when the giant civil war and Washington secession is complete, we fey libs can still eat food! Maybe.
It sounds cool. And also, it sounds like a job-job with real benefits and at least a cursory sense of job security compared to the "six months as a contractor, then we need you to move if you wanna stay with our chaos!" It's been a lot less stressful than the completely unemployed and hobble-winged part of 2025, buuuuuuut there was definitely a sense of unease. As it turns out, though, it's a lot easier to find a job when it isn't immediately after a gigantic series of layoffs from the region's biggest engineering firms. So that's cool!
Of course, my initial reaction to hearing he got an offer was not exactly the jumping up and down "Congratulations" I intended, because action brain needed to leap from nine months of complete uncertainty to pin down some things - any things! Like what the new insurance would be and whether our five million services and practitioners take it AND THEN needed to sort out what happens now that he's going to be completely returned to office in terms of me ever coming up for air with the homeschool demon, and with some of the offices being about 3-4 hours away and likely to comprise regular week long trips! But I really meant Congrats! I got there eventually!
We toasted. Andrew drank his mug. I poured mine over my head after shampooing my hair to make it soft and silky. It worked out. I smelled great all day.
It is also squarely October. Time to make another playlist.
This is not remotely as Halloweenie as last year's Agatha All Along al the time plist, but it still fits my autumnal mood.
I'm trying my notes in chronological order this time based on all the complete lack of input and basic impulse.
So, wanna hear about my music (and the shows I'm watching and all the side stories that brings up??)
Well... Here we go!
勇者 (Yuusha/The Brave) - Yaosobi-
Freiren is a gently paced anime set in a D&D flavored fantasy Germanic world. Freiren (whom one wouldn't blame for taking as autistic coded) is an elf who's lived about 1,000 years and who has naturally had a dissociation from her much shorter-lived human peers. But 80-100 years before the main action of the story, she went on a 10-year quest to kill the demon king with a warrior, a dwarf, and a priest. And the experience has left a mark on her that's she's never experienced before. We pick back up with her mentoring the adopted daughter of the priest, retracing the steps of her great adventure to find heaven and reconnect with Himmel the warrior. Along the way she picks up a young warrior trained by her previous warrior companion. And an even more dissolute priest.
It brings her a world of interwoven new experiences and reawakened memories. It is meditative. It makes me cry. And it is very beautiful.
The theme, as you might imagine, is about memory and praise. What it means to live and to be seen by others who can carry you through time.
To my dismay, we started this when there is only one season made and will have to wait until 2026 for the continuation. The story is also ongoing in the manga, so I might not see a resolution for some time.
This is the intro song for the first seventeen episodes before they rejiggered the intro and made me sad. Now I just skip through the opening credits, because don't you mess with my theme songs like that! Mid-season! But I sing this song in my head as I skip forward.
If I trace the journey we walked together, even if you're not there, I'm sure I can still find you.
Only God - Specimen - I guess kind of a women's empowerment song?
Specimen is a brother-sister combo producing music in Paris, France. It's popfunkelectro...ey stuff. Billy Eilish adjacent. I can't say I really have any strong connection to the lyrics, but I like the feel.
Zanyosanka - Aimer - Demonslayer!
An anime that's produced the two most popular movies ever made in Japan. Yep, not live action. Not studio Ghibli. This is the thang that makes all of Japan get tingly!
Based on a Manga by the same name that my aunties brought home from Japan for Allan, it tells the story of Tanjiro, whose sister was turned into a demon, and his quest to turn her human again by defeating the OG demon boss. Though honestly, she's way more badass as she is.
Featuring a villain who is a dead ringer for Michael Jackson, and plenty of colorful heroes and baddies, it is pretty ridiculous and it grows on ya. I can't say I was hugely impressed with the story for the first season, but once they introduce the Hashira (top level demonslayers) and brought on the endless demon fights, well... the thing about Demon Slayer is that its strong point is all in the art.
It's an interesting contrast to Freiren. As Freiren takes place "beyond the journey's end," the show rather pointedly minimizes the fight scenes Freiren is in. If there's going to be a fight (because of course she is a powerful mage and there are demons and monsters to vanquish), you'll get about 90% of the episode being dialogue and flashbacks, followed by the opponent doing something fancy and then Freiren just totaling them while looking a bit bored. Frieren is just undeniably overpowered and doesn't have time for this nonsense.
In fairness, the other characters get their fight scenes a bit more fleshed out, but generally speaking, the action is strikingly minimized in favor of the story. And any fight scene you do see are typically magic-based and flashing lights and pretty spells.
Demon Slayer, meanwhile, can manage to a single fight across so many episodes I couldn't even begin to count. Maybe 7 or 8 thirty-minute episodes give or take? You do get a little flashback of the demon's life as they die, but that tops out at a couple of minutes. They put the slay back in Demonslayer (eventually - it's pretty hard to permanently kill a demon, turns out)
The graphic fight scenes are some of the finest and most interesting animation out there right now. Absolutely innovative and visually stimulating in all the right ways. And gorey. Heads will, in fact, roll. It's kind of a feature.
I couldn't say I always follow the plot, but that's really not the point. My favorite arc was season two, The Muzan Train, which just happens to the be the first Demon Slayer movie cut up in serial form.
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| Kagura was cool! |
Aaanyways, Aimer is a top ten artist in Japan. I haven't a lot of familiarity with her, but for one of the top shows/movies, of course you'll get some heavy pop star action! This song didn't open for my favorite arc, but for the subsequent one - called The Enterainment District Arc. Yes, yes, there will be prostitutes. And demons.
And you know.... Fun Music Video.
Dernier Danse - Amadeus - Amadeus returns with some electronics and some strings. It's a cover of the song Dernier Danse by Ildila, a French artist with a beautiful Arabic twist to her french singing. This is a more faithful string cover than some Amadeus song. It kind of makes me want to buy expensive jewelry in black and white. And it's satisfying.
Pulsar Star - Anya Nami - Anya Nami is a Russian pop star, with minor Bjork vibes. Her hit album is called Bread. About which Fame Magazine writes: Reflecting on the inspiration behind Bread, Nami shares, “This song was literally inspired by bread and my love for it. I write about my deepest honest feelings, and the song ‘Bread’ is no exception.”
Pulsar Star is a little bit darker. More detached and spinning out in a cold vacuum of space sort of feel! It graduates well from Dernier Danse, with its complex piano work and choral echos.
Crazy Bitch - Madeline - A paean to taking your psych meds: "She said, hey, it's ok, pop those pills, you're just sick, you're not a crazy bitch. It's alright, you'll be fine. You'll be fine. You're just sick, you're not a crazy bitch." A bit tongue in cheek. It has a really catchy rhythm that I would definitely want to bring to a ballroom dance showcase performance. The artist calls her genre "theater pop" and yes, this is basically just the musical embodiment of being a theater kid down to the neurodivergence and handful of attendant personality disorders... but with a cheerful warble blended in. Not saying it's always what you want, but it works when you want it and it's fully danceable. Probably West or East Coast Swing! This is one of those I choreography in my head when I listen.
Overwhelmed - Helen Jane Long - Helen Jane Long is apparently the top streaming pianist in the world. Damn, girl! She writes for documentaries, commercials and the odd British film. Overwhelmed has a very driving and almost delicate melody. The piano loops in almost ruminative patterns that increasingly grow louder and more complex. It captures a certain quality of overwhelm rather nicely, while also generally being bearable and pleasant to listen to.
Only You - Akmalov - The degree to which I want to start an alt tango fusion set with this! Also possibly lick the sweat off my partner's brow to this. Akmalov. Mmmm. It reminds me of my second trip to Buenos Aires way back in 2009 when I was really going into town with altango and electrotango groups.
"Now, I don't know you from me. Maybe, it was a fake love. Now, I don't know you from me. I wanna be love you, only you, again. Always on my mind, only you, again. I wanna be love you, only you, again."
Or some such generally broken English hovering dreamily above the guitar and beats. The singer's accent adds an ethereal quality. It's a fairly simple song. Nothing brilliantly complex, but it really hits a spot for me.
Perfect shower song with my pretty lights. I feel like every drop just hits my body differently when this song is on!
City of Angels - Em Beihold. Yes, Brutus and Numb Little Bug got into my head, so I checked out more of her music. City of Angels is a song about friends outgrowing each other. One friend who seems to have been assimilated with the "fakers in L.A." leaving her old friend behind, as told from the old friend's perspective. A little sad. A little bitter. A little bittersweet.
I appreciate that this isn't a love song, but a lost-friendship song. Because I think friendship is undervalued in pop culture. And it is both inevitable and devastating to be left behind and to outgrow some friendships as time goes on.
Used to say, "If you ever made it, I'd be the first call"And life would stay fairly the same
Oh, our friendship wouldn't change at all
But you busted, haven't talked in a year
I mistrusted, now it's all comin' clear
That you only think of yourself
May be loved, but you're lonely as hell, oh
I particularly like the way her voice slides between notes in this. It suits her particular strengths, adds a sense of emotion, and generally just sounds satisfying to me. Both delicate and acrobatic.
Therapy - Voila. Like I wasn't going to bring some Voila on here.
What on earth is it with all these people calling their exes? Calling? Ring Tones? What are we, Gen X? Shudder.
Anyways as promised, this is a fairly wholesome breakup song that has surprisingly appealing boy-band vibes with a little bit of a minor key and some roughness in the voice to show we feel really hard: "we went from everything to nothing... in a night. and I never saw it coming (tell me why). Why you couldn't leave me something to hold at night) Yeah you messed me up when you cut me loose. Lost my mind with you. Ima need some therapy. How did we go from being the perfect two to strangers in a room. Ima need some therapy."
I applaud your healthy reaction to feeling bummed about the end of a relationship you did not anticipate. Honestly, probably stop calling and accept it's done, but kudos for turning to therapy instead of drinking or keying cars or becoming an evil online rightwing incel bro or whatever.
But also, it's nicely catchy, does less of the annoying gravely feedback thing. And it has mood. I enjoy. Like a mix of Weezer, Evanescence and Nsync for the zoomies generation? I dunno. They probably wouldn't embrace the comparison, but it's a guilty pleasure in the making.
Ben Folds is still the kind of the bitter dude going through breakup genre, but... this has a nice little wholesome kick to it!
Como un Burro Amarrado - El Ultimo de Filo. So, El Ultimo de Filo sounds both familiar and unfamiliar at once. It was one of the biggest Spanish language bands in the world in the 1990s (and listed by Rolling Stones' "50 Greatest Rock Bands"). And it very much sounds grounded in the guitar stylings of my early high school period.
This song is from 1993 carried a ton of a peppy energy, mixed with...
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| Pure class! |
The story is about a man abandoned by the love of his life:
Me dices "good bye" en tu nota tan ricamente. Y no me hago a la idea de no volver a verte ("You said goodbye in your note so sweetly and I can't imagine never seeing you again").
Despite the bouncy energy, we find the singer feels paralyzed and aimless. Like a donkey tied to the door of a dance hall, in fact. There's a drive to find something to hold and a sense of failure for not living up to society's definitions of success and only having love to offer (a love which no longer was accepted). But, like, in a fun way! It's got a hook to it. The lyrics have this quality to them that takes it out of just being a typical maudlin breakup song (yeah I'm looking at you, Therapy) and mixes up the feels. A thing I dig.
The music itself definitely has shades of those big 1990s bands, but with influences from Catalan rumba in it that give a new feel to a nostalgic musical one.
You Should See Me in A Crown - Steve Horner. One of my favorite television reveals came from last year's Agatha All Along (spoiler!) when Joe Locke's nameless teen suddenly whips out some serious magic on Agatha's ass and we pull out to reveal him wearing his Wiccan crown to the tunes of Billy Eilish's You Should See Me In a Crown... ROLL CREDITS!
So of course, some version of that song had to hit any playlist that intersected with Halloween! And this one has some good melodramatic flair.
Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez and Em Beihold. I think almost everyone has a little bit of that story about The One... that's still out there, because it just didn't work for whatever tragedies of timing and fate.
Georgia, wrap me up in all your
Oh, let me hold ya
I'll never let you go again like I did
Oh, I used to say
I would never fall in love again until I found her
I said I would never fall, unless it's you I fall into
I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her
I found you
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| So not my picture but damn I wish it were! |
Тени - Akmalov - And I would continue that alt tango fusion I started with Only You with this piece!
A lot of this is in a rather delicious Russian, but we have enough English to understand it's a song of romantic loss and missing, making it a satisfying male complement to the female vocalist's yearning in Only You, albeit in a much sadder and more dejected tone.
In between the confectionary Rusian drawl, I can make out roughly "I gave my soul... tell me how you feel... you left me bleeding no control... just to forget you.... I'm gone like a ghost in the night... I'm fading in the rain. Just bring me pain... I'm already lost. Disappear just to forget you.
Jesus, could I introduce you to the not-actually-Crazy-Bitch, cuz she might have some help for you and the Voila dudes here! Numb Little Bugs for all!!!
I haven't been able to hunt down the Russian lyrics and my couple of months of Russian Duolingo frippery mostly taught me to say I love you (Я люблю тебя ), good boy (хороший мальчик), please (пожалуйста), hello (привет) and cat (кот). Which would make for an interesting social evening in Moscow, but doesn't seem to pop up in any of the lyrics in this song
Oh Oh OH ... I have also recently learned raven (ворон) because I am following a Russian Youtube about a raven named Gosha.
This also, sadly, doesn't come up in this song as far as I can tell, because I do need a deep house raven song, preferably with a lot of raven vocalizations! This one actually does pretty well for me if they wanna lengthen it to a full length song: Take It Away Fable.
This song makes me wanna hop back in the shower with my lights...
Aaaaaaaaanyways...
No Mercy - Austin Giorgio. Opening with some dramatic strings and a haunting female "oooooooooooh" Austin Giorgio promises to send us to our knees praying! While also taking us right to the forbidden that's so good it must be sin. The paradox is making me a full-on knight of faith here, baby.
Bolero style beat with some absolutely seductive strings that I would definitely bring to a ballroom showcase or a more intimate play set. Austin Giogrio was the singer of the ever sexy You Put a Spell on Me and I gotta say, he's a horny guy, but he promises a damned good time and I'm here for it. Let me just find those satin sheets I never actually owned.
No mercy show me how you love babeBurning gasoline in my veins
Search me you're the judge and jury
So love me love me with no mercy
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| He seems fun... |
Why don't you pick up the phone when I'm all alone?
Do you hate me?
Hits me like a heart attack
Lately, I hate the way you're making me think, ah
The moment that I wake up and when I go to sleep
I need my D-O-P-A-M-I-N-E
I had a glass of wine
Or two, or three, I didn't count
Where's my love? What happened with my life?
The name that protects me
The voice that gently calls it
Alone and lonely, I close my eyes
Enveloping you
Those gentle hands
Let's tie them so we won't forget
Crossing the night, flowers in full bloom
I will return to you
Let's dream, let them bloom, unravel the dark night
The inside of the dream remains pure
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