by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

Search

Search

[+] Advanced...

Author:

Region:

Sort:

«12. . .25,43925,44025,44125,44225,44325,44425,445. . .63,54063,541»

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia wrote:It's called Ulaanbaatar.

Back in my day we called it Ulan Bator and I see no reason to change with the times!

*Shakes my head*

These kids today with their new age touchy feely idea's like "democracy" and "respecting local culture"... it's like that soviet-era cinema culture is just disappearing.

Sad.

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

Volaworand wrote:Back in my day we called it Ulan Bator and I see no reason to change with the times!

*Shakes my head*

These kids today with their new age touchy feely idea's like "democracy" and "respecting local culture"... it's like that soviet-era cinema culture is just disappearing.

Sad.

The name Ulaanbaatar came in the 1630's, the name Ulan Bater came after that name.

Volaworand wrote:shortened so I don't take up too much space. Look at the post above.

Just terrible. Back in my day, there wasn't air conditioning or heaters, and everything was good. Dang commodities

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia wrote:The name Ulaanbaatar came in the 1610's, the name Ulan Bater came after that name.

That 1970's mongolian speak-easy culture was pretty amazing though, the city just felt so alive and electric.

And the music! The wild blend of military marching band, jazz and Buddhist chants was so ahead of its time.

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

Volaworand wrote:That 1970's mongolian speak-easy culture was pretty amazing though, the city just felt so alive and electric.

And the music! The wild blend of military marching band, jazz and Buddhist chants was so ahead of it's time.

The official name of Ulaanbaatar is Ulaanbaatar, I wrote it Ulaanbaatar that so more people understand.

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia wrote:The official name of Ulaanbaatar is Ulaanbaatar, I wrote it Ulaanbaatar that so more people understand.

Duude, relax. Volaworand was joking.

SOUTH PACIFIC INDEPENDENT NEWS NETWORK

Enjoy our newest publication!

Independent News Network wrote:The SPINN
Commentary from our Senior Editors on the major regional issues of the week.

Today in the SPINN:
• Senior Editor James Halpert examines what the Cabinet has done to hold itself accountable and accessible to the region, as we approach the midway point of the term.

spinn

Year 18 | 07 August 2020

THE SPINN
THE CABINET CAN DO MORE TO ENSURE ACCOUNTABILITY
James D. Halpert | Senior Editor

THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Volaworand, Drystar and Auphelia have won the most votes in the two rounds of the Local Council election.

The High Court has issued an injunction to prevent the certification of the Local Council election results, pending a ruling on the case on the rights of Special Forces members to vote in Local Council elections.

The Special Forces been deployed to South Pacific (different from the South Pacific), a partner region that is under occupation from The Black Hawks.

We are nearing the end of the second term of the current Nakari Cabinet, which makes it an excellent point to assess what has been done well, what has been done badly, and what could be improved. Nakari seems to have taken the office of Prime Minister, following the example set by their predecessors, as that of a facilitator and behind-the-scenes coordinator, which means that not much will necessarily be heard from them as opposed to the individual ministers, but there are still some promises that were made on behalf of the whole Cabinet, particularly relating to accountability and transparency.

Nakari made a number of campaign promises in terms of public reporting and interaction with members of the region:

1. Update the Cabinet Twitter thread at least once a week, sharing those updates also on Discord and the RMB.

2. Use the Government Island region to post government updates and answer questions from the public.

3. Hold regular AMA sessions onsite and offsite.

The truth is that these promises have not been kept for the most part. Cabinet Twitter has not seen any updates since May 2020, during the government of Prime Minister Roavin. Government Island has not been used for Cabinet-wide reports or to answer questions from the public; in fact, the region has not been significantly promoted since its creation, so most South Pacificans have little way of knowing that there is a simple way for them to reach out to the Cabinet. There have also been no AMA sessions or other special opportunities for legislators and citizens to ask questions to their elected officials.

There are some positive points for individual ministers. The Ministry of Regional Affairs does much of its work in public, and so people can notice when a festival is held or a new issue of the Southern Journal is published. The Ministry of Military Affairs has been publishing weekly reports on its operations and collaboration with foreign partners, publishing them on the forum and in Government Island. Individual ministries have been communicating their work and letting the more politically aware members know what their elected officials are doing so far in the term. Still, collective accountability and transparency is an area where Cabinets tend to struggle. The Prime Minister explained the issue when asked for comment, saying that "I totally dropped the ball with twitter - it seemed unnecessary with how great the cabinet ministers have been at posting their own stuff".

Why is this important? The Cabinet is elected individually, but they work collectively and make important decisions behind the scenes. This is good: individual ministers have their own agendas and certain decisions simply cannot be made in public. However, this means that the public is often unaware of what agenda, if any, the Cabinet has as a whole for the region. The Prime Minister can let the region know the Cabinet's goals for the term, what policies are being implemented, what challenges the region is facing and what steps are being taken to address them. These actions have to be proactive: the Cabinet cannot wait for someone to ask, they have to go out and let the region know what is being done.

As the Cabinet approaches the second half of its term, it should take this time to assess the things that they have done well -constant activity from the MoRA, weekly reports from the Special Forces- and apply that experience to the Cabinet as a whole: issue periodic reports, hold regular AMA sessions, and let the region know what the agenda is and what will be done to get there.

The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is an independent news organisation established in 2003 with the goal of providing good, insightful and timely commentary on regional events for the citizens of the South Pacific. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. Content is published via pseudonyms. The SPINN is not associated with the Government of the South Pacific.

Read dispatch

Help us gain visibility by upvoting the dispatch and quoting this post! There are new columns every Friday!

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:Duude, relax. Volaworand was joking.

oh, I just never heard someone say or write Ulan Bater before, it was always Ulaanbaatar.

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:Yeah, I know. I'd have to contact Fihami privately, but like most people who submit ideas that may work, the plan will be rejected. I'm generally not taken seriously. (Mostly due to my joking nature, but not howdy, can I be serious.)

P.S. My anger rages harder than a Tsunami. Do not cross me. (My fuse does run long, though.)

Yes! Use that anger to tear through Hawks!!!

That whole Independent News Network thing is giving me an idea. It would be a good idea to establish a regional podcast, or even a separate news source.

Fihami wrote:Yes! Use that anger to tear through Hawks!!!

Maybe I will! Well, if you let me. It's quite a restrained but intense anger as well.

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:That whole Independent News Network thing is giving me an idea. It would be a good idea to establish a regional podcast, or even a separate news source.

*reminds me of https://anchor.fm/tsp-real-time*

Purple Hyacinth wrote:*reminds me of https://anchor.fm/tsp-real-time*

Or The Southern Journal, or CoCo Magazine?

What is the amendment to elections act all about

Proctethia, Melicorium, and Purple Hyacinth

Post self-deleted by Weryalachiressaraxiatopia.

Volaworand wrote:Or The Southern Journal, or CoCo Magazine?

Well, here's to establishing an exclusively independent news station. I'm going to call it The National Enquirer! Oh... Wait. Let's call it, oh I don't know. What should I call it?

Gosh my quote got included in Auphelia's dispatch! :O

The Salaxalans wrote:Gosh my quote got included in Auphelia's dispatch! :O

You’re a brilliant writer, love!

I always take compliments, along with excessive compliments and too much time to respond to posts.

It’s a gift, I know. Did you enjoy the album?

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

B h a r a t wrote:What is the amendment to elections act all about

OH! Sorry, I thought you were Whole india.

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:Well, here's to establishing an exclusively independent news station. I'm going to call it The National Enquirer! Oh... Wait. Let's call it, oh I don't know. What should I call it?

Maybe Kraljevstrvo Rata News.

The Salaxalans wrote:Gosh my quote got included in Auphelia's dispatch! :O

Hello!

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia wrote:Maybe Kraljevstrvo Rata News.

Ain't nobody gonna be able to pronounce that. Something more ambiguous.

Proctethia, Melicorium, and Purple Hyacinth

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:Ain't nobody gonna be able to pronounce that. Something more ambiguous.

I can pronounce Weryalachiressaraxiatopia flawlessly, and type it fast to.

Anyways,

Maybe, umm... maybe Kraljans Podcast.

Oh no I'm starting to run out of ideas.

Proctethia, Melicorium, Western fardelshufflestein, and Purple Hyacinth

Auphelia wrote:I’m glad you like the idea!

Speaking of . . . it’s done. I regret nothing.

Geriatric League

by Auphelia

Geriatric League



Studio album by The Geriatric League


Released 7 August 2020

Recorded 2020

Studio LC Studios, Rothera, Volaworand
ANRC, Libra, Auphelia

Genre Pop - dancepop

Length 46:23

Languge English, French

Label LC Records


Alternative Cover

Warzone Australia Version



Singles from Geriatric League

1. “Get Off My Lawn!”
Released: 5 June 2020

2. “Pudding”
Released: 3 July 2020

3. “Tied Up”
Release Date: 8 August 2020

4. “Back In My Day”
Release Date: 10 September 2020

Geriatric League (album)
____________________________________________________________

Geriatric League is the debut studio album by TSP government/musical group the Geriatric League. It was released on 7 August 2020 by LC Records. The album was recorded during 2020 at LC Studios in Rothera, Volaworand, and the Auphelian National Recording Centre in Libra, Auphelia, by producers Lacey Underwhere and Carol Aychar. Geriatric League is a pop album that incorporates styles such as dance, opera, musical theatre, and hip hop. It is considered to be the record that brought government sponsored music back, opening the doors for a wave of other groups and inspiring Aumeltopia’s second album, Biscuit Brigade, to come out that same year. Conceptually, the album centered on the idea of older players taking over a traditionally youth-oriented facet of TSP and was compared favourably to the music of the Auphie-Aumy-Voly LC a year prior.

A worldwide commercial success, Geriatric League peaked at number one in more than 17 regions and dozens of nations across the world, and was certified Multi-Coconut in 78 nations, Lampshade in 32 countries and Palm in 61 countries, including 10-times Coconut in Volaworand and Fihami , eight-times Coconut in the South Pacific, and seven-times Coconut in Erinor. It became NS’s top-selling album of 2020, selling 134.8 billion copies in its first week of sales, becoming the best-selling album in music history by a government group and one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Two singles were released from the album ahead of its release. The lead single, "Get Off My Lawn!", reached number one in 234 countries, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time and selling over 80 billion copies worldwide. The next single, "Pudding”, released number one in 157 countries. "Tied Up" was released a day after the official album due to distribution problems, but debuted on the top 20 in charts across Europe, Gay and Lazarus, charting number one in the North Pacific. In the band's native the South Pacific, all three singles went to number one on the TSP Singles Chart and, on the Llama Hot 100, the album spawned seven top-ten singles. Due to its unexpected popularity on radio stations and on social media, inspiring the Back in My Day Challenge going viral on several social media platforms, “Back in My Day” is slated to be released as a single in September of 2020.

Background

In Spring 2019, Auphelia and Volaworand worked together on the Local Council and helped write several songs and perform vocals on Aumeltopia’s first album, Biscuit Dreams. They found their styles worked well together and also released several moderately successful singles in that time, including “Double Post Delight”, which charted at its height #2 on the Llama Hot 100, becoming the sleeper hit of the summer, though it failed to make traction in other regions, at its best only reaching #36 on TNP’s Star Charts.

The Auphelia-Volaworand partnership broke up on good terms later in 2019, and they stopped recording music at that time. In March 2020, Auphelia began to work on a new album, with her girl group, Maybe Not, featuring her, Not auphelia, and Maybe auphelia. Needing to find a recording studio, they started to meet with producers, musicians and other business executives, among which were composer Carol Aychar and writer Lacey Underwhere, who introduced Auphelia to Drystar as a potential studio executive to contact. Maybe Not would put their album on hiatus in April and take a break as a group later that year, but Drystar would continue working with Auphelia on a potential new solo album. Together they composed a song called "Porch Pirates", which served as the inspiration behind the song "Get Off My Lawn!”. Eventually Volaworand became involved in the production of the Auphelian album, and together the three decided to form a group known as The Geriatric League, based on their advanced ages relative to the usual NS user age.

Recording and production

The group began their album by re-recording and rewriting songs that had been written for the solo Auphelia album and remixing some of the Auphelia-Volaworand singles from 2019, including “Candy from a Baby”. In the following months the group continued to meet with producers, wrote new songs, prepared demos and searched for a new manager. They met again with Aychar and Underwhere, who would help the group arrange several new songs for the album

In the first session with Aychar and Underwhere, they wrote "Feel Your Love", a slow, soulful song which was eventually recorded and mastered for the album, but not released because it was considered too similar to the Curlyhoward song of the same name. Similarly, "We Are Not Kidding", a song initially meant for the album, was never released supposedly due to the initials of the song's title spelling the word "wank" which is considered by many to be vulgar. Having completed that session, the group wanted to write something more uptempo, so they started to write the song that would be the ninth track of the album, "Pudding", which was recorded in under an hour—mainly because they had already written parts of the songs beforehand, using lyrics from an unreleased song Volaworand has written for Biscuit Dreams. The next song they recorded was a slow ballad and the third track, "Nurse Skirts". The song was inspired by Drystar’s infatuation with a red headed nurse he had met after his gall bladder was removed in 2017. "Our Old Lady of Funk" was written by the Geriatric League. In an interview about the writing process in the group, Volaworand credits Auphelia as the one who came up with the song's concept. During the writing process, each member wrote a small verse about themselves and a musical style they didn’t often use.

In May 2020 the group signed a deal with LC Records, and continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while touring TSP.

In June 2020, the album was announced with the release of the lead single, “Get Off My Lawn!”, which was ready for release ahead of most of the rest of the album.

In July 2020, to increase publicity for their new album, The Geriatric League collaborated with indie-rock sensation Land Without Shrimp on an independent single, “Cocktails”, officially credited to the group and featuring LWS.

The Geriatric League were fully involved in the writing of all the songs, and are credited as a group rather than individuals on the album, a revolutionary concept in most Feeder musical circles.

Composition

Lyrical Content

"Get Off My Lawn!" is the most emblematic song of the group’s philosophy and theme of age-related mischief. It highlights the slogans the group tend to cite like the respect for elders and draws connections between younger nations and hooliganism. The second single "Eternity" described the things the group had been through in life and NS and how they had survived more than the “haterz gonna throw at us, yo”. It received mixed reviews; some critics praised it as a catchy song, while others dubbed it as merely anti-youth sentiment. The third single "Nurse Skirts" focused upon the transience of love and fleeting nature of feelings. Critics praised the well executed concept, though some publications questioned the heavy use of Drystar’s leading vocals in the song, his deeper bass “not fitting the soaring feeling of this masterwork”.

"Fleeting Love" is the fourth track, sung almost entirely by Auphelia; it focuses on relationships and how after many disappointments, Auphelia gave up on men entirely. TSP Exposé Daily praised the song’s feminist lyrics and drew connections between it and the album’s eight track, “Lost in Time”. Critics praised its city pop style, popularised in Japan in the late 1970’s, as a classic throwback with lyrics that encapsulated the feeling of the era. The fifth track, “Cane-Cane”, is an upbeat song in the style of the can-can, heavily referencing lost physical ability with age and remembering the limber vitality of youth. The sixth track, "Our Lady of Funk", received generally positive reviews, with some finding it “infectiously groovy”, though some found the lyrics to be too repetitive and simple to match the dense lyrical complexity found in some of the album’s songs.

The seventh track, "Mourning Wood", is about life in the rural world, with critics complimenting the “raw honesty” with which the joys of life in isolation could bring, with many singling out a “magical combination of the deep timbre of Drystar’s rumbling growl and the ethereal beauty of Auphelia’s vocal performance”. The inspiration for this song came from Drystar’s own experiences. "Lost in Time", the eighth track of the album, is ostensibly about partying, but many critics noted several allusions in Volaworand and Auphelia’s lyrics to homosexuality, with some positing it is a semi-autobiographical account of their own lives. The song was well received by critics, who thought that the song was one of the group's "strongest and underrated songs" and that it "still feels relevant today". The ninth track, "Pudding" deals with vulnerability and the fear of becoming dependent on others in old age. It received glowing reviews from critics, The Souther Journal describing it as "soulful and tragic, while remaining hopeful”. The tenth track of the album, "Back in My Day", deals with preconceived ideas about people and how sometimes they are totally different from what they appear, and is generally regarded as the most youth-friendly track, with many critics citing it as a breath of fresh air in an album characterised by remembering the past. The eleventh and final track, “Tied Up”, features a calypso beat and speaks to the group’s willingness to try new things and not stay in a rut after all of these years.

Styles and themes

Geriatric League is a pop album with a diverse inclusion of musical styles such as dance, R&B, hip hop, soul, opera, new wave, and funk, which lead some reviewers to call it a pop collection. The lead single, "Get Off My Lawn!" is an uptempo pop song with elements of hip–hop, rap and dance music. Two of the three ballads of the album, "Nurse Skirts" and "Mourning Wood" feature Drystar and heavy piano backing.

"Lost in Time" is influenced by early-1990s Europop, and incorporates a disco-style beat that resembles the music of the late 1970s, similar to “Fleeting Love”’s 1970’s city pop influences. "Our Lady of Funk", another heavily dance–oriented song, and features a rap section performed by Auphelia in French.

While the album is marketed as marketed as a takedown of youth culture, several concepts of the album centred on other themes, embodying a feminist and pro-LGBT message, with Volaworand citing Madonna as a major influence in the group’s writing process.

Singles

Released as the group's debut single in June 2020, "Get Off My Lawn!" currently tops the TSP Singles Chart for the eighth week and received a Coconut certification by the Llama Music Association (LLAMA) just from preorder figures. In later in June 2020, it was released in other regions, topping the Star Charts in TNP for five weeks. By the release of the main album, "Get Off My Lawn!" had topped the charts in 234 nations and 11 regions, reaching the top five in an additional 17 regions. It became the best selling song released in June by a TSP artist since the 2012 single by Alice Parker, “A Thief in the Night”.

"Pudding" was released as the album's second single in early July 2020. It became the group's second number-one single in TSP, dethroning “Get Off My Lawn!” During its debut week, it was certified Coconut by the LLAMA. It was a commercial success across four Pacifics, reaching the top 10 in most of the charts that it entered. As a result of its popularity, the song was released as the opening track in Warzone Australia with an alternate album cover, receiving a Koala certification by the Warzone Australian Recording Industry Organisation (WARIO) and receiving a smashing reception in the Rejected Realms and Balder, entering the top five in both.

"Tied Up", released as the group's third single a day after the album’s initial release due to distribution issues caused by the recent of raid of South Pacific, though a limited release was authorised for late July, two weeks after its initially scheduled release date. It was generally well received by music critics for its experimental style and was a commercial success. It has currently peaked at #5 on the TSP Singles Chart. The song was released in the North Pacific a day before the South Pacific, peaking at #2 on the TNP Star Charts, and receiving a Gold Star certification by the Recording Union of Northern Tracks (RUNT). It performed similarly in other regions, peaking inside the top 10 on the majority of the charts that it entered.

"Back in My Day" was released as a part of the album as the tenth track, not initially to be released as a single. However, it’s unexpected popularity in several regions has led to it being slated for a physical release in early September 2020 and available for digital download in mid-August 2020. It became the most played song ever in a day on Forest radio in the week following the release, being played a total of 83 times on 12 August 2020.

Publication

Gist

XKI

4.5/5

Positive

The North Star

5/5

Positive

The Rejected Times

5/5

Positive

Hell’s Bells

4.5/5

Positive

Forest News

4.5/5

Positive

The Rothera Times

4/5

Positive

The Southern Journal

4/5

Mixed Review

SPINN

3.5/5

Mixed Review

EPNS

5/5

Positive

CSBS

4/5

Positive

Critical reception

Volaworand in promotional shoot

The album received nearly universal positive reviews from pop music critics. TSJ‘s reviewer called the album "immaculately crafted pop" that is "infectious" and "irresistible", adding that "Volaworand and Drystar don’t have great voices, but they do exude personality and charisma". Erinor from the same paper called the Geriatric League "elders with attitude" and described the content of the album as "fascinating", cautioning that "the members may not be ideal role models". The Stalker from Hell’s Bells called the album a "devilishly good pop collection", and said that the song "Lost in Time" is "perky yet tough, catchy yet melodically surprising".

Forest’s Turbeaux called the album "a wickedly good time" and that it was "one of the most fun and exciting pop releases of the year". Agalaesia from SPINN called the group "another basic music group" that "offer a watered-down mix of hip-hop and cheesy pop balladry" and notes "the members don't get bogged down by anything deeper than mugging for promo shots and giving out campaign promises".

Auphelia’s vocal performance was especially noted by critics, with The Salaxalans of The Spiritus Spud saying: “the songs are nearly all instant classics, but Auphelia is what makes this album legendary”. The East Pacific News Service noted that small bands performing a wide assortment of musical styles usually relied upon heavy instrumental portions to lean on, but that “Auphelia and the boys are up to the task of leading every song”.

Track Listing

No.

Title

Length

1

Get off My Lawn

2:57

2

Eternity

4:34

3

Nurse Skirts

5:02

4

Fleeting Love

7:13

5

Cane-Cane

2:56

6

Our Lady of Funk

3:47

7

Mourning Wood

4:10

8

Lost in Time

5:18

9

Pudding

4:00

10

Back in My Day

3:45

11

Tied Up

4:41

Total Length

46:23

Read dispatch


Crying.

...this is why TSP needs you.

Now I just wanna dance!!!!

Auphelia, Kraljevstvo Rata, Volaworand, Proctethia, and 3 othersMelicorium, Western fardelshufflestein, and Purple Hyacinth

The news source will just be called, Fearless.

Volaworand, Proctethia, Melicorium, Western fardelshufflestein, and 1 otherPurple Hyacinth

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia

Kraljevstvo Rata wrote:The news source will just be called, Fearless.

ok,

Maybe I can make one too.

B h a r a t wrote:What is the amendment to elections act all about

The saga of the poll (soon to be a major motion picture!):

  • in 2017 the Assembly removed its regulation of Local Council elections, but do to a filing mistake, it did not remove the clause on vacancies in the Local Council, as those had not been correctly filed in 2016

  • In 2017/18/19 the LC developed and revised own local election regulations and Local Council Election Law.

  • this past spring(i think?) the courts restored the 2016 mis-filed/lost provisions into the text of the election Act, after they were found deep in the catacombs of the regional forums.

  • In June, Rabbitz was elected Chair of the Assembly and resigned from the local Council, leaving a vacancy.

  • The Local Council did not fill the empty seat since their chosen candidate declined so he could run for Delegate. (by the way... he won, you should endorse him).

  • A Leqal Question was filed with the High Court asking if the Local Council was required to fill the vacancy.

  • The Court applied the previously restored to the books clause on LC vacancies from the Assembly's Elections Act, and struck down the LC's 2 clauses on the game side LC Election Act, and vesting the vacancy power as an optional power for the Delegate.

  • Some random penguin legislator presented an amendment to repeal the remaining clause on Local Council vacancies, which was passed by the Assembly - opening up the possibility of restoring the LC's power to name its own replacements when less than half a term remains, in the same way Cabinet can fill its own vacancies in such cases.

  • It passed Assembly approval on the forums, and since it directly affects local governance of game side it must be confirmed by a game side vote in order to take effect.

  • So there is a poll up asking us if we approve of the Assembly removing its final provision related to Local Council vacancies.

What a truly magical land TSP is! We are a true democracy! Viva la bureaucracy.

In other words... oh gawd, please, please, please for the love of all that is holy just repeal the frigging clause and let it die already by voting AYE!

EDIT: voting link: page=poll/p=161753

Auphelia, Kraljevstvo Rata, Proctethia, Caramia, and 3 othersMelicorium, Jammlandia, and Purple Hyacinth

Weryalachiressaraxiatopia wrote:ok,

Maybe I can make one too.

The blossoming of entrepreneurship here in TSP is going to set the standard for nations to come. D o I t.

Proctethia, Melicorium, and Purple Hyacinth

«12. . .25,43925,44025,44125,44225,44325,44425,445. . .63,54063,541»

Advertisement