The Birthday Night On Fool Rar
Montreal sextet the Dears are probably sick to death of the Britpop revival tags pinned to them like tails to a birthday party donkey-- fed up with the talk of Morrissey-this, Blur-that and tired of the myriad synonyms for "orchestral." That's OK: It's easy enough to talk about Gang of Losers, the band's third full-length in their little-over-a-decade-long career, sans synopses of 1995's End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story and 2003's No Cities Left.
the birthday night on fool rar
Opening track "Sinthro" hints straightaway at a departure: It's a synthy, barely there intro, evocative of spooky scenery-- balding trees, mist, cricket noises-- that fools us into thinking the Dears are now into sparseness in lieu of lushness. But it doesn't last long: "Ticket to Immorality" perks things up immediately, and from there the album's punctuated by "doots" and "oohs" throughout. So Gang of Losers is a departure, of sorts, tightening No Cities Left's too-sprawling landscape. One line goes, "I hang out with all the pariahs," establishing the record's oddly proselytizing music-for-outcasts mood: weirdly dark, reminiscent of Radiohead (see "Death or Life We Want You"), despite a singer who, let's be honest, basically sounds like a grittier Ben Folds.
Aretha just celebrated her 69th birthday - a welcome milestone after a bout with an unspecified illness - and Columbia/Legacy honored the Queen's early days with the massive Take a Look: Complete on Columbia box set (Joe's review is coming tomorrow). Joe also took us through Aretha's "lost" Atlantic years in a Reissue Theory post, which leads us to today: a theoretical box set devoted to Franklin's Arista years (the catalogue of which is also owned by Sony/Legacy).
McComb formed one last band, Costar, who recorded a still unreleased EP. A planned Triffids reunion in 1994 fell through when McComb developed cardiomyopathy. Although he underwent a successful heart transplant in 1996, McComb continued to use drugs. He was involved in a car crash on 30 January 1996. He was hospitalized for one night and released the following day. He died on 2 February, a few weeks shy of his 37th birthday. His ashes were scattered amongst the pines at the family farm near Jerdacuttup. A documentary, Love in Bright Landscapes: The Story of David McComb of The Triffids, premiered on 13 August 2021 at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Leia Organa Solo (born Leia Amidala Skywalker), a Force-sensitive Human female was at various stages of her life, a politician, revolutionary, and Jedi Knight of the New Jedi Order. The daughter of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, Leia was the younger twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and, shortly after her birth, she became the adopted daughter of Bail Organa and Queen Breha of Alderaan, making her a Princess of Alderaan. An accomplished Senator, Leia Organa was most famous for her strong leadership during the Galactic Civil War and other subsequent galactic conflicts, making her one of the galaxy's greatest heroes. Later she married Han Solo, and became the mother of their three children: Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo. Around the start of the Swarm War, Leia unknowingly became a grandmother through Jacen's daughter Allana.
Due to her powerful Force heritage, Leia, following her family's legacy, became a Jedi Knight in the New Jedi Order. She was partially trained by her brother Luke and later by Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne, who declared her a fully trained Knight at the end of the Swarm War. This training would serve her well as the galaxy teetered on the edge of collapse into civil war once more during the Second Galactic Civil War, although it complicated her allegiance. During this conflict, Leia's son Jacen turned to the dark side of the Force, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Caedus. Leia and Han became determined to destroy Caedus, feeling that their son was already dead. However, it was their daughter Jaina who ended his life in a lightsaber duel that also concluded the war.
A Human female, Leia was born on the asteroid colony of Polis Massa in 19 BBY, shortly after the start of the Great Jedi Purge and the formation of Palpatine's Galactic Empire. Her heavily-pregnant mother, the Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala, had suffered a Force choke by her husband and Leia's father Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who had fallen to the dark side of the Force.[2] Amidala had been brought in a panic to a hospital of the Polis Massa Base by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had arranged rendezvous with Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, and Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan.[20] Due to Amidala's condition, the Polis Massan surgeons were nearly forced to remove the twins she was carrying, but the children were born just in time. In her last feeble breaths, Amidala named her twins "Luke" and "Leia." The Senator died shortly after their birth, effectively orphaning Leia and her older twin brother.[2] With the twins' father believed dead on Mustafar, Bail Organa wondered what the Jedi intended to do with Luke and Leia.[20]
Leia, the orphaned daughter of the Naboo Senator and the fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, was given a loving home within the House of Organa,[2] one of the galaxy's so-called Ancient Houses.[24] Her adoptive parents could not have children of their own,[25] so Leia became the crown princess,[1] and, as such, was formally referred to as "the Princess Leia Organa, of the Royal House of Alderaan."[26] Although the Organas were not trying to hide the fact that Leia was adopted,[1] they never informed the Princess of her parentage, nor did they reveal the existence of her twin brother.[11] However, during the short time between her birth and her mother's death,[2] Leia gained a faint memory of her mother as a beautiful and kind, yet sad woman.[11]
In the year 11 BBY, Leia and her friend Winter once hid a giant wooly moth in the desk drawer of Alderaan's Minister of Agriculture. The harmless joke, however, took a more serious turn when it was discovered that the moth had eaten the budget for the whole next year, written on a sheet of flimsiplast. As a means of punishment, Leia was banned from participating in a party held in the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Palace. The Princess and Winter attended the gala anyway, hidden behind a marble staircase with a store of scavenged food. Having accidentally crossed the eyes of Fess Ilee, the young girls were afraid and got out of their hiding place, bumping into Bail Organa, who promptly banned them to their rooms. The following night, the Princess got over the wall so she could join Winter at the Gingerbell blossom festival. Walking alone in the deserted streets of Aldera, Leia was almost kidnapped by a trio of goons who worked for Senator Ask Aak of Malastare. Aak wished to use the child as a bargaining chip so that Bail Organa would vote they way he wanted. The rapture attempt, however, was thwarted by Ferus Olin, who had been following the Princess in the streets. Later that night, Leia lost her way. The Princess climbed upon a half-finished building so she would be able to see the Palace in the distance, but she nearly fell while trying to climb down. Once again, Ferus Olin's timely intervention allowed Leia to escape unharmed.[30]
However, her adolescent years also had their share of cherished memories. Leia became friends with Heeth and Raal Panteer, two scions of the patrician House Panteer. Once, the Princess snuck out at night with Raal Panteer to swim in the reflecting pools of Aldera. The pair, who had fallen in love, exchanged their first kiss on that occasion, but the relationship failed to last. Organa and the Panteer brothers would meet again during the Galactic Civil War.[41] At age thirteen, Leia and Winter met Jahan Cross, the son of the Alderaanian diplomat Davim Cross. Both young girls had a "mad crush" on him, which, according to the Princess, "lasted three whole days." After a long hiatus, the three met again in 3 BBY, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention. Upon seeing the two young ladies three years after leaving Alderaan, Cross made it look like he did not recognize Leia, "mistaking" Winter for the Princess on purpose.[42]
The night after her capture, Jabba sent Organa to Boba Fett's room to entertain him. However, Fett was not interested in the enslaved princess and instead gave her a sheet to cover herself. Organa offered to pay the bounty hunter to help them escape, but he declined. The two then debated the morality of her friends and the Rebellion. Eventually, Fett grew tired of arguing with her and went to sleep. Organa was returned to Jabba the next morning.[72]
After one of Jabba's late-night parties, Organa was sleeping alongside the Hutt on his throne when Skywalker arrived to rescue everyone.[74] They were awoken by the majordomo, Bib Fortuna, who was acting under the influence of Skywalker's mind-trick. Organa watched as Skywalker tried to bargain with her master, but Jabba refused to negotiate and dropped him into a pit with his pet rancor. To Organa's relief, Skywalker killed the monster; however, a furious Jabba hassled her. In retaliation for killing his rancor, Jabba sentenced Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca to be taken to the Great Pit of Carkoon and fed to the sarlacc. Unlike her friends, Organa was to be kept alive and remain in Jabba's possession.[11]
The night before the battle, Organa received news that forever changed her life. Her long-time "friend", Luke Skywalker, asked Leia if she remembered her biological mother. Leia explained that her mother had died when she was very young. Though she had some memory of her, they were only "images" and "feelings." She recalled her mother as being "very beautiful, kind, but sad". Luke confided that he had no memory of his mother. He then revealed to her that they were brother and sister, and that the fallen Jedi, Darth Vader, was their father. After Luke revealed to her of their relationship, Leia told Luke that she had somehow knew that Luke was her brother. When Luke told Leia that he had to confront Darth Vader, still stricken with shock, she tried to convince him to just "run far away" instead, but Luke had already made up his mind and left her deeply shocked.[11] 350c69d7ab