Tim DeS

Eddie Ray Hill Jr. lost his life trying to protect a female coworker during a domestic violence situation involving her estranged husband. The husband showed up at her workplace, Eddie stepped in to help, and he was shot to death. The husband then injured his wife before taking his own life. Stories like Eddie’s do not get enough attention. He was someone’s son, father, brother, and friend. Too often, men risk their lives stepping into dangerous situations without knowing the full history, the threats involved, or whether weapons are present. In this case, the husband was reportedly a convicted murderer out on parole. This is why I constantly tell men to be cautious when intervening in domestic disputes. You may think you are helping, but you may not know what kind of violence or instability you are walking into. Some men end up losing their lives trying to save someone else. Rest in paradise to Eddie Ray Hill Jr. Prayers to his family, loved ones, and everyone affected by this tragedy. His funeral will be held on May 25.

Hey here’s a hot take: Japanese media is made for Japanese people. Tickets to live shows and such are limited, and are intended for their domestic audience. Once you open up these limited seats to the world, suddenly the local fans can’t get seats. It’s that simple.

Recently I came across comments like: “But buying tickets is difficult because everything is restricted to Japan, registration requires a Japanese phone number, videos are region-locked… Does Japan even want foreigners to access their music?” That's a very very long thread 👇

If you’re a fan of Japanese music and live outside of Japan, I would be so grateful if you take a moment to read this🙏 If you’ve ever wondered why more Japanese artists don’t reach out and do shows & tours overseas, the reason is pretty simple and the main one is the hurdle of selling tickets. There is only a SMALL percentage of artists that can rely on the power of big labels/agents to promote their shows internationally. Even in Japan, selling out shows is a lot more challenging than in past years, due to people just being satisfied with digital content. And considering it costs even more to bring a tour overseas, you can imagine how many artists are willing to LOSE money by doing so, if any. It’s not just about the artist not being popular or sufficient enough, or that they don’t have the will to bring their content to fans around the world. In fact, there are so many fellow artists around me that I highly respect, telling me they wish they could do shows overseas, but know it’s not realistically possible, and as someone who yearns for the same thing, it really, really hurts inside. More importantly, it hurts most that fans around the world will often never ever be able to see a show of their favorite Japanese artist. I’m not trying to ask for pity, nor demand anything, unless this resonates with you. But if it does, and you want to know what you can do to help us reach you with our music, it’s really very simple. Please go follow artist’s socials. Please go subscribe to their Youtube channels. Please find them on Spotify. Please interact with them by commenting and letting them know you’re there to support them. Please share your passion with the people around you. AND PLEASE, don’t miss the opportunity to buy a ticket and GO to their shows, when that miraculous opportunity comes, whether it’s a solo or event stage. I am not exaggerating when I say it IS a miracle and it might never happen again. I know writing all this isn’t gonna change much, but I just hope it reminds you that every listener, every fan, every second of support matters in keeping music alive, particularly in this generation. Thanks for listening, if you made it this far🫶 Let’s keep Rocking On. NANO

I don't agree this is necessarily a negative, either. Not to deny there could be a very unsatisfying situation, but there could also be cases where it's simply bittersweet. On the other hand, a birdwatcher can appreciate whatever their efforts in tracking the bird down and whatever their passion for birds is, the bird is still going to fly away if they try and get too close. Of course, isn't this an unfair comparison? A domestic fan can take all this for granted and they don't need to consider comparisons like this. I'd say it's different because they're 'part of the ecosystem'. Anyone should be able to admit the enjoyment of music is at least partly a shared, social experience. You can of course enjoy music in isolation, but there is undeniably a reward in getting to share it – whether it's a conversation with a friend, coworker, or stranger and whether it's at the concern or in a chatroom, in a cafe, in a class, at work, whatever. However, it's inevitably easier for someone to enjoy and get to more directly participate in their domestic music scene. I think there's every potential for an interesting conversation about why certain people are drawn to overseas music and entertainment industries rather than domestic ones. What sort of person is this? What are their expectations? What are their tendencies? The answers used to be similar across this group. However, particularly over the last 5 years or so, it feels like there's a new group of people who are interested in overseas entertainment industries, and their personality, expectations, and tendencies are quite different. It's impossible for someone like myself who was 'around in the beforetimes' to not read these people as disruptive. In the pure dictionary definition of the word – i.e. even as a descriptor rather than a pejorative – it's fine. They are different from what came before, and they are literally disrupting the status quo. However, they're not excited or intentionally doing this, they're genuinely upset a foreign industry is not exactly to their liking. Where I struggle to understand things is when I notice that 'their liking' is already catered to, and therefore presumably could be satisfied their domestic entertainment industries. I imagine this as if there was someone who lived next to a McDonald's drove 20 miles to a sushi bar and demanded to know why they wouldn't serve them a Big Mac. What drove them to make that drive in the first place? I'm utterly perplexed by it.

New gen Pokémon fans are going to hate me for this. I’m a 90s kid trying to get back into Pokémon, but there are 1,000 of them now & I do not care about this new lore. So we’ve started a brand new stream for everyone who feels the same. Full podcast & stream in the comments.

I have absolutely no problem with people saying that historical black figures of note should only be played by black actors. Why shouldn’t it be the same the other way round?