Faecraft: Recent Episodes

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Virginia may be for lovers, but Ohio is for the Loveland Frogmen. Journey to the midwest on this episode's latest installment of our state cryptid series, the land of the Frogman, the Mothman, the Ohio Grassman, and so much more.

Sources:

• Cryptid Ohio
• Top 10 Cryptids Still Creeping Around Ohio- Exemplore
• The 11 Most Bizarre Mythical… Columbus Navigator
• The Werewolf of Defiance- Fox19
• The Mothman Museum- citybeat.com
• Cryptid Profile: The Crosswick Monster- Pine Barren Institute
• Meet the Monsters: The Crosswick Monster- monstersofohio.com
• The Peninsula Python: An Absolutely True Story- the Atlantic
• Monsters, Cryptids, and Mysterious Wild Beasts: West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Beyond, Jannette Quackenbush (2019)
• The Loveland Frogmen-WLWT
• Loveland Frogman Race
• The Gadsden Times, Oct. 18, 1985 (article on the Loveland frog)
• Binkowski, Brooke. “ ‘Loveland Frogman’ Spotted Again?” Aug. 5, 2016. Snopes.
• Leggate, James. “Officer who shot ‘Loveland Frogman’ says story is a hoax” Aug. 5, 2016.
• Mulvey, Ricky. “The Loveland Frog: Still a Legend; Now a Loveland Movie,” January 28, 2010.
• Long, Changquan et al. “Neural signs of flexible categorization: Evidence fromt eh flexibility of inclusion of humans in animal/non-animal categorization,” Elsevier, April 2020.
• Bessie, the Lake Erie Monster
• Ohio Grassman, Green-Clawed Beast, Big Muddy Monster, episode of Monsters and Mysteries

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Just popping in your feed to say we are moving from releasing our podcast weekly to biweekly. Life, uhhhh, gets in the way (and women inherit the earth; watch Jurassic Park). Stay tuned for our next full episode on Thursday, Sept. 29!

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What's grey and feathered and bipedal and a starfish but also an alligator? The Australian bunyip, of course!

Holly and Chelsea reminisce about Chelsea's year as an exchange student in Australia as they unearth historical and contemporary cultural nuggets about the bunyip, a creature from multiple southern Aboriginal cultures' creation traditions.

Sources:

• The Gloomy Bunyip
• Red Billabong- wiki
• Bunyip wiki
• Meet the Bunyip- all that’s interesting
• Bunyip cryptid wiki
• Steve Irwin Stamps
• Dot and the Kangaroo wiki
• Bunyip, The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, 2nd ed. Wilde, William H., Joy Hooton, and Barry Andrews. Oxford UP, 1994.
• Holden, Robert; Nicholas Holden. (2001). Bunyips: Australia’s folklore of fear.
• South Australian Institutes Journal, Jan. 18, 1901.
• Geelong Advertiser, Wed. July 2, 1845.
• “Water spirit beings,” Clarke, Philip A. Aboriginal Biocultural Knowledge in South-eastern Australia: Perspectives of Early Colonists, 2018.
• Clarke, Philip A. “Indigenous Spirit and Ghost Folklore of “Settled” Australia.” Folklore 118.2 (2007), 141-161.

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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We're doing something different this week to accommodate Chelsea's croaky cold voice (blame her toddler, the walking germ farm): recommendations! We discuss fae-adjacent books, tv shows, and movies we've enjoyed recently. Mostly books, because, well, we were both English majors.

Chelsea's book recommendations:

• The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo
• A Spindle Splintered, A Mirror Mended, and all things Alix E. Harrow
• Small Favors, Erin A. Craig
• For the Wolfand For the Throne, Hannah Whitten

Holly's book recommendations:

• Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes, Elizabeth Lesser
• Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology, Jess Zimmerman
• Pandora's Jar: Women in the Green Myths, Natalie Haynes
• A Thousand Ships, Natalie Haynes

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Meet the original Dr. Burk, our dad, on this canine-centered episode! Dr. Craig Burk, veterinarian for over 40 years, helps us understand the differences between Cardiganshire Welsh Corgis and Pembroke Welsh Corgis, discusses Kennel Clubs, and reminds us to always bring water for our pups on hot days.

Also, Chelsea solves a corgi-as-fairy-steed mystery and Holly teaches us about best practices when introducing your corgi to its fairy saddle.

Sources:

• Can Dogs See Fairies? Wag
• Faerie Guardian Dogs- The Faerie Dog… YouTube
• What is a Fairy Saddle on a Corgi? corgicare
• https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/5370/
• Pembroke Welsh Corgi Listed As Vulnerable Breed
• “Dog,” The Encyclopedia of Celtic Myth and Folklore, Patricia Monaghan
• The American Kennel Club “Cardigan vs. Pembroke: An Interesting Heritage”
• "Corgi Fantasy," Anne G. Biddlecome
• John Rhys’s Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Chelsea learns that she's been confusing I Dream of Jeannie with Bewitched for her entire life while Holly chooses which jinn origin story is the best (hint: witches always win). Hear all about jinn and their evolution from Muslim spirits with the same moral obligations as humans into the Will Smith genie that horrifies us today!

Sources:

• El-Zein, Amira. Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn. Syracuse University Press; 2009.
• Duggan, Anne E. “From Genie to Efreet: Fantastic Apparitions in the Tales of The Arabian Nights.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 26.1, 2015.
• Lebling, Robert. Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar. Berkely, 2010.
• O’Meara, Simon. “From Space to Place: The Quaranic Infernalization of the Jinn. “Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions, ed. Christian Lange, Brill, 2016.
• Jinn in popular culture- WikiLists
• A History of Genies in Folklore- IGN
• I Dream of Jeannie- wikipedia
• Does the name Shazam! sound familiar to you? Here’s why- DirectTV.com
• Jambi- Pee-Wee’s Playhouse wiki
• Genie- Disney Wiki

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Picture yourself: it's the dark.

Cuddle under your blankets and keep your head on a swivel for the first episode of our state cryptids series! Who knew Missouri had so many weird critters lurking about? We talk MoMo, the Missouri Monster, the Ozark Howler, Batsquatch, and so much more.

Sources:

• Momo the Monster- wikipedia
• Missouri's mysterious monsters live on through generations of storytelling- VOX magazine
• Devil’s Promenade and the Hornet Spook Lights- Legends of America
• The Ozark Howler- Explore Southern History
• Creature feature: Missouri and Illinois beasts and why we love their stories- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• The Missouri Monster Momo is the Cryptid that Time Forgot- Vice
• Halloween Special: Batsquatch is Missouri’s latest monster mystery- The Salem News Online
• Missouri Men Encountered a Flying Humanoid in the Ozarks- Ultimate Unexplained
• MO town embraces Mo Mo the Monster 50 years after… St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Mountain Lion- MDC website
• Paul the Nixa Hellhound Facebook page
• Christan, Sara Brooke. “The Cryptid Tourist Gaze: Cryptid Tourism and Monster Hunting.” Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. Proquest Dissertations, 2021.
• Missouri Urban Legends- Only In Your State
• Engel, Brent. “50 years later: ‘Mo Mo’ is a go-go,” Courier-Post, July 8, 2022.
• Hahn, Valerie Schremp. “Creature Feature: Missouri and Illinois Beasts and Why We love Their Stories,” Saint Louis Today, Oct 29, 2017.
• Weiser-Alexander, Kathy. “Momo—The Missouri Monster,” Legends of America, 2020.

Music:

• ​Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Thunderbirds and lightening, very very frightening ME! (Galileo, Galileo, Figaro).

Holly and Chelsea learn about thunderbirds, creatures that hold importance for indigenous peoples across North America. Chelsea pontificates on why she hates nineteenth-century ethnographies while Holly refuses to purchase a full text on Google Books.

Sources:

• Thunderbird (mythology) wikipedia
• Harry Potter Wiki- Thunderbird
• Thunderbird- American Gods wiki
• American Gods- Grace’s Literature Blog
• The Legend of the Thunderbirds- Pennsylvania Wilds
• Thunderbird Cryptid Wiki
• Book- The Exploits of Chief Aj: As Told to Chuck Vaughn- Google Books
• The Giant Thunderbird Returns- liveabout.com
• Did Giant Birds Roam the American Plains? HistoryDaily
• A flying creature has spooked the South Texas area for decades. Do you think they’re real? My San Antonio
• Monsterquest- Birdzilla IMDB
• Kettle Creek State Park- DCNR.PA.GOV
• Carrol, Al and William A. Starna. “Thunderbird Warriors, Injuneers, and the USNS Red Cloud: Native and Pseudo-Indian Images and Names in the Military,” Medicine Bags and Dog Tags: American Indian Veterans from Colonial Times to the Second Iraq War. UN Press, 20008.
• Peyote, Encyclopedia of World Religions, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006.
• Cry of the Thunderbird: The American Indian’s Own Story, 1950.
• Senter, Philip J. “Pterosaur Thunderbird: The Origin of a Fake Native American Legend with an Anti-Evolution Agenda.” Skeptic Magazine, 24.2, 2019.
• Lenik, Edward J. “The Thunderbird Motif in Northeastern Indian Art.”
• Alex, Bridget. “Rulers of the Upper Realm, Thunderbirds are Powerful Native Spirits,” Audubon Magazine, Nov. 30, 2020.
• Milliner, Matthew J. “Christ and the Thunderbird: The creative resistance of Native American Christian art.” Christian Century, Dec. 15, 2021.

Music:

• ​Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Churn, baby, churn! Hear all about the butter churning, anti-teetotaler ​the Bwbach, a creature near and dear to Holly and Chelsea's hearts. We share family lore about bwbachad (plural for bwbach--fun, right?) and learn more about hobgoblins in general.
​
Sources:

• Jenkins, Geraint. Studies in Folk Life (RLE Folklore): Essays in Honour of Iorwerth C. Peate. 2/17/2015, Taylor & Francis.
• Wood, Juliette. “Perceptions of the Past in the Welsh Folklore Studies.” Folklore, 108:1-2, 93-102 (1997).
• Rhys, John. Celtic Folklore, Welsh and Manx. 1901.
• Froud, Brian and Alan Lee. Faeries: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2002.
• https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095539451
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamorgan
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_(folklore)#Bwbach
• Hobgoblin- wikipedia
• Hobgoblin- Marvel
• Hobgoblin Music- Folk & Acoustic Musical Instruments website
• Hobgoblin DnD- website
• Pathfinder- website
• Hobgoblins- Tolkien website
• Hobgoblins movie- IMDB
• Hobgoblin book- Goodreads
• Good Faeries/Bad Faeries
• Bwbach Explained- Bluestone National Park Resort
• The Lonely Bwbach book- website
• Hobgoblin (Marvel comics)- wikipedia

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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La Llorona: the patriarchy makes me cry, too, sometimes. This week the Burk sisters learn about a fascinating figure from Mexican folklore, La Llorona, the weeping woman. We talk colonization, Coco, and Chicana feminism in relation to this powerful story of love, motherhood, loss, and grief.

Sources:

• Biggs, Mary Jo García. “La Llorona.” The Encyclopedia of Latino Culture: From Calaveras to Quinceaneras, edited by Charles M. Tatum, ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013.
• Perez, Domino Renee. There Was a Woman: La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture. 2008, UT Press.
• Perez, Domino Renee. “La Llorona.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, edited by Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González, Oxford UP, 2005.
• Nahua people
• La Llorona Wikipedia
• The Curse of La Llorona: The Real Legend Behind the Horror Film- Vanity Fair
• The Many Faces of “La Llorona”- Grammy Awards
• La Llorona, Legend and Protector, in the Streets of San Francisco- KQED.org
• Mulholland Drive.net
• The Wailing Woman- History Today
• The Weeping Woman: The Folklore and Pop Culture Influence of La Llorona- Bloody Disgusting
• La Llorona: Hispanic folklore goes mainstream- The Conversation
• La Llorona (1933 film)- wikipedia

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Holly and Chelsea have a WAIL of a time this week talking.... you guessed it, banshees! Fae in Ireland, ghosts in Scotland, these wailing women are thought to be harbingers of death, mourners ushering souls to the next realm, and family protectors.

Sources:

• Wikipedia
• Soul Screamer book series- Goodreads
• Banshee book series- Amazon
• Banshee- Disney Wiki
• Scream of the Banshee movie- Wikipedia
• Banshee (short story) Wikipedia
• The Making of Darby O’Gill and the Little People- Irish Times
• Banshee Bakes a Cherry Pie- Ghostbusters Wiki
• The Hound of Ulster- Gargoyle Wiki
• Cú Chulainn- World History
• Banshee (character)- Wikipedia
• Noetzel, Justin T. "Banshee." The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Ashgate Publishing, 1st edition, 2014. Credo Reference, http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/ashgtmonster/banshee/0?institutionId=1049. Accessed 01 Jul. 2022.
• The Banshee
• Banshee, New World Encyclopedia
• Tips for Visiting Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland
• Cooper, James Davis. Is It True?: Tales Curious & Wonderful. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Seale, 1872.
• Koch, John T., and Antone Minard. The Celts: History, Life, and Culture [2 Volumes] : History, Life, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uiowa/detail.action?docID=1887898.

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Get ready to smell what the Florida Man is cooking in this latest installment of Faecraft! Holly and Chelsea dig into the stinky cryptid prowling Florida from the Everglades to the Keys: the Skunk Ape. They discuss the ape's biggest proponents, Florida's history, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the correlation between white nationalism and cryptozoology.

Sources:

• Atlanta Daily World, July 31 1977. “Fla. Family Cowers in Fear of Prowling ‘Skunk Ape.’”
• Chicago Defender, Jan 10. 1974.
• Connolly, Patrick. “Searching for Florida’s Skunk Ape: Chasing the Sunshine state’s sasquatch in the eEverglades”, June 27 2021 Orlando Sentinel
• Dickinson, Joy Wallace. “Skunk Ape among State’s odd legends.” Oct 10 201, Orlando Sentinel.
• Knight, Henry. “Savages of Southern Sunshine”: Racial Realignment of the Seminoles in the Selling of Jim Crow Florida.
• Shealy’s Official Skunk Ape Headquarters
• Stromberg, Joseph. “On the Trail of Florida’s Bigfoot—the Skunk Ape” (March 6, 2014).
• “The Man Behind Florida’s Favorite Cryptid: The Skunk Ape,” Atlas Obscura, 2015
• “Tribal Beliefs About Bigfoot,” The Journal of Chickasaw History and Culture, Vol. 13, is. 1. (Spring 2012), by Verna Todd

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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What does the fox say?!

Holly and Chelsea find out in this week's episode focusing on the Japanese kitsune, or fox god. Hear all about how these adorable, powerful creatures became synonymous with Japanese culture, permeating all areas of life from religion to architecture to literature and more for centuries.

​Sources:

• 5 Great Kitsune Anime for Fans of the Nine-Tailed Fox
• 6 Things to Know About the Inari Fox in Japanese Folklore
• The 10 Best Fox Pokemon, ranked
• A ‘Killing Stone’ Broke in Japan. Is a Demon on the Loose? NYTimes article by Mike Ives and Makiko Inoue March 18, 2022
• ​All About Kitsune
• Bathgate, Michael. The Fox’s Craft in Japanese Religion and Culture: Shapeshifters, Transformations, and Duplicities, Taylor & Francis Group, 2003.
• “Inari,” Encyclopedia Britannica
• Kitsune- from The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters
• Kitsune in Popular Culture
• Kurama- Narutopedia
• Ortabasi, Melek. “(Re)animating Folklore: Raccoon Dogs, Foxes, and Other Supernatural Japanese Citizens in Takahat Isao’s Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko,” Marvels & Tales, 27.2 2013.
• The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman & Yoshiaka Amano
• ​“Shinto” and “Buddhism” from The Encyclopedia of World Religions by the Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 2006.

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Cows! Fertility! Ravens!

This week on the podcast Holly and Chelsea tackle one of their favorite Irish goddesses, the Mórrígan. Chelsea goes into the ways this oral tradition was collected and interpretive issues, while Holly looks at how the Mórrígan is honored today.

Sources:

• Clark, Rosalind. The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses From the Morrígan to Cathleen Ní Houlihan. Irish Literary Studies 34, Barnes and Noble Books. 1991.
• The Hounds of the Morrigan- by Pat O’Shea (Goodreads)
• ​Mythopedia
• The Morrigan as a “Dark Goddess”: A Goddess Re-Imagined Through Therapeutic Self-Narration of Women on Social Media
• The Morrigan- World History
• ​The Morrigan Goddess- Druidry
• The Morrigan- The Order of the Crows
• ​Patheon- The Morrigan Calls People in Different Life Situations
• Podcast: Bonfire Bruja. Episode name: The Morrigan published Feb 23, 2022
• ​The Morrighan- learn religion
• ​Queer Folklore- The Morrigan is a Goddess For Protest
• Sanctuary- Fata Morgana
• ​Williams, Mark. Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth. Princeton UP, 2016.​
• https://wicdiv.fandom.com/wiki/The_Morrigan

Music:

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng

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Hello and welcome to Faecraft, a journey into tales of wonder, whimsy, and woe. Join us, the Burk sisters, for a romp with the Seelie and Unseelie courts in this our very first episode. Chelsea digs into historical research and origins of the magical Scottish courts of lore, while Holly shows us the lasting legacy of these creatures in popular culture.

Sources

• An Encyclopedia of Faeries, Katherine Briggs, 1976.
• British Faeries Wordpress website- The Good and the Wicked Wichts; The Seelie and Unseelie Courts; Two Tribes- Good and Bad Fairy Folk
• "The Cult of Seely Wights in Scotland," Folklore vol. 123 no. 2, Julian Goodare, 2012.
• The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, 1882-1898, Francis James Child, 1882-1898.
• Forgotten Realms wiki
• Good Faeries, Bad Faeries, Brian Froud, 1998
• "Seelie," Oxford English Dictionary.
• Shadowhunter wiki
• Writing In Margins website- The Seelie and Unseelie Courts

Music

• Intro and outro: ​Underneath the Christmas Tree (Instrumental) by myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q8fX3In7Qng