Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

In my day, never was longer.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Music & Postcard Thread

Saturday Music & Postcard Thread

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It’s Saturday Night!  (but not LIVE from New York)

Quick note from brandoncalling, who has kindly made us a new Singer / Songwriter playlist for tonight!  If you click on the YouTube song that’s embedded above, it will play through the whole list, but if you click the link you can see the list and choose your songs.

“Folks, I don’t have much of a blurb today. By the time you’re reading these words, I will have taken a standardized test, hopefully tidied up my house, had practice for tomorrow’s gig, and (if everything work out right) should be at a birthday party. Maybe I’ll even have time to shower. I hope letter writing goes well this evening, and I sure hope I’ve included something for everyone here. Today’s list is singer/songwriters, which reminds me of a joke.

“What’s the difference between a singer/songwriter and a puppy?”
.
.
.
[wait for it] .
.
“Eventually the puppy grows up and stops whining.”
Thanks, I’ll be here all week.

ANYWAY. On this list you’ll find some John Prine and some Joni Mitchell, some Willie Nelson and some Willi Carlisle and some Lilly Hiatt (and her dad John Hiatt too). I threw in a little Jonathan Richman and some Daniel Johnston, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, and a whole bunch of other stuff too. I’ll check in later on, jackals!

And postcards!  This is our last Saturday night to write postcards before the last date to mail.  Our Tuesday post will be on Monday this week because Tuesday is the last date to mail, unless you are in Wisconsin.

Music and Election Results post will be on Tuesday, April 4!

We have 375 more addresses to hand out in SD-8, which gives us double the bang for the buck because those folks get to vote in two key races – for the WI Supreme Court and to choose their next State Senator in District 8.  We already sent one round of postcards to those folks about the state senate race – and this time we want to talk about the Supreme Court race, and add a one-line reminder to vote for Jodi for SD-8!

Remember, 650 of those down, 375 more to go!  So if you can do a few postcards it can really make a difference in this district!

Write to watergirl at balloon-juice.com if you would like postcard addresses.  If you have any postcard questions, chime in below and one of us will be sure to answer them.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    BlueGuitarist

    Writing some more postcards for Judge Janet for Justice + Jodi for Senate.

    Senate district 8 is like a super swing district, each voter can vote to replace 2 republicans with Democrats, flipping the state Supreme Court and preventing Republicans from having a 2/3 majority in the gerrymandered state senate.

  2. 2.

    Mousebumples

    I’m here – wrapping presents now that the kids are asleep (we have a birthday party for the now 1 year old tomorrow) – but I’ll be writing more Judge Janet postcards to send to the Milwaukee area shortly. 😊

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    OKAY I’M SORRY BUT I WARNED YOU ALL THE OTHER DAY. I won’t be extra annoying and link each one separately but this will take you to the playlist for audio uploads of every track in order* on Depeche Mode’s new album, Memento Mori.

    (*in order matters, because the track organization on this album is absolutely exquisite IMO and it deserves to be listened to in the order they wanted it to be)

    I fucking love this album so much. It’s their 15th studio album, and I have all the previous 14 in iTunes, and if you’d asked me if I thought something could top Violator or Songs of Faith and Devotion or Sounds of the Universe, I would’ve said probably not. But this one does. I’m blown away by the songwriting (Martin Gore is a literal genius, and Dave Gahan’s entries here are also brilliant), the technical craft of the music and sounds, DAVE’S VOICE which it is amazing that he’s in his early 60s and sounds better than he ever did. The opening track was the second single, and I had one notion of what it meant, but when I heard the closing track, it completely upended it and made me see it totally differently. There are all these subtle little call-and-response moments to earlier songs that are just wicked clever, not just the titles but lines and sounds. I love it so much. Absolutely my new favorite album of theirs.

    Since this is BJ I know someone is gonna enjoy needling me and saying it sucks. I WILL NOT TAKE THE BAIT. At least I hope I won’t. Okay anyway bye bye.

  5. 5.

    Mousebumples

    OP – Tuesday is the last date to mail, unless you are in Wisconsin.

    Bordering states (IL, IA, MN, & MI) could probably also mail Wednesday. Just be sure to take the postcards to the post office before their last pickup, so they actually go out in the mail on Wednesday. 📫 (depending on carrier schedules/routes, your outgoing mail may not leave until the next business day, depending on when it gets back to the post office otherwise)

  7. 7.

    MagdaInBlack

    Well, the John Prine album cover at the top, and yes, the song, certainly took me back to my hs pot smoking days. And “Christmas in Prison” on the list is one of my favorites.

    Nice playlist, thank you ❤️😊

    Eta: and oh YAY!  “Lincoln Park Pirates” is on the list. Yo Ho tow them away 🤗

  14. 14.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: I need to charge my phone, and there isn’t a good outlet near tonight’s writing spot. So I’m “here” but may be quiet for a bit here. 😊

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Lincoln Park Pirates right after a live version of The Partisan? All win, all the time.

  21. 21.

    jackmac

    @jackmac: I tried to heap more praise on this playlist but I ran out of time to edit. Anyway, two other all-time favorites on there include Steve Goodman’s “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request” — (“When the snow melts away do the Cubbies still play in their ivy-covered burial ground?”) — and his “Lincoln Park Pirates.”

    Yes, I’m a Chicagoan of a certain age.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    Bonnie Raitt caused a few tears in the crowd when remembering John Prine, before singing “Angel from Montgomery” the other night. He warrants a statue somewhere.

  32. 32.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @WaterGirl: I just saw the post & commented. She comes tomorrow and I’m very excited! That is a lovely pic my friend sent, thanks for posting both pics.

  33. 33.

    schrodingers_cat

    Are people in a mood for film noir, Hindi movie style? Made by Gurudutt, they were typically set in and around Mumbai and had great music. Is Steeplejack around? He likes Gurudutt.

  35. 35.

    MagdaInBlack

    @raven:A few years ago I lived just a few blocks from there, had no idea it ever existed. Kiddieland was still in existence tho.

  37. 37.

    brendancalling

    Howdy folks.

    I meant to include Croce. My bad!
    I’m at a birthday party. I hate parties. I’m escaping.

  40. 40.

    zhena gogolia

    @WaterGirl: Oh, God, you have taken me back to my freshman year. My roommate and I listened to that every night as we went to sleep. One of those record players where you could put several LPs on and they’d drop down and automatically play.

    Fabulous song.

  47. 47.

    geg6

    @Alison Rose:

    What I have heard so far is lovely.  But it’s just the one song.  And apparently, it’s a club hit.  Just like the good old days.  I’ve also read some rapturous reviews.

  51. 51.

    mvr

    One of my favorite John Prine songs is ‘Lake Marie’:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzCjQwt2rgI

    Was lucky enough to have seen him with Steve Goodman back in the 80s in Portland (before this song was written).  And lucky enough to have my first real concert be Steve Goodman at a club called Charlotte’s Web when I was barely17 and they let us in despite being relatively underage.

  52. 52.

    Alison Rose

    @geg6: If it was the first single Ghosts Again, yeah, it’s definitely reminiscent of their big hits of the late 80s/early 90s. The rest of the album is different, though still a number of bangers, IMO. But to me, whether or not a song is gonna take off on the radio isn’t important. Each track is impactful.

  53. 53.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Raven: Yes, it was still there. I lived in Melrose Park, 18th and Norwood, in a 2 flat, from 2006 to 2010.  “Garden” apartment, flooded in 2010…….good times

  56. 56.

    Mousebumples

    Thanks to everyone who’s postcarding! I’m trying to get the messaging at least done on another 30 tonight – with photos to come, hopefully, later. Might get addresses done, but… TBD.

  57. 57.

    geg6

    @Alison Rose:

    Oh, I’ll definitely be listening to the whole thing.  I was just happy to see that the kids love them, too, all these years later.  I’ve been a big fan forever.

  65. 65.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Raven: How a northern Illinois farm kid ended up in a garden 2 flat in Melrose Park is quite the convoluted journey. But I do know that school, a friend lived near there.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    Sorry I don’t recall whose postcards were whose – I just knew I had included the word “postcard” in the filenames, so I searched for that in the media library.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @Gretchen: Have you sent me a photo of any of your postcards yet?

    Someone mentioned last week that even drawing a few colored lines between sections of information is an easy way to dress them up.

    Plain or fancy, they all help!

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    Wow, I almost put BioFreeze on my toothbrush by mistake, laugh myself just as I was about to squeeze the tube. That could have been ugly!

  88. 88.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: Simplifying messaging above since early voting has started.

    I can get the messaging on 30 done in a night (*above), but we’ll see if I can get addresses done before I turn in. It’s the home stretch, so trying to get as many mailed as I can in the time I have!

  99. 99.

    kalakal

    @WaterGirl: Heh, when it came out all my friends were into Led Zep, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Didn’t quite fit in with the peer group with that one 😄

  101. 101.

    mvr

    @WaterGirl: ​
    That’s the version that got me to love the song. First heard it as a cover by Nazereth on the radio when I was a young teen and didn’t like it at all. Then bought a used copy Grevious Angel when I was around 19 and fell in love with it. (Rest of that album is wonderful as well. It doesn’t hurt that they had Elvis Presley’s band on that record.)

  112. 112.

    Xavier

    Can’t have a singer songwriter list without James Taylor. There’s a good argument that he’s one of the founders of the movement.

  115. 115.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @WaterGirl: thanks for getting the cards together on cafe press. I’m saving one of each on the fridge. I’m hoping they catch the recievers’ eyes.

    First time writing, so used parts of the script and used colored pens on hand.

  116. 116.

    Mousebumples

    @BeautifulPlumage: Thanks for writing! They look great! 🤩

    I’ve got mine done and addressed for the night. More tomorrow, and for the Monday night thread! Hope to see some of you there, too.

  120. 120.

    GibberJack

    @jackmac: Mine (if i had to commit to just one): Fish and Whistle

    I first heard it at a time in my life where it resonated. Also I love the counterpoint of the chirping piccolo-like penny whistle.

     

    Father forgive us for what we must do

    You forgive us, we’ll forgive you

    We’ll forgive each other until we both turn blue

    And we’ll whistle and go fishing in the heavens

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