I try hard to just enjoy what I enjoy, but my suspicion of both novelty and nostalgia complicates things sometimes. (Yes, I am also suspicious of my suspicions.) So when I listen to albums from the ’90s I try, mostly unsuccessfully, to tamp down on the a-time-and-a-placeness feelings they evoke in me. I had a …
I’m Outta Luck, Outta Love
I call this photo essay Faces of 2018. I remember being moved to pity by the woebegone and unfun-looking toys of my parents’ and grandparents’ age. Now, when I encounter the horrid plastic crap of my own childhood I think, “My …
144,000 Lord
Hey. I haven’t dunned you all week for our prospective Democratic congress-critters. Let’s fix that. I don’t expect something for nothing. Let me share a song from my personal reel of proto-rock songs. I’m well aware of Louis Jordan, Ike Turner’s Rocket 88 and all that stuff. My list doesn’t just have backbeat-y songs that …
This Is What You Get When You Mess With Us
I don’t need another reason to loathe stoner contrarian and human jerk-off gesture Bill Maher. But in the Washington Post over the weekend he bellyached over the mean, unfair boycotts the kids whose friends were mowed down in Florida have initiated, particularly the Laura Ingraham boycott. He sees a potential for his ox to get …
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Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself
I used to advise my students not to name their band anything clever or funny. In the very unlikely event that your band is still together after a year, it will be supremely annoying. Like being told the same knock-knock joke over and over by a six-year-old. In the even more unlikely event that your …
If You’ve Got a Blacklist I Want To Be on It.
I’ve only been thinkfluencing here at the ranch for a few months, so I might not make the grade. Meanwhile, the United States government, traditionally one of the bastions of press freedom, is about to compile a list of professional journalists and “top media influencers,” which would seem to include bloggers and podcasters, and monitor what …
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Crime of the Century
Here is the fund that’s split between all eventual Democratic nominees in House districts currently held by Republicans.