D’Angelo was incredible and Black Messiah is straight up a life changing album. I spent the last few days listening to this album on repeat. His singing makes time reset to him. Here’s a snippet of a drum cover I attempted just now of “Ain’t That Easy”.
Jimmy Kimmel went off the air for a few days. People voted with their wallets. They cancelled their Disney + subscriptions, they sent a loud clear message. Jimmy Kimmel is now back on the air.
Apple pulls key apps from the App Store that anonymously and safely allows communities some semblance of agency against the cruelty of this administration. Imagine the response being billions of dollars in returned Apple merchandise, overnight, cancelled Apple related subscriptions and iPhone orders.
Apple is not your enemy. Disney is not your enemy. Tim Cook is not your enemy. Google is not your enemy. But they wield power over our culture that can be reversed and channeled appropriately. We always say, money talks, people with money have the power, etc. Collectively we could easily use that as leverage, and put them into the appropriate position to say Fuck you, make me.
But we’re not doing that. We are bitching about how Tim Cook is bending the knee, online, dopamine achieved. My wife always reminds me about pointing fingers, there are three fingers pointing back.
The Nebraska Telephone Company Building in Lincoln. A reminder that infrastructure used to be built with style. From theclio.com:
The ground story is composed of cast iron with a simple classical motif spanning the width of the front of the building. The upper stories are St. Louis pressed brick topped by a terra cotta entablature and wall cornice, under a copper free-standing anthemion motif. This motif featuring of alternating lotus and palmette is shared by the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The second and third floor facades also feature ornate designs such as a terra cotta panel featuring a bell (a symbol of the phone company) and floral motif underneath a palladian window.
This. From Taegan Goddard’s Politcal Wire. Well worth the subscription btw.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could simply announce that Democrats will no longer filibuster appropriations bills, and when back in the majority, they’ll formally abolish it.
That alone would render the filibuster meaningless.
Such a move would leave Republicans fully responsible for funding the government.
Democrats could vote against GOP proposals and then criticize them as bad policy without being blamed for shutting down the government.
Posted a YouTube short of my drum cover of Shout by Tears for Fears. This is from a few months ago, I wish my back was back to 100% so I could play more.
Tweaked my back a week or so ago, it was almost healed and then came back with a vengeance. Laid in bed all day yesterday and today is looking to be the same. The only internet I did was redesigning my site, Nokia blue is the one, true blue.
I watched Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (from 2005). Edward Norton saves this entire movie as King Baldwin, and seriously, he only had a few short scenes, wears a mask the entire time (since he is the Leper King), but leaves an unmistakable impression.
The boy has been feeling a bit unsettled for the past few weeks, sometimes waking up at 4 or 5 am and ready to play or just do something. My wife and I have made a plan to slow things down around him and give extra support where we can without trying to push our agenda too much beyond the basics (food, play, bed time, wake up time, general hygiene).
I don’t know if he’s been feeling my own stresses since I was laid off (I certainly have been doing my best to keep that away but you know, kids, they really see this shit). I’m guessing some developmental milestones are happening too. He has amazing vocabulary but expression is a challenge for him (honestly since he was a baby).
I’ve probably applied to around 75 jobs so far, have had lots of support from former colleagues and friends in the form of referrals and connections. Rejections are starting to come in, otherwise, a lot of ghosting. Really is what it is and I just keep myself away from the pressure that can sometimes build (not always successfully).
On the drumming front, I had thrown out my back about a week ago and it’s only yesterday and today that it is starting to feel more normal. I managed to practice these past 48 hours and have been concentrating on repeating the same patterns over and over, changing only the dynamic. My hands and feet are able to play things these days that years ago caused mental struggles (and therefore physical manifestations of those struggles), but I’m super happy about how much I have progressed and without the distractions that can come with being part of a band or something. I do miss playing with other musicians, but all in due time I suppose.
Right now, I just wish for my boy to work through whatever is causing his feeling unsettled and supporting him by being close to both he and my wife.
My iPhone 13 mini is at 93% battery health. And still lighter than all of these newer phones. The new Airpods Pro are nice. Airpods Pro + iPhone seem like a far more powerful computing option than any VR or glasses imo.
Driven by relentless ad monetization, news has become mental junk food - an endless stream of clickbait that destroys our ability to think deeply and clearly.