The weatherman says he's tracking the tropics

Just a quick reminder: this blog does not and will never feature paid placement. I am one person, not an algorithm. This is the music I like. If I put it on a playlist, I think it’s worth your time. That is all.

It’s not a great sign for the country that Jon Ossoff is just speaking very plainly about what we can all see with our own eyes and people are saying “wow, finally someone said it!” and “will the mainstream media finally catch on?” Good for him.

It reminds me of this quote from Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Michigan: “Forgive me, I have this bad habit of trying to like study the things I talk about. And I read about capitalism.” I love the sarcasm but also the implication that so many people (who run for office) absolutely do not read about or understand the things they talk about. And of course he’s right. Is that too much to ask for? That quote really sums up the state of the world so well. Like, oh sorry I actually know something about this! These are all dumb rich guys who don’t know what anything is or does and when you’re that rich and dumb you’re not going to bother to learn. The things that normal people care about are of absolutely no value to them.

Massachusetts, let’s make sure we re-elect Ed Markey. Seth Moulton is a snake. Yes, Ed is old. That’s Seth’s only argument while he’s running around doing dirty smear campaign politics. Ed’s one of the good ones. Early voting is open now til the 28th, or you can vote on September 1.

Here are some bangin’ songs. Apple Music playlist link here. Lil freaky guy low effort cover below. YouTube links below that. That Haywire video is awesome.

Featuring: Dead Gowns, Perennial, Jess Williamson, Wild Pink, Squirrel Flower, Jawdropped, Haywire 617, Good Sleepy, Sadurn, 2nd Grade, New Junk City, Swapmeet, Queen of Jeans, Best Ex, Julia Jacklin, Petey USA, Mia June, Snarls.

Phoebe Corner

Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers is excellent. Monumental in so many ways. I was lucky enough to get tickets and hear it early at the planetarium at the Museum of Science and it was a lovely experience. The visuals were stunning and it was a unique first listen.

I highly recommend taking the time to turn everything else off, close your eyes, put a good pair of headphones on, and really listen. There’s a lot going on. There are so many tiny moments that really stand out. The credits are long, and there’s a good reason for that.

This March profile of Mike Kinsella mentioned “a singer-songwriter more famous than Mike” and from the details (screaming after the second verse) it is now very clear it was Phoebe, since the song “Bobby” has Mike listed in the credits. He said she was polite, and he wasn’t insulted, but I think it just shows that she has a very specific sound in mind for everything she does and is not willing to veer from it. Nothing wrong with that. Also, I don’t really hear a midwest emo riff there?

It’s mildly amusing to me that Conor Oberst’s only credit on the (main) record is harmonica on one track. (He does vocals on the bonus track.)

Baseball Corner

Roman Anthony is playing baseball again. I have missed him.

Shoutout to the Women’s Pro League! Get it, ladies! Cool as hell.

Let me fix baseball stats and TV presentation:

First, batting average is a pretty useless stat, or at least there are much more useful stats, and the fact that TV broadcasts still put it all over the screen is sad. On-base percentage is batting average plus a little more information. It’s strictly better! They should spend time explaining the more advanced stats but also why they are more useful. Numbers tell stories. What stories? What do they mean? Why do teams care about them? I know old guys grumble “grr back in my day guys used to hit .300!” as if an arbitrary number means something. Yes there are less .300 hitters now. Pitchers have never been better, and every guy coming out of the bullpen is a terminator throwing 100. If Babe Ruth ever saw one Mason Miller fastball he would have quit on the spot.

Second, we need to have some picture-in-picture. Say there’s a runner on first who might steal. Can we get a PIP on him in the corner? Now if there’s a runner on second and a hit to the outfield, we need a PIP on him too that follows him as he rounds third and tries to score. The main camera can follow the hit to the outfield, but I want to be able to track the runner and have a good idea if he’s going to beat the throw. There’s only so much action in baseball, let’s show it all. When two things are happening at once, let’s see it all. These feels like a no-brainer, right? How has this still not happened?

Also, not a TV thing but now that there’s a DH in both leagues, is there any reason to specify is someone is “3rd in the AL” or “5th in the NL” or something like that? The leagues used to play differently with pitchers batting. That’s no longer true. Let’s just not sort by AL/NL anymore.

While we’re wishing, a new commissioner would be great. No, no, I can’t. Okay fine I’ll do it.

Hannah Corner

Welcome to Hannah Einbinder appreciation corner. I want to be friends with Ava Daniels. This week I finished Hacks after putting the finale off for awhile because I didn’t want it to end. Well done all around. It really became one of those shows that I just wanted to spend time with the characters, and frequently had to rewind because my wife and I were laughing so hard at certain lines.

In other Hannah news, Jane Schoenbrun has done it again. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma was excellent. Hannah was great alongside the legend and my longtime crush Gillian Anderson. Maybe I’ll have more to say about it at some point but I can’t wait to see it again.

News Corner

Alternate headline: dudes who have habitually and purposely behaved unethically, immorally, and in a completely untrustworthy manner are accurately viewed by young adults as unethical, immoral, and untrustworthy. Not sure why that’s so hard to believe.

Maybe it doesn’t get the same headlines but ICE is still out in the streets of our country kidnapping neighbors. It’s especially bad in Springfield, OH, home of the bullshit “they’re eating the cats and dogs” smear. “Fitting ankle monitors on noncitizens without a criminal history who remain in compliance with their immigration cases has little precedent… The ankle monitors will make it far easier for federal authorities to locate the immigrants if full-scale deportations begin.” (x)

So, this story about the lying agent. Here’s the TL;DR: Northern Virginia. American citizen. ICE guy points a gun at her, claims she was following them and almost ran them over, threatens to arrest her. She tells them she has dashcam footage of the whole thing, so they leave without arresting her. The dashcam footage, of course, shows she never tried to run anyone over. These big wannabe tough guy bozos were mad at her because she called them “hoe” and “fucking bitch” while they were detaining two people. How easily they lie. The power of video. She had this to say: “I know my laws. I’m an American citizen. I have my First Amendment rights. I can say what I can, what I want, and I don’t feel like I should have a gun pointed to my head because you didn’t like being called a hoe.” She’s right, but also unfortunately without the video, they could have kidnapped her or worse.

That feels like a good place to end. They are hoes. You’re great though. Love you. I hope you enjoy the songs.