Good thing it's summer (and I'm not working) because Bruce Springsteen just released "Tracks II: The Lost Albums," which includes 83 songs and 5 hours and 20 minutes of "new" Bruce music—unreleased tracks from 1983 to 2018... I've listened to some, and it seems to be high-quality material, not just a bunch of outtakes and B-sides... I'm especially impressed by the "Philadelphia Sessions"—which Bruce recorded in the early 1990s, after the success of his song "Streets of Philadelphia"—these tracks feature drum loops and synthesizer washes and sound much more modern than most Bruce songs—"Blind Spot" is particularly good... anyway, I hear there are more interesting songs deeper in, so I will slowly dig through and enjoy this treasure trove from the Boss.
To Live and Die in the 80s (wearing very tight blue jeans) in L.A.
My wife and I watched To Live and Die in L.A. last night — it's streaming for free on Amazon Prime and I don't know how we missed this one in the theater; it's from 1985! — directed by William Friedkin (who also directed The French Connection and The Exorcist) it's a fast-paced noir thriller that begins with a rogue U.S. Secret Service agent going on a reckless, unsanctioned mission; Richard Chance — played by a young William Petersen of later CSI fame — lives up to his name, he's a base jumper who drinks and smokes constantly and instead of a G-man suit, he wears a football jersey, a scarf, and tight jeans-- very Don Johnson-- and between all the cigarettes, booze, and tight jeans, I don't know how he chases down the bad guys, but he does; right at the start, a master counterfeiter, played by a very young and unwrinkled Willem Dafoe, kills Chance's partner (with only three days left to retirement! so classic) and Chance pulls his new partner into a seedy underworld of morally bankrupt behavior that may or may not result in justice-- it’s worth watching this film for the credits font and the 80s fashion alone — and the excellent soundtrack by Wang Chung-- but there’s also an epic car chase that actually makes sense in terms of plot, character, and setting . . . I don't know how they pulled off this chase without digital effects — it's masterful; anyway, Roger Ebert gave this film four stars, and it deserves them, it’s cocaine-fueled, artsy violence in a grittier, seedier L.A. that doesn't exist anymore-- every scene is frenetic and full of interesting extras and you’ll half-recognize nearly every main actor, including Jane Leeves (she was "the virgin" in Seinfeld, but she's certainly not that in this film) but be warned — there's some hardcore 80s violence, nudity, profanity, and drinking of Miller High Life.
Hello Humans!
First Day of Summer!
School's Out Forever . . . or at least for a while.
Entrepreneurial Kids Are the Worst
Heat is Relative
It's 100 degrees today in New Jersey-- as hot as it gets-- and when I got in my car to leave the school parking lot, I burned my hands on the steering wheel . . . but it's going to be 114 degrees in Phoenix next week-- that seems incomprehensibly hot . . . do you have to turn your car on and let the A/C run for a while before you can actually drive-- or do people in Phoenix wear sylish leather driving gloves?
Il Gattopardo
Severed (from the Humidity)
Wax On, Wax Off
Karaoke in the Daylight is Weird
Another school year, another end-of-the-year party . . . and a new addition in the diversions-- besides cornhole, this year there was also karoake . . . yikes . . . and the party was comprised mainly of history, English, and gym teachers-- not the music department-- and I got bullied into singing a song with very few lyrics: "Don't Come Around Here No More" . . . which is more awkward to sing than a song with a lot of lyrics-- because there's not much to do during the music (unless you can dance, which . . . nope).
The Humidity Shaving Paraphernalia Paradox
The world is a complicated place: when it's very humid, it's more difficult to shave with an electric razor, but it's easier to shave with a metal disposable razor (I know of what I speak-- it's incredibly humid here for Juneteenth in Jersey, and I just shaved my head with an electric razor and my face with a disposable metal razor).
This Is Why People Are Stabbing Themselves with GLPs
This morning, I listened to this entire Derek Thompson podcast about the importance of avoiding ultra-processed sugary foods, and I swore to myself that I would stop consuming these items and then, this afternoon, when I stumbled on some chocolate/walnut/caramel/cookie/cranberry confection in the fridge that my mom got for me for Father's Day, I inhaled it without reflection. . . so starting NOW.
A Watched Pot Never Sprouts
Even More Thoughts on the Serendipitous Miracle of Creativity
My new episode of We Defy Augury-- "Weezer, Creativity, and the Nullity of Identity"-- is loosely inspired by the SNL Weezer sketch, Jonah Lehrer's article "Groupthink", Song Exploder episode 70: Weezer "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dory," the Atlantic article "Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?" by Spencer Kornhaber and a bunch of other stuff . . . check it out if you're looking for inspiration and the ideas behind good ideas.
Feels Like Belfast in November Today
A bittersweet, cold, and rainy Father's Day-- the first one without my dad around-- but I certainly made good use of my gift: I read nearly half of Hang On, St. Christopher . . . it's the eighth novel in Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy series, which is set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland . . . and I've enjoyed every one-- a perfect read for a damp wet day.
At Least It's A Rainy Day . . .
When You're Around Dave, The Learning Never Ends
Even though it's nearly summer and senior cut day, I actually taught a high school kid something today-- at bathroom duty, of all places . . . she didn't have her ID because she was coming from PE class and so she had to give me her ID number in order to check in and she recited it like this:
"one, four . . . triple five . . . one three"
and this was too many numbers and did not work, but then she clarified:
"I said that wrong-- just three-- I meant there was just one number three"
and so I told her that the generally acceptable way to give someone a long string of numbers was to do it in groups of three, and when she returned from the bathroom, she did just that, and we were both very pleased.
V/M (C/P) = $$$
Going to the vet is like going to the auto mechanic: cars and animals can't talk (unless perhaps your pet is a parrot with an extensive medical vocabulary?) and because they can't tell you what's wrong, you have to rely on this intermediary, and you hope the intermediary is an expert and understands the problems with the car/pet-- but you never know for sure . . . the only thing you do know for sure when you visit the auto mechanic or the vet is that it's going to be expensive.
Gone Fishin'
