Goodbye giant, morally (and legally) corrupt banking institution,
I've moved all of my money to a local credit union and couldn't be happier. I'm helping to support the community I love and not padding the wallet of some mega rich asshole CEO.
I've joked about hipsters and vinyl for as long as it's been a thing. It's an outdated format. Unweldy, impractical and by it's very nature designed to degrade. I hauled a half dozen milk cartons full of records around every time I moved until I was 28. Then I just abandoned them. Other than Aerosmith and the Black Crowes I left probably 300 albums in my Mom's garage when I sold her house. I didn't want them anymore and saw no future where I ever would. I only kept the records I did as a collector with no plans on listening to them. A few years later the flood of 2010 happened and I lost those too.
Fast forward to this year and there were actually a few special Record Store Day releases I really wanted, all the while hoping they'd come with download codes so I could throw them in iTunes and forget those 12" pieces of plastic existed. None of them did. I was stuck with 5 records and no way to listen to them. So I did what any sane person in 2017 would do - I had Amazon Prime Now deliver me a turntable in less than an hour. I hooked it to my receiver, dropped the needle...
And instantly remembered why vinyl is so fucking great.
For so long I never listened to records. I was just forced to store them and move them and completely forgot why they have the appeal they do.
The artwork, the inner sleeves, the liner notes, devoting time to sit down and actually listen, not having 25,000 other songs in your pocket to distract you, that sound when the needle first hits the record. Not to mention Aerosmith 'Rocks' (one of the greatest albums ever made by anyone) just sounds better on vinyl. Maybe not scientifically/technically better, but it sounds the way it was intended to.
I won't be growing a beard or wearing skinny jeans anytime soon, but count me as part of the resurgence.
Just don't fucking call them vinyls.
You fucking morons have had 7 years. 7 years where all you've talked about, dreamed about and lived for is repealing the Affordable Care Act. 7 years to draft legislation that could actually improve the pieces of Obamacare that need fixing, all while keeping the most vulnerable protected. Instead you quickly throw together some bullshit that fucks everyone but the very young and very rich (the GOP's wetdream) and still can't get it passed.
This entire administration (and I'm including Congress in this as well) is an embarrassment both to our political system and our country as a whole.
Perusing the iTunes store and after pre-ordering the new Jason Isbell album 'The Nashville Sound' I took a look at the reviews.
The majority are rightly 4 and 5 stars, but these 3 stood out.
While not as overtly political as the last Drive-By Truckers album, Jason's newest single makes his stance perfectly clear. And as these reviews prove, he's pissing off exactly the right people he needs to be.
Good work sir. Keep on fighting the good fight.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/andrew-wk-on-working-out
I've never been a fan of his music, but he's turned into a helluva writer. I've tried expressing the same things he does in this piece, but never summed it up as well as he can.
I watch this video so I can be reminded how great the world we live in can actually be. The leader of the free world may be an illiterate facist, but the Cubs are fucking World Series Champions.
As a tried and true member of Generation X I can't argue with the results.
A few things that that stand out:
September 11th is the biggest event in the lifetimes of people born 3 generations apart. That says a lot
Despite our current Idiot In Chief's insistence that his inauguration was the biggest of all time, it will be remembered as a shameful day in America. Obama's on the other hand was one of the defining moments in our culture's history.
If there's one thing that ties each generation together it's the presence of war. WWII, Vietnam, the Gulf War and Iraq/Afghanistan all feature prominently on each respective list. We as a society should try and change that.
The lists are evenly split between some of the darkest days in our history and events that brought about amazing positive change. WWII and the Civil Rights Movement. Iraq and Gay Marriage.
Maybe in 20 years the next generation will have a list of nothing but things to be proud of. The way we're headed right now though I fear it will be exactly the opposite.
...for the greatest sign I've ever seen.
Super callous fragile racist sexist Nazi POTUS
Pure fucking genius.
It's hard to believe it's been a decade since everything changed. Everything
Until January 9, 2007 "smartphones" were clunky pieces of plastic junk with unwieldy styluses, hardware keyboards and operating systems that were both slow and prone to constant crashing. They were also filled with carrier branded crapware and the idea of apps didn't exist. Web browsing? Anyone not old enough to remember can never understand what it was like trying to look at non-optimized web pages on a postage stamp sized screen. Email? POP access with manual sync. Wifi? Unheard of. Multi-touch? No one had even bothered to try.
The iPhone was the culmination of everything Steve Jobs worked for. It's hard to imagine our lives without it. Even people on Android have to give respect to the 1st iPhone. It made everything since possible.
People complain that Apple is no longer "revolutionary". There were 23 years between the introduction of the Mac and the iPhone. Both changed the history of personal computing. The Mac introduced the GUI that continues to be the basis for every computer made since. The iPhone shaped the mobile age.
What will be next? No one knows, but I'm sure somewhere in a hidden lab in Cupertino they're hard at work figuring it out.
...since they closed down Dunder Mifflin
I'm trying to read an article on Rolling Stone's website and no matter what I try I can't get past this giant fucking ad for a book I couldn't care less about. There's no obvious way to close it, refreshing the page just brings the ad right back up and waiting for it to disappear has done nothing.
This kind of user hostile experience is to be expected on the "OMG! 30 FACTS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT LADY GAGA" sites, but Rolling Stone?
After making my "Best Albums of 2016" list last week I also put together this Spotify playlist of the best tunes of the year. Enjoy!
If this is about the world's highest paid "musicians", why is there some douche with headphones and a laptop in the accompanying photo?
