The Wisdom of Youth

One of the many cool things about having children who are old enough and engaged enough in the world to find their own interests is that I get to learn from them. My 16 year-old, for instance, closely follows the solo careers of the members of One Direction, so I've learned from her that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan make some really decent music.

From my other kid, I'm learning more about dance and different movement theories. Netflix features a documentary called 'Move', which tells stories of dancers and choreographers from around the world. On Thanksgiving, we watched an episode about Ohad Naharian's Gaga movement language. From 1990 to 2018, Naharian was the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, where he developed Gaga, a flowing, loose-limbed style that pushes dancers to connect with their bodies in space. (I don't know, man, that's just what it looks like to me - judge for yourself.)

Naharian has extended the principles of Gaga to non-dancers, with a global series of online and in-person classes designed to teach people "to connect to their bodies and imaginations, experience physical sensations, improve their flexibility and stamina, exercise their agility and explosive power, and enjoy the pleasure of movement in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere."

As seen in 'Move', and in other publicly-available videos, Naharian is both very serious about his work, and capable of being sublimely silly in trying to unlock his dancers' inhibitions. Almost...Gheorghie, if you will. Here's an example where he leads a large group. Dig it.

My daughter informed us that it's her professional goal to dance for Batsheva. In Tel Aviv. Expanding her horizons, expanding her parameters. I didn't think she'd get into a dance program as well-regarded as VCU's, so who am I to doubt her.

This Week in Wrenball: Back to the Future

The 2019-20 Wrens' season was a rollercoaster. It started under a cloud, the wound from Tony Shaver's unceremonious and undeserved firing still fresh. (Karma, it turns out, is still a bitch.) The Tribe lost multiple important parts from a team that was widely considered the favorite to win the CAA to transfers in the wake of Shaver's dismissal.

Dane Fischer took the job and inherited a dispirited fanbase and a decimated roster. He and his staff dug in and secured commitments from three key transfers: Andy Van Vliet, Bryce Barnes, and Tyler Hamilton came to campus to support Nathan Knight. And W&M started the season 4-0, and probably should've beaten Oklahoma in Norman. 

The rest of the non-conference schedule was a bit of a plateau, with a blowout loss to Stanford balanced by a thrashing of Old Dominion, until W&M dropped its final two pre-league games to St. Joe's and St. Francis (PA), neither powerhouses.

But those letdowns were followed by six straight wins to begin CAA play, which were followed by a 2-5 stretch that included losses to mediocre Drexel and UNCW teams. And of course, Fischer's guys rebounded to win their final five games of the season to finish with a 13-5 league record, good for the second seed in the first CAA Tournament to be played in Washington, DC.

Where the Tribe lost to an Elon team it beat twice during the regular season, including 10 days prior to the first round of the tournament. That loss on March 8 was the last time I was in a sports arena in 2020.

Well done, @wmsportsblog

Dane Fischer, regardless of the circumstances of his hire, can really coach. Nathan Knight is the best player in W&M history. The first of those will be put to the test this season. The second is the reason.

Knight's draft-day signing by the Atlanta Hawks makes three W&M players in five years inking deals with NBA teams (Marcus Thornton and Daniel Dixon both had deals with the Boston Celtics.) His departure, along with the 7'0" Van Vliet, Barnes, and Hamilton change both W&M's roster and Fischer's options at both ends of the court.

The Tribe head man will have to figure out how to replace 54% of his team's minutes, 64.2% of its made field goals, 71.6% of its made free throws, 68.2% of its rebounds, 57.9% of its assists, 85.2% of its blocks, 68.8% of its steals, and 63.3% of its points. The 2020-21 Tribe has one senior who played more than 9 minutes last year. That player, Luke Loewe, made huge strides last season as a complimentary option, hitting 43.9% of his threes and scoring 10.7 ppg, while making the CAA's All-Defensive team. It remains a very open question whether Loewe can be as productive while playing a more central role offensively.

For this half-assed blogger's money, the key to whether the Tribe will live down to preseason predictions (the league's coaches and nearly every observer tap W&M to finish 10th of 10 teams in the CAA) is whether Thornton Scott can stay healthy and produce at a different level. Scott has flashed impressive skill at times during his first two seasons in green and gold, but he only played 19 games last season, and various injuries limited him to 7.3 ppg. Even with the limited playing time, Scott was second on the team in assists, averaging more than four per game.

Thornton Scott, the key

Quinn Blair and Miguel Ayesa didn't start a single game between them, and averaged 4.8 and 4.6 ppg, respectively. Blair's a grinder, and Ayesa can shoot it, but asking them to make a big leap may well be a question we don't want answered.

Incoming freshman Yuri Covington (a touted 6'1" point guard), Jake Milkereit (6'5" wing), Connor Kochera (6'5" guard) and redshirt frosh Ben Wight (6'9" forward/center) will all likely get a chance to earn significant minutes. At least two of them have to be big contributors for the Tribe to be anything more than bad.

With only three players 6'7" or taller, the Tribe's ability to protect the rim and get to the glass will change dramatically. There are multiple potential lineup combinations for Fischer that will see five players all around 6'5" on the floor, running interchangeable offensive and defensive concepts. If 2019-20 was the story of twin towers and team chemistry, 2020-21 will be very much a test of Dane Fischer's chops.

Says here that anything better than 10 wins in the Wrens' 26 scheduled games would be impressive. Also says here that playing more than half of those 26 games might constitute good fortune. I'm afraid that Nathan Knight's professional contract may well be the highlight of the season for Tribe fans.

W&M kicks off the season at ODU this evening. Tribe thumped the Monarchs by 17 last year. Tribe will not thump the Monarchs by 17 this year.

Baby, if you've ever wondered, wondered whatever became of memes...

...they're living on the web in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, W-GTB.

A tried and true GTB holiday tradition, I give you Gordon Jump's finest moment:

The GOAT

Spill out an 8-ball for the greatest ever:

The Zeal of the Converted

I gave myself an early Christmas present a few weeks ago and bought a pair of AirPods. I use them every time I walk my dog, among other things. That gives me roughly an hour a day to fill with audio.

Over the several weeks I've had them, I pretty quickly exhausted my normal podcast rotation. I listen to NPR's Up First every day, but that's only a 15-minute tour of the day's news. All my other usual fare is less frequently updated, like Men in Blazers or 99% Invisible or Dan LeBatard's South Beach Sessions (which is a good listen - LeBatard is an excellent interviewer).

And so I found myself needing new material, which led me (indirectly via a recommendation by 99pi's Roman Mars) to Song Exploder. I'm pretty sure at least a couple of you have commented about it in the past, but I'd never taken your recommendation. Because you're all a little fucked up, if we're being real.

Man, do I have some catching up to do. I just got done walking the pup while I listened to the episode about Run the Jewels' JU$T, and it's some mind-bending distillation of genius, from El-P's initial inspiration to Killer Mike's exploration of both sides of capitalism, to Zack de la Rocha fire-spitting contribution to Pharrell's understanding of RTJ's whole deal. I can't recommend it enough.

Consider me a convert. If you need me, speak loudly, 'cause I'll probably have the 'pods on.

Nick of Time

A Gheorghie who shall remain nameless thought it would be a good idea to celebrate the rags to riches story of the world's chubbiest parrot turned champion in the comments section. Do we not all know G:TB Rule #1? 

For those that need a refresher, right there on the first page of the G:TB Style Guide, even before the correct spelling of dipshittery and the proper usage of extra h's, it says in boldfaced, all-caps type: POSTCOUNT!

And so we were fortunate to rescue this piece from the commentariat, and share with you now. Behold the Kākāpō, winner for the second time of New Zealand's Bird of the Year award:

I know what you're thinking. I, too, had no idea New Zealand had such a prestigious award, and I'm stunned that the kiwi hasn't retired the title.

The Kākāpō is a gloriously funky-looking beast, a waddling, round, knife-beaked thing. They're also very endangered, with only 209 alive today. The Bird of the Year program is intended to bring awareness to endangered birds, and help raise funds for breeding programs. There's good news to share on that front. Experts expect 75 Kākāpō chicks to survive this year, and for a species that can live as long as 90 years, that's a great generation.

So enjoy our round-bellied friend, and reflect for a moment on Rule #1. Have a day, Gheorghies.

Fashion is...not dumb?

TR sent me another doozy. As an expert in novelty socks, I think it is dumb. He was either being sarcastic, or genuinely thinks this is not dumb. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Note from TR: First off, I was in the scotch when I sent, so anything I said should be discounted. Second, these are not awesome in the sense that I want to own them and wear them. They are awesome in the theoretical sense that I will one day see people wearing these at sporting events, amusement parks, while hiking somewhere, or at my local Sears. Just knowing they are out there in the world makes me happy. First one of you to capture real-life usage in a photo gets a real mule. 

Memoirs of a Jump-Shooting President

Barack Obama has been in public view lately, campaigning for his former wing man and President-elect, Joe Biden, and hawking his presidential memoir. Aside from the obvious question – How many memoirs is a guy permitted? He’s up to three, with at least one more coming – it’s been a nice reminder of a president who conducts himself with intelligence and grace and who can actually put sentences together.

Obama’s current book, A Promised Land, checks in at a hefty 768 pages and covers childhood through

the Bin Laden raid in 2011. According to early reviews, and the author himself, it’s heavy on context and attempts to walk readers through not only events, but why he thought and acted certain ways. Apparently, he’s saving some of the more byzantine political maneuvering and extended thoughts on various Congressfolk and Heavy Hitters for the second volume.

A willingness to sign off on Obama’s versions, or at least give him the benefit of the doubt, likely depends on one’s political leanings. There's much to admire, and plenty to criticize – lack of accountability and prosecution of the Wall Street and finance smart guys who crashed the economy, Affordable Care Act overreach and mis-reads, overseas drone strikes and too many dead civilians, expansion of domestic surveillance under his watch, reticence to publicly call out Russian ratf*cking (to resurrect a Watergate phrase) of the 2016 election to induce chaos and assist our current president.

But as the site’s media grump, allow me to focus on transparency and open government. When Obama took office, he vowed that his administration would be the most transparent in history. He wrote a memo shortly after his first inauguration that read: “the government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosures, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”

His Department of Justice then prosecuted whistleblowers at an unprecedented rate. They did so under the auspices of the 1917 Espionage Act, which was designed to prevent people leaking secrets to foreign governments, not the media. They collected phone records of Associated Press reporters in one case. They threatened a New York Times investigative reporter with jail time about a story. They named a Fox News reporter a co-conspirator in a case involving a leak. In 2015 alone, his administration rejected 596,000 requests, 77 percent, under the Freedom of Information Act, the 1967 statute that allows citizens to request government documents from any agency. The government is supposed to comply, though exemptions are made in cases involving personal privacy, national security and law enforcement, among other areas. Many reporters have stories of beating their heads against government walls over FOIA requests. Agencies bury requests, cite specious privacy or security restrictions, say that requests are too broad and unreasonable, and often, a personal favorite, respond with, “whoops, we can’t find it; sorry.” Oversight and appeals are spotty, at best.

Granted, FOIA requests don’t cross the president’s desk, so an argument can be made that a bloated bureaucracy overwhelmed executive aims. But prosecuting government whistleblowers such as former National Security Agency officer Thomas Drake and former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling certainly crossed his radar. It also spooked many government officials who might have come forward to identify problems and issues, or at least spoken out as anonymous sources. The reluctance also trickled down to agencies that have nothing to do with national security such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food and Drug Administration, for fear of retaliation, even though protections are supposed to be in place.

Obama drew heavy criticism from plenty of watchdog groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists, for one, issued a report during his second term in which New York Times national security reporter David Sanger said, “This is the most closed, control freak administration I’ve ever covered.” Now-retired ABC News reporter Ann Compton said, “He’s the least transparent of the seven presidents I’ve covered in terms of how he does his daily business.” Committee president at the time, former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr., said the administration’s efforts to quell leaks and control information were the most aggressive since Nixon.

All of these gripes sound almost quaint, given the past four years under President Enemies of the People. Yet despite Obama’s early rhetoric and present concerns, he was no reliable champion of the press in office, even if he remains a good quote and would be the No. 1 pick in any presidential pickup hoops draft. Given the assault on the media, particularly local news, from forces within and without, and the rise of disinformation and “alternative facts” that will fill that void, journalism is only going to get more difficult. Vigilance is more vital than ever.

I am a Terrible Person Because This Headline Made Me Laugh

I have never been to Tyler, TX, which is about 90 minutes east of Dallas, but I am familiar with Greenberg Smoked Turkeys. A year ago, a work client surprised me at the office by sending a giant smoked turkey as a thank you gift for work I did with them that year. This was a thoughtful gift, but a suboptimal one for somebody who commutes to/from New York. Nevertheless, I lugged it from my office to the ferry to my car and to my home and fed it to the family. They did not love the turkey, which was SUPER SMOKY. I did though. And my dog did too. But he doesn't really count because he eats rabbit shit by choice. Here is a photo of the turkey from a year ago, before I started carving it. 

With this experience, I had some context for the following headline that I ran into on Twitter last night. And yes, I immediately laughed when I read it. I'm terrible. 

The big question - why use the word exploded? Why not perished or killed? They are animals, not popcorn kernels. It totally changed my perception of the event and made me think of exploding fem-bots from the Austin Powers movie. 

And while we (or me, at the very least) are being heartless, let's just take this to the logical next level with a hat-tip to our annual Thanksgiving post: As God is my witness...

In closing, in a more somber tone, this really is a catastrophe for a small business. The company now has to refund orders ahead of its busy season. But the company has vowed to come back in 2021. If you like really really really smoky meat, you will like this turkey. It was a bit much, even for my open-minded palate, but perhaps I should plan to put in an order in 2021 after making light of this event. 

Humans, Occasionally Cool

Dylan Efron (yes, he's from that Efron family) has a pretty cool gig. He's billed professionally as an adventurer (while he also acts, writes, and produces), and he travels the world (or did, until recently) doing cool stuff and seeking ways to help people live more sustainably. He also hosts a video blog series for Firestone Walker Brewing, which is where he came to my attention.

Entitled 'Flow State', Efron's series sees him taking professional athletes and celebrities from Los Angeles to do things that take them out of their comfort zones. In Episode One, he goes rock climbing with badass professional skateboarder (and self-professed acrophobic) Leticia Bufoni. It's a cool watch, featuring folks that seem genuine and good-natured. 

Dig it - it's a nice week-starting vibe.

Gheorghasbord: Great Tits in Crisis

Sometimes the moment meets the man. Or the woman. Given the circumstances, it's difficult to say. The Independent Tweeted this earlier in the week:

The Dread Pirate Roberts, Wesley version, applauds. Scientists, too, because they found a way to make the drastic changes to the Earth's climate mean something to the fuckboi community, if only for a moment. But for reals, as Spring comes earlier and earlier, larvae hatch earler, and immature tits have a harder time finding food. Someone give TR the book report version of this. Pretty sure he started weeping at the headline and never got this far.

Thought that story was worth above the fold treatment, and I'm kinda feeling like I intro every post in roughly the same way, so we're mixing it up in this 'sbord. But there's a lotta fun shit happening, so we need to let it out into the world.

For example, zman sent me some porn this week. I'm not really a car guy, but I am a design guy, and
I've learned a bunch from z about cars during the G:TB era. So much so that he thought I'm growns up enough to handle Sports Car Market magazine, which is...holy shit, y'all, it's like Bring A Trailer for kids with way too much money. I'm smitten. And I will never be able to but anything more than next year's subscription. But if you need a 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports and you've got $5m kicking around, I'm your guy.

I'll buy that car, or one like it, when my ownership stake in FC Pingzau Saalfelden comes good. For now, though, the dream is deferred. The Mountainous Pine Blues sit squarely in the middle of the Austrian Regionalliga Salzburg table with a 5-1-7 record. Or sat, really, as the season's been cancelled due to COVID-19. In the midst of all that, CEO Mark Ciociola resigned. Or 'resigned'. We may not make the UEFA Champions League this year.

There is one thing to look forward to in the upcoming William & Mary basketball season, and it happens next week. Nathan Knight has an outside chance of being selected late in the second round of the NBA Draft next Wednesday. He had a great combine, shooting better from three-point range than any other big man. He's thought of as a bit stiff and less versatile than the James Wisemans of the world, but he's got a W&M degree, can shoot it, operate out of the pick and roll, pass, and defend the rim. So you're saying there's a chance? Eh, he'll make a ton of money in Europe.

And finally, I've made some dumb impulse purchases during the pandemic, but I'm pretty excited about this one. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, known as Xolos, play in the top division of Mexican soccer. They're a relatively new side, founded in 2007, but they've had a decent amount of success, winning a league title in 2012. Club Tijuana's nickname references the ancient Aztec god of dogs, the Xolo. They ain't beautiful, but they're distinctive. As are the kits the club rolled out in honor of Dio de los Muertos:

That's gonna look good on me. As is 2021.

Supertankers of Guano, an Exploration of America

I teased this on Twitter yesterday, or at least the turn of phrase that ends the first graf. There's only one Gheorghie that writes like that, and when he's on a roll, best just to follow the advice Boone gave Otter. Kids, I give you our man in the OBX.

As we inch toward a Biden Administration, a handful of folks within the political gasbagerati make the point that one of the new president’s tasks must be to reach out and legitimize his election victory among all people. This idea is, not to put too fine a point on it, a supertanker of guano.

May or may not be guano aboard

There’s a lot of talk about healing and relief and recapturing the soul of America. But if the first three or six months of the next administration become a national couch session or campfire gathering, then Democrats are to politicking what the Washington Snydermen are to footballing. 

Joe Biden won the popular vote by more than five million, at last count. He carried Georgia, which last voted for a Democrat for president in 1992. He won in Arizona, which has voted for a Democrat only once since 1952. He flipped Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which went Republican in 2016.

By the same token, the current President lost the popular vote by 2.9 million in 2016, yet spent exactly zero time reaching out to the majority and to those states that did not vote for him. Aided by a compliant Senate and, his first two years, a House majority, he spent four years golfing and grifting and embodying many of the worst qualities of human beings in general and Americans in particular. He is a transactional figure who believes that empathy and cooperation are for suckers. He bears responsibility for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of deaths in a pandemic. He denuded and belittled government agencies. He antagonized allies and rolled over for belly rubs from authoritarians.

This is a big fucking fe

Biden delivered hopeful remarks, about how he’ll work just as hard for those who didn’t vote for him as for those who did, that he’s the president of all Americans and not just those who supported him. To be sure, he’s wired differently than his predecessor and is a product of a more collegial era in national politics, when legislators argued over policy by day and then retired to the Occidental for T-bones and bourbon. His lengthy legislative record includes many cringe-worthy measures and moments, but he appears to be a fundamentally decent fellow who leans toward public service and inclusion.

For those hoping that the election would be a repudiation of Donald Trump, consider that he received almost nine million more votes and a higher percentage of the electorate than he did in 2016. After witnessing him and his policies for four years, almost 72 million people thought him the better choice this time. Granted, many of those voters were motivated by fear and the demonization of Democrats as godless, communist, gun-snatching, tax-raising tree huggers. Still, hard to see the result as total rejection.

Plenty of people look at the stain of systemic racism, the cruelty of immigrant kids in cages, the violent putdown of peaceful protesters and respond with: “That’s not who we are.” Biden himself has said it. He and everyone who say so are wrong. It’s a national bedtime story we tell ourselves, girded by the lofty language of the founders. It’s all precisely who we are. We’re big and complicated and diffuse. We’re generous and welcoming and selfish and mistrustful. We’re tolerant and bigoted and informed and ignorant. We’re ambitious and complacent and hopeful and corrupt. To believe otherwise limits our chance for growth.

Ain't nobody scares the GA GOP more than this lady

Those who have gone down the Fox News and QAnon rabbit holes will never be convinced that Biden and Kamala Harris were legitimately elected, never mind interested in their lives. Biden and Harris and their allies shouldn’t try to convince them. Simply do the work. Explain what they want to do and why. Pass legislation. Send it to the Senate. When Mitch McConnell leaves bills on the shelf to wilt like arugula, call him on it. Publicly. Repeatedly. When his reasoning is, we won’t pass it, then hang it around his neck. If he can be pressured into holding votes, and he and his colleagues reject legislation, hang it around their necks. For four years, we’ve heard from conservatives that “elections have consequences,” which is a nuanced version of, “we won, so suck it.” Works both ways.

And speaking of the Senate, Georgia’s upcoming runoff elections for both seats could tilt the Senate blue (side note: Thanks, Cal Cunningham, for putting libido over service). Democrats’ message to Georgians every day should be: You voted for change and an opportunity for better lives for all Georgians, in health care and pandemic relief and living wages and participation in democracy; Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will give you those opportunities; David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler question the legitimacy of the election and will oppose such measures at every turn.

The election and accompanying optimism were nice moments, but they were only a start. Regardless of your political leanings, lotta work ahead. Giddyup.

Veterans Day Word Salad

I think about my Dad a lot. Right about now, I think about what he'd make of the world we live in. Outwardly, I imagine he'd still delight in playing the contrarian to piss me off (and, in an interesting turn of events, my Mom, who's become a serious and vocal lefty over the past few years after being a quiet moderate for a long time). But I think he'd recoil at the divisiveness in our society, and I'm quite sure he'd be viscerally upset at the President's* contempt for our armed forces and the foundations of our government. 

I wrote a piece here around this time of the year in 2015, and I think it holds up, which saves me from having to do a lot of deep thinking (or at least off-the-cuff writing) today. Instead, I'll just think about Dad, and hope that 70-odd days from now we can begin to regain our equilibrium as a people.

They're Making Them Faster Than I Can Watch Them

So it's been a while since I updated the gheorghies on my progress in the Music Documentary Lockdown Challenge.  Mainly because there's been little to no progress.  

In lieu of that, there are even more music docs coming out soon. Check these out:

I think Mr. KQ sent this my way: Shane MacGowan / The Pogues


h/t to OBX Dave, get some Frank Zappa.


THE Chuck Berry


Other Music, NYC record store for the ages, RIP


Songwriters extravaganza



And finally: Camper van Beethoven and Cracker.  

Please Note: this is not a trailer.  It's the whole documentary.

The YouTube notes: In 2016, I and many of my fellow loyal Crumbs spent $75K on Kickstarter to fund this film about David Lowery. The producers made the film...but didn't secure the rights to the music featured in the movie. (Genius.) Hence, it was never released.  This video is a rough cut. Comments welcome. I am making no money off this; rather, I am simply sharing with other loyal Crumbs for their enjoyment. Enjoy.

So I watched it all, as I'm a huge fan of both of his bands, and it's worthy. Dave and others, you'll enjoy.

Number One with a Bullet (Head)

I first became aware of Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in 2009, when he appeared on The Colbert Report. At the time, Fetterman was the unorthodox mayor of economically-battered Braddock, PA, a town devastated by the decline of the steel industry and ravaged by the era's recession. In the clip below, Fetterman talks of social justice and equity long before those terms were mainstream.

Now, more than a decade later, Fetterman has returned to my (and the nation's) conscience as the larger-than-life (dude is 6'8" and built like an offensive lineman) face of the state's electoral prominence. He likened the President's role in the process to "rolling up in a clown car to downtown Philadelphia". Later in the week, he appreciated Senator Pat Toomey's public rebuke of Trump's claims of electoral fraud, but added, "“It would’ve been nice if someone had FedEx-ed him that backbone four years ago.”

As this Salon profile points out, Fetterman's more than just quick with a quip; his appearance and personal style (rarely wears suits, is heavily tattooed, lives with his wife and kids in a converted auto dealership) belie a dude that's a legitimate public servant with a history of getting things done in difficult circumstances. From the Salon piece, this quote from a Twitter fan says a lot, "our Lt. Gov is not just some big lovable mascot but a smart dude with a track record of actually doing shit and broadly appealing policy positions. The future of the electable left looks like John and his family."

John and his family are something else, too. His Twitter feed is a running chronicle of the ways in which his Brazilian-born wife Gisele makes fun of him for doing things like failing to close kitchen drawers or wearing cargo shorts to their wedding. They seem for all the world like real, good folks. 

There seems to be an awful lot to like about a guy who went to Harvard, eschewed the normal path of folks with that degree and moved to a derelict little town in Western PA to try to put his ideas about society to good use. In a messy world like ours, there are no perfect politicians, as this 2018 Washington Post profile notes. Fetterman lost an endorsement from Bernie Sanders backers in the Our Revolution organization (despite being endorsed by Sanders himself) because he owns a gun and supported a limited fracking program because it meant 3,000 jobs for his region. 

After the downballot disappointment of 2020 (even though they took the big prize, Dems definitely missed a chance to give the Biden/Harris administration a running start in Congress), lefty purity tests are a recipe to continue to have Republicans hand Democrats their electoral assess. Smart, charismatic, unique, and real people like John Fetterman are the future of the party.

I hope we see more of him. And Gisele. She's a hoot.

Happy Birthday, Gheorghe: The Blog! You can go to R-rated movies!

November 7, 2003 was a Friday. In the Year of the Goat. 6,192 days ago.

And Gheorghe: The Blog was born. In a manger. Or in a mangy corner of the blogosphere on the world wide web (WWW). You decide.

Gheorghe: The Blog shares a birthday with Joni Mitchell (1943), King Kong Bundy (1957), Dana Plato (1964), and Jason and Jeremy London (1972).

On this day in 2003, the films Elf and Love Actually were released in theaters. The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow, the Strokes' second album were newly out. The Black Album was about to be.

Johnny Cash, Warren Zevon, Robert Palmer, and Elliott Smith had just recently died. Art Carney had 2 days to live. We needed something like G:TB as a salve. 

Gheorghe: The Blog is a Scorpio, of course. With a birthstone of Topaz.

Enjoy G:TBday!

Thursday Zen, Featuring Cannons

Join me, Gheorghies. Take a deep breath. Okay, now take another one. We are about to start an epic Indian summer here in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. The worst case scenario we envisioned on Tuesday night seems unlikely. And Jim Carrey has finally figured out how to do Biden (sorta). 

So don't fixate on the ifs and whens and hows as the next messy two months play out across our political landscape. Fixate instead on Cannons. I randomly stumbled on this band on satellite radio. Their sound makes me think of the 80's, of the musical score accompanying Stranger Things, and of sultry times with special ladies. I love love love this tune, and after watching the video, I am quite smitten with the lead singer. The tune is called Fire For You, from the 2019 album Shadows. The video is fantastic, even if you get distracted by the bassist's resemblance to Horatio Sanz. 

Cannons' website describes its music as a "unique blend of 70's grooves and 80's electro-funk." They also (perhaps liberally) describe themselves as "nu disco" and "future boogie." All of those phrases appeal to me, except for the word nu, which makes me think of nu metal. I hope Cannons appeals to you and your lovers. 

Election Open Thread

Saw a tweet thread yesterday that fairly well encapsulated my feelings about our election:

The work is all done (and by "work" in my case, I mean sending snarky tweets and giving a bunch of cash to Uncle Joe and Jaime Harrison). A lot of other folks busted their asses. Nothing to do but hope America comes to her senses. 

So here's some music to capture the mood (and feel free to add to the playlist):

(Dave loves that one.)

Death and Cats

Long-time no post, a little pre-election day filler before shit gets real tomorrow. As I often write when I do get around to it – sorry for being a sloth. No excuses. Considering I haven’t been fired, my editors must be okay with my performance and thus, they too must share in the blame.

Been a hell of a few months with the loss of my dad who was 84 and a mom who has good days and bad since. They were married 60 years. 

Between say mid-July and mid-October I was in VA roughly every other week for 5-7 days at a clip rotating with one or multiple sisters as a part of dad's family nurse core. The first couple of jaunts I chose driving as my means of travel, coming to enjoy the “Dan-time”. Lots of podcasts, phone calls, catching up with folks. Planes carried me me in as well. When I flew in, I’d land and head straight to Anita’s (Herndon) for breakfast before what would become a dreadful drive out to Winchester. That may sound sort of shitty, but it is the god's honest truth. Please don't misinterpret - I wouldn't have had it any other way. Upon leaving after my first stint, the feelings were that of reward, appreciation, big familial love, mental exhaustion, and of course sadness. Each time a sister or I would leave after a "shift", we felt certain that was the last time. But being the stubborn and tough son of a bitch that he was, he afforded us the chance to take care of him a few more times. 

No fewer than half a dozen evenings I’d sit on my parents (my dad’s really) sunporch/mancave to have a drink(s), watch tv, catch up on emails or…start a post. I could never get through it. A couple of sentences in and the waterworks would start . Shut computer.  

And this isn’t that either. It’s something altogether different. It was spawned by Halloween commentary within the 10/30 post. It got me thinking about my kids, and more so my middle child Grace – I call her Gracey. She’s a force of nature for a 9-year old. Strong, independent, gritty AF. Totally different than the princess we predicted she’d be. She’s a good lookin kid who was big into Elsa, dolls, and donning dresses. She is not that anymore. I will simultaneously pity and respect the first boy that asks her on a date. If I’m being honest, that day may not come until she’s a woman and the boy is a man b/c god knows the lad that makes this choice will be required to have a truckload of self esteem and balls that require the same truck to haul them around in.

It wasn’t long ago when we lost our second of two cats, Sammy. I inherited Sammy when I imported my then gal, now wife, to Pinehurst from Chicago back in ’04. Needless to say, Sam Cat was Fam Cat, and Fam Cat was Gracey’s cat. My tough and typically non emotive girl took Sam’s death very hard, sleeping with his boxed up ashes for a week or so after his death, while crying herself to a happier place.

Honestly, my wife and I were looking forward to Sam living his 9^th and final life. That too probably sounds a little callous especially considering the closeness between he and Grace, but we both felt the same way. It was his time. He was miserable, no appetite, throwing up all the time, waking us up at all hours of the night. And was also looking forward to being cat free for the first time in our lives together. I’m just not really a cat person. Sorry.

And prior to Sammy heading up to cat heaven, I let it be known that we were going to remain cat free indefinitely, period the end. One weekend about two weeks after cremation, I'm drinking my morning coffee and hear my printer. Gracey meanwhile is traipsing back and forth between her bedroom and ours where our printer is, while trying to keep a low profile. It took me a bit before it registered but when it does I finally ask, “Why and what are you printing?” knowing that as a 9-year old she’s not doing homework on a Saturday at 8 in the morning. “Nothing dad”. So I let it go. Two days later when I get home from work, a 3 pager was left for me on our counter, font size roughly 80, and retyped as is below.

Cover Page: WHY I SHOULD GET A KITTEN    

                    BYE: GRACE (she included her last name)

Page 1:        One of the reasons why I should have a kitten is because it can help me with my problems with Sam , it will comfort me like Sam did at night. and even though nothing can replace Sam I wouldn't be as sad.

Page 2:        Another reason I should get a kitten is because it will prepare me for more responsibility, And most importantly it will take most of my sadness away.I also LOVE to smell cat food and remember

Page 3:        remember what Sam felt like , and ever sins we hade to put Sam down it has made me want a kitten even more.PLEASE LET ME HAVE A KITTEN!!!psi love you* (and the "psi love you*" in normal font size, about a 12) 

At very bottom of Page 3: THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do we own a cat now you ask? Nope! To Grace’s credit, she put it in reverse and figured out she simply wanted to foster kittens, which we have been doing for the past couple of months. We are on our 5^th, but the second stint included three little ones. She takes care of them – feeds, cleans the poop boxes, whatever. And she’s completely fine when a stint ends – she goes with Val to the adoption joint to say goodbye with nary a tear because she knows one will be in the pipeline soon enough. Here's our current little one...

As mentioned, it was the Halloween comments that set this post in motion because it got me thinking about Grace, and laughing, because for at least the 5^th year in a row, she is dressing up as...a cat. I think about her fifteen years from now and having loads of cat trees, toys, and felines in her apartment. I guess there are worse things to worry about. On the flip side, in thinking about my dad and the care he received from his five kids during his last days on earth, I don’t have to worry about which if any of my kids will step up when and if I’m in a similar need – I believe each will but undoubtedly Gracey will be the QB.

More zShazams!

I wrote about my Shazams in January.  Here are a few more gems I've Shazammed since then. 

Public Enemy did a "Fight the Power 2020" remix?  With Nas and Black Thought?  How did I miss this?  "Fear of a Black Planet" still slaps in its entirety, and "Fight the Power" does so in particular.

Go vote!

"In Orbit" by Joy Lovejoy is just fun classic soul.

I feel like I should already know "Big White Cloud" by John Cale.  rootsy is shaking his head that I had to Shazam this.

I also feel like I should know "Revolution" by Heartless Bastards.  Whitney is shaking his head too.

Bill Landford And The Landfordaires don't look like I expected them to.  "Run On For A Long Time" has a very O Brother Where Art Thou vibe.

If they ever remade High Fidelity, "Light Yearly" by the Allah-Las would work its way onto the soundtrack.

I suspect rob is already familiar with Nikki Lane's "Jackpot."

rob should know about "Cat Squirrel" too.

I suspect Juan Carlos is already familiar with "Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)" by Chicano Batman.  

"The Grunt" by Eddie Kirk makes me want to dive into Fortune Records' entire catalog.

I was stunned to hear "Nightmares" by Dana Dane at 8:43 am on a Tuesday.  Word up doc, I'm the ultimate!

I encourage you to post your Shazams too.  Music!  Postcount!