Although the book is for 7-10 year olds, Rob and I get into some fairly deep topics: the subjectivity of consciousness; structural racism and systemic prejudice towards black Americans, human and canine; the principles of drama; and the fleeting nature of our mortality.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
What is it like to be a dog? What is it like to be a squirrel?
Although the book is for 7-10 year olds, Rob and I get into some fairly deep topics: the subjectivity of consciousness; structural racism and systemic prejudice towards black Americans, human and canine; the principles of drama; and the fleeting nature of our mortality.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Overdue and Ironic
Saw the news this week that the Washington Commanders announced plans to retired Darrell Green's #28. My first reaction was something along the lines of, "what took them so long?". There aren't many ex-Skins more iconic than Green, nor many moments more memorable than him walking down Eric Dickerson.
But after I dug into it a bit, I realized that the Washington franchise really doesn't retire numbers, or it didn't (with one notable exception) in the Era That Shall Not Be Discussed. In fact, not one player from the Golden Gibbs Era has his number retired. Nary a hog, regretfully not a Riggo, monstrously no Monk, terribly not a Theismann, mournfully no Mann, distressingly no Dexter.
The Washington franchise has been pretty stingy when it comes to retiring numbers (and ain't that in keeping with Little Danny Starfucker's ethos: waste money on washed up big names, skimp on stuff that might make fans happy). Turns out they're not alone.
Retire Riggo! |
The Bears (14), Giants (14), and Niners (12) are profligate, while the Bengals (speaking of stingy owners) and Jags have one retired number each, one of which you'd easily guess, and the other you never would.
I enjoyed my little trip down NFL numerological history. Hope it'll keep you entertained for at least a few minutes.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Notify, Vol. VIII
Rob recently checked in on the WFCSAGS recurring feature and provided an update. Not sure Zman can with WCSAGD, other than to keep saying "Nobody's bought one yet!"
Well, here's an update nobody even asked for -- the Notify News! Welcome back to the Notify show, the one where we highlight songs not on Spotify!
And here's the latest, including which songs we highlighted that are now available on Spotify after all. [If you think I'm implying with such a post as this that the G:TB Notify posts have influenced the powers that be at Spotify, well, yes, yes I am.]
Here are the songs that I brought to that platform for you:
- De La Soul, "Eye Know"
- Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Rock and Roll All Nite"
- Garth Brooks, "Hard Luck Woman"
- Klark Kent, "Away from Home"
- All of Neil Young!
- CSNY, "Woodstock"
- Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi"
- Nils Lofgren: "Keith Don't Go," "Bullets Fever," and "Jhoon Rhee Ad"
- The Blues Brothers, "Shake a Tail Feather"
- The Smithereens, "In a Lonely Place"
- The Dream Academy, "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want [instrumental]"
- The Beatnuts, "Off the Books" (on compilation and Big Pun album)
- Nina Simone, "Gin House Blues [live]"
- The Pharcyde, "I'm That Type of N****"
The rest, for which we remain ever vigilant:
- Brian Wilson, "Brian Wilson"
- Stevie Wonder vs The Clash, "Casbah Uptight"
- UB40, "One in Ten"
- CvB, "Laundromat"
- Arcade Fire, "Guns of Brixton [live at BBC Culture Show]"
- The Clash, "Listen"
- Aztec Camera, "Jump"
- CvB, "Eye of Fatima"
- Strontium 90, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
- The Police, "Nothing Achieving"
- Dropkick Murphys, "Guns of Brixton [live]"
- Wyclef Jean, "Electric City"
- Pizzicato 5, "Twiggy Twiggy"
- Danger Mpouse, "What More Can I Say"
- The Clash, "(In the) Pouring Rain"
- Cracker, "Been Around the World"
- Total Coelo. "I Eat Cannibals [original]"
- Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, "Prime Mover"
- The Walkmen, "Greasy Saint"
- Ray LaMontagne, "Crazy"
- Father John Misty, "The Suburbs"
- Bruce Greenwood & Circle the Wagons, "2 Ft. O' Butt Crack"
Okay, there's the recap. But what about some new Not-ifies?
Fair enough.
Who doesn't love Ween?? Well, I don't right now, since they cancelled the show that was playing around here this weekend. But then again, it was for Deaner's mental health, and I'm for that. We waited out Gener, we'll wait for his buddy.
Here are a couple of lost tracks.
Here's a tune they wrote when Captain Trips died.
And another for an All-Star pitcher's cousin. Love this one.
Speaking of dying, the Margaritaville Man died last year, and here's an old tune he did that appeared on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack.
Here's one that didn't even have a presence online until a month ago. An old tune by old VU-er John Cale, somewhere in the late 1970's.
And there there's this. 1983's sophomoric, misogynistic, ludicrous, and mildly amusing Jerky Boys precursor, "Cooky Puss!" All hail Carvel ice cream. This ain't no Fudgie the Whale.
That's all for Notify this go-around!
BUT... that's not all for Cooky Puss! Stay tuned for Part II of the Cooky Puss saga!! It's fascinating!!
Monday, April 22, 2024
All The News That Fits ...
Saturday, April 20, 2024
People Are Occasionally Pretty Neat
Coming to you live from the ancestral homeland of Brewster, MA this weekend, where we're gathered as a clan to celebrate my great-aunt's 100th(!) birthday. Clean living and serving others does a wonder for a body, as it turns out. I may not be so lucky.
Speaking of serving others, I came across this neat little story in the WaPo a few days ago. It starts like this, "Sam McGee picked up the phone in 2022 and dialed the same number he’d called every year for decades. He had the same question he’d been asking for 20 years: Could his family buy back his late grandmother’s Ford Mustang that had been sold in 1973 to pay for her funeral expenses?"
That's a zinger of a lede that turns into a bitter (mostly) sweet tale of family, persistence, and a community-minded individual. Enjoy this award-winning documentary students at Samuel V. Champion High School in Boerne, TX produced about it.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
American Primitive
I got so excited about the release of my dog's book that I forgot the traditional G:TB celebration of the release of a new Old 97s record. American Primitive is the 13th studio album by our guys, who are marking their 30th year together as a band. That in itself is noteworthy.
Reviews have been nearly uniformly positive, lauding the band's consistency and hailing the record as "consistently exciting and rambunctious" while claiming its 13 tracks "cut a vigorous slice through some rowdy melodies & upbeat jaunty ones". Music, one might say, to my ears.
In a splendid bit of timing, I've now sold enough books to have generated sufficient royalties to purchase a vinyl version of the record. Gonna splash some of that writer cash.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Pub Daaaaay!!!
Saturday, April 13, 2024
WFCSAGS: How Are They Doing?
Over the years, we've blessed/cursed the assembled Gheorhiage with rooting interests in various (mostly) English (mostly) Premier League teams. A number in our number brought their own allegiances to the table. But as far as I can tell, we've never really done any sort of retrospective/where are they now post about our squadrons' respective fates. Until now, that is.
I really could've chosen a scientific method for choosing the order in which we'd attack this challenge, but I'm kinda selfish, and I'm gonna start with me and my mediocre side. Fulham currently sit in 13th in the EPL on 39 points, nine more than their closest pursuer, and 14 points above the relegation zone. The Whites are safe (ain't that true) after a season where loftier goals briefly flashed. On balance, though, success.
Shlara's (and Prince William's) Aston Villa have been far sportier under the brilliant Unai Emery. With six matches to play, the Villans are deadlocked with Squeaky and Rootsy's Tottenham Hotspur on 60 points. Spurs have a game in hand and a slightly better goal difference. The top four teams in the EPL automatically qualify for Champions League play, so the fight for fourth is consequential. Unless England top Germany and Italy for a fifth slot in the newly-configured UEFA rules, in which case...fuck, man, that's complicated. Both of these teams are good, and they'll play in some European competition next year. Let's leave it at that. Except to note that Villa is alive in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Conference League, the third-tier continental competition, which...fuck, man...that's complicated.Danimal's Manchester City have a far simpler path, at least domestically. They're in the midst of a three-way (get your simple minds out of the gutter) battle for supremacy in England. With seven matches to play, Arsenal and Liverpool are tied on 71 points, with City a slim point behind. Pep Guardiola's Blues are still alive in Champions League and FA Cup action, fighting on three fronts. Since they're arguably the best club side in the world, it'd be hard to bet against them in any of those competitions.
Marls and Dave pull for a pair of squads with different aspirations but similar disappointment. Newcastle United flew a bit too close to the sun in their first flirtation with the elites as their newest incarnation, flaming out of the Champions League and sliding back to 8th in the Premier League amidst a rash of injuries that even Saudi money couldn't overcome. Dave's Brentford buzzed around mostly impotently, alighting on 15th place in the Premier League, with a bit of work yet to do before they can start planning for another season in the top flight.Leicester City came out of the gate a house a'fire, shrugging off the shock of relegation by making a statement about the impermanence of their fate. Whit's Foxes (one of the worst Charlie's Angels knockoffs we can recall) won 13 of their first 14 English League Championship matches, setting a sporty pace for the rest of the division. Since mid-February, however, they've won three, drawn one, and lost six. They're tied with Ipswich Town on 88 points at the top of the table, with Leeds United one point back and four matches remaining. The top two teams earn automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the third-place team fights it out in a four-team tournament for the final spot at the top. White knuckle ride for Leicester Nation.
Zman and his Canaries have been out of the spotlight for a while, but they've got a puncher's chance of changing that, thanks in no small part to Josh Sargent, American Ginger. Norwich City are in sixth place in the Championship with a five-point cushion over seventh-place Coventry City, and in line for a spot in the the four-way cage match for the final promotion spot. Sargent's battled back from injury to record 15 goals in just 22 games, good for fifth in the league despite playing 14 fewer matches than anyone above him in the scoring table. If he keeps it up, we could see him lead the line for the Yanks in 2026.
Finally, we get to our man Teej, who manages to hold two different allegiances in his capacious heart. His Michael Bolton Wanderers are at risk of surprising us all and jumping up to the Championship. Bolton are currently in third place, two points behind Derby County, but holding a game in hand over the Rams with three to play. It's happening, says us.Meanwhile, the Teej's Forward Madison are off to a strong start here stateside, unbeaten through three USL League One matches, and still unbeaten in terms of their kit design.
We'll close with bonus content for the many who've embraced a lower-level team from Wales as their side piece. If you were to write a script, the three-season arc that's seen Wrexham fail to earn promotion from the National League, then rise to League Two and find itself on the verge of a consecutive promotion to League One would be met with raised eyebrows. If you added Deadpool and Rob McElhenney, you'd be charged with crimes against Hollywood. And yet, here we are. Wrexham sit second on the English League Two table, needing only five points in their final three matches to secure their place in League One. The documentary just keeps getting better.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Opening Day Closure
@nesn Yesterday Tim and Stacy Wakefield’s daughter, Brianna, threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park surrounded by her father’s 2004 #RedSox ♬ original sound - NESN
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Problem Child
On other occasions, parents often get to experience aspects of their kids' interests, aptitudes, and attitudes that seem wholly unfamiliar to our own. My eldest, who goes by k (lowercase intentional), is a brilliantly charismatic performer, fierce and fearless. And neither my wife nor I possess a scintilla of whatever gene sparked those attributes.
Sometimes, the two poles mix, and we get to see our kids as the delightful mix of us and them they were destined to become. At the end of the month, my eldest culminates their collegiate dance career by presenting a significant piece of their creation. Senior dance majors at VCU are required to cast, choreograph, and stage a performance of their own making. The overall theme of this year's senior performances is Two Truths. Half of the class presented their work last semester. The other half, including my kid, presents theirs the last weekend of the month.
Here's where we get to the multitudes contained within. Check out this description of my kid's work, as they wrote it, and as it'll appear in the program for the performance:
“this is a secret language. this is a cult activity.“problem children” investigates the idea of queer movement, and its capabilities of transformation – from human into creature, from language into gibberish, from legible into queered. informed by improvisation, writing, choicemaking, vulnerability, honesty, silliness, and the embrace of a queer sensibility, “problem children” aims to plunge the audience into a creature world, from which they will emerge bewildered and full of joy.”
I see a whole lot of myself in the joy, silliness, and honesty. And I am baffled by a lot of the other elements, even as I know they're exactly how my kid sees themselves and represent issues and ideas they wrestle with as they find their place in the world.
When the seniors presented a draft of their work to the dance faculty a month or so ago, k's advisors were generally approving, but told them to feel free to let more k come out in the work. In other words, let k be k. I'm anticipating an outrageously unusual, silly, giddy, awkward, challenging, and fun piece. And I fully expect to emerge bewildered and full of joy. If you're in the Greater Richmond area the last week of the month, come join in on the cult activity.
Monday, April 08, 2024
Redemption Song
Just when I think I've got nothing for Twitter/X and it's got nothing for me, I see this.
I've been playing mediocre guitar for 26 years. I could quit my job and play all day every day for whatever time I've got left and never come close to this. This dude was 16 when this was recorded. This shit is bananas, and I know you know how to spell that.
Play on, brother...
Sunday, April 07, 2024
Your Sunday Reflection
Gabor Maté is a Canadian physician of some renown. He's an expert in the psychological impacts of childhood trauma. He's got some words of wisdom for us on this serene Sunday morning.
Thursday, April 04, 2024
Your Moment of Zen
Tuesday, April 02, 2024
We're All Witnesses
Well, most of us. I didn't get to see the LSU/Iowa game last night, but that worked out for the best. I think we (meaning, the broader sports-enjoying populace) will look back on the games that took place yesterday in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament as historically significant. Four excellent teams paced by four transcendent players competing at a high level and watched by record numbers of viewers.
The groundbreaking women that founded and run TOGETHXR sell a line of merch with the slogan 'Everyone Watches Women's Sports'. After last night, that may well go from aspirational to actual. And so, for posterity's sake, the highlights from an epic evening: