Gheorghemas: Day Six

On the sixth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me

Six random time wasting recommendations

Five (Green and) Golden Things

Four songs by “the Chairman of the Board” on his birthday

Three Beauties

Two Types of Stories

A Bald Guy with two Pupp-ies

I have social media accounts but I stay off most of it. I rarely post, more of a longer time lurker. But there is some good stuff out there if you are so inclined. After Arstechnica, Substack seems to be my go to for random goodness. So here are some potential worthy substackers, in my eyes, to waste some time on and other random sites. I’m a cheap bastard so I only do the free subscriptions. 

I really cannot remember how I stumbled on the first two sites but I have yet to unsubscribe from their weekly emails/posts.

1 - The Art of Noticing - Rob Walker

I like this site just to remind myself to take the time to look around. There is randomness everywhere, in my eyes, that is someone’s normal. Case in point dumpsters and opening your ears. And just saw two blue jays hanging out in my backyard in winter. No idea what that means if anything.

2 - Letters of Note - Austin Kleon

He typically reprints lost letters of famous people, art collages, mix tapes but the weekly digest “10 Things worth sharing this week” usually includes recommendations for books and music I would not normally listen to. Great for expanding the mind. And every once in a while he completes the yin/yang with a little yang with “20 Books I did not read this year”.

3 - Starship Causal

Not a fan of the name of this substack but if you are a Wilco or Jeff Tweedy fan this one is for you. His posts are sporadic but hearing acoustic covers and outtakes make my day, whenever they show up.

Most of the covers are either subscriber requests like Devo’s Freedom of Choice or song covers of the recently departed like War Pigs after Ozzy’s passing. (Might be pay-walled, sorry)

4 - Numero Group

Archival record label out of Chicago, London and Los Angeles with genres spanning 'eccentric soul', 'holiday vibes', 'for the punks', 'gospel', 'necessary new age & ambient', 'country & folk', 'for the dads, 'rock 45s', 'mid-century modern', and 'party starters'. Basically electric mishmash of music. Something for everyone.

They curate three types of releases: essential compilations, grail releases and deep dives. The album that clued me in to them was a deep dive. Husker Du, 1985: The MIracle Year. A thought lost live recording from the vault. The fury of a live band in their full glory that I never got to hear live.

More importantly, if you need to jack-up/fuck with your spotify algorithm check out their playlists. There is someone for everyone. You can also sign up for their email blast that includes links to recent playlists if you are too lazy to visit the website.

And for you yacht loving dudes: Seafaring Strangers: Numero Group Guide to Yacht Rock

5 - ArsTechnica

You do not have to be a hardcore nerd to enjoy this site. It’s got a little bit of everything and the writing is usually good, unlike this post. The stories simplify some of the more sciency topics but really the comments section has actual normal discourse with different view points. There are jackass posters but those voices get drown out pretty quick. 

You can get articles on the science of swearing, stock SUV testing in the desert, important space moments, and ads in all the streaming services. The last one makes me want to install a Pi-Hole on the home network.

6 - I was going to throw in a podcast or two but two of the three podcasts I typically listen to got cancelled this year. RIP WTF and Indiecast. Let’s hope Professor G. Truck stays strong and continues on.

So number six of my random recommendations is user generated, get to in the comments section and recommend some podcasts I should check out.

Merry Gheorghemas!

Gheorghemas Minor Chords: Random Idiots unleash a sad new single

Feeling pretty good, are you? 

Yeah?

Amid all of this Gheorghemas good cheer -- and we did enjoy Day 5 and its upswing of Tribe-related positivity -- we have a new song to share from the minds that brought you:

• "Dr. Seuss" in 1991
• "Hey Evan" in 2004
• "Dear Ozzy (Thanks for Nothing)" in 2009
• "Where's Johnny?" in 2022

...and many more. 

I highlight those songs beyond the rest of the mess because (a) they're brilliant, but moreso (b) because they are tributes to friends of ours who have tragically fallen by the wayside.

Okay, technically, the third one simply references Ozzy Osbourne in the title, who died this year, and the protagonist in the song is at the end of their life. But it's a fun song and hasn't been dredged up in a while. 

And yes, I know, Dr. Seuss was not technically our "friend," but he shared a birthday with Dave, and Dave celebrates with the good doctor every year, and Theodor Geisel's passing sparked one of the true mountaintops of the Random Idiots range when we musically memorialized him... sort of. 

Anyway, Dave and I, as Random Idiots in name and behavior, have had a habit of writing and recording songs about our actual friends who have died. And goddammit, we really had a bad run of losing friends early on in life. First Evan on a motorcycle in the summer of 2001, then Lud and Scoop two months later in 9/11. Flynn went in '06, and Johnny in 2021. There were others along the way. 

And our tribute tunes, in a way, help keep their spirits alive.

But it does beg the question.

A legitimate question, we feel.

Enjoy, and be safe out there.

Gheorghemas: Day Five

On the fifth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me

Five (Green and) Golden Things
Four songs by "the Chairman of the Board" on his birthday
Three Beauties
A Bald Guy with Two Pupp-ies

Two Types of Stories

Lots of happenings at the Alma Mater of a Nation this Gheorghemas, from things sporting to real estate to expanding the horizons and parameters of the youth, and we're here to bring cover them all.

Tribe men's hoops is off to its best start since 2009-10. Brian Earl's balanced squad (seven different players have topped the team in scoring in its ten games, while six have grabbed the most boards) won six in a row to get to 8-2, rising to a program all-time high of 51 in the NCAA's NET ratings before falling at George Washington in the last game before the break for exams. The Wrens take the court tomorrow at home against Radford in their last non-conference tilt, still a Quad I team.

Not to be overshadowed, the Tribe women's hoops squad backed up its program-first NCAA Tournament appearance with a win at Wake Forest to kick off a four-game winning streak and move to 5-4. Junior Cassidy Geddes guard leads W&M with 14.8 points per game.

We're pleased to see that all around good guy and longest-serving athletic director in W&M history Terry Driscoll is being inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame next April. Former CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said this of Driscoll, “He was the moral compass of our conference — a quiet leader whose wisdom and perspective shaped college athletics for the better.” Our only regret is that he didn't stay in his job for a few more years and kept Tony Shaver in his.

In off-field, but different sort of field-related news, how'd you like to hear about a mutually beneficial land swap? According to W&M News, the school and the city have agreed to trade parcels near South College Woods. Sean Hughes, W&M's Chief Business Officer said, “It’s a pristine research site, and it’s important for us to protect the boundaries of this ecological preserve in South College Woods. The City of Williamsburg has been an excellent partner, and the university appreciates the City Council and the city manager’s willingness to work together with us on a solution The agreement is especially fitting as William & Mary approaches the culmination of its Year of the Environment celebration.”

We're working on swapping some blogspace for Unit M so we can have a retirement home for frat guys who need a little getaway space.

And finally, W&M is excellent in a lot of arenas. In addition to leading the internet in dipshittery, we're the number one public university in the nation for study abroad participation for the 12th time in the past 17 years. In 2023-24, 55% of W&M students studied abroad at some point in their academic career. Tribe members, nerdy, wordy and worldly. 

Gheorghemas Interlude: Techno Padre

“There is no ‘secular’ molecule in the universe. There is no dandelion owned by the devil," says David Dark, professor of religion at Belmont University and author of “Everyday Apocalypse: Art, Empire, and the End of the World.”

The topic Dark was discussing is the DJ stylings of Rev. Guilherme Peixoto, a Portuguese priest who's made a ministry of blending techno with religious hymns and been so successful at it that he's attracted the attention of Pope Leo.

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As we eagerly await Day Five of Gheorghemas, that most profanely sacred celebration, it's good to be reminded that there's beauty and grace everywhere. Except the White House.

Gheorghemas: Day Four

On the fourth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me: 

Four songs by "the Chairman of the Board" on his birthday. 

Three Beauties

Two Types of Stories

A Bald Guy with Two Pupp-ies

One hundred ten years ago on this date, Italian immigrants Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra and Natalia "Dolly" Garavente welcomed their only child into their adopted hometown of Hoboken, N.J. Francis Albert Sinatra, through talent and force of will fashioned an enormous life that almost pales in its telling. 

Sinatra was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, a giant in music and style whose work spanned generations and will endure well into the future. He was gifted, smart, genial and gracious. He was also petty, vindictive, combative and temperamental. He sang achingly beautiful ballads and jaunty, swinging melodies. He was married four times and fathered three children. His boozing and carousing were the stuff of legend. His ties to the Mob were never far from the surface. 

Some view him as a genius, others as a thug with a voice. After he died on May 14, 1998, many of the obituaries included his remark, “Being an eighteen-karat manic-depressive and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have perhaps an overacute capacity for sadness and elation.” 

There are dozens of Sinatra biographies, ranging from shallow, warmed over accounts and glorified discographies to insider tales from family and associates to deep dives from reporters and journalists. Noted biographer James Kaplan produced maybe the most comprehensive, even-handed treatment, a two-volume set titled “The Voice” and “The Chairman,” each checking in at more than 800 pages. 

One interesting look at Sinatra is “Why Sinatra Matters” by longtime New York newspaper columnist and author Pete Hamill. The two were friendly – Hamill clarifies that they were not friends, they enjoyed each other’s company – and Sinatra discussed having Hamill write his biography, though it never came to pass. But they spent many hours together, and Hamill’s book, a comparatively thin work that's still rich in descriptions and memories, weaves Sinatra’s personal story with the nation’s immigrant and cultural stories. Hamill writes that he didn’t intend to produce anything like a definitive biography, more a snapshot of the man and his times.

 Sinatra had at least three stages in his career. First, as a young, skinny Big Band crooner in the 1930s and ‘40s. The second, after a career lull following World War II and into the early ‘50s, saw him become a more mature singer and craftsman and even actor (he won an Oscar for a supporting role in the WW2-themed film “From Here to Eternity") and embodied cool with his Las Vegas residency and Rat Pack association. 

Third, as a kind of elder statesman of old school popular music after rock ‘n roll marginalized his preferred form. Sinatra’s catalog continues to be mined and refined. For example, the famous jazz label Blue Note Records recently remastered and released the groundbreaking album “In The Wee Small Hours,” to mark the 70th anniversary of its initial release in 1955. It’s considered a masterpiece of lost love and heartbreak, and was one of the first “concept” albums, a collection of themed songs rather than a group of singles. 

He founded Reprise Records in the early 1960s as a label that would give artists greater freedom over their work, in response to what he felt was at-times stifling control at Capitol and other record companies. That effort earned him the nickname “Chairman of the Board,” bestowed on him by well known New York DJ William B. Williams. 

The music sales tracking site Chartmasters said last month that Sinatra has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and his songs have been streamed on Spotify more than six million times. The satellite music channel Siriusly Sinatra (Ch. 70) is a staple on Sirius XM radio. 

Give Hamill the last word: “His turbulent personality, often overshadowed by notoriety, seemed inseparable from the style and originality of his art and gave him an essential place on the public stage of the American century. Now Sinatra is gone, taking with him all his anger, cruelty, generosity, and personal style. The music remains. In times to come, that music will continue to matter, whatever happens to our evolving popular culture. The world of my grandchildren will not listen to Sinatra in the way four generations of Americans have listened to him. But high art always survives. Long after his death, Charlie Parker still plays his version of the urban blues. Billie Holiday still whispers her anguish. Mozart still erupts in joy. Every day, in cities and towns all over the planet, someone discovers them for the first time and finds in their art the mysterious quality that makes the listener more human. In their work all great artists help transcend the solitude of individuals; they relieve the ache of loneliness; they supply a partial response to the urging of writer E.M. Forster: ‘Only connect.’ In their ultimate triumph over the banality of death, such artists continue to matter. So will Frank Sinatra.”

Gheorghemas: Laugh Break

This one's been making the rounds, so some of you may have seen it. But I'm making it my mission to spread it as widely as possible, because a) it features two of my favorite comedic personalities, and b) it's an amazing view into how the minds of some very funny people work. Do enjoy before the Gheorghemas festivities resume tomorrow.

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Oh whoa oh oh On the Radio...

It's back, baby -- ORF Rock is retuned and returned to the airwaves on a regular basis!

Les Coole and Penny Baker are . . . ORF Rock.  Get some.

Listen tonight!

Rocking the ORF from the Hague to the Wharf!