"We been getting that Jewish money. Everything is Kosher"

-Lyrics posted on Lebron James' social media.  I'm willing to give him a pass on that one.

Lebron says something about Jews and then injures his groin.  

Things to be added besides politics and religion that set people off: opinions on music! Hey, I like what I like and you like what you like, and that is the way it is and the way it always will be.
Anyway, I think I've probably wished someone to go to hell because they liked a band that I can't stand, and yes, I think I did once break up with a girlfriend in part because she liked the Barenaked Ladies, who weren't bad even if they are a bit middle-of-the-road (Gordon and Maroon were fine albums)!

One thing that really makes me angry is bullying, whether it is in person, or online.  I've experienced that in both of those places, and it is not a good thing.  In fact, I sometimes wonder if there has been research on how bullying in your youth effects people later on in life.  

I've been following what has been going on with SNL star Pete Davidson, who has spoken out about his struggles, yet is still experiencing bullying and harassment.  People seem to want to take sides because of his breakup with Ariana Grande and mess with him because of it.  Even Ariana Grande has told people to leave Pete Davidson alone.
He posted that he is angry that he even has to speak out about bullying because people should just know better, but it is the reality he faces.  

Everyone should be making an effort to stop bullying, and calling it out when they see it.  

I've made posts and statements similar to that of Pete Davidson's post about not wanting to live, and I have actually had friends who told teachers that I made those posts, and although I was mad at that friend at the time, I think they did the right thing now that I am looking back at it.





Anyway, a video from an album I missed out on this year....

(some) 2018 albums from these artists, that I liked from this year!

1.     The Internet

2.     Amen Dunes

3.     Kacey Musgraves

4.     Cat Power

5.     The 1975

6.     Dirty Projectors

7.     Yo La Tengo

8.     Robyn

9.     Skee Mask

10.  Phosphorescent

11.  Janelle Monae

12.  Blood Orange

13.  Adrienne Lenker

14.  Low

15.  Hop Along

(some) songs I liked from this year!

1.      The 1975: It’s Not Living If It’s Not With You

2.      Nicki Minaj: Ganja Burn

3.     Cat Power: Woman

4.     Janelle Monae: Pynk

5.     Clairo: Pretty Girl

6.     Nilüfer Yanya: Thanks 4 Nothing

7.     Kali Uchis: Just A Stranger

8.     Blood Orange: Saint

9.     Christine and the Queens: The Walker

10.  Ariana Grande: God Is A Woman

11.  Frankie Cosmos: Being Alive

12.  Troy Sivan: My My My!

13.  Janelle Monae: Make Me Feel

14.  Ella Mai: Booed Up 

15.  Kacey Musgraves: High Horse

16.  Breeders: Nervous Mary

17.  Kurt Vile: Loading Zones

18.  Soccer Mommy: Cool 

19.  Carly Rae Jepson: Party For One

20.  Snail Mail: Pristine

Some artists I like are getting what they deserve.  Radiohead, The Cure, Roxy Music, The Zombies, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, and Stevie Nicks are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

In the midst of the controversy over the Christmas song "Baby It's Cold Outside," sales of the song have soared.


Also, I found little kids' understanding of Hanukkah to be very funny.

 

Nazi themed posters were found around the SUNY Purchase campus, and a plot to bomb a synagogue in Toledo, Ohio was thwarted today.  Someone just make this stuff stop already.

We lost Pete Shelley from the Buzzcocks.  They were standards, and just plain fun.

The classic holiday song "Baby It's Cold Outside" got banned on a Cleveland radio station.  I think it is clear from this parodied version that it is about some guy trying to get what he wants from a woman.  Whether it should be banned or not is up for debate.

A highly entertaining song about moving on from her boyfriend. 


Happy Hanukkah everyone.  This year is a bit different though.  I really don't feel safe being Jewish in this country these days.  

True story: This one time in college, some girl bit off a portion of a guy's ear and a lot of people on campus heard about it.  I think they were an item and something was going on with them.  I think she got suspended and there was a Facebook group to free her or something, which I didn't support.  

Apparently, Incubus has new music.

Firsts in my life:
1.  Met and chatted for a while with a drag queen at work (it was bound to happen since I've worked with just about every kind of person imaginable).
2.  Met not just one, but two people who have great great grandmothers.

Strange, life is.  Almost as strange as me  :) I just read an article about a farmer who was struck by a forklift driven by his dog.    The dog somehow pushed a lever in the forklift.  Yup, you're reading that right.  Also, I watched the Master, which was masterful, and I'm reading But What if We're Wrong by Klosterman.  I seem to be drawn to books and movies that are tough to wrap your head around.  

Also, Justin Bieber celebrated his first Thanksgiving as a married man.  

At least one good thing is on its way.

It is Thanksgiving.  I have things to be thankful for, but it is also sort of a shame that members of my family can be in the same town and have to do separate things because of long held grudges that they've had for many years that were caused by immaturity, jealousy, and lack of empathy.  I guess a lot of families have had problems, but I really feel like mine have set me back.  

Thanksgiving is approaching.  I am counting my positives, as always.

I have to say, I know leadership when I see it.  There is one story in the news lately that shows a group of boys at a Wisconsin high school doing a nazi salute in their prom photo for whatever asinine reason.  One of the boys doesn't do the salute because he knows it isn't the right thing to do. 

Leadership is not doing what everyone else does.  

The beauty of life is it's uncertainty.  I go to work every day not knowing exactly who I am going to end up sitting with or talking to, or how my stomach is going to behave.  Every day is an adventure. 

I am getting into this new album from a new artist called Rosalia.  

 

Funny story.  Some girl at my job noticed me shaking at the end of my shift and started talking to me, and asking me why I was single.  I think the fact that she seemed to care about me made me agree to give her my contact information, and one of my managers jokingly told me to "leave her alone."  Only issue is that she started talking to me about Christ  and everything, and she doesn't know I'm Jewish.  

Speedy recovery to the notorious RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsberg), who suffered an injury.  

History has been made.  Jared Polis has become the first openly gay man elected governor, elected in Colorado.  Also, Ayanna Presley became the first black woman that Massachusetts elected to congress.

The democrats won the house of representatives, and the republicans won the senate.  

Happy Election Day.  It's not my job to tell anyone who to vote for.

Morrissey covering the Pretenders.  Goodnight all.

It's true, days that I don't write are worse days.  Try writing.  Even just a sentence, even just as a way to let out your feelings.  Even if it is just for you to see and not for anyone else to see.  Trust me, it helps.  
I'm dealing with a problem with my wrists.  It started off with one, which is now wrapped in a bandage, and now my other one has been feeling it too.  That, along with my lower back and knee have experienced problems lately.  

New Minnesota Timberwolves alternate jerseys are inspired by the purple one.  That along with Derek Rose's 50 point game at this point in his career.  Good news from up in those parts.

I'm excited for new music from Sharon Van Etten.

I kind of miss my end of college girlfriend sometimes.  There was a lot to like about her.  She identified as a WASP (white anglo-saxon/protestant, or something like that).  If I was actually doing Halloween, then maybe I could be Ant Man and she could be the WASP.

In important world news, Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World stopped a robber in his own home, and Boban Marjanovic and Tobias Harris are bromancing.

One of my favorite bands is back.  

One of my favorite tracks of the year just got a new video.

He may not be rookie of the year material, but I'm a big mo bamba guy.  I also like the song about him.

The sorrow just doesn't go away, but I have to keep moving.  

Unbelievable.  A mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.  Please stop hating and start loving a little bit more.  

Our current president and his administration are trying to take the term "transgender" out of existence and nullify the rights and progress that has been made for these people.  What a world.

Just to think that somewhere out there, some parents are teaching their children to say MAGA!!!! and that is probably some baby's first words.  Murals in this country are being defaced with pro-Trump and pro-Kavanaugh slogans.  It makes me sick.  This girl really got it right with this song.

Women are awesome and I respect all the amazing, brilliant, and strong women in my life.

I'm kind of sad that Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson broke off their engagement.  I kind of wanted that romance to last.  I love the fact that she has a pig named Piggy Smalls.

"Song For Zula" sort of had the same effect on me as the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" when I was a teen, with the symphony backing and everything.  Now this guy is back with more excellent music.

This 90's board game commercial is the perfect analogy for how I feel at the end of my work day. 

Amy Winehouse hologram tour is in the works.  Sometimes when I am working with someone who seems to have substance abuse issues, I bring up the whole Amy Winehouse case of a talented person that we lost too soon.  

Am I the only one who cares that Google Plus is shutting down?  What a shame.  It was a sly alternative to Facebook and I used it to post articles of interest and humor.  

The new  Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty, looks like something out of a horror movie to me.  

I just got a presidential alert on my phone.  I've never seen that before.  Maybe he's out grabbing someone by the chocha and my phone is alerting me about it.

Who knew Serena Williams could sing? Before you get all excited to see Serena like this, look at what she is raising awareness for.

Mandy Moore: my first true celebrity crush.

Lenny Kravitz was always the coolest of cool cats.  

Much anticipated new track from Robyn.  

I don't understand why sports teams like the Carolina Hurricanes are named after natural disasters that happen in that state.  I think the people who name the teams should go get sensitivity training.   They're bringing back Whalers jerseys from their days in Hartford for two nights.  They should just keep them.  

New video for Weezer's cover of an old Toto favorite.

It is on Yom Kippur every year that I remember my grandpa Eli.  He passed away on the holiest day of the year.  He always told me to be a good man, and that is the most important thing.  I got through the fasting, now more of my favorite stuff.  

 

I'm excited for the return of Kurt Vile.  

Life in your 30's: a battle of who you are now vs. who you were.  You start seeing things through a different lens as you get older.    I've been trying to master the art of small talk.  
Anyway, Beach House, always consistent, released a great album this year.  

The ambiance is reminiscent of Manhattan’s meatpacking district of the pre-AIDS 1970s, when men gathered in abandoned buildings for public orgies.


I liked the above description of this new video.  I would know about that because I frequented those buildings.


Anyway, I'm coming around to this guy.  Almost missed out on him because if you blink once you miss out on just about every new artist.

It is now decriminalized to be gay in India.  Maybe I should move there :)

I love this band.  First new stuff in a while from them.  

Just to think, people are burning their Nike's over this controversial piece of marketing.

Congrats to newlyweds Stacy and Jeremy Garson.  The wedding was a lot more fun than prom! And they played "Stacy's Mom" for Stacy's mom.


Also, I had a conversation with a girl who I randomly met about how "some football players are actually really smart!" And she's like "Not really!"

I think that more people should listen to Blood Orange.  

I'm being recruited through Linkedin by an independent record company in New Jersey for an operations manager spot.  Not sure if they can match the pay and benefits I currently have, but it is tempting to jump onboard a company that is doing something I like.

It seems like I have several friends who can't really go a week without mentioning Interpol.  
They were amongst my favorite bands back in my heyday with their debut and sophomore albums taking over the early 2000's indie scene.  People often took them as dark and gloomy, but the gloom was fun and the hooks were there.    Now they're back again, and it's for the listener to decide whether they like it or not.  

One of my favorite artists.

Absolutely loving the new album from Tomberlin (the moniker is actually the artist's last name).  One of my favorite releases of 2018.  

Recommended by a friend from work.  This is bizarre to the max.  Beep beep I'm a sheep.

In sad and depressing news, Aretha Franklin is in hospice care now :(

In more positive/progressive news, Christine Hallquist, from Vermont, is trying to become the first transgender governor.  

This just in: Ludacris is a mensch.  The man has apparently been randomly buying groceries for strangers.  

According to a recent study, online daters tend to pursue users 25% more desirable than they are.  

Wow.  Just to think that I am 25% more desirable than somebody and 25% less desirable than someone else.  

I've been trying to figure out if my idea of existential dreads is something original, because I've been thinking about it awhile, or if someone came up with it already.  I searched for some existential dreads online and Bob Marley popped up with some good quotes.

Also in music news, the band Diarrhea Planet announced its farewell tour.  They've been neutralized by a pepto bismal attack.  What a shame.

I saw Beck for free last night.  We got there, two people's friends didn't show up, and they gave us the tickets.  He played Debra, which was used in Baby Driver.  I didn't really have the best concert going experience, but Beck is awesome.  

One great song after another.  I bought Midnite Vultures in seventh grade and my life was never the same after that.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/beck/2018/festival-pier-at-penns-landing-philadelphia-pa-3ebed5f.html

For my very last song on my very last college radio show, I played "I Know It's Over" by the Smiths, and yes, I cried a bit.  

Hoping for the health of Elvis Costello, who is recovering from surgery.  Would love to get him back to full health so I can see him play.