Alby's Latest Posts
DL Open Thread Thursday, June 10, 2021
The week’s biggest story has been brought to us via Pro Publica, which got its hands on a trove of secret IRS files that show many famous billionaires pay a lower income tax rate than you, even if you earn $17,000 a year. David Cay Johnston at Raw Story provides a helpful synopsis that boils […]
Song of the Day 6/9: The Posies, “Solar Sister”
In popular memory, grunge is the rock genre that represents the ’90s, but that obscures the reality — the ’90s were rock’s last hurrah in large part because multiple genres still sold enough records (and there still were “records” to sell) to land recording contracts. One genre that thrived was power pop — well, thrived […]
Song of the Day 6/8: Gene Chandler, “Duke of Earl”
Americans seem fascinated with British royalty, but they don’t understand much about it. Consider, for example, the “Duke of Earl.” There is, of course, no such thing — in the hierarchy of British peerage, a duke is below only a prince, while an earl is a separate title two ranks lower. That fact did nothing […]
Song of the Day 6/7: Bing Crosby, “Swinging on a Star”
Does this song still turn up on children’s albums? When I was a kid, back in the Pleistocene, you heard it frequently because its sarcastic lyrics encourage little ones to go to school, exhibit good manners and not be a sneak. As an adult, I identify more with the last verse, especially when I read […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, June 6, 2021
The media must feel sheepish. For five years they treated every rally the Last Guy held as Big News, breathlessly reporting on how many of the slack-jawed gathered for his hatefests while rarely noting that, as a stump speaker, he’s dreadful — rambling, disjointed, frequently turning to his greatest hates for cheap applause. When it […]
Song of the Day 6/3: Paul McCartney, “Another Day”
When the Beatles broke up in 1970, fans blamed Yoko Ono first and foremost. But the band member who took the most heat was Paul McCartney, mostly because he was the first one to publicly announce his departure. Critics soon made him a whipping boy because his first solo album, a low-key, mostly acoustic set, […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, June 3, 2021
All of us who thought Biden for President was a dreadful mistake are settling down for a hearty meal of crow these days — Smilin’ Joe turns out to be the GOP’s bane, and for a very simple reason: They’re having a devil of a time demonizing him. The evidence comes from the hothouse world […]
Generic News Roundup (In Case of Ennui Break Glass)
I understand Jason330’s despair at trying to summarize the news lately. The media, as they did during the maladministration of the Last Guy, have fallen into a tiresome reliance on clickbait headlines in which only the proper nouns change. It’s OK, Jason. Anyone can fall victim to MOES — Media Over-Exposure Syndrome. So, recognizing that […]
Song of the Day 5/31: “Taps”
The 24 notes of this bugle call might be America’s most recognizable tune. Veterans are most familiar with it from its daily sounding at 2100 hours, or lights out — its original use when a Union Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield adapted it for his brigade in 1862 from an earlier bugle call known as “Scott’s […]
Song of the Day 5/30: B.J. Thomas, “[Hey Won’t You Play] Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”
Pop, county and gospel singer Billy Joe Thomas died yesterday at age 78, three months after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Though he’s most famous for his pop hits “Hooked on a Feeling” (No. 5, 1968) and “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (No. 1, 1969), Thomas started out as a country singer […]
DL Open Thread Sunday, May 30, 2021
Another day, another reason to worry that Chris Coons is going to fuck us up like the no-so-secret Republican he is. David Dayen the American Prospect reports that Coons is trying to force his pick to run the U.S. Patent Office on the White House. Why can’t we have nice things? Delaware is a bigger […]
Song of the Day 5/28: Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides, Now”
I’m going to guess this is Chris Coons’ favorite song. He’s looked at the issues from both sides now, and still somehow he really doesn’t know Republicans at all. Before Judy Collins recorded it in 1967 — actually, before it was released as a single in 1968 and reached No. 8 — Joni Mitchell was […]
Song of the Day 5/27: Everclear, “Santa Monica”
I’ve been on a bit of a ’90s kick lately — I’m more and more convinced that decade was rock music’s last hurrah — and this tune has gotten lodged in my head, so an [[[EARWORM ALERT!]]] is in order. By late 1995, when this song from “Sparkle and Fade” broke out on Alternative Rock […]
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