Alby's Latest Posts
Can Someone Please Explain This to Me?
We’ve got a bunch of Murkins out there threatening civil government with armed resistance — because they DON’T want to wear masks. Historically speaking, isn’t insurrection a reason to cover one’s face to hide one’s identity? These people also tend to be paranoid about facial-recognition technology. Wouldn’t wearing a mask be a simple way to […]
Song of the Day 5/28: Pavement, “Spit on a Stranger”
As tempers flare over mask-wearing in public, there have been more than a few cases of aggrieved assholes who won’t don a face covering coughing on or spitting at people who challenge them over it. This should be their theme song. It appeared on Pavement’s final LP, 1999’s “Terror Twilight.” The neo-bluegrass band Nickel Creek, […]
Song of the Day 5/27: Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy Train”
It’s been 40 years since Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Randy Rhoads released what became one of heavy metal’s most iconic songs. Though the guitar riff retains its grungy glory, the tune itself — written about the Cold War –sounds rather tame in retrospect, especially nowadays, when we have an off-his-rocker president steering the crazy train. […]
Song of the Day 5/26: Dobie Gray, “Drift Away”
“Drift Away” has been recorded by dozens of artists, but none of the covers matches what I always thought was the original by Dobie Gray. Turns out I was wrong — the original recording wasn’t by Gray but by one John Henry Kurtz, a country/swamp rock singer from Havertown, Pa., who released one LP, “Reunion,” […]
Song of the Day 5/24: Scorpions, “Wind of Change”
One consequence of the Trump presidency has been a recalibration of reality, and what is possible within its supposed confines, a condition that is not contained to matters relating to Trump. I can think of no other explanation for the weirdest story of the month, a podcast series by Orwell prize-winning US journalist Patrick Radden […]
Song of the Day 5/22: Spinal Tap, “Gimme Some Money”
Billionaires have taken to begging people to go back to work, using every tool at their disposal except higher wages and better benefits. The non-essential jobs, it turns out, are the ones at the top of the capitalism pyramid, and it takes a lot of cashflow to keep the money pump primed and flowing. Why, […]
Song of the Day 5/21: Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara, “Midnight at the Oasis”
The late, great Fred Willard couldn’t sing, and you can prove it by the lack of video clips showing him doing it. His brief vocal turn in “Waiting for Guffman,” as travel agent/community theater leading man Ron Albertson (with Catherine O’Hara as his wife/leading lady Shiela), reveals limits to both his range and his ability […]
Song of the Day 5/20: Weird Al Yankovic, “Fat”
She spends a lot less time slinging insults than Trump does, but Nancy Pelosi absolutely owned the All-Too-Visible Enemy with a little concern trolling Monday, pointing out that he probably shouldn’t be taking hydroxychloroquine given his age group and “weight group…morbidly obese.” She then dunked on him yesterday, claiming, I didn’t know that he would […]
Song of the Day 5/18: Stevie Nicks, “Stand Back”
This is the theme song for my mandatory two-week quarantine. I play it for anyone who wants to visit, right after I explain to them that for some reason two-thirds of the people working at London Heathrow couldn’t be bothered to wear masks. Though he isn’t credited as co-writer, this song owes its existence to […]
Song of the Day 5/17: Linda Ronstadt and Chuck Berry, “Back in the USA”
There’s quite a backstory to this live performance from 1987 in St. Louis, Chuck Berry’s hometown, at the first of two concerts to celebrate his 60th birthday. “Back in the USA” wasn’t one of Berry’s biggest hits. He wrote it in 1959, after returning from an Australian tour, but it made it only to No. […]
How the Counties Have Screwed the Schools By Failing to Reassess Property
Property taxes in Delaware are a mess. Everyone who pays any attention to this wonky subject knows that it’s been more than 30 years since any of the state’s counties have reassessed property, so valuations on similar properties can be — excuse the pun — all over the lot. Despite their knowledge of this inherent […]
Song of the Day 5/14: Thompson Twins, “Doctor! Doctor!”
Dr. Anthony Fauci has gotten on Trump’s nerves for weeks now, and even a reporter for the Associated Press noticed that it’s making the Man-Baby Menace furious. Has Fauci noticed? Can’t he see Trump is burning, burning? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APyl6Cnbfzw This was the Thompson Twins’ follow-up to their monster 1984 hit, “Hold Me Now.”
Song of the Day 5/13: Ice Cube, “Your Money or Your Life”
Pollsters asked people whether they were more worried about public health or the economy. Among Democrats, public health was more important by a 72-16 margin. Republicans, the economy won out, 55-38. So, in essence, a majority of Republicans are like Jack Benny — forced to choose between their money or their life, they’d have to […]
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