Alby's Latest Posts
Song of the Day 2/20: U2, “American Obituary”
U2 released its first new music in nearly a decade on Ash Wednesday, and the lead track on the six-song EP “Days of Ash” joins the growing list of anti-DHS protest songs. Though “American Obituary” sounds like the title for a requiem for the United States, it’s actually an elegy for Renee Good. Renee Good, […]
DL Open Thread Friday, Feb. 20, 2026
Spotlight Delaware unveiled a major project yesterday that assesses the statewide reassessment that has gored many an ox. Not surprisingly, it found that poor people and minorities got hit the hardest. The data, compiled through Freedom of Information Act requests by Spotlight Delaware and mapped in partnership with Tech Impact’s Data Lab, show that in […]
Song of the Day 2/19: Joe Frazier and the Knockouts, “Knock on Wood”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona It seems wrong to put a movie-prop statue right next to a major collection of great art, yet there’s Rocky at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In fact, he’ll be moving from his place near the bottom of the steps to an even more prominent spot at […]
DL Open Thread Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026
For those who pay attention to polls, this recent one contains an interesting phenomenon, noted on BlueSky by Adam Bonin, a lawyer from Philadelphia. For months I’ve banged the drum that “not sure” has become the safe harbor answer for “Republicans who know Trump’s probably wrong, but don’t want to admit it.” Today’s Economist/YouGov Poll: […]
Song of the Day 2/18: Billie Jo Spears, “Blanket on the Ground”
The tale of “Kristi Needs Her Blankie” is even sadder and sillier than first reported. You may recall from, oh, last week sometime that DHS chief Kristi Noem tried to fire a Coast Guard pilot mid-flight for leaving her blanket behind. Petty and pathetic, sure, but almost innocent compared to the real story. It seems […]
Song of the Day 2/17: Robert Duvall, “I’ve Decided to Leave Here Forever”
The obituaries for Robert Duvall, the greatest character actor of his generation, all lauded his amazing versatility. Some of them mentioned that for his lone Oscar-winning role, as washed-up country singer Mac Sledge in the 1983 release “Tender Mercies,” Duvall played the guitar and did all his own singing. Few noted that he also wrote […]
Song of the Day 2/16: The Presidents of the United States of America, “Naked and Famous”
Though today is widely known as Presidents Day, the federal holiday is still officially called Washington’s Birthday. Many states have switched the name to Presidents Day, but nine states, including Delaware, don’t observe it at all. Luckily for kids, public schools are closed anyway. I understood celebrating George Washington, his slave-holding notwithstanding, but I’m not […]
Song of the Day 2/15: Kate Bush, “Wuthering Heights”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona Many adaptations of “Wuthering Heights” have come along since Emily Bronte wrote it in 1847, but there’s been little agreement about which has best captured the spirit of the novel. Was it the movie with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon that got the Hollywood treatment in 1939? Maybe. Was it […]
Song of the Day 2/13: Martin Denny, “Quiet Village”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona In a deep freeze like the one we’ve been locked into, one’s thoughts naturally turn to palm trees, tiki torches and exotic bird calls to warm us up in mind if not body. And if your thoughts need a little nudging, well there’s music for that. Exotica is an easygoing, […]
Song of the Day 2/12: 3 Doors Down, “Kryptonite”
Tragedy has stalked 3 Doors Down, one of the most successful rock bands of the ’00s, yet again. Lead singer and original drummer Brad Arnold, the last original member of what began as a trio, died Saturday of kidney cancer at age 47. Original guitarist Matt Roberts, who left the band in 2012, died in […]
Song of the Day 2/11: Pete Seeger, “Little Boxes”
H/t El Somnambulo, who wanted to know if this song was inspired by Levittown, the early suburban development whose 750-square-foot houses would qualify as “tiny homes” today. First off, El Som, no, Burl Ives never sang it. You’re thinking of the version by Pete Seeger, who had his only charting record with the tune – […]
Song of the Day 2/10: Frank Sinatra, “Fly Me to the Moon”
After 20 years of blathering about his intention to colonize the Red Planet, big-brained super-genius Elon Musk announced yesterday that because Earth and Mars only align every 26 months, he was switching his focus to the Moon, which is, scientifically speaking, much closer. Of course, that’s been true for hundreds of millions of years, not […]
Song of the Day 2/9: Twisted Sister, “I Wanna Rock”
Try to contain your disappointment: Twisted Sister had to call off its 50th anniversary tour, its first comeback in a decade, because frontman Dee Snider unexpectedly quit, citing his declining health. Per a statement at the band’s web site, Snider suffers from degenerative arthritis and has had several surgeries over the years just to keep […]
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