Alby's Latest Posts
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023
Observing conservatives over the decades, I’ve noticed they usually fall into the same trap: They believe their own bullshit or, in the parlance of our times, they get high on their own supply. They delude themselves that their policies are popular and act on that conviction, then seem surprised at the backlash. That’s probably why […]
Song of the Day 10/31: Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, “Monster Mash”
Yes, you’ve heard it a million times. Everybody’s heard it a million times, and lots of them know some of the lines, even if they’re too young to know that “mash” was short for the “mashed potato,” a national dance craze back in 1962. Bobby Pickett, who died in 2007, was an aspiring actor who […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023
Replacing soft-MAGA Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House with hard-MAGA Mike Johnson is somehow Bad News for Progressives among those who see everything as bad news for progressives, but I don’t think it’s that cut and dried. This guy is a true Christofascist freak – Amanda Marcotte writes about his Satanic panic over a […]
Song of the Day 10/30: Reba McEntire, “Turn on the Radio”
This year saw an odd trend in the agritainment business: Reba McEntire-themed corn mazes. Corn mazes are a seasonal money-maker for small farmers who market the farm along with its crops, and they’ve been around long enough that a business has sprung up around them. I suppose if you have to come up with a […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Oct. 30, 2023
Israel’s assault on Gaza has entered the there’s-no-excuse-for-this stage. One indication of how bad it is: Desperate Gazans broke into UN aid centers and looted their already insufficient food supplies. Calls for a cease-fire continue to come from everywhere but the Biden administration. And it’s not just in Gaza. As Lucian Truscott IV notes, armed […]
Song of the Day 10/29: Milli Vanilli, “Girl You Know It’s True”
You can tell the ’90s are having their day in the nostalgia-industrial complex – there’s a new documentary out about Milli Vanilli, the dance-pop duo who had to give up their Grammy Award when it was revealed that they were lip-synching and dancing to vocals recorded by other singers. I remember seeing the act at […]
Song of the Day 10/27: The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back”
So I was at a wedding a couple of weekends ago and – old fogey alert! – when the music started it was like a rave had broken out. The DJ segued one record into another ad infinitum, all with the same monotonous robo-beat while the bridal party – were nine bridesmaids really necessary? – […]
Song of the Day 10/26: The Rolling Stones, “Start Me Up”
I don’t want to make a big thing of it, but Joe Biden is the same age as Keith Richards, and nobody is telling the venerable guitarist to hang it up. The indestructible Stone might look like the picture of Dorian Gray, but he stopped by the Jimmy Fallon show the other night after the […]
Song of the Day 10/25: The B-52s, “Dry County”
For Andrew C, by request. The B-52s were scheduled to play a White House state dinner tonight but had their performance called off at the last minute. Jill Biden was called upon to explain, “While we had initially planned for the legendary B-52s to perform their iconic dance and party music, we are now in […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023
Another day, another failed attempt to elect a Speaker of the House. Contestant No. 3 lasted just four hours, not even long enough to be doxxed by MAGA World, so Republicans are going to try again today with Mike Johnson – if that’s his real name – of Louisiana. Given their proclivities, I expect them […]
Song of the Day 10/24: Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, “I’m Not Your Man”
Theme song for the endless search for a Speaker of the House. Tommy Conwell ruled the bar band circuit in Philadelphia and Delaware for a little while back in the ’80s with his blend of blues and pop. His popularity in the region culminated in a major-label contract and a debut album, “Rumble,” anchored by […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023
Handicapping the Speaker Stakes? Now there are only eight entrants as Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has scratched himself from the race. Meuser, who represents a big slice of the state’s northern hinterlands west of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, begged off due to other commitments, namely leading the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. Meuser said he spoke […]
Song of the Day 10/23: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, “A Nightmare on My Street”
Will Smith’s spoof of the Freddy Krueger movies fits the Halloween season, but he’s living a more substantial nightmare these days, what with all the publicity his apparently estranged wife is getting for her tell-all memoir. Stay out of the basement, Will, it’s full of dirty laundry. “A Nightmare on My Street” was the second […]
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