Recent Articles
Song of the Day 10/16: Mickey Dolenz, “Shiny Happy People”
Rock is deep into its post-modern phase. How else to explain 78-year-old Mickey Dolenz, the last surviving Monkee, releasing an EP of R.E.M. covers? Well, maybe as time being a flat circle – R.E.M. was one of the first bands to cite the Monkees as an influence. “Shiny Happy People” might be the song that […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Oct. 16, 2023
Whatever you think about the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you have to admit that U.S. media picks and chooses its obsessions, and that dwelling on those stories stirs the deranged to action. Which is how you end up with a landlord stabbing a Palestinian woman’s 6-year-old child to death in that hotbed of ethnic strife that […]
Song of the Day 10/15: Madness, “Michael Caine”
Iconic British actor Michael Caine announced yesterday on BBC Radio that, at 90 years old, he’s retiring. “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, I am now. I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m likely to get now are old men.” […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, October 15, 2023
Louisiana Goes Full-On Right-Wing Crazy. Guess I won’t be visiting N’Awlins soon: Jeff Landry, the Louisiana attorney general and a hard-line conservative, trounced a crowded field of candidates on Saturday to become the state’s next governor, cementing Republican control of Louisiana after eight years of divided government. Mr. Landry, a brash conservative who repeatedly fought […]
Song of the Day 10/14: Joni Mitchell, “Banquet”
For Paul and El Som, by request. The original arrangement on “For the Roses” features Joni on piano, but this full band concert performance from her film 1983 film “Refuge of the Roads” brings the song to greater life. The music starts at 1:46, but the old film footage preceding and punctuating it puts the […]
DL Open Thread: Saturday, October 14, 2023
Weisselberg Lied, Under Oath, About Trump’s Penthouse. Too bad there’s incontrovertible proof–from Weisselberg: Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, lied in sworn testimony on Tuesday when questioned about Donald Trump’s penthouse atop Trump Tower. Weisselberg was on the stand as part of a $250 million lawsuit that the New York […]
Song of the Day 10/13: Cyndi Lauper, “Money Changes Everything”
What makes so many politicians succumb to the lure of lucre? I think Cyndi Lauper summed it up. Actually, a guy named Tom Gray, who led an Atlanta new wave band in the late ’70s, summed it up first on an indie label in 1978, and did it so well that it got the Brains […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, October 13, 2023
Scalise Boomlet Crashes. Looks like Jordan is up next. We can only hope that his candidacy suffers the same fate: The fractious Republican conference has rejected a second speaker hopeful in eight days — this time, Kevin McCarthy’s longtime heir apparent, Steve Scalise. While Republicans appear to be turning next to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), […]
Song of the Day 10/12: Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
I saw a story last week by a mom whose tweenage daughter told her the term “preppy” equates to “people who wear Nirvana shirts.” It seems that what the youngster called “old band shirts” have replaced sweatshirts emblazoned with merchandiser names (remember Hollister?) as the uni du jour among a certain set. It’s a humorous […]
DL Open Thread: Thursday, October 12, 2023
Best Thing Dubya Ever Said: Word. Just remember this before you demand to know ‘Whose side are you on?’ That kind of intimidation says a lot more about the intimidator than about the intimidated. End of lecture. If there is one redeeming feature about the Israel/Hamas War, it’s that Donald Trump has not been on […]
Song of the Day 10/11: Talking Heads, “Life During Wartime”
The Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” is getting as much critical acclaim in its recent rerelease as it did when it opened in theaters back in 1984, maybe because the band’s sense of apocalyptic absurdity fits our present reality so well. Enjoy it while you can. As this New Yorker piece makes clear, […]
Karl Baker Breaks The BHL Story Wide Open
Tips of the sombrero to eagle-eyed readers Duarte and BLT who spotted it: https://thenewsarcade.substack.com/p/leading-candidate-for-delaware-governor?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Here’s an excerpt from Karl’s story: In 2018, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s husband went into business with her office’s chief deputy, forming an LLC that purchased nine row homes in a small Wilmington suburb that had been targeted as an ideal […]
Delaware’s Most Intriguing Legislative Races Of 2024: #2-RD 29
The year was 2018. Incumbent State Rep. Trey Paradee ran for the 17th State Senate seat and won. The D primary to succeed Trey in his Kent Counry 29th RD was won by–wait–there was no D primary for the 29th RD. Making the successor-designee one Bill Bush, who was pushed by the worst of the […]
Recent Comments