Bart King

The End of Books Coverage at the Washington Post Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section.

“A newspaper is—or ought to be—the opposite of an algorithm, a bastion of enlightened generalism in an era of hyperspecialization and personalized marketing … From now on, the Post will no longer accommodate the admirably omnivorous avidity of its best readers.” www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...

YouTube video by Cake - Topic Nugget

youtu.be/ov3Lh_ELdkI?...

Greg Brown, founding guitarist of Cake and writer of ‘The Distance,’ dies Greg Brown, a founding guitarist of the Sacramento band Cake, has died after a brief illness.

Listening to Cake in honor of Greg Brown:

"Heads of state who ride and wrangle
Who look at your face from more than one angle
Can cut you from their bloated budgets
Like sharpening knives through Chicken McNuggets..."
www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...

Graffiti on a boarded-up window reads "NO BARKING"

Joke’s on them! (They forgot the “T”.)

The executive branch's power dimmed from the moment Jordan first played the Keytar of Supremacy.

The literati sniff at Isaac Asimov‘s writing style, but his work is Foundation-al to science fiction.

¡Idiotas! El español siempre ha tenido mensajes políticos ocultos.

Vivien Garry, 1947.

AI Book Generator Slogan:
“Improving books by eliminating the middleman – namely, the authors!”

Excerpt from an article about a person who uses AI to “write“ books: The way Ms. Hart sees it, romance writers must either embrace artificial intelligence, or get left behind. "If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who's going to win the race?" she said.

Any writer who’s “generating“ books has already lost.

There were literally some people present.

One Man’s Lonely Quest to Rally Support for Billionaires in San Francisco Derik Kauffman wanted to change the discourse on America’s richest people. Would anyone show up to his march?

This is both real and extremely funny. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/bi...

I grew up in a neighborhood that was so family-friendly, when I got jumped into the local gang it was on a trampoline.

NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff

One day after meeting Susie Wiles, Tulsi Gabbard told the NSA not to publish the intelligence report. Instead, she instructed NSA officials to transmit the highly classified details directly to her office. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

I prefer bong chowder, but whatevs.

Hockey players, these rules for "Parasol Flirtations" (1890) are generally the same for the hockey stick flirtations of today. So the next time you drop your stick on the ice, you'll be making a bold declaration of love. 💚
bit.ly/4khK1Ls

Brendan Loper.

This image from the book's frontispiece includes a quotation from the typewriter's inventor, Christopher Latham Sholes:
“I feel that I have done something for the women who have always had to work so hard. This will enable them more easily to earn a living.” archive.org/details/stor...

Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’

“The reason that very few professors are political conservatives is the same reason that no one who is below 5 ft 4 inches tall and over 45 years of age is on the roster of any of the 30 teams in the NBA.” ☄️
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

I kept one eye on the screen, which was showing one adventuring disaster after another, and one eye on the man as he recounted his tale. Frank claimed he and his partner, a woman named Maggie, worked for "Customs Enforcement," which was a nice way of saying he was a fed, and he worked for ICE.

I started reading a humorous book titled “Dungeon Crawler Carl“ (2020) to take my mind off of *gestures vaguely* all THAT.

But early in the story, it becomes clear that a mysterious figure is in fact, sinister … which snapped me right back into the present! So much for escapism, sheesh.

“Grandfather, will you tell us a story?”

“Of course, children. Let me fetch my storybook! It has the most wondrous tale.”

<later>
“why do you hate us, grandpa?”

It's not fixing a hole in their discography, but this was the projected cover for the unfinished Beatles album, "Sgt. Pepper's Muzzled Bear, Black Cat, Scary Aladdin, and 'What in the heck is George?' Club Band."

Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland as MSPs back law Rest of UK has resisted calls to make builders install bricks that provide nesting for swifts and other endangered birds

I like this story! The end. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

She was headed “to buy a cake for her grandson’s birthday when she was stopped.” 🤬

Music Millennium, Portland’s oldest record store, is looking for new ownership Terry Currier, the owner of Music Millennium in Southeast Portland, just turned 70, and he’s looking for a successor to take over his beloved store.

Music Millennium opened in Portland in 1969. Now, the owner is looking for a successor to take over his beloved store.

“I want that building to be a part of Portland’s landscape forever. Plus, I want Music Millennium to be in it for just as many years," he said.

*eats last McDonald's fry and flicks a lit cigarette*

"It's ball-pit time."

Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.

On the other hand, if you petition your government for redress of grievances, they’ll sic the Trump Gestapo on you. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Five of the dogs known as Finnish Spitzes being shown at what appears to be a dog show.

“Finnish Spitz.”
— Things you might hear at the dentist *or* at the Westminster Dog Show.

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: No bond in nature is stronger than that between a mother and her daughter. In scientific terminology, they are...

Cher dutifully made her way back to the microphone, where she eventually opened the record of the year envelope before pausing awkwardly. "They told me it was going to be on the prompter," she said, waving a hand in the air. Finally, the winner came: "Oh, the Grammy goes to Luther Gandross!" Cher said, flubbing the name of Kendrick Lamar and SZA's lovelorn duet "Luther," as well as, it appeared, that of the great R&B singer who inspired it: Luther Vandross, who died in 2005.

Cher waves.

This description of Cher attempting to award a Grammy to … *somebody* made my day.