MatthewSmucker

Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads: The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same... - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” for Nihilists I don’t care if Monday’s blue. God is dead. Or if Tuesday is utterly desaturated to the point where all choice is arbitrary, Wednesday too. Thursda...

🎶 I don’t care if Monday's blue. God is dead.

Or if Tuesday is utterly desaturated to the point where all choice is arbitrary, Wednesday too.

Thursday, I will not make an effort to conjure you in my thoughts. I find you stupid and weak.

It’s Friday, I’m in love. 🎶

Here’s hoping that the “This was recorded in 1976! By kids! And it’s a compilation! Of covers!” mix-and-match controversies bring some flavorful heat to the Bluesky commentary! (But honestly, it was the most charming re-listening experience of all the albums I dove into last night.)

Well, @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social, I made my selection within the Venn diagram overlap of my rejected initial noms and the single-vote-shy-of-qualifying collection: Welcome the Langley Schools Music Project’s “Innocence and Despair” to the competition!

I didn’t pre-pick a selection, so will be culling through the rejects from my noms list shortly. What’s our deadline, @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social ?

Hey, that's my name in the video footage! Whoo hoo!

YouTube video by The Muppet Show Vault The Muppet Show - 417: Star Wars - Cold Open (1980)

youtu.be/_dBnW7dZUUQ?...
The cold open crash...

YouTube video by The Muppet Show Vault The Muppet Show - 417: Star Wars - Pigs in Space: Star Wars Cast Board the Swinetrek (Part 1) (1980)

youtu.be/5j0hwTrgjrQ?...
Amazingly, the full ep of the Muppet Show from 1980 hosted by Mark Hamill makes it crystal clear that the Muppet Show universe and the Star Wars galaxy are in already in continuity with each other. (Here's the Pigs in Space sketch!)

Dance off.

So even he didn’t watch kid rock

1. White Stripes
2. Wilco
3. Dylan / Strokes

This was the kind of treatment the union activists got today from Oregon’s largest unions alongside coalitions like @jwjpdx.bsky.social. They fired projectiles and injured many demonstrators and broke out neighbors windows. Gas for a half dozen miles in each direction. #iceout

My hot take is that F1 is a western in race-car clothing.

Not just happening in Minnesota

The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”

That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.

YouTube video by Jet CityStream Robyn Hitchcock & Scott McCaughey- "Viva Sea-Tac" (Jet City Stream In-Studio)

youtu.be/Go-wiS4JXWk?...

I’ve never heard of a “law enforcement” agency putting an officer who just killed someone back on the street under 24 hours. And that’s because all shootings are treated as homicides pending investigation. This is as clear a sign as you’ll get that DHS personnel enjoy practical immunity from murder.

Alex Pretti Was Killed in My Neighborhood. In the Following Hours, It Was Us Versus Ice After they shot Alex, ICE agents unleashed their anger and weapons on us.

One of Eva’s friends threw up in the snow. Eva spit, and her saliva was neon orange. slate.trib.al/bcgq8Ds

People Over Papers - Report ICE Activity Report and track ICE activity in your community. A community-driven platform to document immigration enforcement.

NORTH SEATTLE: Reports of ICE on Aurora in Shoreline. iceout.org/reportInfo/9...

This quite literally should be all over the news‼️

Our initial analysis is up.

The video footage appears to show that the gun was taken away from the man before he was shot.

He was UNARMED before any of the shots were fired.

DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars

DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars https://theonion.com/dhs-releases-watchlist-of-mothers-driving-cars/

Jonathan Ross worked for Border Patrol before ICE

You know what to do folks, flood the phones: indivisible.org/resource/cal...

Cosmos is a Pinterest style app I’ve played with but haven’t yet made my main pinboard for saving images/links. Gives a higher end aesthetic vibe? (and now I need to go find out why Pinterest is on the “find an alternative to this” list beyond the usual enshittification arc reasons.)

YouTube video by Merge Records on YouTube Superchunk - No Hope (Official Audio)

(Honorable mentions for the year that just was include Lambrini Girls, Panic Shack, Sprints, Laura Jane Grace, Neko Case, Weakened Friends, Bug Club, and Superchunk.) youtu.be/f9-C3x3J_Xo?...

YouTube video by KEXP Wet Leg - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

I’m pretty sure I’ve messed up any sense of a consistent thread here, but finally down to the last of my 2025 faves: Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer” which extended and expanded the sounds of their debut into genuine (and not entirely ironic) professions of love. youtu.be/zIEZdq_25bs?...

YouTube video by TullycraftNation Tullycraft - "Jeanie's Up Again and Blaring Faith by the Cure"

All hail the return of Tullycraft with their excellent “Shoot the Point”! youtu.be/SlpFa6q7aI8?... Twee indie with all of the inside-musical-baseball references one has come to expect. And don’t sleep on singer Sean’s (and partner Liz’s) radio show on Space 101.5:
www.mixcloud.com/PopSongsMixt...

YouTube video by GreatGrandpaVEVO Great Grandpa - Task (Official Music Video)

Great Grandpa, formerly of Seattle but now spread more widely, made the genre-agnostic, eccentrically arranged “Patience, Moonbeam” this past year. It’s complex and satisfying with its strings and banjos hinting at americana before swinging widely in different directions youtu.be/3ii5Vj94m6g?...