Mike Batz

Found some of my old writing. Do not recommend.

This photo reminds me that Pollard once put out a record of only drunken stage banter. Relaxation of the Asshole. I remember it being a fun waste of time, but dare say I have not revisited it in 20 years.

Amazing! A blankie by chance?

At this point, bring it on.

YouTube video by Mojo Nixon - Topic This Land is Your Land

No matter what religion you have
No matter what part of the world you come from to here
This piece of dirt under our feet
Doesn't belong to just one person
The person with the most lawyers doesn't own all of it
It belongs to everybody

The internet is really useful for self-diagnosis. Like just now I thought I was having a mental break but then came here to learn I wasn’t hallucinating the NYT Spelling Bee completely resetting to a new set of letters mid-morning.

The Rain Doesn't Only Fall On You, by Broken Chanter from the album Chorus Of Doubt

I have to recommend this tune by Broken Chanter, a rousing call for solidarity in the face of shared burden. They also do a solid cover of Woody’s “Tear the Fascists Down.” brokenchanter.bandcamp.com/track/the-ra...

Why did the blindfolded man fall down the well?

He didn’t see that well.

Friday the 26th Part XVI: Jason Takes Manhattan

YOU MUST TOUCH SOMETHING SOFT TO HAVE STRENGTH TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES.

Man this sucks. Been there. I know it isn’t the point of your skeet at all but I would look into a PT. My son has seen some for running injuries. I’ve been really impressed by their medical knowledge to assess his issues and develop treatment plans.

Halfway through Ring Shout and it rules

PSA: this album absolutely rips. So excited for their upcoming US tour.

One of the little things I miss about living in DC is hearing the go go beat everywhere. I was lucky enough to catch Chuck Brown a couple of times and I’m so glad his legacy continues to grow. Also, I want that shirt!

Everyone knows you only get salmonellosis if you don’t hit your macros

Really good book. Ultimately it is uplifting, but it’s a long road…

On the subject of post-apocalyptic shit, have you read A Canticle for Leibowitz?

Watched “The American Friend” last night and “The Brutalist” today. What should I watch tomorrow to keep this bleak “Americans using and degrading Europeans” run going? 📽️

From firing offense to hiring condition in one day

Logan, my Labrador retriever, begrudgingly sitting in the bright sunlight for a photo. Taken during a walk in our snowy neighbourhood.

With today’s high of -21°C (-6°F), this seems like a good day to mention one of my favourite words:

Apricity (n.): the warmth of the Sun in winter.

Here’s Logan, enjoying some.

First it was a poppy seed bagel covered in tiny ticks and now it’s a bat that looks like a doughnut.

Yeah, me neither. The people in that community are ALL IN though. Love the enthusiasm even if it ain’t my thing.

I realized I was in this boat a few years ago and had to really push myself to grow. So glad I did though because it opened up new worlds. I highly recommend a dedicated effort. I started with Earthsea, Broken Earth, and lists of Hugo and Nebula award winners. I’m still working on it.

Thirded! I don’t know the other two authors but I loved The Round House in particular

Very cool. I just googled and it looks like “packet radio” and “packet modems” have long been a thing, so we were just reinventing the wheel. It was so long ago, I remember so little about what we did.

Ham radio is wild. In a grad class back in like 98, my partner and I developed a ham radio modem. His idea really. Proof of concept only but we could transmit and receive. Soooo f’ing slow but our thinking was we could send data crazy distances. Wonder if anyone ever built a real one.

This is worse than the TikTok guy who eats raw chicken every day.

Some days I feel pretty normal and then I remember that my favorite candy are black licorice “salty herrings.”

That’s right, this outbreak is older than your fourth grader.

WGS has utterly transformed our ability to solve these kinds of outbreaks caused by dispersed, repeated contamination.