Aaron Katz

Lynn Blakey performing with The Salt Collective at City Winery, Boston, MA. 01/22/2024

Was actually 2 yrs ago. 💔

Really sad to hear this. Was an intern at PRA in the mid-90s and have such fond memories of Chip & Jean. He retired to the town next to mine and I always intended to seek him out to catch up. Please let us know if there will be a public memorial service in the future.

artists/musicians/venues I am BEGGING you to have a simple monthly newsletter and a page on a website that isn't fucking Facebook where I can find your upcoming events, so that I can attend them. thank you for your attention to this matter.

YouTube video by oydave REM 1981-02-20 688 Atlanta GA

The earliest live video of R.E.M. with sound was resurfaced on YouTube a few days ago. Really great stuff. Love the superfans singing "Windout" as the song starts because they know what's coming. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMTG...

Photo of Pretti's handgun and the ejected magazine, on the passenger seat of a federal vehicle.

I'm going to say a couple of things about Alex Pretti's handgun, that I don't think people who do not shoot will initially understand.

This photo was almost immediately distributed by the feds. I think that doing so was, for them and their attempt to whitewash the murder, a *huge* error.

Reviving R.E.M.: Why Jason Narducy and Michael Shannon Are Touring the Band’s Iconic Albums With the help of a crew of veteran players, film star Shannon and guitarist Narducy are taking the music of the iconic Georgia band out on the road.

“A lot of these songs are canonical as far as I’m concerned. It’s not like you wouldn’t play Mozart because you didn’t write it.” —Michael Shannon

Read Premier Guitar's interview with Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy.

www.premierguitar.com/reviving-r-e...

Enshittification of an already overhyped app is on its way.

I wish universities understood how corrupted these tools are from the jump.

The wait is almost over! He arrives tonight. Christmas Eve with Oedipus is 6-midnight on @wgbh.org, over the airwaves and streaming too. A treasured holiday tradition. No algorithm. Just Oedirithm! (Thanks to @henrysantoro.bsky.social for his stewardship!)

@oedipus1.bsky.social Will there be a Christmas Eve with Oedipus this year?

@wgbh.org Will there be a Christmas Eve with Oedipus this year?

I’ve crunched the numbers and the best band is still …

one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.

Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq

The Great AI Bubble Yes, it's a bubble. And yes, it's going to burst.

NEW: Welcome to the Great AI Bubble. Yes, it’s here. And yes, it’s going to burst.

It’s also got way more in common with the Epstein scandal than you really want to know.

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

How to end your extremely online era A somewhat practical guide

A very sobering and worthwhile read and, yes, somewhat ironic to post here.

I've definitely reduced my social media time drastically in the last years, but maybe I need to do more reducing :\

www.tommydixon.ca/p/how-to-end...

It's a Ponzi scheme. And these people at our universities have got us involved.

Investor pressure may be driving risky AI medical device launches Study finds an association between publicly traded companies and recalls of AI-based medical tools

An analysis of “nearly 1,000 AI-enabled medical devices, or AIMDs, approved by the FDA found an alarming trend: Devices from publicly traded companies are far more likely to be recalled, and many hit the market without being tested on real people.”

Black and white photograph of a young-looking Galaxie 500.

Galaxie 500 remain one of indie rock’s most quietly untouchable constellations. In conversation with Dean Wareham, Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski, Brian Coney provides ten points of entry to the dimmer recesses of their back catalogue

The Strange World Of… #Galaxie500 Rarities

buff.ly/bv74S65

Amazon’s Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with "evidence collection and investigative work."

GET RID OF YOUR RING CAMERAS www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Yes. Noticed lots of signs in the windows earlier today.

Looks like there’s one opening soon in North Beverly Plaza.

Those last four bullet points. Right on. Some hope despite the times. cc: @dadadrummer.bsky.social

Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."

Can You Win a Congressional Seat Without Social Media? Carleigh Beriont is running for Congress as an “anti-social Democrat” and she thinks the party needs to abandon social media nationally also.

an "Anti-social Democrat" is running for congress with a bold no posting strategy www.404media.co/can-you-win-...

Doom & Gloom From The Tomb Galaxie 500 - Ecstasy, Berlin, Germany, October 31, 1989 Andy over at the long-running / indispensable Full of Wishes site alerted me to the recent unearthing of a previously uncirculated Galaxie 500....

A freshly unearthed tape of Galaxie 500 live in Berlin on Halloween in 1989???? 🎃🎃🎃 doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/7963965...

We laugh at this shit -- I mean, how can you not? -- but it's serious: these guys want to infuse reactionary thinking into AI and then infuse AI into every nook & cranny of American life. They can't win the argument so they are trying to blunt-force their views onto us with money & power.

The moment where Hegseth ends his speech and not a single officer claps is the most hopeful thing I have seen in a long time.

Wednesday’s Plan to Keep Southern Rock Weird Karly Hartzman is determined not to become the next “prince of Brooklyn.” “Just being a little outside of the norm,” she says, “is such a beautiful weapon.”

TWO SOUTHERN JEWISH GALS WALK INTO A BAR....I spent AmericanaFest with Karly Hartzman (aka "goth Dolly Parton," thanks Missy Dabice) and profiled Wednesday for GQ. And yes, the album is as good as everyone says it is
www.gq.com/story/wednes...

YouTube video by Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane GUNS IN AMERICA: A CIVIL CONVERSATION IN UNCIVIL TIMES (Light Over Heat #136)

This talk pulls together all of the threads of my work. If you wonder how it all fits together or how I see the way forward on guns, this video is for you. Or if you know someone looking for a liberal, pro-civility gun owner, this is a great start.

youtu.be/7a1QMLTuBYk?...

Sept 20, 1980: 45 REALLY unknown pleasures years ago.

Joy Division/New Order at Maxwell's!

Legendary photo by the great Charles Charas!

Me in front, back right Maxwell's owner Steve Fallon and DJ Guy Ewald.