Mort Mortimer 🇺🇸

Fair. And you have a gaggle of children to care for too. I would just generally say that basketball is really good these days so if you haven't watched in a few years, give it a peek.

The Bulls are actually pretty fun to watch right now too but they're not going to be making a deep playoffs run.

May I recommend... 🏀?

The Pistons are legit good and have an outside shot at the title, even. And they win with defense.

The Granny Smith is an acquired taste and I don't expect it to be universally liked.

Cosmic Crisp is like Honeycrisp but bigger, redder, and they seem like they stay crisp longer in the fridge.

There was a big marketing push out here a few years ago, which, whatever, but they are legit good.

Did the Cosmic Crisp make it East yet? It had a big bang release out here a few years ago and it's my go to eating apple any time I'm looking for in an apple that isn't as tart as a Granny Smith (my personal fav).

When grades stop meaning anything The UC San Diego math scandal is a warning

This piece is filled with valid and righteous anger and I recommend it for that alone.

What's unclear to me is how extensive the problem actually is and what the solves are. I presume "more money for schools" and "real accountability" are good starts but I dunno.

open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

As someone who is probably best classified at this point as a "moderate," I'm pretty fucking over politicians who moderate on tactics but stay left on policy.

Y'all. You're doing it backwards and you will be rewarded with perpetual minority rule.

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Honestly, I think Pusha finished him off. Kendrick was killing a man that was already dead.

Also, it should be noted that several of his earlier songs also fill a particular niche previously handled by Marvin Gaye, Prince, D'Angelo, Boyz II Men, and Usher.

I'll leave it to the reader to sort out the rest.

1. His work 2010-2015 is legitimately good, IMHO.
2. It's good background music. Identifiable as hip hop, nice hooks, but not too hard. Works for parties, music at a BBQ, etc.

It does help explain how he still gets streams even though his recent output is mostly trash though.

Actually Frankenstein was the name of the scientist. I, the person correcting you on this trivial point, am the monster.

There's still time.

Parks on the ballot! Do you love walkable, urban nature? Do you love property tax increases? Let's talk about it!

Only one thing on the ballot this Fall for Portland. A Portland Parks levy.

I waffled! It was a much closer call than I expected.

www.mortlandia.com/p/parks-on-t...

You drove me to my first show there! We did not know each other. I appreciated it.

I think this whole thread about Mamdani / communication is excellent but it's worth flagging: these are all bad ideas!

The challenge for everyone else is to have *good*, consumable, and fresh policy ideas and execute/communicate them as well as Mamdani.

Hi 👋,
Long time Taylor Swift fan here.

I don't think the new album is very good. That's ok. No shame in that. They can't all be Red or whatever.

Anyway, the discourse around her (both pro and con) is unhinged and completely divorced from the music and it makes me feel weird.

Graffiti on road signs in Portland

Did you hear that there are now Federal troops in Portland?

I, for one, don't find this concerning at all and decided to put together a friendly list of things that the locals would actually appreciate them trying to tackle while they are in town.

open.substack.com/pub/mortland...

I love everything about this.

My favorite coffee shops, in terms of latte-quality, are:
- Guilder
- Carnelian
- Extracto

However, on vibes I like them more shambolic and comfy rather than sleek, Like Jezebel's Last Merry go round (RIP) or Just Bob.

Where should I try?

I think a lot about the overlap between virtues like persistence and vices like stubbornness.

The metal. Big, long, thick metal nails.

One way I can tell I'm getting older is that I like Tom Petty a lot more than I used to.

Did Oregon drop the ball on Single Stair Reform? It's time to get nerdy about building codes

New in Mortlandia! I dig in to the hottest trend in housing wonkery, and why you shouldn't expect Oregon to be out ahead on it anytime soon.

open.substack.com/pub/mortland...

📚

- Spoon w/ Crooked Fingers & Fiery Furnaces opening @ Middle East in Cambridge, MA
- Taylor Swift on the Speak Now tour
- Fall Out Boy opening for Catch-22 in Baltimore @ Fletcher's
- Arcade Fire @ University of Glasgow
- The Hold Steady changing a lyric based on a show @ Bowdoin College

National guard troops lounging outside a Krispy Kreme

Dearest Martha,

The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.

Yours in glaze,

As I read it:
* AI queries, individually, are insignificant. Less carbon intensive than streaming video.
* AI data centers, in aggregate, require lots of power.

Why? Lots of AI queries!

Your answer to that is "fewer queries"
Google's answer is "improve the unit cost of a query"

Is that right?

Has real "Hold Steady lyrics" energy.

Also, it should be noted, he was a real character!

A Taylor Swift cover of Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" would be incredible.