Marc Hirsh

Watched with the volume all the way down and still knew *exactly* what it sounded like.

Our country is run by a bunch of Jimmy Pestos and Trevs.

For its 30th anniversary, Belly’s album ‘King’ claims the throne at the Paradise - The Boston Globe The band, fronted by Boston rock maven Tanya Donelly, will play its sophomore album in its entirety at the Paradise Rock Club.

I spoke with a COVID-wracked Tanya Donelly about realizing just how successful Belly's KING was both creatively and sales-wise, pushing back on the media's Manic Pixie Dream Girl portrayal of her and (!!) new Belly music. Also how desperately much I love "Judas My Heart," but I left that part out.

"What if I take 45 minutes to update and restart?" -- my computer as I sat down at my desk this morning, apparently

What do experts know, anyway?

And some folks were like "It's really immature to call them names, just focus on policy," failing to realize that it WAS focusing on policy, nobody wants greebly weirdos getting in their business with their weird greebliness.

Interest piquing...

As always, I say "You first." When the folks pushing (and shoving) this nonsense bypass sending their kids to college and have them simply operate from an AI-churned "education" instead, then maybe I'll believe.

(I won't.)

If you ever wonder about kink inflation, bear in mind that to 1981 Rick James, incense, wine and candles qualified as "such a freaky scene."

"GOLDEN'D!"

New Homestar Halloween just dropped.

"And why did the last person leave this position?"

An email notification for a message from Phil @ZipRecruiter, with the subject line "UnitedHealthcare is looking for candidates like you!" The text of the message reads: "Hi Marc, "Here's a NEW job at UnitedHealthcare. I wanted to get it in front of you ASAP to help you get a jumpstart on the competition. If you like what you see, go ahead and view the details! Community Outreach Specialist - Bristol, Plymouth, or Norfolk Counties in M..."

This feels like a trap?

I have never, in 3+ decades, considered David Barbe and Malcolm Travis an especially notable rhythm section, and certainly not one with a signature sound. But effing heck, does Bob Mould sound different playing with these guys than he does with his (extremely solid!) solo career. More charged, easy.

Pretty sure the media smeared* Romney as a patronizing, out-of-touch business brick. The only one calling him Hitler is (checks notes) the guy scolding us for calling him Hitler.

Just heard a YouTuber explain the Dunning-Kruger effect wrong, which feels like an incredible bit.

He literally answers that in the post! Just whooshed right by as it fell right out of his mouth without so much as blinking!

Section from Kingmaker's Wikipedia page entitled "Animosity with record label," which reads as follows "Speaking to Hybrid magazine in 2000, Hardy explained that when 'Armchair Anarchist', the first single taken from Sleepwalking, failed to break into the Top 40, executives at their record label made several changes that Hardy felt were to the detriment of the band. These changes included re-writing Sleepwalking, to include more commercial-sounding tunes and moving all the publicity in-house. One more aspect that Hardy felt destroyed the band as a creative unit was the record label's decision to introduce formatting of their singles. "'I dunno if you have that over Stateside but [formatting] basically means there would be different b-sides on the 12-inch (2), cassette (1), CD 1 and CD 2 (3 on each). So if the album has, say, 13 songs on it and with three singles that means you're gonna need 40 songs. 40 fucking songs! So the workload is near impossible and plus the fans get ripped left, right and centre to boot. What was also happening was that you did songs for the album and then b-sides but really fucking excellent songs were ending up tucked away third song on CD 2 and no one heard them.'"

Incidentally, if you just did some math in your head and thought, "Hang on, 6-7 bonus songs every time you put out a single? Seems like a lot to ask of an artist!," Loz Hardy of Kingmaker agrees with you!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingmak...

Two British "Stupid Thing" CD singles by Aimee Mann. The first is marked "Part one of a two part series." The second is marked "LIVE: Part two of a two part series."

Two British "Stupid Thing" CD singles by Aimee Mann, both open. You can see the CDs inside. You can also see that the first one, on top, is a slimline double case. The second one, on the bottom, is a regular slim single case.

The first British "Stupid Thing" CD single by Aimee Mann, a.k.a. "part one." The slimline double case is now fully open to reveal the slot for the other CD, but it is occupied by a cardboard flat of the "part two" ("LIVE") disc. Lies.

Look at these Aimee Mann "Stupid Thing" CDs from 1993! Parts 1 and 2 of the same single. You'd think that buying the second would mean sitting it with the first and completing the set. BUT NO. Now you've got a loose, empty case. NO MATTER WHAT, YOU'VE GOT TWO CDS AND THREE SLOTS. Maddening.

So here's something that's driven me nuts for actual decades: U.K. CD singles. Lotta times, they come paired: two versions of the same single, each with different bonus tracks. (Guess why.) #1 would usually be a slimline double case, with the second one empty. But then #2 would come in its own case!

"despite"

When all they know is grudges, grudges are all they know.

83 minutes GTFO. If I had time for a movie, I'd watch a movie. This is up there with episodes that aren't structured as episodes but are just excerpts of one long story. If you're making television, learn how to make television!

One of my most reactionary, most steadfast beliefs about modern television is that no single episode should be longer than 30 minutes if it's a comedy or 55 minutes if it's a drama. Anything longer betrays either an inability to edit or a failure to recognize that you've made two episodes.

The only thing that I get from a disconnect between my review and my Metacritic score is that maybe my writing isn't as clear as I think it is. Maybe. I don't think I've ever done anything about it. But I've thought it, is the most it's ever concerned me.

83 minutes GTFO. If I had time for a movie, I'd watch a movie. This is up there with episodes that aren't structured as episodes but are just excerpts of one long story. If you're making television, learn how to make television!

One of my most reactionary, most steadfast beliefs about modern television is that no single episode should be longer than 30 minutes if it's a comedy or 55 minutes if it's a drama. Anything longer betrays either an inability to edit or a failure to recognize that you've made two episodes.

*also true of the real King!

"Are we a white nationalist country?"

"Is Trump a fascist?"

"What were Charlie Kirk's best ideas?"

Ask this collection of ones and zeros anything of substance and stakes and the shit's gonna hit the fan. Better to ask him how he likes his eggs and avoid that mess entirely.