Year: 2016
-
52 Reasons 2016 wasn’t a COMPLETE Bust
So, 2016. A veritable political shitfest, which I would be glad to see the back of were it not for the knowledge that the next four years will likely be even worse. But on the plus side, I did add another 52 albums to my music library, most of which will continue to bring me joy long after Captain Asshat has exited the White House. 2016 was a middling year for music. It stated out well, with my first 7 weeks’ purchases all being brand new releases (and typically bought on the day of release – which the record companies… Read more
-
Dude, why is your Instagram feed just pictures of your t-shirts?
It’s a meditation on the impermanence of everything. OK, let me explain. During the Glory Years of my Youth (1985-1992) my all-consuming passion was music. I bought (and ‘illegally taped’ – and it didn’t “kill music”!) a lot of music, and went to see bands live as often as my meager finances would allow – or as often as ‘decent’ bands came through Portsmouth, with the occasional trip farther afield if they didn’t – Zappa in Bournemouth, Sonic Youth in London, Everything But The Girl in Reading (yeah, ok…that last one was for my girlfriend at the time – though… Read more
-
Watch Out. Band On The Run
Well, I’ve only had it about 18 months, but my Fitbit Surge has effectively died on me. Well, died is probably a bit harsh as technically it still works for its primary intended purpose (tracking exercise), but first the bit between the notches on the band broke giving me the option of one big notch that was too loose or using the next tightest one which cut of my circulation, and then the touchscreen stopped working, which meant that although it would track my steps I couldn’t actually see my step count (or anything else useful) without going to the… Read more
-
(Not-so-)instant “car”ma’s gonna get you…
So, although – as I suspected – switching to a new, subdued gray car from a bright yellow one has significantly reduced the number of speeding tickets I get (none in the two years I’ve had it, vs. one a year in the yellow car), it does seem to have increased the number of people who want to drive into me (three in two years, vs. one in six years). In this latest incident (a couple of months ago – I was waiting for closure, but I’m sadly still waiting…) some asshole side-swiped me. So we don’t run foul of… Read more
-
7 Days 7 Singles from the ’80s (FB Repost)
A friend on Facebook recently roped me into posting a favorite single from the ’80s every day for a week. I normally avoid any form of ‘pressured participation’ in what is basically a chain letter, or an attempt to guilt you into ‘liking’ some page so the original poster can harvest your details (especially the ones that are “Share this page if you are against child abuse” – the implication being that if you don’t share then you are in favor of child abuse), but this one seemed fun. So I did it. If we’re ‘friends’ on Facebook you’ll have… Read more