Watching Penelope Spheeris' *Decline of Western Civilization II* Yes, that pool interview with Chris Holmes is still terrifying

Outside my campus office, on a Saturday during Winter Break, rolling into my final two weeks as a 55 year-old like it's no big deal...

Sick Philosophy Burn: I once mentioned to a logician that Irving Copi used to correct mispronunciations his name: "It's COP-ee, not CO-pee. My name doesn't rhyme with 'dopey'." The logician I was speaking to: "Yes. Far better his name be synonymous with 'derivative'."

Spare parts stuck together into a thing that might be something

I have a vivd memory of my first Eastern APA. I was a grad student. I walked into the reception (aka the "smoker") and was met with such a high density of odd behavior, I stopped and asked myself "Do you really want to be part of this?" I almost walked away that night

AT THE EASTERN APA Me: [looking at a plate of light-green colored cheese marked "Green Cheese"]: I wonder what makes it green Other Philosopher: The color

Happy Friday! "I Fall" - The Damned. Sloppy, as St. James would have it

Nancy Wheeler, you're dead to me

Not that long ago, philosophers across the country would be spending this evening packing for a voyage tomorrow to an expensive east coast city for the annual big meeting of the American Philosophical Association, which was also where all the job interviews were held . . .

Merry Christmas, fellow Grinches

AARP now sends me stuff a few weeks before my birthday...

"I Feel Alright." Another holiday favorite

FACT: *Aguirre: The Wrath of God* is a Christmas movie

Christmas Eve brings out the kooks. Walking in the park by my house, being followed by a woman who looks like a Manson girl who keeps saying “Hey… mister! You’re beautiful” Just creepy enough to cut my walk short (& take the long way home). I'm pretty sure I wasn't followed

I get texts

"Struggle"- Killing Joke. A classic holiday favorite

Geordie, in 2016.... the man with the most badass guitar tone talking about trying to improve it youtu.be/emtheOM98nM?...

"Christmas Time Is Here." This one nicely captures the melancholy of the season

Merry Christmas

"White Man in Hammersmith Palais" - The Clash. Probably my favorite of theirs... I still miss Joe Strummer

"Police Truck" - Dead Kennedys

I miss Joe Strummer

I bought that Peavey in 1988 to replace this Westbury, which I bought in 1985. The warmest solid state amp ever. I still have it, too. After playing out with the Peavey a few times, I realized I should have just hunted down another Westbury and used two of them....

Revisiting that 1992 recording got me thinking about the amp I used to play - a Peavey Stereo Chorus 400 (Roland JC clone). Look at this panel. Way too many knobs. No wonder I couldn't get a decent tone from it. In its defense, it was indestructible.

I love the Star Trek episode where they use the Liar Paradox to make an android catch fire

Had the experience this morning of playing along with a guitar track I recorded over 30 years ago. What a trip. It proved that while matured technique is important, it's ultimately no substitute for youthful relentlessness

Happy Monday! "Flame Thrower Love" -Dead Boys. By request

Fact

An old progression that definitely needed humbuckers

Christmas: The annual reminder that the people who raised you and have been around you since childhood don't really know you

I just submitted a bit of writing for a journal that I'd promised would be done by January 11. That's three weeks ahead of schedule. Please clap.

Whole Foods on the Sunday afternoon before Christmas is a vibe

Mellow Sunday. "Driver 8" - R.E.M. Kinda

I lost interest after a few bars

Being called a "moral fuckhead" publicly by a famous NYU philosopher might yet turn out to be the highpoint of my career

Robert’s post reminded me of this piece I did on our professors. #philsky cathoderayzone.com/fiction/the-...

One advantage of having been trained by profs who acted as if absurdly aggressive meanness was a sign of philosophical talent is that once I was out in the profession, the standard grade meanness of the rank-and-file in philosophy seemed merely petty, almost amusing

Happy Friday Evening! "See Her Tonite" - The Damned. Probably my fave from them. Sloppy, as nature intended.

The true value of social media platforms is to remind us never to underestimate the capacity of anonymous randos to summon extreme confidence when seizing an opportunity to scold a stranger with respect to matters they know nothing about

Happy Friday! "Ain't Nothin' To Do" - Dead Boys. A holiday favorite

Geordie would have turned 67 today. I met him a few times, once after a Killing Joke gig at City Gardens, while he was, oddly, getting a haircut

Within a decade, it'll be difficult to explain much of what's happening right now

Latest arrival. Pre-op. Sending it off to be "esquired" next week

My vibe at your holiday party

I used to have a colleague who was such a crank that if you said to him "have a nice day," he'd instantly bark back "don't tell me what kind of day to have!" Champ.

"TV Casualty" - Misfits

Apart from Geordie of Killing Joke, the best live guitar tone I've ever heard was Mike Ness

For every living philosopher, there's some description of what they do under which they're the greatest at that thing: "the most important philosopher of his generation working on X who has been influenced by Q, takes the stance that Z, lives in New England, and plays tennis"

While untenured, I got roped into co-editing a book w a senior colleague in my field. We sent a proposal to a major UP An anon reviewer kept referring to my colleague as "the brains of the operation." This gave me cover for withdrawing from the project. Thanks, whoever you are

"Hybrid Moments" - Misfits