Proud to be part of this from my indomitable art-warrior friend Ted Riederer.

You're welcome.

DC is going to have to re-up its counterculture game to meet the moment. Shopping and brunching are fine and all, but it's no Fugazi in Lafayette Park, punks/mods/goths running Georgetown, Meese is a Pig posters, or go-go marathons. Bring something, Gen Alpha/Z/Millennials. Find your way to do it.

Let's just say I'm going the other way. I played last night in a tiny Paris club, just me and a guitar, no mic. I told quick little stories, sang my own songs, probably made a couple of very minor flubs, showed human expression, said bless you mid-song when an audience member sneezed. Went great.

Threema is as good as Signal security-wise, is Swiss-based, and you can sign up anonymously. You do have to buy it, a one-time six bucks. To me that’s actually a solid revenue model. Ever heard of Threema? Any of my peeps on it? Want to be on it with me?

I wanted to like Superman but what a mess. Mainly methinks the director took the 'let's up the stakes by making him vulnerable' thing too far. He spends the whole movie getting his ass kicked or crawling out from under the big thing that landed on him.

Wet Leg. Hell of a band (and band name). New album Moisturizer is the finest rock record I’ve heard in a while.

And these are the same snowflakes who couldn’t handle wearing a mask during the pandemic.

This is incredible news

There's something about iconic 70s movies. Lately I've been revisiting Kubrick (Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon), Deliverance, Days of Heaven, and Quadrophenia. The slower pacing, the atmosphere, the realism really pull you in differently.

#28YearsLater. Pretty great. Hard to beat Days. A few narrative points that strain credulity, a fair amount of swinging zombie-schlong, and a bizarro turn near the end comes out of nowhere. The world-building is solid, as is the sheer terror. Great visuals and they upped the moral/emotion ante. A-.

Something's wrong here on @bsky.app. First I noticed how little engagement I get, for anything, except for my comments on others' posts. Many accounts in my feed are getting single-digit engagement, if any. Then I saw plenty have 2-3k+ followers, but still only a handful of likes on a typical post.

LAPD just let loose on protestors.

Practice spot today. Nice shady bench on a hot day, and just far enough from the houses to not bother anyone. #paris #thissuburbanlife #troubadoursoftheworldunite

Tough one today, feel lucky to get it in five. Wordle 1,461 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Remember Kosovo? Going through my photo series from the postwar landscape, finding relevance to our current situation.

Yes, use Signal, absolutely secure for most people and most scenarios, with no Meta shenanigans. But keep Swiss-based #threema in your back pocket as well if things get even worse.

Today I bought a Levis shirt that I liked. It was marked as being on sale for 30 percent off, so I would save around 30 bucks, but at the counter it turned out I needed to sign up/be a member, something-something. They wanted my name, email, and date of birth. I paid full price instead.

Suburban practice spot today. Great acoustics. #paris

Helpful info.

On top of everything else, it's utterly tragic that often it's immigrants that love America the most.

I think that unlike the new VW bus - which is fine but pretty much just a minivan and a huge missed opportunity - people would love an *actual* 1960s design, even if updated under the hood. At least I would.

One of his greatest (and likely semi-forgotten by now) songs. I always loved it.

Somewhere in Colorado.

"[Tikhanovskaya] hasn’t seen her husband in five years, and she said he has been held incommunicado for the last two. She doesn’t know where he is."

Just arrived. I don't usually do slogans on my clothing. But when I do, I do like Bluesky CEO Jay Graber when trolling Zuck. 'World without Caesars'.

Great show last night in DC, finally got to see them, on their farewell tour no less. And I got this! Wish I could have seen Andy Gill but Ted Leo was pretty amazing.

"A starter kit [for] a better everyday 'tech stack', for average people who don't want to think too much about this stuff but understand there's a problem. The good news is that it's easy to switch."

Shonen Knife on Pancake Mountain, Black Cat club, Washington DC

I don't cover the news anymore but, for today at least, get it while it's hot at billcrandall.com. From about two hours ago.

Amid growing concerns over Big Tech firms aligning with Trump administration policies, people are starting to move their digital lives to services based overseas. Here's what you need to know with @alanayzola.com. Full guide: www.wired.com/story/trump-...

Today's dispatch.

Digital rebellion. Reevaluate each app and platform you use. Ask yourself if it benefits those who are siding with tyranny. Does this one help someone surveil you? Does that one track everything you do? Did that one line the pockets of an oligarch? There are ethical alternatives.

He likes people to beg him. Now countries too apparently. That's what this is. Submit and beg for relief, or suffer.

Cigar bar, Scranton PA

Enjoying experimenting with a new part of my tech stack: Vivaldi browser. Based in Norway, non-tracking/no data harvesting, some cool advanced features. Works great with Proton Pass password manager browser extension.

The day #voiceofamerica went silent. Yesterday:

I won’t say I'm ‘watching’, but a reality-type show is on a TV in the same room as me. I don’t think I like actual modern culture very much. I prefer the one I walk around with in my head.

News-you-can-use on my blog. Including a just-added breaking news update even if you already read it in my newsletter (please subscribe if you haven’t!). A major win for the pro-encryption side in France, in a case that if it went the other way would have been a huge setback for Signal et al.

If you’re ok with this as a trade off for convenience, you do you. To me it’s horrifying. And have you heard of voice-clone scams? You sure no one will ever get the idea to hack into such a trove of voice recordings associated with names?

MD needs a state Voting Rights Act.

Here in Kenya they also have a prevalent mobile payment app, M-pesa. It even works on basic phones. Some places are cashless. Interesting to see a swing the other way starting to percolate.