I'm a middling musician at best. But there's nothing like struggling with technique, practicing tricky phrases, learning new music. And the sheer excitement and joy of playing with and for other humans. I'm sure letting a machine do it would be much more efficient, though.

Illustrator Chris Piascik has made several of his “Fuck ICE”/”No Kings” pieces available for free, high-res download. Print them out and use them for protest signs. (via @unlikelywords.bsky.social) [chrispiascik.com]

“War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.”

Misheard "the Trump Administration" this morning on the news as "the Drunk Administration" and suddenly the news made so much sense

Man, auto-correct just corrected "ma'am" to "mama" and an email to a colleague almost got *super awkward*

Had our first gig as Broomhorse over the weekend and it was just super fun. Hoping to be able to pull together some recordings for the public over the holidays! Stay tuned!

I'm old. If you're not, listen to this. Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder. Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever. It's literally never been more important.

I really enjoyed David Blight's course on the Civil War (OK, maybe more than once!) so I'm excited to hear more form him and Joanne Freeman and Beverly Gage...

Today in "nobody asked for this but we're getting it anyway..." A favorite quote from the article: "While Wikipedia is written and edited by volunteers, it’s unclear how exactly Grokipedia articles are put together." I suggest we dub it "Slopipedia" apnews.com/article/elon...

Friends today I found a postcard that was sent to me from a friend, postmarked 1992. Tucked away in a book, marking a poem I liked. Don't give up on postcards.

O man. Looks like dude forgot to die. Or I guess he could be 148 years old. In which case, well played, old man!

Y'all, if you haven't seen the Pacific Northwest, I highly recommend it, 10/10. No notes.

Completely stoked about my new friend...

This is about Zappa and Beefheart, but it goes back to what I've often said about how there's no such thing as individual genius, really, genius comes from scenes.

I just put a date of 2030 on something and I cannot lie it shook me a little

Sometimes I am convinced we really are living in the dumbest timeline.

Ugh, I do not have a new cover recorded for World Goth Day this year and I have shaaaaame. So instead, I give you the old one I made last year: La Ment by The Cure Made with love for all you spooky people.

Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.

Le garçon Steve.... Il est oraaaaaaange...

On my list of things to be grateful for today: manatees are not ambush predators.

If I am not allowed to laugh at this dumpster fire it's not going to be any fun at all.

Movie you’ve watched more than six times using gifs. (“Hard mode” no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR) The REAL hard mode is no Cohen Brothers or Muppets.

My brain right now: “This is not normal 🎶Steve le🎶 The crisis is here 🎶le poisson Steve le🎶 the constitution itself is under threat 🎶poisoooon steeEeEEeve🎶 we will resist together or apart but we will resist.

the thing I hate most about that rfk quote is that autistic lives have value and worth and beauty and dignity whether they are able to do the things other people do or not. no one is defined by ability or lack thereof and to frame divergence as lack is monster stuff, utterly godless

The world is full of Columbia Universities. Be a Harvard. Don't be a Columbia University.

I wanna dance like Jonathan Richman. I wanna be too busy being in love with things to worry about who cringes about what.

Kurt Vonnegut man

It just occurred to me how strange it must sound to our friends in the UK when an American says that they're "shagging flies in the outfield"

If you see this, post a beach photo from your phone. This REALLY IS the first one I came across, despite being taken originally in 1924.

Hey Friends! I am happy to announce that, after some years of percolation and just in time for the crumbling of Western civilization, here's your new long-player by Victory Riots: 17 songs of folky weirdness, ambience, and janky thrash. Put it on your Victrola and dance to armageddon! #NewMusic

O man. This reminds me of the time I took a muscle relaxer at breakfast while backpacking. I kept wanting to stop and make camp for the day at any flat surface.

The plot of "Alien" is: no one listens to the woman and everyone dies but her and her cat

also, move deliberately and fix things

So glad so many people turned out in St. Pete for #HandsOff - there were about 17 intersections similarly attended. Great vibes

I have tariffed the penguins that are on Heard Island and which you were probably assuming did not export goods forgive me they were taking advantage of us so cunning and so cold

With age, I am understanding things I never understood when I was younger. ONE of those things, is the value of doing Fucking Anything™. Taking ANY action, inspires other people to take action. This ripple effect is more powerful than the original Anything™ you do.

Solid advice from someone who knows how to build a community

It's a sign of how weird these times are that I just thought to myself "there aren't nearly enough people who dislike me".

The move to sell 23andMe's vast genetic database is prompting fears over how individuals' genetic data might be used under new ownership https://go.nature.com/3FPQY6i

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

Let's go!

I'm having one of those moments where I have just built out this ornate process to achieve something... and then realize that it's really just 2 steps and I have ornately overcomplicated it. (facepalm) Sometimes it takes a journey to get to simple.

This, by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social, is very informative

Ozymandias

One of the oldest arguments against giving any rights or process to the people we accuse is — one constantly “rediscovered” by the shallow and the dim — is “well they didn’t give their victims any rights or process.” That’s fatuous. /1

I’m crying, this is so funny WEAPONIZED MANSPLAINING FOR ESPIONAGE ☠️☠️

Repost with a photo of yours that would make a good album cover...