8 candles for the shortest day of the year (reflected in Jasper’s shiny coat)! Wishing you all peace and light in the darkness. Happy Hanukkah from Brooklyn.

Hanukkah Night 7: FACE! (Also, blep!)

“Blue Period” is a double disc anthology of BP early work. The limited edition pressing sold out last year. But our label just discovered an extra box in Europe. This anthology captures the time between “The Cigarette Girl From The Future” and “Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are.”

Night 2. May there be light and grace in your lives. Love from Jasper and me.

Happy First Night! From me and Jasper. (And Menorahsaurus Rex.)

So I stopped by to see the shrub…

Listening to @npr.org @wnyc.org. There was a report on the planned NYC F & M subway line swap scheduled for next week. Sound byte from @mta.info rep was so on brand: completely muffled and unintelligible.

A very satisfying early morning pomegranate dismantling.

As we head into Halloween, fun cinema trivia: The Bride of Frankenstein was the first film with a dedicated thematic score for each scene and character, composed by Franz Waxman.

President Orange Julius Caesar and his ilk claim that guns are a God given right but don’t feel that food is a God given right. They claim to care about babies but don’t care if they go hungry when they become children.

Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool no where but in ’s own house.

Overheard in Brooklyn: “Are you broad spectrum miserable or is there something specifically wrong?” Anyway, here’s a cool swinging jack-o’-lantern.

Brooklyn says “fuhgeddaboudit!” to fascism. #nokings

As for the Duke of York, this late complaint Will make but little for his benefit.

A friend just likened the genius of John Oliver’s deep dives to Eddie Izzard/Suzy’s prolonged intellectual standup bits. Yes!

Signature Cocktails turns Two Today! buttondown.com/Schudown/arc...

The pressing of Beauty Pill's double vinyl "Blue Period" anthology sold out pretty quickly. But the label informed us that our European distributor has discovered an extra box(!). On its way back to us now. 40-50 copies, they say. As soon as we have it, we'll put it up for sale on bandcamp.

Duncan Duran

In the 1990s I worked for what was then Time Warner when they purchased Turner. Somehow, it was decided the name of the merger would be Time Warner and Turner. #funwithacronyms

The last political column I was allowed to write in the @washingtonpost.com was a criticism of Obama. His people took issue with my piece, but we were respectful. Now he is tweeting in support of me. This is how free political speech and respect for debate *actually works*. Or used to work.

I always have a Manhattan on this day. Taking a moment to enjoy it and feel grateful to live in this amazing city. We’re resilient people. Cheers to you, NYC!

Yea, dost thou jeer and flout me in the teeth?

Exactly.

I heard they’re still struggling to get the president to master the line “putting on the ritz!”

Oh. That was. So. Real.

ICYMI, the latest Cocktails & Crime has background on my CrimeReads story about the six movies directed by Danny DeVito now that a remake of THE WAR OF THE ROSES is in theaters. vincekeenan.substack.com/p/c-and-c-81...

So the sandwich guy ... beat the wrap

'Retro Schudown: Why is the Honey Deuce Still the Signature U.S. Open Cocktail? '. buttondown.com/Schudown/arc...

And by "records" they mean That's What I Call Redaction Volume Epsteinth.

You know, if you're pitching me with a cocktail recipe that has 5 or more ingredients for a Labor Day editorial, you're kinda missing the point of that holiday.

How I would make him fawn, and beg, and seek, And wait the season, and observe the times, And spend his prodigal wits in bootless rhymes, And shape his service wholly to my device, And make him proud to make me proud that jests!

“That ought to take the sting out of being occupied, eh Mr. Richard?”

My dad is 90 today! And what a life! buttondown.com/Schudown/arc...

If you live in DC and are active on normie social media sites, you should be flooding the zone with videos of boring peaceful life in the city.

This one goes out to all you Jill Stein voters and those who “couldn’t decide because we don’t have enough information”. youtu.be/MUt6Mrrp27U?...

Raspberries, blackberries, and mulberries are not actually berries but are fruits grown from flowers with multiple ovaries as seeded droplets. However, a banana is a berry because it grows as a single droplet from a flower from one ovary.

New phone camera and its astounding depth of focus.

Well played, @tcmtv.bsky.social. Tonight’s schedule.

And no drunk texting "you up?" (Nicely done, Wayne.)

A peacock showing off its art.

Good morning.

OH at Trader Joe's, woman talking too loudly on phone: "Look. She's either going to wear a lot of clothes or not. She'll do what she wants. I just won't go to the club."

Touché, autocorrect. In a crucial professional moment, the time I actually need "ducks" is when you have your fun.

Product naming strategist for a beauty company. For instance, I've fantasized about a line of '80s alternative rock nail polish: Mauve Will Tear Us Apart, All Cats Are Grey, Black Celebration, Lipstick Cherry, Pinkies in Dust, Mustards of Young, the top coat is Save It For Later... I could go on.

NEW COCKTAILS & CRIME. Bad Facebook experiences have me evaluating social media, including Bluesky. Plus I find a connection between Mark Zuckerberg and Paddington that justifies the existence of this newsletter. vincekeenan.substack.com/p/c-and-c-78...

I have this irrational hope that it works like vampire death: if the head one perishes, the turned ones disintegrate slowly, painfully, in its wake.

Many thanks to Chloe Crane of @baltzco.bsky.social for opening up about her experience in food PR while dealing with the (luckily temporary!) inability to eat and drink. buttondown.com/Schudown/arc...

Over at @salonnewsroom.bsky.social, I wrote up a remembrance of Ozzy Osbourne. www.salon.com/2025/07/26/o...

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.

The thing about Hulk Hogan is holy shit! Chuck Mangione died. I once made someone snort wine out of their nose by unexpectedly playing “Feels So Good” on a kazoo. Silly song, but talented guy and so funny on “King of the Hill”.