"The evils uncovered here represent a disturbing and accelerating trend in the wrong direction." @dmandl.bsky.social on Cory Doctorow’s roadmap to (and, hopefully, from) “enshittification.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/giant-platforms-of-shit/

The WFMU Record Fair, which takes place once a year, is a truly spectacular event.

What the hell is this?

Love Love Love, Sheepshead Bay.

E. 98 St. Mobile Tire Shop, Brownsville.

Seen in the wild (Gerritsen Beach): 1964 Thunderbird.

I reviewed tech critic Cory Doctorow's essential new book, "Enshittification," for the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. Check eet out: lareviewofbooks.org/article/gian...

Oct. 28: Donate my WFMU scarf to Housing Works, because I have a fancier one, and who needs two scarves? Nov. 5: Lose my fancier scarf. No idea where.

And here in the US they're building freaking nuclear plants, which just a few years ago every reasonable person agreed we needed to abolish.

Throw it back, you fuckers.

Why do I have to download your app (and presumably create an account) just to get my tickets for an event tonight? All three of those "Get your tickets" links/buttons take me to the App Store.

Wow. I called the Lomography folks a few months back to tell them that I'd lost the lens cap on my Diana F+ camera. Never heard back from them, so I assumed they didn't stock replacements (as I'd feared). By complete surprise I received this package today. So nice.

New from me in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social: a review of tech critic Cory Doctorow's latest book, "Enshittification," an essential roadmap to why the internet continues to get worse. (Free to read, no paywall.) lareviewofbooks.org/article/gian...

Singer Viv Corringham visits Vocal Fry @wfmu.bsky.social tonite. Besides improv in jazz & rock formats, Viv does "soundwalks" - close listening to her environment & singing along, leading to many immersive recordings. Viv will chat, share varied recordings, & do a performance.

I repeat: This sadistic militaristic play-acting is largely inspired by years of TV and movies glorifying this kind of behavior. It's the 2000s equivalent of kids wanting to be Mickey Mantle. Also: These sick MFs will soon be everywhere, as ICE hires many thousands more of them.

Tonight at 7 ET, another installment of my radio show, "It's Complicated" (an hour of prog and prog-adjacent music). Do yourself a big favor and tune in: 91.1 FM in and around NYC, on the web at wfmu.org, or through the great @wfmu.bsky.social app.

#NowReading Slowly catching up on the large stack of photo books that have accumulated here. "The Sierra" is new from Aaron Rothman, a collection of large-format photographs of the Sierra Nevada, expertly tinted, with some printed so faintly that they're nearly invisible. Text by Leah Ollman.

Yay! So long, billionaires and racist assholes!

Brooklynites: with SNAP benefits expiring as of today, here are two ways you can help feed neighbors: donate to CHiPS, the food pantry/ women's shelter in Park Slope: www.chipsonline.org. Or leave food in the community fridge on 6th Street between 4th and 5th avenues, next to the Postmark Cafe.

Very sad to learn that Hal Sirowitz died recently. He was a good guy and a hilariously funny poet. Also the poet laureate of Queens! R.I.P.

Gonna leave the windows in my apartment open during my Zoom session with my therapist today, because maybe some of my neighbors may be able to help.

E. 98 St.

Come see Time Trout play at Troost in Greenpoint (Brooklyn) tonight. 1011 Manhattan Ave., 8 p.m. (Viv Corringham: Voice Marcus Cummins: Soprano and alto saxophones, ocarina, bells, shruti box Dave Mandl: Bass guitar Stephen Moses: Drums, percussion)

In 1972–73, Gordon Matta-Clark snapped hundreds of rolls of photos of NYC graffiti, a fairly new phenomenon at the time. This new book collects every single frame he shot. It's a huge cinder block of a book, 1000+ pages. Published by OM Books.

I'm grateful to everyone who donated money to my show on listener-supported @wfmu.bsky.social, but I got many small donations and I'm especially grateful for that. It tells me that people who are not feeling particularly flush nevertheless wanted to support great independent radio. Thank you!

Unexpectedly invited to a Halloween party tonight. I'm a little stressed because you can't just wear a simple costume anymore. Everyone is like, "I'm the Third Amendment to the Constitution." Can't I just wear a clown nose?

Excellent live set happening right now.

Bed-Stuy.

Spoiled for choice in the election for Brooklyn Supreme Court Justices.

Cafe unusually packed for a weekday morning. (There's usually just a handful of people here.) Has everyone called in sick for Halloween?

@julesette.bsky.social Have you heard this? youtu.be/YjEqEHTgXLk

Bidding $185,000 over asking price for an apartment in Prospect Heights helps, but what sellers are really looking for is *enthusiasm*.

Looks like YouTube will be doing the impossible: getting worse.

Roof lines, Gates Ave.

Come see the indescribable Time Trout play this Sunday, Nov. 2, at TROOST, Greenpoint's coolest space to drink and hear music like ours. 1011 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, 8 p.m. Here is our album, if you need to be persuaded: otoroku.bandcamp.com/album/stuck-...

Empire Blvd.

Doing a web search to find out more about the NYC ballot measures, and one of the results was Fox News, and it dawns me that a good approach might be to simply vote the exact opposite of what they recommend.

As I guessed last week, Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes dropped tonight. After 5+ years of pushing the Overton window Fuentes is no longer untouchable- he’s in the mainstream, on the biggest MAGA platform. Open, unabashed Hitlerism is no longer too far for today’s conservative movement

Extremely important legal analysis about what happens if the FTO designation gets applied to “antifa.” if you’re organizing against the far right, you absolutely need to read this.

Seems the clickbait-y headlines about Bill Gates (which I believed) were wrong. What he was saying is that hunger, vaccines, and poverty are more urgent priorities than climate at the moment, implicitly because of Trump's and RFK's sadism. He's probably right.

Covered car series: East Flatbush.

It seems like the richer you are the more easily you can be bought off.

If this is an accurate quote, it's an odd example of what linguists call "hypercorrection" from Mr. President. He senses that the subjunctive is being used here ("his name not be mentioned"), but he screws it up. #sociolinguistics #hypercorrection

Help me raise a bit more dough tonight in @wfmu.bsky.social's Hellraiser Fundraiser, which runs till the end of the week. My show, "It's Complicated" (an hour of prog and prog-adjacent music), airs at 7 p.m. ET. Tune in, and if you like what I do, kindly support us here: pledge.wfmu.org/donate/GX

The latest episode of Bill Weinberg's CounterVortex podcast is an excellent analysis of last week's NYC mayoral debate, which I for one didn't have the stomach to watch. He also points out that Sliwa's chances of winning are similar to Trump's in 2016.😬 Check it out.

"I never thought the AI leopards would eat *my* face."

I suffered on and off from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD!) for ages, and even bought a "happy light" to deal with it a few years ago. Now it seems to be gone, and I can't help thinking that's because I no longer have to wake up for work at 6:15 and be out of the house at 7:15 every morning.

#NowPlaying The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, S/T. It's exciting when an album you pre-ordered months ago finally appears in your Bandcamp library. This one is comfy spiritual-esque jazz, a warm blanket on a chilly fall morning. mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-co...

I haven't read the Daily News since I was a kid, but I (naively?) thought their politics were better than this.

This plate is nothing special, but I'm upset that it broke. It's been sitting on my counter for days now, and I think I secretly hope that I'll wake up one morning and it'll be magically restored by my fairy godmother.