Am I the only one?

No. I'm not the only one. Sometimes it feels like I might be -- but we are not alone, despite the best efforts of those who sit atop the heights of pop culture, media, and government to make it seem that way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnNJv5yNZjE Not a country music fan, but I am a fan of that...

Music Flashback: Rush, Caress of Steel

Author Alexander Hellene has started posting nifty, in-depth reviews of Rush albums, with the ambitious goal of reviewing and rating every one of the band's 19 studio albums. So far, he's only three albums in -- which means Caress of Steel. This album, released in 1975, tanked so hard that it threatened to end the...

Question and answer

This has been on my mind lately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZqZVunCb4 What am I supposed to doIf I want to talk about peace and understandingBut you only understand the language of the swordWhat if I want to make you understand that the path you chose leads to downfallBut you only understand the language of the swordWhat if I...

Heads they win, tails we lose

Some thoughts on cancel culture First, let's get something out of the way: I'm on the "wrong" side of this. The conservative one, more or less, although if I call myself anything, I'd say I'm more like a constitutionalist libertarian. (Socially liberal/economically conservative, all that.) Politically, I'm a leave-me-the-hell-alone-ist. I want a government that's as...

The Bronte Sisters Played Their Own Fantasy RPG

Stumbled across this cool bit of literary history just a few minutes ago... In 1845, two years before Wuthering Heights was published, Emily Brontë shared a train trip to York with her sister Anne, who was two years out from publishing her first novel Agnes Grey. To pass the time the two sisters played a...

Ghost Rider passes on

I always thought it was weird when people got all emotional about some celebrity's death, as if it had anything to do with anything at all. Knowing something about them doesn't mean you knew them; just move the fuck on and don't be an idiot about it. But here I am. Crying my stupid fucking...

Slayer: Raining…Jazz?

Some guy rewrote Slayer's iconic Raining Blood as a jazz tune and synchronized it with a live performance...and it might be the most awesome thing I've ever seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7-aduHx5bo I've been watching and rewatching this for hours now. And also, because Slayer, here's the original live video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q66zKQ3-XM It's heresy, I know, but I almost...

A baptism of stains

Imagine something with me, if you will. Visualize a gigantic crowd -- a great big festival, let's say. A modern version of the World's Fairs that were held in more innocent times. A showcase of technology and cultural advancement. It's jam-packed with people of all nationalities, mixing and mingling. There's food and drink to be...

I’ve seen who’s selling. I ain’t buying it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEupVsL07E