PicoBlog

Absolutely my pleasure, mate. It is a really incredible piece, and if it’s not featured in Substack Reads I will immediately raise a militia and….uh….then we’ll stand around grumbling and handing out leaflets (I’m British, this is how we do over here). Magically well done. And looking forward to annoying you with every single step from tomorrow onwards. ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kvbO7xaKjnmdhZn15gZZmpKKjlWLAsMPDnqVopp%2BpsnCvjG1pbXFkZ4Jx

There’s still time to take advantage of our Christmas Special from now through the weekend — 25% off all new paid, gift, and upgraded subscriptions. Not too long ago I surprised myself by doing a Burt Bacharach song, venturing into the music scene of the 1960’s when folk music was making a huge comeback, rock ‘n roll was hitting its stride, and even the… ncG1vNJzZmiZnqm1sLrYnqqopJWje7TBwayrmpubY7CwuY6pZpqklp6ybsPHmqusZZmpeqK4y2aYm6elqQ%3D%3D

anyone buying this? seems like a a half answer that’s more semantic dodge than explanation. also seems deeply implausible that if substack were downloading twitter data (as half the world does on the regular, there’s a fricking API for it) they would use the same IP they use to publish our work. seems a wobbly excuse. ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjaO70aKorpmXlsGwe82oq55nk2J%2BdX%2BVaW9xcQ%3D%3D

Israel from the Inside is for people who want to understand Israel with nuance, who believe that Israel is neither hopelessly flawed and illegitimate, nor beyond critique. If thoughtful analysis of Israel and its people interests you, welcome! Israel from the Inside is for people who want to understand Israel with nuance, who believe that Israel is neither hopelessly flawed and illegitimate, nor beyond critique. If thoughtful analysis of Israel and its people interests you, welcome!

Dr. Jordan Peterson has built an international reputation, as a best-selling self-help guru and “public intellectual,” because he seems to have an explanation for and an opinion on everything. Now there are notable “public intellectuals” who reached their status because of a major contribution or breakthrough in human understanding - Marshall McLuhan’s insights into media were profound, and even prophetic. While Noam Chomsky may be known more today as a cultural critic, he gained fame in linguistics when he ushered in a new understanding of human development and language.

I tend to read, watch, and listen to an awful lot of Oldsterish content. Now and then I’ll pass some of it along to you. What makes something qualify as Oldsterish? It either highlights or calls into question what it means to be a particular age. Or, it’s nostalgic for any age group’s heyday. Happy 40th birthday to my favorite holiday song, “Christmas Wrapping,” written by my pal Chris Butler.

Love it to Death was the third album released by Alice Cooper, hitting the stores about a week before my 16th birthday in 1971 (March 9). Dad brought the promo home, with a stack of other Warner Bros. Records released that week. His sales job in Houston radio (for CBS affiliates, news/talk KTRH-AM and “progressive rocker,” KLOL-FM, for whom I worked just four years later) afforded him the ability to access promo copies from various labels.

Every Tom Waits Song is an email newsletter covering just that, in alphabetical order. Find more info here and sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox: There is no shortage of connections between Tom Waits and Bob Dylan (my other newsletter subject), but the Alice deep cut “Barcarolle” introduced me to a new one. But first, some background. What does that title mean? Tom explains a “barcarolle” in the Alicepress kit:

Every Tom Waits Song is an email newsletter covering just that, in alphabetical order. Find more info here and sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox: The opening 15 seconds of “Big in Japan” encapsulate everything I love about Tom Waits, both musically and narratively. I’d never paid too much attention to them before. They’re just typical Tom lo-fi beatboxing before the band kicks in. Or so I thought.