Team Murder

No Brain No Headache

Month: January 2021

The Lane You Inevitably Find Yourself In

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On January 23, 2021

In Art Art Cut A Fart, Baseball, Life During The Plague Years, Link Dump, Microsoft

Now that we have someone relatively sane occupying the White House and along with that change comes the hope that we’ll eventually get the Covid-19 (and all of its new and super fun mutant variations) under control, I’m going to try to gravitate towards more sane things myself. The way for me to get there, at least in the short term, is to read about things that aren’t political. That said, Wonkette lives forever in my perpetually open tabs. I just need a breather.

1. This article about Russian Avant-Garde painters that may or not have even existed is one of the more fascinating things I’ve read this week. The idea of creating fictional painters to sell the style of work popular with American collectors is one that makes me want to do more digging since the commerce of art isn’t something I often think about. I do love the whiff of simulacra exuding from the complicated mess.

2. Heartbreakingly especially given how many Hall of Famers have passed recently, Hank Aaron has passed away. Aaron was legendary on so many levels and is yet another crushing loss to delineate this span of time from any kind of feeling of normalcy or continuity.

3. Microsoft were just granted a patent for some creepy dead people AI chatbot idea that I’m not quite ready for. Did no one see Devs? Jesus.

4. AZ man (trying to compete with Florida?) pulls a gun on a customer for wearing a mask which just about epitomizes the state of things in the US right now. Take off your protective wear and risk your life for my bullshit politics or I will shoot you.

So, That Shit Is Over With

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On January 20, 2021

In Life During The Plague Years, Oh God, Politics

I am delighted to be on the other side of the inauguration of a president who isn’t an utter moron and see that DC wasn’t overrun by mobs of Truck Nutz enthusiasts. I didn’t watch any of the live streams of the inauguration out of superstitious dread that something awful was bound to happen if I did. It’s the same sort of superstition that I apply to important pitches during baseball games; if I watch every pitch something truly horrific is going to happen and if something glorious happens then, well, that’s what replays are made for. The ick in the White House has been scrubbed away at least until the impeachment begins.

Some things to keep in mind for tomorrow when the sense of immediate relief wears off and we need to start worrying about the aftermath:

1. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote an excellent piece in the Atlantic about how white supremacy was the only consistent unifying thread of Trumpism that you should really read. Even if the content wasn’t pressingly relevant, Coates is such a gifted writer that it is well worth a once over even if you don’t want to invest another smidgen of mental capacity trying to understand what the fuck happened in the United States over the past 4 (italics for sarcasm) years. The expulsion of their poster boy from a seat of power doesn’t lessen their numbers or anything.

2. Of course, Dear Leader had to be persuaded not to promiscuously hand out pardons that might put him in danger both politically and legally. Shameless until the very end.

3.Telcom lobbyist Ajit Pai is out of the FCC which is good news for everyone who leans heavily on an unrestricted internet which, these days, is everyone who does anything and is another thing worth celebrating. Seriously, fuck that guy.

4. The Q cults don’t know which crazy lies to believe now! This would be a lot more funny if there weren’t so damned many of them. I am enjoying the slapstick comedy of watching the Q-anon folks alternately deciding to viciously turn on each other or that maybe Joe Biden is Q.

The End of This/The Plague Year

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On January 1, 2021

In Life During The Plague Years, Music

I’ve been quiet for an extended stretch. I think that utter inertia and borderline despair that affected so many folks during the various lockdowns, open back ups, and subsequent hasty retreats that we’ve lived through over the past year finally settled on me in a bigger way than I ever could have anticipated. I’ve been a wreck lately. Most nights I am in bed before 9 PM because I can’t think of a single good reason to stay awake and I’m exhausted about it.

The pulverizing Primitive Man put out a monolithically heavy record this year that is so perfect for this dark and claustrophobic year that it’s almost too on the nose. I’ve listened to this record a ton since it was released and it cathartic if only by proxy. I’ve barely picked up a guitar since the real lockdowns started and when the hope of this just being a month or two lark started to dissipate. Give them a couple of listens. They’re a local band for me for whatever that is worth. Maybe grab some stuff from their Bandcamp as well since folks gotta eat.

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