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My friend Tania hooked it up big time last night and gave me an extra ticket she had for John Fogerty at the Beacon Theater in NYC. It was all very last minute which made it that much cooler. He was doing 2 nights in a row to celebrate his 80th birthday. Dude still goes hard for 80. This show had everything. He played the hits and some cool B-sides. There was pyro and confetti. There were stories and family. Two of his sons are in the band. In the picture above, he’s jamming with three of his children. Pretty cool moment.
I was concerned that my concert intake for 2025 so far was weak but this one makes up for a lot of it. I saw Fogerty last year and he was amazing then too. It’s incredible that I saw this dude at ages 79 and 80 and both times the shows were high energy and extremely entertaining. I can’t recommend seeing him live enough.
Random Thought
I did that thing on social media recently where I saw a friend (well, an acquaintance really) post something I didn’t agree with, and I almost left a comment with my opinion of disagreement. I try not to do this. There was a time where I was all for some good social media scraps and disagreements, but not anymore. I find that usually nothing productive comes out of them. The two people end up standing on their opinions without budging and a lot of times other people jump in and it becomes more of a two-team sport than a civil discussion.
Plus, it puts the original poster on the defensive. Even if my intent was to have an open discussion about it, it’s hard for anyone to put their opinion out there in public for their social media collective to see only to have me come through and tell them they’re wrong. It’s hard to just let that sorta thing slide when everything on social media is so public and out in the open.
I have opinions on things. I’ll save them for my posts or even for this newsletter. Now when I find myself about to share my disagreement on something, I try to take it as a sign that it’s time to log off, unplug, and step away from the endless void of social media.
The ability to step away is the ultimate win, not allowing yourself to get sucked further into this thing that will eventually sap your energy and your mood if you let it. The person you disagree with is not at fault either. This is all part of the machine we can never turn off. It’s always on, always present, and it’s up to us to determine the self-imposed store hours.
I’d be delusional if I said I’d like to live my life without social media. I just don’t think it’s possible. Plus, there’s some things I like about social media. Gotta take the good with the bad and if the bad becomes too much that it starts to block out the shine of the good, then maybe it’s time to close the app and step outside.
And if a person gives me enough to disagree with that I start to be bothered by that person’s mere presence on social media, then it’s probably time to hit the block/unfriend/unfollow buttons. That’ll settle all my remaining social media disputes before they begin.
And if anyone’s curious what the post I disagreed with said, let’s just say it was heaping a lot of praise on Coldplay. Gross, right?
Jinx’s thoughts on social media.
Movie I Watched Recently
Rebel Ridge
(Netflix)
This was a pretty fun action flick on Netflix. I’m not sure what I was looking for, but I watched the trailer and the cops were the bad guys and I was like, “Hell yeah.” I’m sure this might be the type of movie that Trump-America and the Blue Lives Matter collective wouldn’t enjoy which maybe made me like it even more.
So anyways, these small-town cops take advantage of this dude (Terry) who’s on his way to bail his cousin out of jail on a bicycle. The cops pull him over and find that he has a large amount of cash on him, so they take advantage of the situation and take the cash. There’s a lot more to the pull over situation and it’s pretty fucked up, but it also feels kinda real. These cops are power-tripping assholes and cops be like that in real life sometimes.
Anyways, Terry is an ex-Marine who‘s trained in all sorts of martial arts and is a one-man weapon. I suppose you can see where it goes from here. Most people would probably take the L and keep it moving but Terry tries to fight the whole thing and is met with much resistance.
There’s one sympathizer (a clerk at the local court) who tries to help him out and the cops let her have it as well for trying to be nice to this dude who was just trying to bail his cousin out of jail in a very legal manner.
Overall, it was a fun watch. Terry is very easy to root for. He’s a stoic badass just trying to do right by his cousin. The concept is pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. Nothing fancy or artsy, just your classic ‘good guys vs bad guys’ action movie scenario done pretty well.
Don Johnson plays the Police Chief which was an interesting choice. Also, the protagonist, played by Aaron Pierre, has some cool taste in music. At two different points in the film, he’s listening to Iron Maiden and Bad Brains.
TV show I’m currently watching
Black Mirror
(Netflix)
I finally watched the last episode of the new season of Black Mirror. I think it was some combo of the NBA playoffs and the episode being 90 minutes long that made it a bit of a struggle to find the time to watch it. But I’m glad I got around to it. It was an enjoyable watch and it felt like a suitable way to end a season.
In typical Black Mirror-fashion, the episode is a bit of a headfuck. It’s also a sequel to an episode from last season. They do a good job of catching you up to speed just in case you don’t remember the specifics (I did not remember a lot of the specifics).
What separates this episode from a lot of other Black Mirror episodes is that it was also fun to watch. I’m not saying Black Mirror isn’t fun. I suppose it’s fun in its own twisted way. But there were moments of this episode that felt almost like a fun big budget sci-fi action movie. The fun never lasts too long though. Something happens often enough to remind you that you’re still in the confines of the Black Mirror universe.
Overall, a great episode to end a great season. The only bummer now is that I’m out of Black Mirror and we had to wait forever for this last season (with good reason, I assume. Nothing about this show seems low budget or easy to make). So, I’m sure it’s gonna be a noticeable wait till we get another season.
The crew of the USS Callister. They’re all clones of real people based on DNA that was stolen by this creep who had this outlawed machine that allows you to take people’s DNA and create clones of those people in fictitious settings. But it’s very real to them.
Albums of the Week
I listened to two new albums this week.
Album 1:
The Current Dissent / Secondself
This was a perfectly fine punk rock album and I sorta enjoyed it but for whatever reason, it didn’t completely win me over and sent me looking for a second album after. Secondself is a tight, talented punk rock unit that write well put-together songs. I can’t really think of anything negative to say about it but I didn’t love it.
Always a sucker for skulls on the cover.
Album 2:
Dilated / Personality Cult
In many ways, in terms of punk rock, this album felt like it had less teeth than the previous album, however, I enjoyed it more. There was something more honest about this album. Secondself sounded like a band that went to punk rock college and learned the academic way to make a punk rock album. But Personality Cult just kinda seem like some weirdos out to make music that expresses their weirdness. A thing I really enjoyed about this album; the vocalist never screams. He sounds like he’s trying to sincerely sing along to punk rock music. There was something endearing about the mix.
A weird album cover for a weird (in a good way) punk rock album.
Book I’m Currently Reading
Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival / Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour
I haven’t finished this book yet but I’m close but also, I feel like it’s moving too quick. I’m having too much fun reading about the history of the early Lollapalooza tours. Although I never went to any, in some ways it feels like I’m growing up all over again. I can sorta remember where I was or cross reference important moments in my life along the timeline of what’s going on with the tours.
I’m currently up to the sixth Lollapalooza where they decide to feature Metallica as a headliner. This wasn’t a popular move with the purists. Metallica weren’t really “alternative” and they’d sorta sold out already and they were just about to double down on selling out with their new album and look. Selling out probably doesn’t mean much today but in the early-mid 90s, that was some sacred shit.
The organizers were in a tough spot though. Some fans were accusing them of signing acts that were too big on earlier tours, so Lollapalooza answered back by having Sonic Youth headline one year. That was great for the purists but not really for the ticket sales. It almost seems logical in hindsight that the reaction to that would be for the organizers to make sure they have big names to sell tickets the following year, purists be damned.
Apparently, Metallica were assholes and forced Lollapalooza to change a lot of how they functioned and ran things, and it was a big, expensive pain in the ass.
I’m not sure where this book ends. I’m guessing it ends when Lollapalooza’s first run ends? Maybe there’ll be a chapter at the end that talks about when Lolla was reborn and what it’s become today. The purists of the early-mid 90s would probably not enjoy today’s Lolla lineups but the world’s changed and it feels like today’s alternative rock culture is no longer steered by purists with anti-commercialization ethics.
I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing, but it’s gone for good which in a way is what makes this book so enjoyable. Lollapalooza is the beginning of something new in terms of concerts and festivals but in many ways, those early Lollapaloozas were also the end of an era. We’ll never go back to that pre-internet/social media mindset of ‘integrity over validation.’ I’m not saying integrity is dead, but it’s been compromised.
That mid 90s mindset was sorta a last stand against that compromise. Integrity lost and the only people who seem to be sad about it are middle-aged annoying hipsters. Looking back now, that worldview almost feels aged and untouchable.
A poster for the first Lollapalooza. I wonder how many annoying middle-aged hipsters have this framed and hanging on their wall? (No, I do not have it framed and hanging on MY wall.)
Random sports thought of the week
NBA Playoffs:
The Knicks won game 5 in MSG last night to make this series suddenly a little more exciting than it was after game 4. The Pacers are still up 3-2 but the series suddenly feels a lot closer than it did a game before.
I was in NYC last night to go see John Fogerty live and it was an odd and exciting experience to be in NYC, especially on the ride in. I took a bus to Port Authority which is not too far from MSG and there were Knicks fans everywhere stoked for the game. I use the word odd because I was excited for them but a part of me felt like the only person excited to go into NYC for a completely different reason.
I called the Knicks to win this series and I’m going to stick by that, but I did make that decision mostly because I want my friends who are Knicks fans to be happy. I’d be lying if I didn’t say four games into this current series, I was convinced the Pacers were the better team. I still think they might be but I don’t think it’s enough to guarantee they win this series. The Knicks just need to be better than them two more times which seems doable. It’s gonna be a struggle but I could see it happening.
All this talk about this series and it feels like in the end it’ll all be anticlimactic because I’m pretty certain the Knicks and the Pacers are currently playing each other for the honor to go on and lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals.
Side note: I lived in Oklahoma for a few years as a kid. I’m not saying that gives me the right to suddenly root for them. But Oklahoma had no pro sports teams for so long. I think it’s kinda cool that they not only have an NBA team, but a really good one that’s exciting to watch.
I’ve really come to enjoy watching Tyrese Haliburton play during these playoffs. I’m a big fan of the “overrated” narrative, where some “secret” poll was conducted amongst NBA players of who’s the most overrated and they chose him and ever since, he’s been anything but overrated. It’s like it lit a fire in him.
Still… if they lose, that narrative might haunt him as well as the choke gesture he made earlier in this series. Reminder: Reggie Miller did that same choke gesture back in the day in a series against the Knicks and the Pacers ultimately lost that series. It’d be bizarre if history repeats itself. No one in Indiana would ever wanna see that choke gesture ever again.
Random pro wrestling thought of the week
So, I guess Hangman is the guy? He recently beat Will Ospreay at the main event at Double or Nothing and will go on to face Jon Moxley for the world title at All In. All In is AEW’s biggest PPV of the year which I suppose makes ‘Hangman vs Mox’ AEW’s biggest match of the year. I’m having a hard time getting stoked for it, but maybe in time I’ll come around.
My timeline with Hangman is weird and maybe not the same as a lot of other people’s. I was actually a big fan of his first world title run at AEW. I thought he was the first guy AEW took a chance on and used the title to help make the dude (instead of having the dude help make the title since before him it was more established guys like Jericho, Mox, and Omega). Hangman had some fun title defenses along the way, and I think I was just a fan of this dude who came out, competed hard, and drank whiskey. “Cowboy shit” was new and the chant felt genuine.
Then the CM Punk stuff happened, and I think a large amount of fans soured on Hangman, but I didn’t. I figured that was all backstage nonsense and it doesn’t mean much to me. If dudes can’t get along backstage, my guess is that sort of thing happens more than we think it does. Why would I let their petty squabbles influence what I like and don’t like in the ring?
But then Hangman turned heel and it felt a little weird to me. Mostly, it seemed like he was the same dude, but he just learned how to scowl. It’s like he traded in his glass of whiskey for an angry face. It felt a little weird and disingenuous at first. It was also probably a bit mistimed. Maybe they should’ve turned him heel right after the CM Punk stuff since a lot of fans were looking for a reason to boo him anyways.
And ever since, he’s been in this feud with Swerve and Swerve is probably one of my favorites not just in AEW, but in pro wrestling. So, it’s been hard to appreciate Hangman when he’s constantly going against someone I wanna root for all the time. I will say, they had a few great matches and definitely broke some barriers in terms of violence in pro wrestling (Hangman drank Swerve’s blood AND stabbed him with a hypodermic needle. I mean, holy shit).
But also, it feels like this feud has gone on too long. I get it. Swerve broke into Hangman’s house and Hangman burned Swerve’s house down. I suppose those are the kind of things that should make you hate someone for the long haul.
But now that Hangman is going on to All In to fight Mox, it feels like they’re still inserting Swerve into his story and maybe trying to make it where they eventually drop their beef or maybe it intensifies further? I don’t know for sure. But I’m a little bit exhausted by it. The only thing in AEW that is probably more exhausting to me is the Death Riders angle.
Re: The Death Riders. I will give them one thing; I feel like it’s hard to pull off what they’re doing. They’re a heel faction that’s dominating for a long time and in this era, it feels like you almost run the risk that fans will think they’re cool and start to cheer for them. That hasn’t happened here. The Death Riders are on some real pure heel shit if only because I don’t think anyone likes them.
But overall, I feel like it’s gone on for too long and has become stale. So, I’d really like to see Mox’s reign come to an end already. If it has to be Hangman, that gets a big, “I guess,” from me. I’ll watch the match and probably root for Hangman, but going into All In, I’ll probably be more hyped for that Toni Storm vs Mercedes Mone match than anything else.
Bring back the hard drinkin’ Hangman Adam Page!
Top 5 Black Mirror Season 7 Episodes
1- Common People
2- USS Calister: Into Infinity
3- Bête Noireê
4- Hotel Reverie
5- Eulogy
Weekly Quote
“I don’t give a shit what the world thinks. I was born a bitch, I was born a painter, I was born fucked. But I was happy in my way. You did not understand what I am. I am love. I am pleasure. I am essence, I am an idiot, I am an alcoholic, I am tenacious. I am; simply I am … You are shit.”
-Frida Kahlo
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