TMoney

So the Grammy nominations are out... boy am I out of touch with popular tastes. Put a few song of the year candidates on and this isn't bad! I don't think Olivia Rodrigo has much to worry about from this girl but the song is a bit of an ear worm.

Driving that wrangler the way it was meant to be driven. https://youtu.be/l-urynk63Wg

Happy for KMAG. Guy has been grinding all year in the shit-box Haas. It is a shame the sprint races are always a snooze-fest, but that doesn't take away from his happy day.

Happy birthday, Chris!

Happy birthday, Mikey! Hopefully you started the day with a great cup of coffee from that beastly new machine.

Vulture put out a ranking of all the U2 songs and I've been having a blast going through all these B-Sides I've never heard before. https://www.vulture.com/article/all-218-u2-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html U2 isn't everyone's cup of tea but I love them. They are one of my favorite bands to see live or watch concert recordings from.

^ Same. I'm ready for a trip to Sicily!

RIP to the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis. Unbelievably talented player. I still love his music but he totally deserved the cancellation he brought on himself.

No complaints about the GOT season. I enjoyed it very much. Started The Peripheral over the weekend. Might this be the Amazon adaptation of a book from a beloved author that is worth watching? First two episodes have me very intrigued indeed!

Happy birthday, Marc! Hope you had an amazing time at the races.

Tell Sir Lewis we say hi!

Crybaby - Tegan and Sara I'm late to the party on these two, but I like what I hear. Really pleasant listen.

Happy birthday, Peter!

It is indeed correct.

FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE - Brian Eno New Brian Eno. It is exactly as ethereal, relaxing, and melancholy as you would expect from the man!

I’d feel like duck a l’Orange would be a tasty dinner! Honestly? Glad they got to live a life outdoors. Alternative would be the ducks who are bred for human consumption/pet food.

Happy birthday, Carl!

Happy birthday, Peter!

My first experience with MM Wave 5G at Ohare in Chicago. This is legitimately impressive speed for a mobile phone.

When in Michigan…

So Amazon only released the first two episodes to reviewers before the show aired. I read some interview where the Amazon TV head was saying how proud she was that the show was doing well overseas. Coded language for it bombing in the US?

I did. I'm always going to give more of the benefit of the doubt to a show that feels like it is pushing the boundaries or taking creative risks. WW season 4 certainly did that. It is not without its problems, but it had me coming back week after week. Sounds like it didn't get the viewership HBO wanted though so I think it is done for. I'm ok with that.

What a contrast between the two big budget fantasy shows right now. I think the GOT reboot is great. It is more or less exactly what I would have wanted from a GOT revival. Fun characters, lots of backstabbing. Love the casting, the costumes, the sets. Maybe a little too much computer generated dragon stuff, but on the whole I think it worthy sunday night "event television." Great job by HBO. The Amazon LOTR show, on the other hand, feels like a disaster. I set my expectations low but still find myself disappointed. I can't believe they could spend this much money on the show and not have a few more adults in the room to set them down a better path. The pre-season articles about how they found the right show runners... yeah... I don't know about that. There are just so many scenes where there is zero drama and it is obvious to any viewer that it was filmed on a soundstage. It may or may not look pleasing to the eye but the brain knows it is completely fake. Example below. See also the interminable amount of fake CGI helicopter shots in landscapes that obviously don't exist. Eye-rolling every single time. It sounds like Amazon is already deep in to production on season 2 so hopefully if they can't change horses this late in the game they can at least bring in some new editors. Just yikes. I can't believe how boring season one has been and it has to stick in Bezos' craw that the GOT show is making them look like amateurs. I'm done with the show for now and may revisit down the road if people say it is worthwhile. I'm not hearing any buzz for it online at all from people I follow, and rightfully so. 😴

Kind of a crappy end of the season with two rainy races in a row, but congrats to Max V. He had the fastest car, but he drove the wheels off the damn thing. Since about the third or forth race of the season he has left exactly zero doubt who the world champion would be. Here is hoping that Ferrari, Merc, Alpine, etc can give him more of a run for his money in 2023.

Wouldn't say no!