Thomas Frank writes about politically noxious nostalgia for Harpers. It’s connects the bicentennial in 1976 with our current impoverished political moment. I think it strikes a chord.
Donald Trump didn’t invent the eternal return of nostalgia any more than Ronald Reagan invented the retro style of the Seventies and Eighties. Nostalgia is today a structural feature of our modern world, the emptiness and vapidity at the heart of our culture, the inevitable mass-produced sentiment of a society that permanently feels that everything is constantly going wrong but is chronically unable to identify why.
I can certainly cop to rooting around in nostalgia (see my recent post on an old DOS game), and I do feel uncomfortable about it sometimes; the politics wrapped around nostalgia can be manipulative and harmful, and even if my idle musings on the past don’t have those goals, it feels like being too close to the past in thought can lead one astray in the present. Moderation in all things, perhaps?
The essay is worth reading in its entirety, and the conclusion is interesting, if unleavened. 🇺🇸
I was randomly curious the other day, and looked up bands from New York City on Wikipedia. I noted down every one I recognized; it’s a very musically diverse list, and there were a few …
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I’m just endlessly fascinated with the Hell Gate bridge.
I don’t think I ever posted this: Hellgate NYC, a great, local, journalist owned New York City news site, sends incredible T-shirts to their subscribers.
Don’t fear git rebase 💽
Following up on my God of Thunder post, it included some wonderful BBS information. You gotta love it.
Does anyone remember God of Thunder?
No, not the Marvel movie, or the KISS song, or even the Greek mythological God, but the DOS game about that Norse mythological God.
This God of Thunder is a 1993 …
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My roommate and I watched Converge’s What’s in my Bag, and both wanted to look up all their picks online. That reference doesn’t seem to exist, so I made one. To the highly specific demographic for which this is useful, you’re welcome. 🎵
It’s a thin soup at this point.
Felt like a follow up to the 2013 remake in four tone, but way more gross. There’s lots of gore but it was the no blood moment that made me gag.
Construction, am I right?
I don’t know what it’s saying, but this tableau speaks to me.
Who doesn’t love a sunset.
I’ve seen it twice in the theaters now and I picked up more the second time. I was also the oldest person in the theater by a good amount both times. I’m hip.
Watched on Thursday July 16, 2026.
I was thinking of doing laundry, but then think the air will make my clothes uninhabitable on the way back.
Finished reading: The Dark Tower V Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King 📚
Fun sequel. Hard to pull off a decent one with a high concept premise like this and while it doesn’t reach the original it’s a real good time.
Really fun and more emotional than I expected. Ace cast.
Genuinely unsettling. This thing has been out for weeks and my local theater was almost full. I didn't know the director was a former YouTuber before I saw the movie, or that he was so young. I can clock some of that inexperience in retrospect, but overall it's a confident, stylish, and creepy debut. Also, according to the box office, everyone has already seen this, so y'all know what I mean.
Heading home from Comedy Bang Bang live, and man what a great show. First time I got to see Eddie Patterson and Ego Nwodim live, and they were awesome.
Tim Robinson’s The Chair Company is somehow grounded and blast off bonkers from the jump. I’ve seen three episodes and I know less about the plot then we u started.
Ghost train is best train.
I was a nervous wreck, but I got to meet Jimmy Pardo after his hilarious set at the Bell House just now, and got to thank him for his show helping me through hard times. He was incredibly gracious despite my blathering.
Watched on Thursday June 11, 2026.