Rage Against The Machine - Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles, 2000
Trevor Noah at his home - May 29th, 2020
Thanks, Trevor.
Jeff Bezos' Off-Planet Utopian Community
This image is from a presentation Jeff Bezos did regarding off-planet travel through is space exploration platform, Blue Origin. It is a fascinating window into a titan industrialist’s worldview. To me it looks like The United States did in various stages from the early to late 20th century. This is a single human being with aspirations to travel off planet earth once we we have consumed and destroyed all her resources and create a circular community that looks exactly like the United States of America from 1930-1990. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how wild and warped that is. It shows me the extent to which the human brain can change with access to an immeasurable amount of resources that you believe you created.
Radiohead - Live at Bonnaroo, 2006
Thats the best live show I have ever watched.
Tame Impala Currents Recording Video, 2014
Kevin Parker masters the solo-creator-den-in-a-beautiful-place vibe. I love it and what comes out of it. Currents will hang on as an epic body of work.
Lucien Smith's 2020 Vibe and Montauk, NY Space.
I liked his work when I lived in New York. He was in the Highland Orbit. It sounds like he has gone through a metamorphosis as he has gotten older. I am certainly in touch with that. I hope we all evolve and get better. It takes almost daily self analysis, meditation and a lot of help from your partner. My amazing partner helps me with this everyday. I love you, Leigh.
His space in Montauk is inspirational. Especially the space with two huge windows which, I assume, face the ocean. Surfboards resting on the outside. Inside all dedicated creation space. I think I organize things like he does. That’s why it makes sense to me. It makes me want to make shit. I’m grateful for that.
Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Lead Belly Cover), 1993
Absolute Purity.
#44 - President Obama, 2009 - 2016
The Poetry of Campaigning and the Prose of Governance. I heard A.O.C. say this the other day. The first part is eloquent the second part is pragmatic and ripe for a lot more criticism, but the work was always there. Right now we could use both from the Obama years. Not only President Obama, but his team for each term. People who woke up everyday believing democracy was a vehicle to help people. That tough problems should be stared down, critically thought through and collectively solved.
Thank you, Senator Sanders.
Thank you for pushing us where we need to go. We will keep pushing.
its absolutely fascinating that senator sanders ends his presidential campaign as the sun rises on the largest test of our institutions in modern history.
It saddens me when we treat american democracy like a rag doll on the highway in the rush hour traffic of american/globalist capitalism and then when we really need it we expect it to be there and magically work. in it’s purist form, democracy is a slow ideology. it takes so much time to build it, strengthen it and most importantly-trust it.
in terms of occam’s razor: it’s the fable of the three little pigs against the big bad wolf. what is our house made of? because straw and sticks don’t stand. only bricks do. senator sanders is a mason. he looks at hard truths and says the only way to build trust is to lay bricks. with all the partial action and apathy, with all the half truths, utter falsehoods and the cacophony of fucking noise- at the end of the day this shit just seems to be about good old fashioned right and wrong. that is what we are going to teach our kids. like senator sanders says, “it’s not about me its about us.” we will pick up the baton, senator. keep fighting.
Stephen Maturen for Getty Images
'Social Distance' A Community Based Poem to Make You Feel Less Isolated, NPR 2020. And 'Heat Wave' by Kadir Nelson
A great moment from NPR.
Once Again, John Oliver being thoughtful and concise when we need it most.
We need to remember these moments in time. It is so important.
Harry Styles - Tiny Desk, 2020
Harry Styles and his band are writing and playing great songs.
David Byrne - Once in a Lifetime, Live on SNL, March 1st, 2020
The Wing Feature by Amanda Hess for the New York Times
Where Elitism, Feminism, Progressivism and Social Media connect in America in 2020. ‘Utopia’ and Dystopia are so close together. A classic arc in todays age. such a well written and considered, modern critique.
The Wing is a Women's Utopia. Unless you work there. By Amanda Hess.
Thanks, John.
Thanks for Existing High Maintenance.
The Federal Reserve by Ting Chen for The New York Times
Amazingly Captured by Ting Chen. The photo I wish took of The Fed.
These things helped today.
Scott Sternberg's Space in Los Angeles for High Snobiety, 2019
I just love the vibe of his spot. It makes sense.
Thomas Welsh
Thomas Welsh
Thomas Welsh