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Post something random for the collective amusement.

Screw up at the sign factory, apparently

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Diane Lane on the cautionary Anniversary, the slept-on Rumble Fish, and panicking on live TV

What a day for @willharrisinva.bsky.social! First, the debut of his podcast "Letting Them Talk" drops, and now we get a brand new "Random Roles," this time with actress Diane Lane, talking with her about her career (briefly, as a full career recap would take *hours*). Congratulations, Will!

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Diane Lane discusses acting with Laurence Olivier, flying in Kenny Rogers' helicopter, and being pissed about a decades-old Emmys snub.

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Sean Dunn, aka Sandwich Guy, was found NOT GUILTY of misdemeanor assault by a jury in federal court in DC today, November 6, 2025. Dunn threw a sandwich at a federal officer at 14th and U streets in August, shouting, "Fuck you! You fucking fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!"

Never forget that a hungry Sean Dunn sacrificed his Subway sandwich to make a statement, and that statement was basically "Fuck you, get out of my city."

Today:

Sean Dunn, who will forever be known as Sandwich Guy, was found not guilty of misdemeanor assault by a jury in federal court in DC Thursday.

It was never in doubt that Dunn threw a sandwich at a federal officer at 14th and U streets in August, shouting, “Fuck you! You fucking fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” according to a federal indictment. It’s also undeniable that Dunn’s airborne-footlong protest, video of which went viral, became an unlikely symbol of local resistance to the Trump administration during its crackdown on DC this summer, precisely because of the disconnect between the seriousness of the incident and the government’s response.

Despite Dunn’s offer to surrender, the administration sent armed troops to his apartment and filmed his arrest. The office of US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro charged him with felony assault;he lost his job as a paralegal at the Department of Justice, with US Attorney General Pam Bondi calling him “an example of the Deep State.” Meanwhile, stylized, Bansky-style images of a man preparing to wing a hoagie appeared all over DC.

Words:
https://washingtonian.com/2025/11/06/sandwich-guy-not-guilty/

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I expect Blake Treinen, Clayton Kershaw, and others might go, but I sincerely hope that most of the Dodgers 2025 roster turn down the offer to go to the White House. YOU NEED TO SEND A MESSAGE, DODGERS.

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Remembering Texas Country and folk singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer Guy Clark, born on November 6, 1941, in Monahans, Texas — he died on May 17, 2016. Fave songs: "The Randall Knife," "Boats to Build," "Stuff That Works," and "She Ain't Goin' Nowhere." (more: alt text)

Guy Clark released more than twenty albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, and Rodney Crowell. Guy Clark won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album: My Favorite Picture Of You.

Clark eventually settled in Nashville, where he helped create the progressive country and outlaw country genres. His songs "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperados Waiting for a Train" that helped launch his career were covered by numerous performers.

He was an accomplished luthier and often plays his own guitars.
He achieved success as a songwriter with Jerry Jeff Walker's recordings of "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperados Waiting for a Train."

Clark has been a mentor to such other singers as Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell. He organized Earle's first job as a writer in Nashville. In the 1970s, the Clarks' home in Nashville was an open house for songwriters and musicians and it features in the video Heartworn Highways, an evocation of the songwriter scene in Nashville at that time.

He was married to songwriter and artist, Susanna Clark from 1972 through her death from cancer on June 27, 2012.

Fave songs:

"The Randall Knife" (from Dublin Blues, 1995): This deeply personal song about his father is a standout. Critics note how its very specific details create universal emotional resonance for listeners who connect the story to their own family heirlooms and memories.

"Boats to Build" (from Boats to Build, 1992): A beautifully literary and self-reflective tune about a change of pace and simple construction, praised for its sure-fingered guitar picking and wise phrasing.

"She Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (from Old No. 1, 1975): Full of mystery and delicate prose, this narrative-driven song is an early gem from his debut that critics enjoy for its cliffhanger quality.

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"Her work transforms audiences from observers into participants, helping to shape the works and the exhibition itself. That sense of agency and connection feels especially powerful right now, and I think Los Angeles, with its spirit of experimentation and openness, will really embrace that."

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Doug Sahm's Answering Machine

Remembering Doug Sahm, b. November 6, 1941, San Antonio, TX (d. November 18, 1999). His outgoing message: "I'm not home right now. I'm out milkin' the cows. So, you might call back if it's about baseball or Memphis Slim or somethin' that's interestin'. I'll give you a buzz. Have a good day. Adios."

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YouTube video by Gobekli Tepe

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My #1 fave (and @vulture.com's): "Tuuuubiiiii, Tubi!" (Now, if they could figure out how to insert all of the commercials at the beginning instead of interrupting every fifteen minutes, I'd be happier to recommend them....)

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This was a really entertaining podcast! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Will Harris (interviewer for the AV Club (200+ "Random Roles"), Decider, Vanity Fair, Variety, Vulture, and many other outlets not starting with "V") talks with his first guest, Robbie Rist.

Robbie is known for live-action roles such as "Cousin Oliver" on "The Brady Bunch," and "David" on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and a prolific voice actor, notably as "Michelangelo" in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film trilogy, and "Stuffy" in "Doc McStuffins."

Rist is a talented musician who plays guitar, bass, and drums. He has been part of several rock and pop-punk bands, including the current The Wrong Dots, and has produced albums for other artists. He also provided music for the Sharknado film series.

He has produced a movie, written commercials, and hosts a podcast.

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The move comes after Trump announced that his administration would be freezing SNAP benefits until the government shutdown ends, despite over 40 million Americans relying on it (like me). Donations will go to two different area nonprofits: the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and St. Joseph Center.

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I've also seen Sunday, October 31st for the U.S. -- with November 13th for the UK release date -- but November 5th (a Friday) probably makes more sense. The original cover photo idea was to be a close-up photo of a baboon's anus but the band suggested an ear underwater. "Fearless" is my favorite.

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#OneAlbumADay; Elton John's 4th studio LP, 'Madman Across the Water,' was released on November 5, 1971. While 'Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player' (1973) was my first EJ LP, this one is my favorite, especially the title track and "Razor Face" (Rick Wakeman plays on both tracks) More: alt text

'Madman' is now seen as a transitional work. It marks the last appearance of Elton John's band's lead guitarist Caleb Quaye and drummer Roger Pope (who would return in 1975), while it introduces his live touring band -- guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olssen, and bassist Dee Murray -- who had not been playing on his albums, due to producer Gus Dudgeon's lack of faith in the group for studio recordings.

Instead, most of the tracks were backed by studio players and string arrangements put together by Paul Buckmaster. Johnstone's band Magna Carta had previously worked with Dudgeon.

The album's title song was initially going to be released on John's previous album 'Tumbleweed Connection,' featuring guitarist Mick Ronson on lead guitar; however, it was set aside and was re-recorded for this album with Johnstone playing the guitar parts.

One of the highlights was the opening track, “Tiny Dancer,” with lyrics by Bernie Taupin, whose first wife, Maxine Feibelmann, was indeed a “seamstress for the band.” Taupin, in interviews, has said he was trying to capture the vibe of what he saw when he and his wife came to Southern California in the fall of 1970.

"It seemed like sunshine just radiated from the populace,” Taupin told Rolling Stone. “I guess I was trying to capture the spirit of that time, encapsulated by the women we met, especially at the clothes stores and restaurants and bars all up and down the Sunset Strip. They were these free spirits, sexy, all hip-huggers and lacy blouses, very ethereal the way they moved.”

“They were just so different from what I’d been used to in England,” Taupin continued. “They had this thing about embroidering your clothes. They wanted to sew patches on your jeans. They mothered you and slept with you. It was the perfect Oedipal complex.”

(more at Wikipedia)

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If you watched all 179 Dodgers games (including the post-season games and the two opening games in Tokyo) like I did, you, like me, might have wondered why Mookie Betts didn't get the Golden Glove this year. He was incredible. My favorite player.

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Opinion | Mamdani’s Victory Is Less Significant Than You Think

In 2008, conservative writer Ross Douthat's first NYT opinion piece was titled "Dick Cheney for President." It was actually his idea that the VP's landslide loss could have motivated the GOP to reconsider their move toward the extreme right wing, but... it made me stop reading any of his opinions.

nytimes.com

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Just watched the delightful interview Stephen Colbert did w/ Robert Plant, during which Colbert quoted from "Tom Bombadil's Song" by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in the Oxford Magazine in 1934, long before The Lord of the Rings was written. Colbert is a Tolkien fanatic, and Plant is too. More: alt text

Colbert quoted this part:

O slender as a willow-wand! O clearer than clear water!
O reed by the living pool! Fair river-daughter!
O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after!
O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves' laughter!

"Tom Bombadil's Song" is not a single, specific poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, but rather a number of songs and verses sung by the character Tom Bombadil (and later by Frodo, at his instruction) within the narrative of The Lord of the Rings.

These verses are characterized by their playful rhythm, simple language, and recurring refrains like "Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!"

The character of Tom Bombadil and his associated songs first appeared in the standalone poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," published in the Oxford Magazine in 1934, long before The Lord of the Rings was written.

This earlier work was later published as part of a collection of 16 poems in a book also titled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in 1962.

Plant and Colbert expressed a mutual, enthusiastic love for J.R.R. Tolkien's works, effectively "nerding out" over the topic and almost ignoring the rest of the show's agenda.

Colbert noted that Plant's home in the West Midlands of the UK was the same area where Tolkien lived from a young age. This shared landscape was a major point of connection, with Plant explaining that the mystical environment influenced him and resonated with Tolkien's writing.

Plant joked that he used to meet with "The Inklings," the famous literary group that included Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, in a pub in Oxford, to which Colbert enthusiastically responded, mentioning the actual pub, "The Eagle and Child" (or "The Bird and Baby").

Plant discussed how he wove Tolkien references into Led Zeppelin lyrics for songs like "Ramble On" and "The Battle of Evermore," adding that his bandmates were largely unaware of the source material at the time.

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Everything I saw on this neo-noirish/black comedy FX show itched that part of my brain that loves to watch TV & read novels. It hit all the right spots, mentioning writers I love & history (especially Tulsa, OK) blended w/ heartfelt and occasionally absurd Coen Bros-esque characters. More: alt text

Critics loved the first season of the new FX series "The Lowdown" for a variety of reasons, highlighting its unique blend of genres and strong creative vision:

Ethan Hawke's portrayal of "Lee Raybon," the "truthstorian" and bookstore owner, was widely praised as magnetic, authentic, and one of his best roles in years.

The show successfully balanced dark, moody neo-noir elements with heartfelt character moments and dark, absurd humor, reminiscent of the Coen Brothers' work.

Created by Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), the series offers an affectionate yet clear-eyed love letter to Tulsa, Oklahoma, utilizing its culturally rich and complex history as a vivid backdrop rather than a generic setting.

Beyond Hawke, the show featured a terrific cast of characters played by a stellar line-up of actors including Peter Dinklage (whose appearance in later episodes is a major highlight), Keith David, and Kyle MacLachlan, who all have great chemistry.

The series used its noir mystery plot to build deep character relationships and allow its people time to talk, creating an immersive and "ridiculously entertaining" world that lingers with viewers.

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Congratulations, NYC! You've made the right choice. I wish now the rest of the country would follow your example. (more: alt text)

Zohran Mamdani is the Mayor-elect of New York City and is set to take office on January 1, 2026.

A democratic socialist and current State Assemblymember, he won the November 2025 mayoral election with a campaign focused on making NYC more affordable for working-class New Yorkers.

His key plans for New York City include:

Housing: Implementing an immediate rent freeze for the city's one million rent-stabilized apartments by appointing a favorable Rent Guidelines Board. He also plans to build 200,000 new, permanently affordable housing units over a decade, primarily funded by the city rather than private developers.

Transportation: Making all city buses free to ride and improving bus speeds by expanding dedicated bus lanes.

Childcare: Creating a universal, free childcare program for all New York City children aged six weeks to five years old.

Minimum Wage: Raising the New York City minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.

Food Access: Establishing a network of city-owned grocery stores to offer low-priced goods and combat food deserts.

Public Safety: Creating a new Department of Community Safety to handle mental health calls and other non-violent crises, rather than relying solely on the NYPD. He has indicated he would keep the current Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch.

Funding: Funding these programs through tax increases on New York City residents earning more than $1 million annually and raising the corporate tax rate. These tax changes would require approval from the New York State Legislature and the Governor.

Mamdani's platform has garnered significant grassroots support, particularly among young and progressive voters, by concentrating on the city's high cost of living. He is set to make history as New York City's first Muslim mayor, first South Asian mayor, and the youngest in over a century.

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$An interesting fact about Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary is that it was originally published as a series of weekly entries in newspapers and magazines over a period of three decades, starting in 1881. It was later compiled into a book, first under the title The Cynic's Word Book in 1906, before finally being reissued with Bierce's preferred, more famous title, The Devil's Dictionary, in 1911. This piecemeal, long-term creation process highlights how central this project was to Bierce's lifelong work of social and political satire. As for "November," Bierce's definition is a perfect example of his cynical, aphoristic style: NOVEMBER, n. The eleventh twelfth of a weariness. This definition uses a fraction to humorously and succinctly express the dreariness and impatience people often feel as the year drags to a close in the late autumn, before the winter holidays begin. It's a clever, biting take on a simple word, characteristic of the entire dictionary.$

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#OneAlbumADay; My Bloody Valentine’s second studio LP, 'Loveless,' was released on November 4, 1991 (Creation in the UK, Sire in the U.S.). The cost of recording the album, which took place at 19 recording studios with multiple audio engineers over 4 years, nearly bankrupted Creation. More: alt text

'Loveless' was given to me first on a cassette by a girl I was madly in love with, although she didn't know it at the time. She was a co-worker at a bookstore where I worked, and we saw each other only occasionally (she worked part-time).

After a particularly inspiring conversation in the back of the store about our favorite music, she taped me two of her favorite albums "as a kind of test" (I passed!). On one side was the Smashing Pumpkins' 'Gish' album, which I liked, at least back then, but on the other side was MBV's 'Loveless,' which I played as loud as our stereo (the one I shared with a couple of housemates in '89-'93) could handle, usually when no one else was home.

I played it so loud that I eventually had to go to a doctor due to my temporary hearing loss (true story). I wouldn't be surprised if this was the album that kickstarted my tinnitus problems and hearing loss that I deal with every day.

On tracks like "Only Shallow," Shields turns his guitar's tremolo bar into an art form, calling the strumming technique "glide guitar." Released as a single, it is the first MBV song to break through on the U.S. charts, landing at #27 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks.

'Loveless' pretty much defined the shoegazing genre and simultaneously drove guitarist Kevin Shields to the brink of insanity, or so I've read.

Even the cover photograph by Angus Cameron is beautiful if you stare at it while you're listening to the album, that pink and red guitar will burn right into your retinas.

'Loveless' failed to find a mainstream audience in the U.S., peaking at #7 in the UK.

MBV would not release another album for almost 12 years.

If you wanna read about this album, I recommend Mike McGonigal's book Loveless, published in 2007 by The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc as part of their celebrated 33 1/3 series.

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'I could smell the onions and the mustard'

In Smokey & The Bandit (1977), Jackie Gleason as "Sheriff Buford T. Justice," the sweaty, spluttering good ol’ boy enforcer of the law, orders a Diablo sandwich and a Dr. Pepper while Burt Reynolds ("Smokey") looks on. A Diablo is basically minced pork doused in Texas Pete hot sauce.

"Let me have a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper and make it fast, I’m in a got-damn hurry."

The scene was filmed at an Old Hickory House, a onetime Southern-cooking restaurant empire, in Forest Park, Georgia.

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"We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self, a secretion of sensory experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody’s nobody." (Rust Cohle) Happy Birthday to Matthew McConaughey, born on November 4, 1969, in Uvalde, Texas!

Full quote from Season One of HBO's "True Detective" (Ep. 1 "The Long Bright Dark"):

"I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in human evolution. We became too self aware; nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself. We are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self, a secretion of sensory experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody’s nobody. I think the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal."

Cohle's viewpoint is expressed during a car ride and later during an interrogation. In one instance, he elaborates on his perspective, suggesting that humanity's self-awareness was an evolutionary error, creating beings that exist separately from nature and advocating for voluntary extinction as an honorable course of action.

I can't recall there ever being a character I identified with more in a film or a TV series.

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Great to see my friend Greg Boaz (aka "Smog Vomit" - IYKYK) on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" last night, playing bass (as he has for quite a while now) in Mavis Staples' band. Greg has also played with other artists, such as Tex & the Horseheads, Dave Alvin, and John Mayall.

Don't look behind you, Mavis, unless you wanna see Smog Vomit!

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Please please please Dodgers front office, please find a way to sign up Shōta Imanaga, "The Throwing Philosopher." He belongs in L.A.

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David Bowie's third studio LP, 'The Man Who Sold the World,' was released by Mercury Records in the U.S. on November 4, 1970 (UK: April 10, 1971). Guitarist Mick Ronson & drummer Mick Woodmansey make their first appearance here as Bowie's backing band (later: the Spiders from Mars). More: alt text

Following the largely acoustic and folk rock sound of Bowie's previous 1969 self-titled album, 'The Man Who Sold the World,' produced by Tony Visconti and recorded at Trident and Advision Studios in London during April and May 1970, and featuring the first appearances of guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Mick Woodmansey on a Bowie record (they later became famous as members of the Spiders from Mars), marked a shift toward hard rock, with elements of blues rock.

The album was initially titled 'Metrobolist,' a reference to the film Metropolis. His U.S. label, Mercury Records, changed the title to 'The Man Who Sold the World' without consulting Bowie. The original title was later used for a 50th-anniversary reissue.

Although Bowie is credited with writing all the songs, producer Tony Visconti has indicated that the tracks were developed through band jam sessions, with Bowie often writing lyrics just before recording.

While the title track wasn't a hit for Bowie initially, it gained popularity through covers, including a UK hit by Lulu in 1974 and a notable version by Nirvana on their 'MTV Unplugged' album in 1993, which introduced the song to a new audience. Bowie humorously noted that younger fans sometimes thought it was a Nirvana song.

The album featured different covers in the U.S. and UK. The original U.S. release had a cartoon-like drawing of a cowboy in front of Cane Hill asylum in Coulsdon, Surrey, where Bowie's half-brother, Terry, had been a patient.

The UK cover featured a photo of Bowie in a dress, highlighting his androgynous image. Mercury Records had rejected the original UK cover because they feared it would not be accepted by the American market.

The cartoon was drawn by Michael J. Weller and based on an image of actor John Wayne. Bowie was unenthusiastic about the cover, so he enlisted Keith MacMillan to shoot an alternate cover.

In 1972, he said Weller's design was "horrible" but reappraised it in 1999, saying he "actually thought the cartoon cover was really cool."

Bowie was still grieving for his father at the time of recording this LP (he'd died a few months earlier at the age of 56).

His management contract with Ken Pitt had soured to the point where he wanted out.

There was also the delicate matter of his aforementioned schizophrenic half-brother Terry, who’d been living with his parents.

After Bowie’s dad passed away, his mother, unable to cope with Terry, committed him to Cane Hill Asylum. Bowie visited him regularly, but felt increasingly guilty over not being able to do more to help.

Many critics and fans believe this album marks the true beginning of Bowie's artistic growth, with many also agreeing that it was his first album where he began to find his sound.

The lyrics on this one are also darker than his previous LP releases, exploring themes of insanity, religion, technology and war.

The opening track, "The Width of a Circle," references the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran and in the song's second half, the narrator has a sexual encounter with God in the devil's lair.

"All the Madmen"'s lyrics were inspired by Bowie's half-brother Terry Burns and reflect the theme of institutionalized madness.

"After All" is musically different than the rest of 'The Man Who Sold the World,' being more akin to folk rock than hard rock. Featuring an "oh, by jingo" chant that is reminiscent of music hall numbers, the lyrics follow a group of innocent children who have not experienced the corruptions of adulthood.

"Running Gun Blues" discuss gun-toting assassins and Vietnam War commentary, specifically the Mỹ Lai massacre of 1968, while the album's title track is said to have been inspired by numerous poems, including "Antigonish" (1899) by William Hughes Mearns. The narrator has an encounter with a kind of doppelgänger, as suggested in the second chorus where "I never lost control" is replaced with "We never lost control." It was described by Bowie in 1973 as a "period piece", and later "pre-fascist."

None of the songs from the album were released as official singles, although some tracks appeared as B-sides of singles between 1970 and 1973.

This album was a favorite album of a girlfriend of mine -- she had the black-and-white photograph cover -- and we listened to it quite a bit as I recall so I have all kinds of special feelings about this one.

In support of the album, Bowie did a brief tour of US college radio stations, showing up in his Mr. Fish dress, confounding and charming DJs. But since Olav Wyper, his champion at the label, had departed, Mercury did little to promote the record. By early 1971, Tony Defries was already busy engineering Bowie’s move to RCA Victor.

The pushy manager’s increasingly hands-on presence in Bowie’s life ended up forcing Visconti out of the picture and on towards his fruitful partnership with Marc Bolan and T.Rex.

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Bloviating gasbag and perpetual war criminal Dick Cheney has died. He was 84. He was responsible for some of the problems we still have today, like expanding the power of the presidency and making sure America was always in a state of perpetual war. Fuck off, Cheney, I hope it hurt. More: alt text

Cheney was a key architect and vocal proponent of the idea that the U.S. could not rely solely on Cold War strategies of containment and deterrence against "rogue states" or terrorist networks. His policies were the product of his belief that America should be in a state of "perpetual war" around the world.

He believed the U.S. needed to take pre-emptive military action to neutralize potential threats, most notably in the case of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He consistently described the fight against terrorism as a "global conflict" that would be a "struggle of years" and require a sustained, long-term commitment, not a one-off campaign.

Cheney was a primary advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, asserting the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and had ties to Al-Qaeda.

These claims were later found to be based on faulty intelligence, and no WMDs were ever found, leading to widespread anger over the war's justification and the resulting instability and casualties.

Critics argue Cheney systematically worked to increase the power of the presidency, often at the expense of Congress and judicial oversight. This included his refusal to publicly disclose the details of his energy task force meetings, even when requested by Congress.

In the "war on terror," Cheney strongly defended the use of harsh "enhanced" interrogation tactics, including waterboarding, which many considered torture and a violation of international law and human rights. He also supported warrantless domestic surveillance by the NSA.

His prior role as CEO of Halliburton raised ethical concerns and accusations of a conflict of interest when the company was awarded significant, no-bid government contracts for work in Iraq during the war.

Earlier in his career as a congressman, his deeply conservative stances angered liberals, including votes against the Equal Rights Amendment, re-funding the Clean Water Act, and sanctions against apartheid in South Africa.

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Moondoggie (Rick) @moondogrick.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

In addition to singing w/ the Grateful Dead, she was an in-demand session singer in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music scene. She sings backup on Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" & Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds," both #1 hits. She also recorded with Cher, Neil Diamond and others. R.I.P.

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Reposted by Bryan Thomas

Diane Ladd with Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra in "The Wild Angels (1966), which also starred her then-husband, Bruce Dern. 💔 #filmsky 📽️

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Multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger & sound designer, soundtrack composer & college professor Joseph Byrd -- leader of The United States of America, and who, in 1968, recorded 'The American Metaphysical Circus,' credited to Joe Byrd & the Field Hippies -- has died at 87. More: alt text

Richie Unterberger writes:

Rock groups are supposed to be hatched in garages and inner-city lofts, not the upper reaches of academia. That wasn't going to stop Joseph Byrd, experimental composer and ethnomusicologist from the UCLA New Music Workshop, from devising a plan in 1967 to approach rock'n'roll from the opposite direction.

Byrd, who had frequented avant-garde circles since hanging around with Terry Riley, LaMonte Young, and Virgil Thomson in the early '60s, used the United States of America to bring cutting-edge electronics, Indian music, and "serious" composition into psychedelic rock and roll.

The group's sole, self-titled album in 1968 was a tour de force (though not without its flaws) of experimental rock that blended surprisingly melodic sensibilities with unnerving blasts of primitive synthesizers and lyrics that could range from misty romanticism to hard-edged irony. For the relatively few who heard it, the record was a signpost to the future with its collision of rock and classical elements, although the material crackled with a tension that reflected the United States of America itself in the late '60s.

More:

By mid-1968, the grand experiment was over. Conflicting egos, a drug bust, and commercial pressures all contributed to a rapid split. The United States of America may have had their roots in the halls of higher learning, but ultimately they were prey to the same kind of mundane tensions that broke the spirit of many a band that lived and died on the streets.

From the time Byrd founded the band in Los Angeles with colleague Michael Agnello, says singer Dorothy Moskowitz, "group dynamics were never a strong point in the USA." Moskowitz, Byrd's ex-girlfriend, had a background in writing and performing for musical theater. She moved from New York to California to join the group and, as she puts it, provide "the requisite schmaltz." Bassist Stu Brotman, once of the stunningly eclectic L.A. psychedelic group Kaleidoscope, was also an early member.

But he and Agnello were gone by the time the group began recording for Columbia. Agnello, a radical sort, was arguing with Byrd over leadership of the band, and not sure the act should even be signing to a record label in the first place. "When you ask why the group broke up, well, why did the group even record after it broke it up?" points out Moskowitz.

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Yet the lineup that cohered for the album brought impressive credentials to the table. Electric violinist Gordon Marron expanded the instrument's parameters with a divider that could raiser or lower it an octave, as well as tape echo units and ring modulators. Rand Forbes played an unfretted electric bass, and drummer Craig Woodson would tinker with his sound in unusual ways, attaching contact microphones to his set and suspending slinkies from cymbals to get a musique-concrete effect. Ed Bogas added organ, piano, and calliope.

Most of the material was penned by Byrd and Moskowitz, the latter of whose alto delivered the lyrics -- which are alternately evocative and foreboding -- with a cool precision reminiscent of an icier Grace Slick. Byrd was chiefly responsible for the electronic textures that would provide the album with its most distinguishing characteristics. This was 1968, remember, when synthesizers had rarely been employed on rock records. What Byrd crafted were not simulations of strings and horns, but exhilarating, frightening swoops and bleeps that lent a fierce crunch to the faster numbers, and a beguiling serenity to the ballads. Byrd had crucial help in his endeavors from Richard Durrett, who designed the Durrett electronic music synthesizer used by the band, and from Tom Oberheim, who pioneered the use of the ring modulator employed by the USA. Nico, Moskowitz has recalled, tried unsuccessfully to join the band, after leaving the Velvet Underground.

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Add to this mix a fascination with modal playing and Indian music. Byrd and Moskowitz were serious students of North and South Indian music, and had already made little-known contributions to a Folkways LP of Indian music by Gayathri Rajapur and Harihar Rao, recorded in 1965. Country Joe & the Fish, the Doors, and others were opening the gates for modal playing in rock and roll, and the USA were one of the first ones through; Frank Zappa had also opened the possibilities for incorporating ideas from contemporary composition into a rock format. And then there was Byrd's application of concepts from Charles Ives, which simulated marching bands moving from opposite sides of the stereo spectrum...

Was it all too much to fit into one album? "As a whole, the album does not have a coherent, unified vision," declares Moskowitz, who now lives near Oakland, California, where she composes music for both adult and children's theatrical events in the San Francisco Bay area. "Joe had vision, but by hiring all these interesting people, it had to be diluted. Everybody had to have their say. I'm told that someone took the album to Apple Records. The Beatles listened to it and asked, 'Which is the band?' If you listen to each song, it's almost like a variety show.

"Today you would say, it's a cultural blending of avant-garde music, of elements of Indian music. If you asked me back then, I'm not sure what we were doing. That might have been the basic charm of the group. We were charting territory for which their were no names."

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YouTube video by Hollywood

Always loved the score that composer John Barry (born November 3, 1933, York, England - d. January 30, 2011) did for Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat (1981), a neo-noir update on classic film noir, with its sultry & suspenseful sax theme that captures the sultry sadness of steamy Southern Florida nights.

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John Barry - Body Heat

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To Sir, With Love - Lulu as Barbara (Babs) Pegg - the class says thank you

Happy Birthday to singer-songwriter, actress and TV personality Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie on November 3, 1948, Lennoxtown, Scotland. Her career has spanned six decades, but this is still my favorite performance, a real tear-jerker, the way all the actors look at Sir.

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YouTube video by Peps Haven

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Game 7 was the largest U.S. audience for a World Series game since 2017, when the Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games, drawing 28.29 million viewers. The viewership for this game was 10% higher than the last World Series Game 7 in 2019, which averaged 23.19 million viewers. (more: alt text)

The Dodgers held their championship parade today.

I just read this: Game 7 between the Blue Jays and the Dodgers -- broadcast in Canada between Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ & CityTV --averaged 10.9 million viewers.

Sportsnet says it was the most-watched English-language broadcast on record in Canada outside of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In the U.S. nearly 26 million people watched the game, which went into extra innings, being broadcast across Fox, Fox Deportes, and Fox's streaming services.

Game 7 audience was the largest for a World Series game since 2017, when the Houston Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games, drawing 28.29 million viewers.

The viewership for this game was 10% higher than the last World Series Game 7 in 2019, which averaged 23.19 million viewers.

Hollywood Reporter:
Fox’s broadcast of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 11-inning, 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in game seven of the World Series averaged 25.45 million viewers in preliminary Nielsen ratings (which include only the ratings service’s panel measurement); Fox Deportes and Fox Sports streaming added 530,000 more viewers. Final ratings, which will include Nielsen’s big data component and will be available Tuesday, could push the total higher.

Variety:
The seventh game of the annual Major League Baseball classic, which saw the Dodgers triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays 5 to 4 in extra innings won an average audience of nearly 26 million across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox-owned streaming services, according to early data from Nielsen. A fuller picture of viewership for the Series’ final game will emerge on Tuesday, when more data is tabulated.

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Remembering actor Charles Bronson, born Charles Dennis Buchinsky on November 3, 1921 in Ehrenfeld, Cambria County (the coal region of the Allegheny Mnts north of Johnstown), PA (d. August 30, 2003). Faves: Once Upon a Time in the West, The Great Escape, The Mechanic & so many others. More: alt text

Born Charles Dennis Buchinsky into a poor Lithuanian immigrant family, Bronson worked in the Pennsylvania coal mines before serving during World War II as an aerial gunner on a B-29 bomber. He flew 25 combat missions and received a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in battle.

After the war, he studied acting after moving to Hollywood in 1949 and enrolling in acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. He pursued acting as a blue-collar job, a means to a better life than the hardship of the coal mines.

His long career began with small film roles and guesting on TV shows like "Gunsmoke," "The Twilight Zone," "The Big Valley," and starring as "Mike Kovac" in "Man with a Camera" (1958–1960).

He changed his last name to Bronson in 1954 during the McCarthy era, when Slavic names were suspect, and in the '60s had much success with several major ensemble cast films, including The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), and The Dirty Dozen (1967).

Despite his success in ensemble films, he achieved his status through a string of European-made films, including Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): In his most iconic role, directed by Sergio Leone, Bronson played a mysterious, harmonica-playing gunman simply known as "Harmonica," and Rider on the Rain (1970), a French thriller that was a major success and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

Returning to the U.S. in the '70s, Bronson became a global box-office star in action and revenge films like The Mechanic (1972), starring as "Arthur Bishop," an aging, professional hitman who takes a young apprentice under his wing.

Other films include Mr. Majestyk (1974) and, Death Wish (1974), which cemented his superstar status in the U.S, playing an architect who becomes a street vigilante after his family is attacked.

Bronson died on August 30, 2003. Sean Penn's The Indian Runner (1991) and several television movies -- Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and The Sea Wolf -- were his last acting roles.

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R.I.P. acclaimed actress, director, producer and author Diane Ladd, who died today, November 3, 2025, age 89, in Ojai, CA. She was memorable in so many films, including The Wild Angels (1966), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990) and Rambling Rose (1991). More: alt text

Diane Ladd, the acclaimed American actress, director, producer, and author, was born Rose Diane Ladner on November 29, 1935, in Laurel, Mississippi.

She died today, on November 3, 2025, at the age of 89 in Ojai, California.

She was the mother of actress Laura Dern and a cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams.

Ladd had an extensive career spanning over sixty years in more than 200 film and television productions.

In The Wild Angels (1966): Diane Ladd appeared alongside her then-husband Bruce Dern in this landmark biker film directed by Roger Corman, a significant early role in her career.

Wild at Heart (1990): In a role directed by David Lynch, she played the cartoonishly overbearing and volatile mother, "Marietta Fortune," for which she received her second Academy Award nomination.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974): Ladd's breakthrough film role as the sharp-tongued, abrasive diner waitress "Flo Castleberry," a performance that earned her a BAFTA Award and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Rambling Rose (1991): Ladd earned her third Oscar nomination for her role as the Southern family matriarch, a film in which she co-starred with her daughter, Laura Dern, marking the first time a mother-daughter duo was nominated for Academy Awards for the same film in the same year.

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