“The song grooves. The lyrics are nonsense.”

In other words, it’s got a groove, but not a meaning.

An End-Of-The-Year Sidebar:

Overall, (and it’s likely my loss), very rarely do I venture from the safe-space that we’ve all created here in TNOCS. I recently set up a YouTube channel for a couple of dopey videos relevant to this space, but that’s really about it. Facebook, Instagram and the like? I definitely get how people enjoy those experiences, but as of this writing, they have just never been for me.

So, purely in the interest of science, over the weekend I gingerly stuck a toe in some other digital waters. You know, just to see if what we’re doing here would meet with the approval of Internet Standards and Practices.

My friends, we are failing. Apparently…

… When a new commenter arrives on the scene, we’re supposed to be cool and at least a bit suspicious. A quick response at the very most. Here? We issue multiple hearty and sincere welcome messages, as if they’re an old friend returning from a long absence. And we thank them for joining along.

… When we make a mistake, for something as innocuous as an accidental downvote or an incorrect chart stat, we are expected to ignore our own faux pas and pretend that “it wasn’t me.” Not here. We apologize. Promptly. Which is usually followed by an equally sincere, “hey, no problem,” response.

… We are supposed to stick to the topic at hand. Instead, we branch out like it’s a lesson in fractal geometry. One day last week, we started shooting the breeze about a certain cuddly bass player from Liverpool, and ended up in a substantive discussion about Alzheimer’s Disease. Speaking of which…

… We’re supposed to keep our personal tragedies in our own hearts, to avoid the malicious people out there from taking advantage of a vulnerable moment. But not here. Had a difficult day, month… or a rough childhood… or lost someone that you loved? Share the experience here, and watch while a dozen people jump in with both feet, and try their best to comfort and help you with the heartbreak.

… Oh, and we need to be more sarcastic and snarky. Do a better job of making the others the butt of the joke. Here once again, we are amiss. The self-effacement here is off the chart, and it makes the humor of the micorthreads funnier by a factor of 10x.

There’s way more, but you get the point. We’re simply not doing this “the way it’s supposed to be done.” Some would say that it makes us… weird.

I’d gently amend that to “weird and wonderful.”

Don’t ever change, you awesome little rule-breakers. Maybe we’re on to something.

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Thanks for your friendship and more genuine laughs in 2019 than I should be cosmically allotted. Looking forward to keeping your good company in the next decade. Please be careful, and take good care of yourselves and each other, and…

….good on you all.

Imagine no dragons.

Huge end times vibe to this list

I had the unfortunate experience of escorting tweens to an Imagine Dragons concert, and my body reacted very violently to the experience. ( it could have been the drinks I was pounding at the sports arena Bar 15 mins into the show, rethinking “cool godmother” title, after I told them “do not fucking move from these seats”
Long story short, this band blows and the real life concert experience does not improve the sound.

IMAGINE DRAGGIN DEEZ NUTZ ACROSS YOUR FOREHEAD.

I respectfully beg to differ. Violently

that list voted for trump

does ice cube put cereal in his jeans

Oh noooo! Your personal tastes don’t line up with the majority. OH THE HUMANITY

*eye roll* I’m not a fan of most live concerts but Imagine Dragons is one of the most energizing bands performing live. Your pissy attitude is unnecessary and simply stubborn

Are you guys seriously not going to do a Best Punk Albums Of 2019 list? You did every other shitty list you could think. Didn’t you even do a metal list. Like who the fuck listens to metal who doesn’t have an IQ south of 90?

They downvoted Jesus too

First.

Hey lovely people. Checking in from downtown Santiago, Chile where shit has been absolutely insane for the last 70 days. I’m talkin’ state of emergency, curfews, military in the streets, tanks rolling down my street, huge fires, barricaded streets, hundreds of thousands of protesters meeting week after week, highly militarized police with overwhelming presence and oppression, rubber bullets that turn out to contain huge amounts of lead, water cannon water that contains lye, getting tear-gassed or hit with the water cannon walking home from work on the reg, and on a personal level, a lot of late nights spent with neighbors and friends, bonding through the trauma and sheer insanity, sharing our rage about the cops and the corrupt politicians, dreaming of the downfall of neoliberalism and a new Chile where people can live with dignity, feeling hope, joy, fear, love, fury, brotherhood, uselessness and just about any other feeling you can think of.

We’re hanging in there and I hope y’all are too. The world is a hellscape but I’ve seen so much beauty amongst the shit that I believe better things are possible. And we deserve better.

Thanks for the music, words and camaraderie and take care of yourself in 2020.