End On End - All Content

De La Soul - Tiny Desk

2026-03-03T00:00:00Z

Thank you Dave. 🕊️

Foundational Texts: Goonies Never Say Die

2026-02-28T00:00:00Z

A great read from Dan Sinker:

You can trace a very clear line from that summer of being scared and sad and loney and watching The Goonies over and over to punk. The underground that I discovered a few years later—probably four or five in actual years but it feels like far more separation than that—was exactly that: a place where you could exist separate from the conformity of the mainstream, where you could chart your own existence, where you could build possibilities that felt impossible and possible simultaneously, and where you could do it alongside others who had found themselves—their true selves—in the liner notes of 7"s and smudgy printing of zines and sticky floors of a Sunday afternoon show in a rock club that smelled of old beer and sweat. Down there, it was our time.

Underground and decentralized, always.

Buck Meek - Gasoline

2026-02-27T00:00:00Z

Lead track on his new album, The Mirror. So good.

Clear

2026-01-24T00:00:00Z

This was written a few weeks ago and has been sitting in my drafts. Fuck it.

It's clear to me that a portion of this country is driven entirely by cruelty, revenge, and hatred. (Or easily duped into supporting such behavior, as long as it's not against them.)

It's clear that Trump/MAGA supporters are willing to excuse anything he or any Republican does... the racism, the sexual assault, the pedophile behavior and protection, the fraud, the murder, the kidnapping, the white nationalism, the fascism and nazi shit. (Again, as long as it's not against me and I have the very real potential of paying less in taxes... and I can still hang on to the new American Dream of someday becoming a billionaire, I'm good.)

It's also clear that the people in power lack joy, happiness, love, and empathy in their lives. (You know, the shit that makes being a human worthwhile.)

Thinking more about this, in the wake of recent tragedy (which seems to be daily), my thought on the current state of the US is that the "left" are consistently portrayed as the only political actors in our society that ever have agency. If something happens, it's the "left". If something doesn't happen, it's the "left". If some group has to change, to compromise, it's always expected to be the "left" doing all the work.

Instead of say, starting from an idea that say the general public finds favorable, like immigration, the default position for Republicans is "my idea" and you come to me (or with the current administration, it's we'll just do our idea, even if it isn't popular or legal)... versus starting with the majority view and working back to compromise more folks into agreement. That's how nothing substantial ever happens and the Overton Window shifts.

Beyond the terms of the debate being flawed, the elected Democrats are too into the idea of civility when governing, so that means we are now learning that our democracy is some apparent "handshake deal" between the people in charge for the last 250 years. That the powers derived from the constitution are basically worthless when the Supreme Court is corrupt (and bought) and the other branch is not interested in maintaining those handshake guardrails. What if democracy was really the friends we made along the way?

Republicans have been working toward destabilizing and "proving" that liberalism and democracy don't work, that the federal government doesn't work, for over 50 years by purposefully breaking things – the exact things that would (usually) make their constituents lives better. The largest, most recent example of this is the chaos of DOGE and Project 2025, but also examples like Mitch McConnell taking his ball and going home during the Obama years. Republicans have no interest in governing via a federal government that is for everyone. To them, the purpose of the federal government is to solidify their power and nothing else and the end result is it becomes a tool of grievance.

And what better head of a movement that exploits that victimhood, than the current president himself. A FUCKING BILLIONAIRE, who whines and cries about unfair treatment (think about that) more than any other human being on the face of the earth. He plays the part of grievance better than anyone... and at his old age, his racist senile brain is only focused on anything that wins him adoring fans and money (the only thing he cares about actually – he's made his entire fortune building a shitty brand) – even if it's literal nazis and white supremacists (spoiler, you are never on the right side of history, if they are on your side)... he'll latch on to any shit that is a means to this end.

And he's tricked millions into thinking that he cares about their lives, all while living an entire long life of fraud, exploiting contractors and working people, and doing everything in his power to enrich himself over all. Not a shred of concern or focus on anything other than himself and his riches, ever. HE RAN FUCKING FRAUD CHARITIES FOR GOODNESS SAKES! But yeah, sure, now as he nears 80 years old, he will for the first time in his life care about something other than himself. It's all bullshit and he knows it, especially as you see the truthful part of his brain poking through when he says shit like he doesn't think he's going to heaven.

To expand on this: when you consider all of this through the lens of the "male loneliness epidemic" and the "extremely online", which seems to be creating mass murderers (and ICE agents) regularly, you can see these white men, who have many hundreds of years living with women subservient, the "other" subservient, and experiencing life with all of the expectations and privilege that come along with that lack of competition and equity... this idea that "jobs don't want me" and that "women don't want me" aligns with the same approach I mentioned above: these negotiations start with ME and must come to ME. With this approach, there's no agency, no expectations that the white CIS male should ever grow to fit a world where people, OTHER FUCKING HUMAN BEINGS, should obviously have equity, let alone equality.

It's grievance, all the way down... which of course pundits, politicians, media, and grifters exploit for power and money.

My dudes, just go to therapy. It works wonders.

That's my rant for today (and every day lately...)

Also... fuck ICE.

It's all a scam

2025-11-25T00:00:00Z

I stumbled across an eye opening article on how the poverty rate has hidden the true state of the economy for the vast majority of Americans.

How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America by Michael W. Green, Chief Strategist and Portfolio Manager for Simplify Asset Management. Here's the set up to the whole article, which is very much worth your time:

But there was one number I had somehow never interrogated. One number that I simply accepted, the way a child accepts gravity.

The poverty line.

I don’t know why. It seemed apolitical, an actuarial fact calculated by serious people in government offices. A line someone else drew decades ago that we use to define who is “poor,” who is “middle class,” and who deserves help. It was infrastructure—invisible, unquestioned, foundational.

This week, while trying to understand why the American middle class feels poorer each year despite healthy GDP growth and low unemployment, I came across a sentence buried in a research paper:

“The U.S. poverty line is calculated as three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, adjusted for inflation.”

I read it again. Three times the minimum food budget.

I felt sick.

Green took a deep look at all of the data and costs associated with moving up from the poverty line and came to a shocking conclusion. On average: The real poverty line—the threshold where a family can afford housing, healthcare, childcare, and transportation without relying on means-tested benefits—isn’t $31,200.

It’s ~$140,000.

and

And the system is designed to prevent them from escaping. Every dollar you earn climbing from $40,000 to $100,000 triggers benefit losses that exceed your income gains. You are literally poorer for working harder.

Anecdotally, I can relate to these numbers. We have 3 kids. My wife and I are working professionals. We definitely weighed the cost of childcare and my wife returning to work (I made more) and the net income from that decision at the time wasn't a lot... but it was the only way to not live paycheck to paycheck during those years.

And even then, money wasn't easy... our combined income was below the figure Green stated for the "actual" poverty line for many of the years when the kids were little. It felt maddening to just get by with an income that always seemed like enough. It's only been the last few years, as the kids have gotten older and we moved past Green's line, that life has felt a little easier. I can't even imagine the hardships faced by the true working poor.

This explains everything we are feeling today. The constant unease, while we're told the economy is doing great and the millionaires/billionaires get richer and richer. And why we're constantly called on to hate immigrants, LGBTQIA+, and the poor (which turns out is pretty much all of us)... all of those groups have so much more in common than with the groups holding the power.

2025-10-07T00:00:00Z

It's been over 20 years since I last saw Stereolab (Seattle, 2004, with Tortoise)... so wasn't sure what to expect with Stereolab in Buffalo of all places. I was blown away, though, both by the band and the crowd. Buffalo LOVES Stereolab, apparently. Sold out crowd and good vibes that almost took Lætitia Sadier to tears. I absolutely love when bands experience the Buffalo that I love and see the city as a place worthy of attention.

YouTube: Hank Green on Sora

2025-10-07T00:00:00Z

There are a lot of quotable parts of this video, but this one sums it all up:

The extent to which these very powerful people feel no sense of responsibility to anything makes me feel like maybe they shouldn't have this much power. They shouldn't be in charge of the kind of thing that could literally, by their own admission, destroy humanity.

2025-10-01T00:00:00Z

NewDad playing some songs off their new album, which was featured on a recent issue of Crucial Tracks. So good.

It's Basic

2025-09-24T00:00:00Z

This documentary on the GBI (guaranteed basic income) experiment done by over 80 mayors of U.S. cities is worth watching.

This documentary on the GBI (guaranteed basic income) experiment done by over 80 mayors of U.S. cities is worth watching. It's amazing what empathy, decency, and a little money can do for the working poor – it opens up so many more opportunities for folks... parents especially.

After my post of humanity, this is a perfect example of stories about actual people who are in the groups that are demonized by the media and current administration. You can hear first hand how hard these people work to meet their dreams and provide for their families and children... the poor, single parents, refugees, and immigrants alike... and how a little help can actually push them over the top and help make ends meet.

Humanity over Naiveté

2025-09-22T00:00:00Z

Barry's post on wishing we were all a bit more naive, got me thinking:

What I wouldn’t give for all of us to be a bit more naive.

A bit less social media.

A bit less 24-hour news.

I certainly get the sentiment. I think about this all the time – how slow things felt back when I was young. How much more focus there was on what's right in front of you. How information traveled slower. Where we went wrong. It was a simpler time... or so every generation says about their generation vs. the current moment.

But I also think it's clear that many of the problems that are so in-our-face nowadays still existed and were just as prevalent, if not worse. Being "naive" or less connected just meant we didn't really address them...

A few examples of things being arguably worse (and I am not saying that things aren't bad for marginalized people nowadays – they certainly are):

Racism? Worse then.
LGBTQIA+ folks being able to live their lives in the open? Worse then. Women's rights? Worse then.
A president causing massive, long lasting damage to a country? Debatable, but given the damage that Reagan did and how much it impacted the next 40+ years, I'll have to go with "worse then" (for now) – I certainly agree that the potential for much worse is currently in front of us, though. And he's certainly catching up fast...

I think naive is the wrong direction to go... naive isn't far off from outright negligence or even Idiocracy. It's pairs well with anti-science and anti-intellectualism. I'd argue that naive is exactly what the fascists want the rest of us to retreat to... it makes their job easier.

Where Barry does hit the nail on the head: corporate social media and 24 hour news. Both prioritize profits over people, bad news over good, and there is also some overlap in terms of the mechanisms used to get people hooked. That would be bad enough, but combine social media with AI, bots, and propaganda – it's a losing battle.

I'm generally off corporate social media for all purposes not related to Crucial Tracks. I do occasionally browse the feeds to see what I'm "missing." It's gotten to the point where I think many are struggling with the crossover of AI generated content, bot profiles, and algorithms. It's a propagandist's paradise. And it's also pure anxiety.

What I think we need is more humanity. More sharing of our stories and life experiences. It's how we come to appreciate people we don't know and that may not look like or live like us. It's easy to be baited into hatred of the faceless other, but a human being with a story we can relate to and empathize with? Much harder. It's exactly why fascists focus on demonizing and dehumanizing people.

This is why I built Crucial Tracks. We need more small communities where people bond over their humanity and love of something amazing, like music. Songs are the perfect avenue for this – they are open to meaning, available to the masses (especially now with streaming), and we all have life experiences we connect to music. It's an easy way to start sharing with people you don't know...

Browsing the Public Tracks feed is one of my favorite things to do every day. People from all over the world sharing stories. People of all walks of life. Sharing the songs they like, songs that mean something to them. I don't have to understand the song or even like it to feel the humanity behind the post – their lived experience. And, as a bonus, there are purposefully no mechanisms to go viral, post for clicks/views, or ways to induce FOMO. It's calm and real.

Anyway, this is way longer than I expected so I'll stop rambling. If Crucial Tracks sounds interesting, why don't you stop over?

Transitions

2025-08-25T00:00:00Z

Last week we dropped off our oldest kid at college for his freshman year. It was a whirlwind trip across the state for the whole family, as we took both cars to fit all of his college stuff plus all five of us...

The drop off and move in itself was simple, straightforward, and more organized than I had imagined based on our own experience with moving the Mrs. into college back some 30 years ago. (I lived at home for most of college and never in the dorms.)

Everything after that was not.

Being an adult and a good 30 years (gasp) past that time in my life, I forgot how challenging it was after high school. And I didn't even go away to college. Navigating systems that are not straightforward or necessarily well documented. Teachers that generally don't care as much about you specifically as much as your primary and secondary teachers did... the day-to-day adult stuff like finances, medicines, haircuts, feeding yourself... those freedoms and choices that come along with adulthood, that are generally thrust upon you. Here you go, make it happen. You are an adult now.

Then on top of that, the homesickness. I stayed at home for college, but I did move to the other side of the country immediately after graduating college. I was homesick for the start of that life experience... but I also chose to go to Seattle and went with my future wife and a couple friends. No where near the same as being 18 and going off to college by yourself, a good six hours away from home. (Thankfully my wife did that, so we have that life experience covered.)

Our son has been struggling, but I see little glimpses of the other side. He's figuring out how to solve problems, dealing with the imposter syndrome of being in a bigger pond. (He was #4 in his class and voted "most likely to be famous" by his classmates, so yeah it's been a challenge.) In time, we're hoping as the unknowns of a new system and the basics of adulthood become "knowns", life will settle in and he can actually start to enjoy college.

All of this got us thinking about the generational differences of our experiences compared to his... we had no cell phones, super basic internet and connected systems, more of a focus on IRL interactions and friendships. Many of the problems we had to deal with are the same he's going through, but the way of handling them is different.

Whether it's relying on email or digging through a SharePoint (my goodness, SUNY uses Microsoft! Outlook 🤮), self-serve websites, FaceTime, text messages... I can't help but think the speed in which you can solve problems today also gives the impression that all problems can be solved that fast... whereas homesickness, for example, is not a problem that has a straightforward solution of timeframe.

For now, we're trying to be his biggest cheerleader. Encouraging him, celebrating small wins, and being a sounding board for the challenges and fears. It's been an emotional roller coaster for us, a new experience we're unprepared for but capable to handle, just like him.

Like we keep telling him, growth is always hard but very worthwhile. And you get to develop a little more tenacity/grit/perseverance along the way. For us, we're learning and adjusting as we go, as we don't have much of a break... the twins start their senior year of high school in a week. 😳 Wish us luck.

Small Web Digest: 2025.ep1

2025-08-07T00:00:00Z

There's so much good going on around the web that isn't from big tech (Meta, Google, Twitter, etc)... so I'm going to try to regularly highlight small/slow web sites, posts, projects and more.

Letter Club 🔗Link

A new project from Naz Hamid and Scott Robbin. A private group newsletter that sounds super fun:

Not physical letters, but digital letters that arrive with traditional mail's rhythm. It's a private group newsletter that everyone contributes to and receives. It's intentionally slow, purposeful, and deeply gratifying — a low-stress, high-signal way to stay connected that creates meaningful moments in a social world dominated by drive-by likes and fleeting attention.

(via: Naz)

Pagecord 🔗Link

A newish blog service. Free for a basic account, $29 for a year gets you more advanced features. Looks pretty good!

Everyone needs a blog and there are so many great, low priced options out there now.

(via: Binary Digit)

foofaraw 🔗Link

a zine of surreal storytelling and worldly observations published

Constantly amazed at how much this site puts out, regularly and consistently. Weekly media guides, fiction, comics, editorials, art and much more. One of the best web zines going today.

Crucial Tracks 🔗Link

I would be remiss to not mention my own site in this first digest... Crucial Tracks is a music journal where you can log and share the important songs in your life. You are limited to one song, one post per day... so it's easy and slow. No FOMO or endless feed to scroll or keep up with... just awesome people sharing awesome music. Sign up for free today! 😄

(And don't forget it's companion blog.)

Finding Joseph I: The HR From Bad Brains Documentary

2025-07-20T00:00:00Z

An amazing documentary about one of the most enigmatic and powerful band leaders... hardcore, punk, or otherwise. The Bad Brains impact on music is legendary.

Clipse - Tiny Desk Concert

2025-07-12T00:00:00Z

So unexpected. So good.

No Forgiveness

2025-07-12T00:00:00Z

TL;DR: If your politics support the erasure or dehumanization of another human being, whether they are brown, black, trans, queer, or whomever… you are on the wrong side of history, morality, and decency.

There are millions of immigrants in this country who work hard, pay taxes, do the jobs no one else wants to do… they want to be here, to be a part of the American experiment, because there is opportunity and safety here (well, there was) that they can’t find elsewhere…

There are also masked, unmarked agents kidnapping workers, kids literally walking across their graduation stage, kids getting treated for CANCER, parents with small children at home… folks following the law at their immigration hearing? Building concentration camps full of cages surrounded by alligators? How the fuck can these people sleep at night? How is any of this real.

And you might sleep OK now because it's not you, but you can trust that you or someone you know is next. We are just starting to get word of MAGA supporters being detained and jailed. They didn't think they were ever at risk because of who they openly support, but in the end fascism comes for everyone who isn't "pure" in the eyes of those in power. Or connected or corrupt enough. Which most likely means you are not in the safe group.

I honestly don't understand why these people have no love or empathy in their hearts. They call themselves Christians, but I guess it's easy to be brainwashed into hate, if you think everything is a zero sum game. Or maybe they just didn't get enough hugs when they were a child.

I am getting to a point where I don’t think I can ever forgive those that voted for Trump. If you did and you follow me anywhere, just unfollow me now. Please. If you are someone I enjoy, care about, or a loved one… well, I just don’t know what to say. I hope you read this, check your privilege, and join the resistance. It’s never too late.

One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.

James Baldwin

There is plenty to hate about Trump, but for me it boils down to one simple thing above all: HE’S COMING AFTER MY FAMILY. I’ve written about my son a few times on this blog, usually with hopefulness and resolve, but it’s getting to a point where I am getting nervous and really fucking pissed. The amount of hatred and focus on such a small group of people is absurd. To the point where it’s very clear they do not want trans people to exist, much less live a normal life. No rights, no healthcare, no freedom of speech or expression, nothing.

How can you hate such a group like this? One you most likely know nothing about… the individual stories, the therapy sessions, the doctor appointments, the tests, the suicide thoughts and threats (or worse), the depression, the anxiety and feeling uncomfortable in your own body, the stares, the rude ignorant comments…?

Hate, but for what reason?

It can’t be Jesus. If you feel it’s a sin, the bible stories say Jesus loves all, sinners especially. So should you, then.

SO what is it? Is it because you are a big, tough "alpha male" who’s scared they are going to be attracted to a trans woman and that makes you feel weird inside? (You’ll notice they only talk about trans women.) Damn, man, get a fucking grip.

Is it because trans people are a perfect example of living your life freely, exactly as they feel in their body through the tough choices needed to simply exist as they are... and that fucking SCARES you because you don’t feel really free at all? Or have any control over your life and choices at all? That they have the GUTS to be truly FREE... and you don’t.

Is it because sex, gender, sexuality, attraction, and most everything involved with humanity exists on a wide scale that we all operate on and regardless of how many websites you take down, or scientific studies you delete or censor, it won’t change the reality of life… and that makes you uncomfortable, because humans don’t and will never fit neatly into two boxes?

Well, welcome to the club! Most of us feel uncomfortable with some aspect of our humanity and the uncertainty of life. It’s a fact of life, so just enjoy yours. (And, remember, not everything is for you.)

SO WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?

I’d guess it’s a little bit of all of the above. But none of it is any reason to deny someone else’s EXISTENCE, their HUMANITY. Those are all you problems. And some of them require some therapy and self reflection, so start with that first, please.

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.

James Baldwin

And please, please don’t give me the “I didn’t know this would happen” bullshit. He campaigned on it and Project 2025 was chock full of this shit. You know, the thing he didn’t know anything about, but turns out something like 2/3 of the executive orders have come straight from Project 2025? (Some of the orders were even written by the dudes who wrote the playbook!)

You voted him because you didn’t care. About any of it. You didn’t care about all the lies, the felony convictions, the non-stop grifting, the impeachments, the bungled first term, the racism, the shitty ideas and rambling, any of it. You probably don’t care about any of the shit going on now, either. Your privilege helps you make those decisions. Sell out all of your so called morals, convictions, and "Christianity" for a fucking tax break — one that is going to be more than offset by all of his other decisions. GREAT.

So, what are you going to do now? What are you going to do when someone YOU love is part of the NEXT group targeted? You may not have my back now and we may not agree on all ideas, but I sure as hell don't want you to NOT EXIST because of who you or any of your loved one are…

Remember, no one is free, until we all are free.

To wrap this rant up... here’s a simple test to ask yourself regularly, during all of this: replace Trump/the Trump administration or whomever you support with the name of the leader of the opposition party… and if they were doing any of the stuff going on today, would you be angry? If so, that thing they are doing is wrong. Plain and simple.

Here are a few examples:

would you be OK with Obama creating an untraceable crypto coin that allows unlimited money (foreign and otherwise) to be sent to his bank account while he was President? (I'm guessing that's a No.)
we (liberals, progressives) were angry with Obama/Biden when they deported and caged migrants as well. In fact they deported way more migrants than Trump did in his first term. And Biden doubled Trump in removals. (Source) Wrong is wrong, though Obama and Biden at least attempted (and were largely rebuked by Republicans in Congress) to enhance the legal pathways for these folks to become legal US residents. Still no excuse to put people in fucking cages.

There’s still time to save this country. Let’s act, together.