Good morning. Hello. How are you? #1154
That Fugazi show in the park in DC, Happy Taylor day, pool demand infographics, water mitigation permitting, my covid tracker died, Yello in a TV ad in Fairbanks, AK in the 1980s. Again.
Good morning! Hello, friends. Day off over here. Hung over from the pool company meeting. Got our initial feedback back from the county on our drainage plan for the storage facility. Mostly notes about the improper presentation style, quirks of the different requirements of neighboring counties. No biggie. ‘Twas interesting reading the requirements for handling flooding, proving your land isn’t going to drain onto other people’s land in 50 year floods. 100 year floods are apparently “not your problem.” Good to know. Coincidentally, in the drop-off line this morning, Jane noticed a big ‘ole flood drain in one of the lawns at the school. So we had a nice long talk about drainage and excavation. That was nice. Aggro van was behind us in line. I told Jane I call it aggro van. This will probably lead to her somehow telling the owner of the van about this at some point. What can you do. That’s what you get for having a Punisher sticker on an off road, 4x4 Econoline.
G Wagon lady was nowhere to be found.
Last night was a school fundraiser at the local burger place so we went there (shit yeah suburbia this is all so interesting) and there were maybe 20 families there while we were there, and three of the kids total were from Jane’s class. Jane’s class has so much school spirit. They spirit the fuck out of that school.
Too much swearing, sorry. Will stop.
And today she is going on a class trip to the Zoo and she is very excited. And Emma is going as a chaperone. And she wanted me to go but I didn’t realize that and, like I said, I gotta go to Petersburg and see a man about an amp.
Pool partner Ricardo would like to amend a previous context-free GMHHAY illustration, as he has revised the demand curve for swimming pool construction in the Piedmont. Please see the above revised infographic.
Happy Taylor Swift day to all who celebrate. Double album. Shoulda seen it coming, but I did not. I just started the album but then I freaked out and stopped it. No way I could listen to it while writing. Gonna have to wait till my drive in an hour or so, when I can blast it at maximum volume while driving down the interstate that is going to rule. Two hours and two minutes. Album is barely shorter than my drive. What is with these endlessly long albums. It’s too much. Mannequin Pussy’s new album is a tight 30 minutes. That’s the bomb.
While we are on the topic of music, listened to the new Phosphorescent and the new James yesterday and they are both great. Was worried about the new Phosphorescent because clearly that dude has had some therapy or something and the first single was pretty poppy. But never fret, the album is solidly moody. Just great. And James, man. Those dudes just keep putting out a new fantastic album every couple of years. This is James’ eighteenth album. Extraordinary. And they still have it. Americans really should listen to more James.
Oh wow two new Hold Steady songs today too. Better get my blue collar on har har.
Very happy to see all the Commander Salamander love in the comments yesterday. I am glad I got to go to that place in person at least once, once I moved to Boston. ACTUALLY, that day was freakin’ amazing. Mike Anderson and I went down to DC for the heck of it, and we went to Commander Salamander and it was great. Mike was a little cranky because we wanted something cool to do. He said “I dunno, it’s DC, man. I was hoping there’d be a freakin Fugazi concert or something.” And then, there was a flier on the wall of Commander Salamander and it said “TODAY. FREE. FUGAZI LIVE OUTDOORS.” And it was happening in, like, two hours and we went and it was freakin awesome and Michelle Mullineaux from my college back in Boston was there I wonder what happened to her she was great and a great friend.
And not only that, but it was filmed, that show. Here is a video from it.
What a day, what a day.
Important GMHHAY health warning: a reader who shall remain anonymous told me yesterday that they “read GMHHAY while driving.” Do not do this. Please read GMHHAY in a safe environment.
So, this week the daily COVID tracker I have been using to track the number of daily deaths in the United States stopped working. This was the only remaining daily COVID tracker, after the US government decided to stop posting daily stats. It is very sad:
As of April 13, 2024, the Coronavirus Tracker is no longer being updated due to the unfeasibility of providing statistically valid global totals, as the majority of countries have now stopped reporting. However, historical data remain accessible. Worldometer delivered the most accurate and timely global statistics to users and institutions around the world at a time when this was extremely challenging. We thank everyone who participated in this extraordinary collaborative effort.
To recap for newer readers, lest ye think these words are the only daily manifestation of my neurotic graphomania, after I finish GMHHAY in the morning, I open up 750 words and write an additional 750 words just to myself. And as part of that process, the first thing I do is go over a bunch of daily statistics. Most of them have to do with work — revenue, bank balance, stuff like that. But every day I also record my weight, five things I am thankful for at work, five things I am thankful for at home, and the number of Americans that died in the last 24 hours from Covid. I am not a praying man, but each morning I take a short moment and think of them and those who lost them.
And now I can’t do that anymore.
BUT, reader Keith told me there is still a biweekly stat, so I guess I will have to use that now. My North Carolina covid stats are already weekly, so I can probably work a biweekly thing into my morning process. If you are curious, here is the biweekly stat graph. Thank you, Keith.
For her birthday, I bought Emma a vinyl copy of Songs in the Key of X, the X-files soundtrack. I bought it quite a while ago (N.B. If you have a spouse, buy them shit all the time and put it in a drawer and then when their birthday or Christmas comes up, you have stuff at the ready). And in the interregnum (good word) I had forgotten the thing was glow-in-the-dark vinyl. SO, I had purchased a record frame for her, so she could hand it on the wall with all her other X-Files paraphernalia. But then when I realized it was colored vinyl, I realized I needed a different type of frame, not just a 12x12, but one that shows the vinyl. So, I got that. Thing looks great. A+ gifting job, Rick.
But now I have a spare 12x12 record frame. And I feel like, you know, given that I have, like, 2,000 records or something, there is probably something I would put in that frame. But what? I only have two records in frames right now: a Spiritualized “Medication” test pressing with handwritten lyrics by Jason, and a Wedding Present 7” with a hand-written message to me and Emma for our wedding, the greatest Wedding Present Wedding Present ever, given to us by the wonderful Aug Stone.
So what other record should I put in this frame? I am stumped.
Will have to think on it.
Levi, I am putting some relevant photos in this edition just for you, you internet troll.
I would like to correct a bit of misinformation in a previous issue: It was not “Desert Inn” by Yello that was in the Team Cutters Salon TV ad that ran on the air in Fairbanks, Alaska in the 1980’s. It was “Vicious Games” by Yello. I realized this yesterday when “Vicious Games” came on shuffle. Man, I spent so much time thinking about that ad when I was a kid. Dylan Wallace (RIP) and I were obsessed with Yello, felt like we were the only two people in that town who were, and yet there was this ad on the television for a hair salon that had Yello in it. Who made that ad?? Why aren’t we friends with them? Of course, now that I’m a bigwig ad guy (still am, believe it or not) I know that this mythical other Yello fan probably did not live in Fairbanks. It was probably a stock ad that the salon bought, or made by an Anchorage agency. So, RIP not only Dylan, but the dream of a third Yello fan in Fairbanks in the 1980s.
I know you care about this, I know it.
Okay I gotta hit the road. Big weekend.
Oh man I forgot about Media of the Day I got nothing. Obviously it should be Taylor but that is too obvious. And if I were thinking I could have used that Fugazi clip above but whoops too late. Oh right here is the Vicious Games video by Yello because it is so great and so 1980s.
See you guys Monday. Have a lovely weekend. Tell me what you think of the new Taylor. Over and out.
Def dig the little synth touches on the second song. Almost as if they decided to empty an appealing little bag of 80s tricks on that one.
Are you going to see a man about a guitar amp or a stereo amp?
Or perhaps to inquire about a member of Kim Deal's old band, The Amps?