Good morning. Hello. How are you? #845

Cure tix, Tik Tok, Disney Plus musings, missing Zebulon and Selena

Good morning! Buenos dias. Cómo estás? Ca va bien? I keep doing that as I try and learn Spanish in my fifties: when I can’t think of something, I just insert the French equivalent. Which is funny because I thought I couldn’t remember much of my five years of french but I sure do remember a lot of it when I am trying to speak Spanish. Very mysterious, our brains. Anyway, 30 degrees out. Very cold. My fingers are cold. I wish this cold snap would end. I miss 70 degree winter that was just great. Had to happen right after Jane and I planted our seeds. But guess what? We have small sprouts! The seeds are growing! Seed heating mats paid off. Very exciting. Seeds, glorious seeds. Seedlings. Little sprouts my new little 2023 green friends. It begins anew.

The Mandalorian last night was interesting. Without being spoliery, I will say, first, that Robert Burke was in it, which was pretty great I always like to see Robert Burke in things. He was in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in Wakanda Forever, so he’s now one of those character acters that Disney has run through the system and used in both of their cinematic universes. Pretty sure someone in Disney is a Hal Hartley fan. Anyway, I have some quibbles with the episode, but also there was a lot to like. Very interesting to see that particular corner of the Star Wars universe at that time. Speaking of Disney Plus, They are cancelling Willow after one season and the logician in me says that is the correct move because there was a lot bad about it but my heart says that is very sad and terrible because for some reason I keep thinking about that dumb show, that I watched alone, in quarantine. I did not like it when I was watching it yet I found myself kind of excited to watch it each week and I find myself, now, three months later, thinking about it all the time. It’s weird. I don’t know why. So, pour one out for Willow I guess.

So the Biden administration is telling Tik Tok that the Chinese have to sell it or it is getting banned from America. I am very into this decision. I was, if I am being honest, kinda into it when Trump was trying to half-ass it. I am into process, so I guess I like it more that Biden ran the whole thing through the appropriate CFIUS process and made it look all neutral and on the up-and-up, but the net effect is the same. I think it is very weird that Tik Tok is “disappointed with the decision,” cuz… why? If some US governmental body came and told me that some of my stockholders had to sell their stock to some other stockholders, I mean, I like my shareholders just fine but it’s really no skin off my back. Sure I guess the new owners could, like, fire me as the CEO or something, but it’s really no difference to everyone else at the company. It’s not the CEO who said they were disappointed with the decision, it’s Tik Tok that said they were disappointed.

It will, of course, be complete chaos if Tik Tok disappears from the US and, as much as it cracks me up because of strong personal bias against Tik Tok, I suppose that is probably wrong but, then, you know, if the Chinese own a thing and want to keep it and want to leave the US market rather than let that thing exist in the US, that’s on them. I guess that’s actually a pretty rational move of theirs: pull out of the US but stay in other markets, and wait for the political winds to change here. Be kinda crazy if a bunch of kids start using VPNs to keep using Tik Tok we might see some real weird stuff go down.

Also it is a shitty time to sell a tech company. Even Tik Tok. Not the best time for valuations. It’d be… kind if someone the US government could, like, get the Chinese hands off of Tik Tok quickly but then let the final sale happen a year or so from now when the markets are a bit better (god, fingers crossed, haven’t we been saying that for a year), letting the original owners capture the appropriate price for when they would more rationally like to sell. Not that they want to sell at all, I guess. Just seems particularly harsh to force em to sell it into such a shitty M&A environment.

I got Cure tickets. Much later in the day the internet texted me and said “hey congratulations you’re off the waitlist buy now.” First it did it for my second choice, so I went up there and bought three lawn tickets for Mansfield, the concert complex formerly known as Great Woods that everyone still calls Great Woods and no one can remember its name anymore I think now it is like Oatmilk Center or something who knows. So that was exciting, but I was a little disappointed it was in Boston even though I miss Boston and I want to go terribly, but it seemed unlikely I’d get my wife and daughter to head up there at that exact time of year. But then another hour or so later the internet texted me again and said I could get tickets for Merriweather Post Pavillion, so I went and got four lawn seats there, which means we can road trip it up there, one night only, which is much more feasible. So then I agreed to sell my Great Woods tickets to the Taylor Twins so yes. I get to see the Cure. Emma made a comment about completely changed my mood was after I got the tickets. It really was bumming me out. And then I was happy all day. At least until Jane’s hour-long tantrum after dinner. That was a little rough. But even that, we made a lot of progress on tantrums in general. Had some good talks about them.

And it did not stop us from a lovely Daddy Jane Dance Party, which started off with some of the more poppy hits of the Cure to get her excited, and that worked for a bit but then she said she wanted something else and picked two live songs from Selena’s legendary Astrodome appearance before 67,000 people. Jane really loves Selena. She asked me where she lived. I dodged the question and said “Texas.” But then she asked me another question that could not be dodged so I told her that Selena was dead and was a ghost now. Death as a concept hasn’t historically been too much of a problem for Jane. But this one seemed to make her a little sad. But maybe that’s because I told her that it was very sad that Selena died. She asked me what happened and, boy, yeah, I did not feel like going into details about the deranged leader of Selena’s fan club killing her a month after this concert. That was some dicey ground but we got through it.

Then we danced to a Shakira Spanish track (Ciega, Sordomuda), then we moved on to Rosalia, whom Jane enjoyed very much, for three tracks. Then New Order’s Temptation but it went on too long for Jane’s liking then randomly I decided to see if she would endure Dinosaur Jr’s “Feel the Pain.” She was utterly indifferent to the song but she just thought the video was the greatest thing, made me show it to her twice and made me explain golf to her and talk about it at bedtime and now she’s made plans to ask our neighbor who plays golf about it so… that was weird. Then we wrapped it up with Robyn, as usual these days. She did let me play “Call your Girlfriend” in addtion to “Dancing on My Own,” so that was nice. We stopped ten minutes before bedime for “wind down,” a new part where Daddy get to play “sad old man music.” She seemed to enjoy this new part of the routine. We watched the “Into My Arms” video, Mark Romaneck’s video for Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” and then she asked for one more so I switched it up and played Sharon Van Etten’s “Seventeen” cuz I am pretty obsessed with that video lately and it has her standing in front of the former Zebulon site in Williansburg and I’m still fuckin pissed about what happened to Zebulon that was complete BS. You do not move in on top of a well established nightclub and complain it into oblivion that is just BS. Man, that place really was like no other.

Just a mix today. Starts with a buncha rockers, moves into a bunch of synthers, ends with a buncha folkies. It’s all over the map, but it kinda flows and I like it. All new stuff I think? Oh, right, except for the Status Quo, thank you David Lowery. ALso I had forgotten about Electric Youth’s “Tomorrow,” such a beautiful song. It was once in my head for like two months and I didn’t mind one bit.

Friday tomorrow. Have it off. Walmart. So exciting. Will report back.