Summer is gone. Fall is here. But not everything is getting colder... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Sloth! Maybe the sweetest thing you'll see all day...

Now that's a grateful mom.

   
• Name! Maybe the coolest thing you'll see all day...

   
• Death Cab for Postal Service! The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie are on tour... which I already would love to see. AND THEN...

Depeche Mode's influence is a joyful thing to see. If only old Depeche Mode was more influential on new Depech Mode.

   
• And Cake! I knew that Fiona and Cake was going to be glorious... the bizarre, weird, wonderful world of Adventure Time couldn't HELP but be glorious... but it's so much more than that...

I honestly don't understand how they come up with this stuff. Every detail is sweated to a ridiculous degree. Cake the Cat is more like a cat than a real cat.

   
• YAS, QUEEN! I need to start carrying one around in my pocket! (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

That could never be me. But I find Bee TikTok to be fascinating.

   
• Swim Creative! He looks so happy. But I’d probably look that happy if I were going to be gettin’ some too! (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Good fishy.

   
• Still Disgusting! Good job Michigan on banning child marriage! They've done more than Washington State has. If you want to marry a child in this state that's 17, all you have to do is get parental permission. ANY AGE LESS THAN THAT just requires a redneck judge to sign off on it. ANY. AGE. Want to marry a 10 year old? You can in Washington State if you find the right judge! 5 year old? Cool beans if you find the right judge! — This is categorically fucking disgusting. And if you read into this, it goes much deeper than the creep factor of an adult being able to marry a child. Children often cannot get support for domestic violence from a spouse... they get turned away at shelters because they can be "unsafe for children." WAY TO GO WASHINGTON STATE! Any of our legislators want to fucking DO something about this? Nah. They got lobbyist dicks to suck for cash. Fucking assholes. Not only should every last one of these mother fuckers who aren't ACTIVELY WORKING TO CHANGE THIS be removed from office... they should be thrown in fucking jail. I am NOT kidding. This is gross negligence and party to child sexual abuse of a minor.

   
And now I'm off to clean my kitchen.

Today's extra has naughty music videos. If you're sensitive to explicit sexual content (in a bad way) then please, for God's sake, don't press play on them.

Maybe it's the anarchist in me, but I relish the disruptive subversion of type. Really I do. And in all of its forms. Political disruptive subversion is my favorite, because I just love it when that rare politician decides to fuck over the establishment to actually live up to the ideal of a government of the people, by the people, for the people. When they're telling lobbyists and corporate political owners to fuck off, I'm... dare I say it... gleeful. And how could I not be? That's America right there.

Disruptive subversion is fantastic when it comes to art. Some of the best art comes out of playing against types and norms of the day. It's wonderful when it comes to food. This is how vegetarians like me end up with so many terrific culinary options rather than just having to stick with a salad. Cinematic disruption has lead to groundbreaking trends that keep us from being stuck in thematic ruts. The list goes on and on.

But this post is going to be about disruptive subversion when it comes to music.

I'm a huge, huge fan.

It's how I got into punk. It's what drove me to appreciate metal. It's how I ended up a fan of old-school rap. Using music to throw a middle finger to establishment is a time-honored tradition. Not just in the USA, but in countries around the globe. If there's a protest against something, you can bet that somebody somewhere has used music to lash out.

Which brings us to Dixon Dallas.

Last night I was scrolling through TikTok while waiting for an important email response to come through. Then proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole of epic proportions because of a song called Good Lookin' by the afore-mentioned Dixon Dallas.

The videos below are not just "Not Safe For Work"... they could very well be "Not Safe For Anywhere." You've been warned...
   

Now, there's a lot to unpack here.

First of all, I have listened to music of all genres where there's been explicit sexual content. There are rap artists built on the concept. But this is the first time I've ever heard explicitly gay sexual content.

My first reaction was to laugh. It was such a shock as to feel like parody. Except... Dixon Dallas seems like he's playing it straight. So to speak. He wasn't making fun of the idea of gay sex, he was singing about explicit sex that just happened to be with a man.

Which took me back two years ago to this sexually explicit country song by Trey Lewis, which is arguably far more raunchy than Dixon Dallas. But it doesn't get the same harsh reaction because it's not gay...

Country music is being pushed into territory that's far beyond the boundaries it started with. Country used to be regional, then it went global. Country used to be all-white, then we got loads of non-white country artists. Country used to be straight, then along comes k.d. Lang, T.J. Osbourne, Brandi Carlile, Lil Gas X, Orville Peck, and many more... and then it isn't.

It should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that there are calls to cancel Dixon Dallas. But you might be surprised to find that some of the calls for cancelation are coming from the gay community.

Buckle up, because here's where it starts getting strange.

Because Dixon Dallas is not Dixon Dallas. Dixon Dallas is a character played by musician Jake Hill.

Jake Hill crosses all genres, having released songs in rap, rock, metal, punk, pop, and now country. Many times these songs are focused on queer love and gay sex. And that's where the questions start. Is he a straight guy queerbaiting the gay community? Is he a straight guy making fun of the gay community? Is he gay? Bisexual? Well, according to this interview I found with his Dixon Dallas alter-ego, he says that it doesn't matter what he is, that his music speaks for itself, and he's not commenting on his sexuality right now (though apparently he was linked to a girlfriend at some point)...

He says "My music is kinda a big fuck you to my past," which is the Conservative South he grew up in. And that's why he does it. He's being a disruptive subversion to country music which, as I've made clear, is something I value highly. So good on him.

And his songs, as gay and explicit as they may be, are damn catchy...

People are going to feel about Dixon Dallas however they're going to feel. From what I can tell, his motives seem genuine (and he's genuinely talented), regardless of what his sexuality might be and who he really is. But if you want to feel that he should be canceled because he's too gay, too filthy, too explicit, or too offensive to country music... you do you, I guess.

As for me?

Keep being a good kind of disruptor, Mr. Dallas.

Dreaming of a Cheeseburger in Paradise while blogging for my own amusement... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Bunny Boo Berry! You're welcome (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Baby animals... amirite?

   
• Medal Medal Chicken Dinner! This Sunday's burn provided by Andy Murray from a 2016 interview that's making its rounds around the interwebs again...

Class. Act.

   
• Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! People are aghast when I tell them that I got my hair cut at Disney World. "YOU WASTED TIME AT A BARBER SHOP INSTEAD OF RIDING THE ATTRACTIONS?!?" And it's like... I ended up at Disney World 3-4 times a year every year for over a decade with my work. I've done all the rides many, many times. And I was always booked in one of the Disney hotels, so if I was too busy to get a haircut back home, where else was I going to go? Take a pricey taxi into Orlando? Of course not. I'd just go to where I was at (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

And, yes, my friends convinced me to get the glitter once. It didn't look biodegradable, so I took a pass every other time... even though it made me look fabulous.

   
• Margaritaville! Jimmy Buffet passed. He was one of those rare figures who are so ingrained into American culture that you know him even if you don't realize it. His music is pervasive, yes, but it's his lyrics that hold a wisdom everybody can relate to. "I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead" and "We are the people our parents warned us about" and "Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been" can be found on the walls of his Margaritaville restaurants, but aren't exclusive to parrotheads (Buffet fans). I've actually been to many Margaritavilles, because Jimmy always had some good vegetarian options on the menu. I know I just posted this video by Eddy Burback a month ago, but it's a pretty cool look at the restaurants.

Jimmy had a crazy amount of songs I liked, but whenever I'm trying to zero in on a favorite, my mind keeps going back to One Particular Harbor...

Yeah, that's a classic right there. Rest in Peace, Jimmy.

   
• Harley Forever! Arleen Sorkin died! My mom was a big Days of Our Lives fan and she played Calliope... but it was her work as the voice of the original Harley Quinn that I knew her best...

Paul Dini (who created the character) was a college friend, and based the character on her. That's an incredible legacy. Rest In Peace.

   
• He'll Bore Every One of Us! So... The Flash is free to watch on HBO and I've had it on while I was working...

I can't believe that people liked this movie. IT'S COMPLETE SHIT! Alternate Barry is fucking annoying. Unwatchable. The special effects are horrible. The character isn't even consistent with the shitty JLA stuff that Zack Snyder crapped out of his ass. How this got 64% on Rotten Tomatoes is beyond my ability to fathom. I sure hope that this box office failure means we'll never see Ezra-Flash again. And the box office failure of Shazam means we'll never see Zachary-Shazam either. Just flush the Snyderverse down the toilet and have Gunn ignore all of it. This movie cost TWO HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS! The first Avengers movie cost $220 Million, and most of THAT went to the cast. So what the hell? Where is the money on this one? There were exactly two things worth watching. Michael Keaton Batman and Sasha Calle Supergirl. But neither made this worth my valuable time.

   
• Marcie! the new Marcie Peanuts special on Apple TV is fantastic... and looks visually stunning. So much better than the gawdawful Snoopy in Space or whatever that was...

I hope we get more like this..

   
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. Until next Sunday.

NEWSFLASH @ Ars Technica: Sonos has been unable to fix Arc soundbars’ “pop of death” for over 2 years.

Ever since the technology became available for home theaters, I've wanted Dolby Atmos, the specialized sound system which adds a "height" channel to your surround sound setup. So that when you are watching John Wick and it's raining overhead... or a bullet goes flying above you... you hear it happening. It's a very cool effect (when done properly) that adds to the experience of watching movies and television... or listening to Atmos music.

I have been investing in a Sonos speak setup, which has been a pretty good solution for home audio. It's wireless so you don't have to run speaker cables, and you can group some (or all) of your speakers so that your audio is playing everywhere you have a Sonos speaker.

At first I had a Sonos PlayBar. It was an amazing soundbar for under your television. Sure, the separation between Left/Center/Right channels wasn't the best, but it was a darn good effort that I enjoyed for years.

Then Sonos released their Arc soundbar which added the afore-mentioned Dolby Atmos.

I waited for the reviews, heard good things, and bought one.

Then I went to crazy trouble to install it in my living room.

It was okay. The Dolby Atmos height channel was incredibly weak (even when set at full volume) and I don't think the quality was quite up to the standards of the PlayBar, but I was pretty happy with it overall.

Then Sonos released the Era 300, which also had the Dolby Atmos height channel for your rear speakers. This was a far, far better implementation of the Atmos effect, and I was very happy to have purchased them.

Until I wasn't.

One day while watching a movie I heard a massive POP sound and my Arc soundbar went dead. I thought it had died a horrible death... but unplugging it and plugging it back in did the trick. Until I experienced the POP again. And again. And again. And again! Apparently once it happens, it will continue to happen forever.

Sonos's solution is to turn off CRC (which turns on your television when your AppleTV turns on), which didn't work for me. Their next "solution?" Turn off Dolby Atmos. Yes, you read that right, turn off Dolby Atmos.

Now, If Sonos gave any shits at all, they would simply have one of their many users who are experiencing this POP OF DEATH problem send in their AppleTV 4K Gen 3 and Xbox, their television, their cables, and their Arc soundbar (after sending them replacement shit). Then they would have a complete system where they could CONSISTENTLY REPRODUCE THIS PROBLEM. But nope. They'd rather say "Oooh... we can't reproduce the problem!" and do NOTHING. — Every fucking time I've contacted Sonos support, they just tell me to turn off Dolby Atmos, WHICH IS THE ENTIRE FUCKING REASON I BOUGHT THE ARC IN THE FIRST PLACE! More and more I regret getting in bed with a company that doesn't give a shit about shipping a faulty product, and has been promising a fix for OVER TWO YEARS that never comes. Get a system that doesn't work.

I don't care if Sonos comes up with a special cable that filters out the problem... or sends out a firmware update... or offers to replace whatever component they can't work out with something that does... or whatever... so long as they actually come up with a fucking solution that doesn't involve turning off Atmos!

This is not fucking rocket science.

NASA could build a rocket in this amount of time.

It's Sunday. There's bullets. And life goes on... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Why Is The Clicker Called The Clicker? I actually remember this thing! This is a fascinating, fascinating story about the dawn of the television remote control, which went like this (here's a link in case YouTube is being a flaming pile of shit)...

ULTRASONIC?? I had no idea! Seriously, read the story. Worth your valuable time!

   
• Van Dyke! Speaking of things I had no idea about, here comes this fascinating look at The Dick Van Dyke Show (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

I love running across stuff like this!

   
• In Your Love. Christ. Now they're burning Tyler Childers T-shirts on TikTok. Over a music video. Have you ever seen such a fragile group of snowflakes in your life? Guess they gotta act so ridiculously triggered in order to reaffirm their heterosexuality or Christianity or whatever it is they're so pressed about this time (here's a link in case YouTube is being a flaming pile of shit)...

It's a tragic love story that fits the song he wrote. But because it's two guys who fell in love, people are losing their ever-loving minds? For the life on me, I don't understand why people care about things that have zero affect on their lives.

   
• Thank You! I may have laughed for a solid two minutes after watching this (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Jesus. If saying "please" and "thank you" is too much for you to bear, just ignore it.

   
• Ski! THIS IS WHAT COURAGE LOOKS LIKE! She's in fourth grade! Turn the volume up on this one (here's a link in case YouTube is being a flaming pile of shit)...

Was I the only one holding their breath on this one?

   
• Spaced. After Anthony Rapp came forward with his story, thirty-some-odd additional men accused Kevin Spacey of sexual assault. He publicly apologized to some of them (including Rapp, who was a 14-year-old boy at the time of the alleged assault), came out as gay as a reason(?) for his "clumsy flirting" (AKA grabbing men's crotches), then said he was going to evaluate his behavior and get treatment. But in court he said that absolutely everything he admitted to and apologized for and "evaluated" was just something his publicist told him to say. Even while he admitted that one of the men who accused him of assault looked uncomfortable as he left.

My opinion of Spacey has nothing to do with "hopping on the condemnation bandwagon." It's thirty-plus accusations and Kevin Spacey's own words I am choosing to listen to. I'm not telling anybody how to feel about the guy... if a victory in court exonerates him of all wrong-doing in your eyes, then you do you... I'm just saying that grabbing men by the crotch is sexual assault every bit as much as if he were to grab women by the crotch, and I am not going to write off thirty men by saying they're overreacting to "clumsy flirting." You might as well be saying that they should be honored that a celebrated and powerful actor like Kevin Spacey would deem them worthy of being molested. I will not do that. I refuse to do that. No matter how "gentle and romantic" Spacey thought it was.

   
Hope you can enjoy what's left of your Sunday.

Storm clouds are a' brewin' out my window but I'm still blogging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Storm! No joke. As I started to type this, all the lights in my house that are on a light sensor came on, thunder could be heard in the distance, and my weather station said that there are lightning strikes in the area...

I swear that it was sunny just two minutes ago.

   
• Spell! In preparation for the new Wham! Documentary that's dropping on Netflix any day now, I've been re-watching all the old Wham! videos. When I got to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go I was shocked to see that Deon Estus was there...

Holy crap! I always knew that Pepsi and Shirlie were backup singers in that video, but I have ZERO memory of Deon Estus being on bass! BUT THERE HE IS! Oh man I loved Deon's album Spell which I listened to constantly. You might remember one of the bigger hits to come off of it, Heaven Help Me...

I was always sad that he never released a follow-up album. And I am very sad now to learn that he died in 2021. He was incredibly talented.

   
• Strange! New! Different! I'm late to watching the S02E02 Ad Astra Per Aspera episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I remained shocked at just how frickin good this show is. This episode didn't have any space battles or crazy situations... it was 100% a courtroom case. It was Law & Order in space. And yet it was beautiful to see...

The performances were incredible, as usual... but it was the guest appearance by Yetide Badaki that was the highlight. Holy crap! The ENTIRE EPISODE hinged on her performance, and she did not falter. Amazing, amazing stuff. If you're not watching, you should be. This may very well be my favorite Trek of all.

   
• Deep Sea Tragedy. James Cameron has one of the few opinions I even care about on any of this Titanic submersible stuff given his massive experience on deep-sea dives... and it's exactly what you'd expect. Those people didn't need to die...

And, like I said a bit ago, billionaires in a preventable situation is still in the news cycle while poor immigrants sinking off the coast of Greece barely gets a mention and is given the "Oh, that's too bad" treatment. Your wealth is directly proportional to your value in this sick, sad world. And that ain't changing any time soon.

   
• Happy Pride! Crying is gay now? Well, happy Pride to all the gay men who cried when they saw their future wife walk down the aisle at their wedding then. Christ...

Toxic Masculinity at work. The fact that men aren't supposed to have any emotions at all is fucked up beyond all rational thought...

Repressed emotions aren't healthy. And this kind of anti-male trash being propagated creates an environment which leads nowhere good. Just look at the news from the world today.

   
• Sandwiches! I'm kinda going through a sandwich renaissance. It started with egg salad sandwiches. Then I moved to (f)BLTC on toast (fake bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese). And now I am eating grilled cheddar and cream cheese sandwiches with tomato and pesto.

Sandwiches are awesome! Fried egg Sammies are next on the menu. And I really want to fry up a pizza sandwich one of these days soon.

   
• Mobile Mobile! So when T-Mobile says that my rate is locked in... and I signed up for their service using ApplePay autopay... and now they’re saying that if I continue to use ApplePay that I will have to pay $5 additional. Isn’t that a breach of contract? I changed nothing from when I signed up and will now have to pay $5 more a month...

Oh how I fucking hate these asshole companies that lie to you when they sign you up and get away with it because they have politicians in their deep pockets. $60 additional a year is not fucking “locking in my rate.” And sugar-coating it with “Well, your base rate is the same, we’re just changing the conditions of your discount” IS STILL CHANGING CONDITIONS OF THE TERMS I WAS GIVEN WHEN I SIGNED UP!! It’s like... “Oh, we mis-promised because expenses are going up, and we are losing money that our CEO needs to fuel his private jet, so how can we squeeze it out of our customers? Oh... by eliminating credit card fees we pay! Genius! Fuck our stupid-ass customers for trusting us! Or CEO needs a new gold-plated toilet for his third house!”

What's interesting is that T-Mobile bought out Mint Mobile. And if I switch to Mint Mobile, I'll pay half of what I pay now. So essentially T-Mobile is going to make a $50 a month customer become a $25 a month customer. OVER $18 A YEAR IN CREDIT CARD FEES?!? Who the fuck is the genius who came up with this money-making scheme? "LET'S MAKE FEWER MORE PROFITABLE CUSTOMERS! THAT'LL MAKE THE MONEY ROLL IN!"

   
Now, if you'll excuse me, it looks like rain.

When it comes to my favorite bands of all time, Pet Shop Boys are in my top five somewhere. Nobody really does what they do, and they're such a huge force in Brit-Pop music that even their missteps are worth listening to.

Last week they released Smash: The Singles 1985–2020, which runs through (almost all) of their singles... 55 in all...

It's a massive collection that's a non-stop parade of great tracks.

As I was listening to it for the third or fourth time, it compelled me to go through my Pet Shop Boys playlist and sort them from my favorite tracks. It's interesting to see how so many of my favorite songs were never released as singles.

As an example, my favorite Pet Shop Boys song is The Way it Used to Be off of the album Yes. It's a gorgeous track that's meticulously crafted. For reasons that completely escape me, it was never released as a single, and therefor wasn't included on Smash (and, to my knowledge, has never been performed live on tour).

The list below is far from complete. There's a ton of demo tracks and side-projects that I'll need to work in one of these days. For now though, 253 entries is enough...

1. The Way it Used to Be (Yes 2009).
2. Flamboyant (PopArt: The Hits 2003).
3. Red Letter Day (Bilingual 1996).
4. Love Comes Quickly (Please 1986).
5. Memory of the Future (Elysium 2012).
6. Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) (Please 1986).
7. Dreaming of the Queen (Very 1993).
8. The Survivors (Bilingual 1996).
9. The End of the World (Behavior 1990).
10. Up Against It (Bilingual 1996).
11. Go West (Very 1993).
12. Love etc. (Yes 2009).
13. Suburbia (Please 1986).
14. Always (Release: Further Listening 2002).
15. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (with Dusty Springfield) (Actually 1987).
16. West End Girls (Please 1986).
17. Vulnerable (Yes 2009).
18. Liberation (Very 1993).
19. Beautiful People (Yes 2009).
20. Leaving (Elysium 2012).
21. All Over the World (Yes 2009).
22. Home and Dry (Release 2002).
23. Together (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
24. Did You See Me Coming (Yes 2009).
25. It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
26. This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave (Behavior 1990).
27. I'm With Stupid (Fundamental 2006).
28. A Different Point of View (Very 1993).
29. More Than a Dream (Yes 2009).
30. Can You Forgive Her? (Very 1993).
31. I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing (Very 1993).
32. I Get Along (Release 2002).
33. Building a Wall (Yes 2009).
34. King of Rome (Yes 2009).
35. Rent (Actually 1987).
36. Thursday (featuring Example) (Electric 2013).
37. Tonight is Forever (Please 1986).
38. Jealousy (Behavior 1990).
39. Two Divided by Zero (Please 1986).
40. Pandemonium (Yes 2009).
41. Glad All Over (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
42. Paninaro (Please: Further Listening 1986).
43. Before (Bilingual 1996).
44. To Face the Truth (Behavior 1990).
45. To Speak is a Sin (Very 1993).
46. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show (Fundamental 2006).
47. Saturday Night Forever (Bilingual 1996).
48. To Step Aside (Bilingual 1996).
49. The Loving Kind (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
50. A New Life (Actually: Further Listening 1987).
51. Always on My Mind (Discography: The Complete Singles Collection 1991).
52. Minimal (Fundamental 2006).
53. In Private (featuring Elton John) (Release: Further Listening 2002).
54. Psychological (Fundamental 2006).
55. Jack The Lad (Please: Further Listening 1986).
56. Alone Again, Naturally (featuring Elton John) (Release: Further Listening 2002).
57. It's a Sin (Actually: Further Listening 1987).
58. One and One Make Five (Very 1993).
59. Why Don't We Live Together (Please 1986).
60. Domino Dancing (Introspective 1988).
61. One in a Million (Very 1993).
62. Winner (Elysium 2012).
63. Being Boring (Behavior 1990).
64. Tonight is Forever (Please 1986).
65. Give It a Go (Elysium 2012).
66. So Hard (Behavior 1990).
67. Young Offender (Very 1993).
68. Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
69. The Theater (Very 1993).
70. Yesterday When I Was Mad (Very 1993).
71. I'm Not Scared (Introspective 1988).
72. This Used to Be the Future (with Phil Oakey) (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
73. How Can You Be Expected to Be Taken Seriously (Behavior 1990).
74. The Only One (Nightlife 1999).
75. The Night I Fell in Love (Release 2002).
76. You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk (Nightlife 1999).
77. I Cried for Us (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
78. Left To My Own Devices (Introspective 1988).
79. Birthday Boy (Release 2002).
80. Shopping (Actually 1987).
81. I Want to Wake Up (Actually 1987).
82. Heart (Actually 1987).
83. It Must Be Obvious (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
84. Miserablism (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
85. We're All Criminals Now (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
86. Nightlife (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
87. It Couldn't Happen Here (Actually 1987).
88. It Always Comes As a Surprise (Bilingual 1996).
89. E-Mail (Release 2002).
90. London (Release 2002).
91. Listening (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
92. Breathing Space (Elysium 2012).
93. My Girl (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
94. I Want a Lover (Please 1986).
95. Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin (Elysium 2012).
96. Hell (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
97. You Choose (Release 2002).
98. Only the Wind (Behavior 1990).
99. Se a Vida é (Bilingual 1996).
100. Footsteps (Nightlife 1999).
101. I Started a Joke (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
102. A Face Like That (Elysium 2012).
103. The Dictator Decides (Super 2016).
104. Vampires (Nightlife 1999).
105. It's Alright (Introspective 1988).
106. In His Imagination (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
107. Dreamland (featuring Years & Years) (Hotspot 2020).
108. I Want a Dog (Introspective 1988).
109. My October Symphony (Behavior 1990).
110. Burning the Heather (Hotspot 2020).
111. In Denial (Nightlife 1999).
112. Only the Dark (Hotspot 2020).
113. Indefinite Leave to Remain (Fundamental 2006).
114. Up and Down (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
115. I Don't Wanna (Hotspot 2020).
116. Love is a Bourgeois Construct (Electric 2013).
117. Here (Release 2002).
118. King's Cross (Actually 1987).
119. Give Stupidity a Chance (Agenda 2016).
120. Invisible (Elysium 2012).
121. Gin and Jag (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
122. Between Two Islands (Release: Further Listening 2002).
123. What Are We Going to Do About the Rich (Agenda 2016).
124. Reunion (Release: Further Listening 2002).
125. Monkey Business (Hotspot 2020).
126. I Made My Excuses and Left (Fundamental 2006).
127. Hold On (Elysium 2012).
128. Hoping for a Miracle (Hotspot 2020).
129. Decadence (Very: Further Listening 1993).
130. Night Song (Yes: Further Listening 2009).
131. Happiness is an Option (Nightlife 1999).
132. Was That What it Was? (Please: Further Listening 1986).
133. Losing My Mind (Introspective: Further Listening 1988).
134. Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You) (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
135. You Are the One (Hotspot 2020).
136. Everything Means Something (Elysium 2012).
137. Inside a Dream (Electric 2013).
138. The Last to Die (Electric 2013).
139. Happy People (Hotspot 2020).
140. On Social Media (Agenda 2016).
141. Will-O-the-Wisp (Hotspot 2020).
142. Groovy (Super 2016).
143. Love Life (Release: Further Listening 2002).
144. I Didn't Get Where I Am Today (Release: Further Listening 2002).
145. We're the Pet Shop Boys (Release: Further Listening 2002).
146. Believe / Song for Guy (with Elton John) (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
147. The Forgotten Child (Agenda 2016).
148. Twenty-Something (Super 2016).
149. Casanova in Hell (Fundamental 2006).
150. The Pop Kids (Super 2016).
151. Searching for the Face of Jesus (Release: Further Listening 2002).
152. Love is a Catastrophe (Release 2002).
153. Sexy Northerner (Release: Further Listening 2002).
154. Twentieth Century (Fundamental 2006).
155. Inside (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
156. Time on My Hands (Release: Further Listening 2002).
157. Florescent (Electric 2013).
158. Happiness (Super 2016).
159. Shameless (Very: Further Listening 1993).
160. Transparent (Release: Further Listening 2002).
161. Vocal (Electric 2013).
162. Your Early Stuff (Elysium 2012).
163. Radiophonic (Nightlife 1999).
164. Boy Strange (Nightlife 1999).
165. Closer to Heaven (Nightlife 1999).
166. Too Many People (Very: Further Listening 1993).
167. In The Night (Please: Further Listening 1986).
168. I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore (Nightlife 1999).
169. Sail Away (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
170. The Samurai in Autumn (Release 2002).
171. Hit and Miss (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
172. For Your Own Good (Nightlife 1999).
173. I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) (Introspective 1988).
174. One More Chance (Actually 1987).
175. Do I Have To? (Actually: Further Listening 1987).
176. DJ Culture (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
177. Hey Headmaster (Very: Further Listening 1993).
178. The View from Your Balcony (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
179. If Looks Could Kill (Release: Further Listening 2002).
180. Girls and Boys (Very: Further Listening 1993).
181. New York City Boy (Nightlife 1999).
182. Fugitive (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
183. A Man Could Get Arrested (Please: Further Listening 1986).
184. Hit Music (Actually 1987).
185. Your Funny Uncle (Introspective: Further Listening 1988).
186. Into Thin Air (Super 2016).
187. Metamorphosis (Bilingual 1996).
188. The Ghost of Myself (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
189. The Lost Room (Lost 2023).
190. Sad Robot World (Super 2016).
191. Burn (Super 2016).
192. Say It to Me (Super 2016).
193. Integral (Fundamental 2006).
194. Transfer (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
195. Girls Don't Cry (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
196. The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
197. The Resurrectionist (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
198. Try It (I'm In Love With a Married Man) (Release: Further Listening 2002).
199. A Certain "Jenesais quoi" (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
200. The Truck Driver and His Mate (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
201. Nervously (Behavior 1990).
202. Somebody Else's Business (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
203. Undertow (Super 2016).
204. Electricity (Bilingual 1996).
205. Bolshy (Electric 2013).
206. How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
207. Positive Role Model (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
208. I Will Fail (Lost 2016).
209. Forever in Love (Very: Further Listening 1993).
210. Skeleton's in the Closet (Lost 2023).
211. Delusions of Grandeur (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
212. Some Speculation (Very: Further Listening 1993).
213. After the Event (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
214. For All of Us (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
215. Casting a Shadow (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
216. Miracles (Pop Art: The Hits 2003).
217. Luna Park (Fundamental 2006).
218. One Night (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
219. A Powerful Friend (Release: Further Listening 2002).
220. Living in the Past (Lost 2023).
221. Blue on Blue (Release: Further Listening 2002).
222. No Time for Tears (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
223. Axis (Electric 2013).
224. Kaputnik (Lost 2023).
225. Legacy (Yes 2009).
226. Bilingual (Bilingual 1996).
227. Inner Sanctum (Super 2016).
228. Betrayed (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
229. Silver Age (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
230. Inner Sanctum (Super 2016).
231. Pazzo! (Super 2016).
232. The Former Enfant Terrible (Fundamental: Further Listening 2006).
233. Screaming (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
234. Party Song (Release: Further Listening 2002).
235. Euroboy (Very: Further Listening 1993).
236. Disco Potential (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
237. Somewhere (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
238. Friendly Fire (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
239. Numb (Fundamental 2006).
240. Discoteca (Bilingual 1996).
241. What Keeps Mankind Alive (Introspective: Further Listening 1988).
242. If Love Were All (Very: Further Listening 1993).
243. Later Tonight (Please 1986).
244. Wedding in Berlin (Hotspot 2020).
245. We All Feel Better in the Dark (Behavior: Further Listening 1990).
246. The Calm Before the Storm (Bilingual: Further Listening 1996).
247. Violence (Please 1986).
248. The Way Through the Woods (Elysium: Further Listening 2012).
249. God Willing (Fundamental 2006).
250. Ego Music (Elysium 2012).
251. Shouting in the Evening (Electric 2013).
252. Lies (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).
253. Tall Thin Men (Nightlife: Further Listening 1999).

Apparently there's another album on the way, as the Boys started recording it back in March. So I guess I'll be updating this list soon enough.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there (including mine). It's a good day to celebrate it... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Extracting! The first Extraction movie was pretty good. I enjoyed it quite a lot. But the second one? Extraction 2? Holy cats! They like took everything from the first movie... which was already intense... and just ramped it right up past eleven. So good! In other news... I'm in love with Golshifteh Farahani now. I mean, I already fell for her by the end of the first movie... but now I'm like "I want to have your baby" level of in love. If Chris Hemsworth does, in fact, retire from acting... there is no reason what-so-ever that the franchise couldn't continue with Nik in the lead. Zero. She would be incredible...

I'd watch a Nik-centric movie as a spin-off for dang sure. Please, Netflix, get on that ASAP. Just back up a big dump truck full of cash to Golshifteh Farahani's house and make it happen! A prequel with Ovi would be ever so good!

   
• Misogyny Nation! Why does this country hate women? I mean it... they hate them. The USA despises women, considers them nothing more than breeding stock, and considers them an expendable resource when it comes to making more Americans...

With each passing day I grow more and more disgusted in what we're becoming.

   
• Blork! I love Mexican Street Corn. I order it any time it's on the menu. I'm addicted to Mexican Street Corn dip. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to see that Cheetos Mexican Street Corn dip flavor. But, alas...

When I can't even bring myself to eat them at work... a place that I will eat anything just because it's there... you know they're bad. What a shame.

   
• Fast Car! This is a surprisingly good cover. It takes a lot of balls to take on the original Tracy Chapman classic... but he nails it...

And that's not something I say about a lot of covers out there.

   
• Studio Idiocy! HEADLINE: Avatar 3 Pushed a Year to 2025, Two Star Wars Movies Head for 2026 and Avengers Films Delayed. Lord. If this keeps up, I'll be dead before half of them Marvel stuff I want to see are even released. This is truly making me not give a shit any more. Disney has stalled all momentum in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They no longer build towards anything... they just putter around at random, and will then complain when all of us who have no more fucks to give don't turn up for the movies.

   
• Good Beatings! I am not a violent person. I abhor violence. It's everything that's wrong in our world. That being said, it's a good thing that I'm not in charge of security at this museum...

Even though the painting wasn't damaged, there's the possibility that it could have been. And for that alone these assholes deserve to have the ever-loving shit beat out of them. Who the fuck makes their point by being such fucking shit-heads? Makes me want to go out and do whatever I can to cause more climate change just to spite them.

   
• Mateoooo! And now, because I really like you, I found out that Mateo Lane's new special if available on YouTube. But who knows for how long?

Mateo is darn funny. And he's got a lot of good stuff on his YouTube Channel.

   
Enjoy what remains of your Sunday, party people.

I've been rewatching a bunch of Black Mirror episodes in preparation for the new season that's releasing tomorrow.

And, I gotta say... there are a lot of amazing episodes over the show's run, but my favorite remains Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too. It's the infamous Miley Cyrus episode that was panned by hardcore Black Mirror fans for being too superficial and "feel-good." But it's just not. It's actually a deep dive into where we're at right now. Musical artists die, then get brought back to tour as holograms. AI is writing songs in the style of artists dead and live. The industry forces artists to conform to the molds they dictate based on profitability taking priority over creativity.

And it's fucking hilarious.

Miley puts everything she has into a role that she is intimately familiar with, and blows the doors off the episode...

The music video they released for the Nine Inch Nails parody I'm On A Roll reamins one of my Miley obsessions...

A couple things I didn't know then that I know now.

ONE: Miley sang the track live at Glastonbury AS Ashley O in 2019...

TWO: FUNKO MADE A POP! OF ASHLEY TOO!!!!

And of course I ordered one. How could I not?

I tell you right now, if Miley Cyrus ever releases an Ashley O album, I will be first in line to buy ten copies.

I was a massively huge fan of The Smiths from the moment I walked into a Tower Records store in Spring 1984.*

It was the year of my graduation and I was quickly approaching a time when I really needed to figure out what I was going to do with my life. College wasn't really a possibility because there was no way I could afford it. The job market in my area was awful thanks to Reaganomics driving wages lower and lower. I was disillusioned with the politics of the day and life in general. I was despondent about the future. It was, after all, George Orwell's year of doom. It was 1984.

And The Smiths were making music about all of it.

It was as if Morrissey was crooning each track just for me, all while being accompanied by Johnny Marr's bouncy guitar riffs. The Smiths was picking up the social sensibilities of the Punk Movement I had loved, then packaged it for the masses.

I was gutted when The Smiths broke up in 1987. Four albums and done? It really didn't seem fair. Johnny Marr teamed up with Barnard Sumner to form the band Electronic in 1988 and started releasing music the next year (and we got three albums out of the collaboration, all of which were great).

As for Morrissey? He went on to release four amazing albumns... Viva Hate, Kill Uncle, Your Arsenal, and Vauxhall and I... followed by scads more that just didn't hit for me. By 1995 I was done buying his new music, but replayed his old stuff often.

A regret was never managing to see The Smiths in concert.

After a cancelation and a reschedule I couldn't attend, I thought that a Morrissey concert wasn't in the cards, but finally flew to see him in Tampa in 2014. The concert was darn good, but wouldn't have been a Morrissey concert without some drama. He thought the crowd wasn't into it, so he cut his set short and bailed. Which, I ain't going to lie, actually made it feel more special.

Over the years Morrissey has become more and more unhinged, and I can't relate to him at all. I wouldn't want to. Then this morning I read this article about it, and found out I'm not the only one.

About the only joy I get out of anything past his old music is him being skewered on The Simpsons like this...

And definitely this imitator named "Quilloughby" which is actually the best Morrissey non-song in decades...

The fact that Quilloughby is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch is just the icing on the cake.

And on that note, I guess I'll be listening to The Smiths for the rest of the day.

* I want to say it was the Bellevue location, but it could have been the Seattle Center location because I don't know if Bellevue was open at the time. Back in the day I would bounce between both stores looking for those precious British import maxi-singles from Depeche Mode and The Thompson Twins. The Bellevue location was my favorite because they seemed to get more of what I was looking for. I was reminded of this when I saw a video of the old Tower Records Bellevue being torn down...

Oh how I loved Tower Records back in the day. Shopping for music on a computer just can't compare to walking down those jam-packed aisles of albums and discovering some magical release that you didn't even know existed. I really miss that, and am sad that younger generations are missing out on what a cool experience it is.