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.

Spring has sprung and the local orchards are killing me with allergies, but I am not dead yet... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Williams! John Williams is one of the... if not the... greatest movie composers of all time. A lot of people may debate this, but anybody who can take a pile of shit like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and make it even a little tolerable has earned the honorific. Duel of the Fates is an incredible piece of music. CinemaStix does a shallow dive into "The Best Decision George Lucas Ever Made, and here it is...

Williams was due to retire. But then we found out he was composing for the final Indiana Jones movie... Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny... and now it sounds like he has something cooking with Steven Spielberg too. Lucky us!

   
• Wes! And speaking of Star Wars... these Wes Anderson parodies just keep getting better and better. My previous favorite was the parody of what an Anderson X-Men film would be like. But this is my new favorite...

Wow. I would pay serious money to watch this film.

   
• ROBOTS! There are movies that I am completely hooked on before the trailer even reaches the halfway mark. This is 1000% one of them. It looks hilarious...

Since it's by HBO films, I'm guessing it will end up on "Max" eventually. We'll see if I can wait that long... or whether I'll be paying the on-demand price to see it before that.

   
• Hate System! Former Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has long been speaking out against bigotry, and on Friday this CNN interview was posted...

Say what you want about the guy but, in the grand scheme of things, he is a force for good in this world. We need more people like him.

   
• Beautification! This video is not for everyone. But if you're an architecture nerd like me, it's a wonderful, wonderful deep dive into reversing a horrible trend of turning cities into prisons. It's long, but I watched it twice because it was so interesting to me...

We need more of this happening in our cities. We need it.

   
• Puppers! This past week I saw a flood of "reaction" videos from people talking about the latest video from Lewis Capaldi. People bawling their heads off. People breaking down completely. And I was like "Whatever!" because I'm not a very emotional person, and just dismissed the "overreaction" outright. But then I watched it...

Then I was like "Yeah, I get it now." Humans and their antics may not often put a lump in my throat... but animals can do it quite easily. Couple the song with the video, and you can't be human and not react in some way to it.

   
• Undiplomatic! The Diplomat (Netflix) was very good television. It's dense and smart without being boring. It spins its wheels a bit, but ultimately moves ahead at a good clip. It also has fantastic performances that make it all the better. BUT THEN THEY END IT ON A MASSIVE CLIFFHANGER. Not about some small aspect of the story... BUT THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE STORY. It's like the story was cut in two and you only get the first half. Which is just fine if you've already been renewed for a second season. But, so far as we know, no second season has been ordered. Which means that the writers of the show are hacks of the fucking worst kind. They're too lazy to complete a story and then come up with a big idea to open the second season... instead they drop a bombshell so that they can just continue with what they've already done. No need to figure out a way to forge forward in a new, exciting direction... just roll onward from where you've already been. And if you get canceled? You don't care! Fuck your audience!...

I am so sick of this shit. IF YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOUR SHOW WILL CONTINUE, WRAP IT THE FUCK UP! STOP WITH THE UNWARRANTED CLIFFHANGERS YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF SHIT HACKS. This crap is fucking embarrassing, and I'm tired of it. — UPDATE! The show has been renewed for a second season. Which does nothing to stop my raging, because they could just keep doing this same shit each season until they're canceled and we're left hanging.

   
If I'm still alive from allergies next Sunday, you know where to find me.

After Easter Sunday we're back to just another Sunday. BUT NOT REALLY... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Supertramp! The other day I was reminded of one of my favorite album covers, Supertramp's Breakfast in America from 1979. On top of having a great cover, the album had some great tracks on it. Tracks I haven't listened to in years. So I decided to play it. After iTunes displayed the album art, I wondered whatever happened to the woman who was in the photo. A quick Google search later, and I found out her name was Kate Murtagh and she passed away in 2017. Something else I found out? The album cover is one of those wild-ass conspiracy theories where there are people claiming that it predicted 9-11 because when you reverse it, 9 11 appears behind where the World Trade Center is at...

And it's like... whatever. Every coincidence has to mean something to people who don't have anything else going on, I guess.

   
• Perspective! This is a little bit of genius thinking (here is a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Trying to be grateful for everything and anything is something to strive for. And this is a good reason to believe that.

   
• Johnny Reb! You're Probably Wrong About Confederate Monuments...

Or, maybe you're right.

   
• Defensive! Holy shit. This video is an hour. But it's worth your valuable time. Jon Stewart is an actual journalist. And getting to the truth is his only goal... and he will roast anybody, of any party, and of any position... to get to it. This is a master class in what journalists will strive for. Dang. You'd have to be very brave or very foolish to agree to be interviewed by Jon Stewart...

Good to know. Good to know.

   
• Chatty AI! This video explaining AI is 5 years old. From what I can tell, it was renamed to mention ChatGPT so that it would become relevant again. Despite the fact that it never was irrelevant...

We are moving towards a truly wacky time in human history.

   
• Mindblowing Proteins! Holy crap!

The miracle of life is truly a miracle.

   
Enjoy what's left of your Sunday.

I have a love/hate relationship with Sonos Home Audio.

On one hand, they are very good speakers. The sound I get from a single Sonos One (the cheapest, smallest speaker in their lineup) is better than I get from the speakers on my pricey Sony television. Sonos speakers are very well balanced to handle just about everything. Music sounds just as good as audiobooks which sounds as good as TV shows and movies.

But on the other hand, Sonos can be incredibly frustrating. When I replaced my Sonos PlayBar with a Sonos Arc, I spent a full hour talking with their support to get everything working. It was supposed to be an easy, no-brainer task, but it sure didn't end up that way for me. And then there's weird networking drop-outs that happen at random and can be a real bitch to resolve considering the only thing I ever get told is "IT'S BECAUSE YOUR WI-FI NETWORK SUCKS!!!" (as if I have some kind of cheap-ass Wi-Fi router buried in the basement instead of dual AmpliFi Alien routers in a mesh network that blankets my home with perfect Wi-Fi).

In the end I am happy enough with Sonos to ignore its shortcomings (no line-in is fucking stupid on a level of fucking stupid that has me reconsidering what I consider to be fucking stupid given how expensive their speakers are... and don't get me started on not being able to use dedicated left and right channels for surround sound). I have quite a few of their products collected from Black Friday sales over the years, and most rooms in my house are covered with Sonos sound. Heck, I even have Sonos in the bathrooms so I don't have to miss what's happening on my television shows when I have to get up and go pee.

And then Sonos decided to get cute and offer a new line of "Era" speakers. The Era 100, which takes the place of their entry-level Sonos One speaker... and the Era 300, which takes the place of their long-abandoned Play 3 speaker.

At first I was going to safely ignore their new offerings because I have neither the money nor the desire to expand upon my speaker collection.

But then I learned that the Era 300 is designed from the bottom up to support Dolby Atmos and I was intrigued. Dolby Atmos allows precise sound placement within a room. This is usually reserved for theaters which can install speakers all the way around the seating area... along with the ceiling... so that the action can move around the room to match what you are seeing. It's a pretty nifty trick. The technology is something that is supposed to be supported by my Sonos Arc soundbar, but the effect is minimal to the point that it might as well not even exist at all.

The Sonos Era 300 has an up-firing speaker that looked substantial enough to actually maybe kinda support actual Atmos sound bouncing down on your from above...

So I used my final two Sonos upgrade credits and all the Black Friday money I had left after buying Neon Bad Monkey and pre-ordered a pair of them.

And now they're here.

And I'm just going to cut to the chase here. They are... pretty good.

Because whether or not you have great Atmos sound largely depends on the audio mix that movie and television studios add to their products. I've tested these speakers for hours with all kinds of movies available in Dolby Atmos, and it's very rare that I find myself going "Whoa!" because some sound playing above me was distinct enough to catch me by surprise. No, for the most part, you're largely just getting a better, fuller surround sound experience. Back-To-Front and Front-To-Back audio is far more distinct with those up-firing speakers because you can feel the "movement" better. Far better than I did with my Sonos Ones as rear speakers. For that reason alone I am quite happy with my purchase. And who knows? Maybe as more and more people have Dolby Atmos available at home, studios will start doing better mixing so that my speakers can take advantage of it.

Now lets get to the Dolby Atmos experience that's truly worth it... Atmos Music!

I tell you what... I had read that Apple was partnering with Sonos so that their spatial audio tracks would play on Sonos hardware... but I wasn't thinking of that when I fired up some music to see if it sounded good from the 300s. A couple tracks played and I was suitably impressed.

Then the song If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) by The 1975 dropped and I thought I was hallucinating. Lead singer Matt Healy's vocals were IN FRONT OF the music. And acoustical queues were all over the room. If I closed my eyes, it was as if The 1975 were set up in my living room. Then I remembered about the Apple Music Atmos thing and, sure enough...

For many Dolby Atmos music tracks, what you hear is flat-out mind-blowing. The 1975 remixed all their stuff, and (for the most part) it's incredible. Some songs are more experimental than others. Some songs push it too far to the point of distraction. But most of the songs are perfectly rendered in a way that makes the whole experience... maybe not better... but perhaps nicely different.

All of a sudden I was scouring all my favorite tracks to see if they had Atmos mixes available.

And it was like discovering music all over again.

Yes, there are instances where the Atmos is a gimmick that doesn't work. But for others? It runs the gamut. The biggest surprise was Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour. Whomever came up with her mixes just knocked it out of the park (with a couple notable exceptions which are gimmicky as hell). It. Is. Sublime. In Oh, What a World when that banjo hits, I had chills running up my spine. It's a fantastic experience. My favorite Post Malone tracks were wonderfully mixed for spatial audio. The newest Taylor Swift album is beautiful. And some bands you just know were hopping on the bandwagon early with Atmos remixes... like ODESZA. The track they did with Namoi Wild, Higher Ground, feels like her vocals are ON TOP OF the music. Or something. I can't even begin to explain it. But it's fantastic. Of course, it was a great track even before spatial audio...

The highest praise I can offer for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos music is that, when mixed right, the vocals never get lost in the music. They are always distinct and rendered front-and-center. One of the best songs to hear this is with Miley Cyrus's Flowers. There's places that she harmonizes with herself. But when listening to it without Atmos, the voices blend together. With Atmos, however, the harmonizing backing vocals are... like... elsewhere. They don't merge or compete... they're just another part of the music. I don't know quite how to explain it. But once I hear the difference... then go back to regular stereo... I can no longer un-hear it because the Atmos version feels like it's the way you're supposed to be hearing it.

So... probably not returning my pair of 300s... even though there's some bullshit right out of the gate.

First of all, Sonos finally... FINALLY... added bluetooth and line-in to their speakers. But when you configure them to be part of a Dolby Atmos setup... YOU NO LONGER CAN USE THEM FOR EITHER! WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK, SONOS??

When that message popped up, it was all I could do to keep from throwing my phone against the wall. I was more than a little upset... I was fucking pissed.

I'm sure that Sonos will come up with some kind of bullshit excuse to explain it away, but the simple fact is that you could easily... easily... just have the speaker ignore all other input once the line-in is receiving input. This is not fucking rocket science. The fact that I can't just plug into one of my pricey new speakers with a frickin' line-in is so far beyond rage-inducing that I honestly don't know what to do with my anger from it.

But at least there's the option for a line-in... AT ALL.

If I were flush with cash I'd likely buy a single Sonos Era 300 for my bedroom and run a line from my television. That way I could have darn good TV sound along with a kick-ass speaker for music (the stereo separation from a single 300 is surprisingly good).

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Assuming I win the lottery tomorrow, it's not enough to just buy a $450 Sonos Era 300 speaker for my television. YOU ALSO HAVE TO BUY A FUCKING $20 MINI-PLUG DONGLE! It's like... holy shit. There's fleecing your customers, and then there's Sonos fucking gouging their customers. This is pretty disgraceful.

So... to summarize in bullet points...

• Setup actually worked like it was supposed to this time. I had an immediate software update I had to send to the Era 300's, but I was up and running in minutes.
• I love that the power cord plug is smaller now. My rear speakers are on a slim shelf that I drilled holes in so the cords are hidden. But the Sonos Ones had a big-ass plug which meant I had to use a metal rod to smash it through the hole. The new Era plugs are more compact and just pop through. Easy!
• I've had mixed results with Sonos TruePlay tuning (where you walk around the room waving your phone around while the Sonos app listens to tones and calibrates the speakers so their sound is best rendered in your room). The first time I tried it years ago, I loved it. Then the last couple times I thought the calibration was pretty bad and removed it. This time the jury is still out. I think it made my Atmos music sound better... but the movies I tried after calibration didn't sound as bright and the overhead sound was muted. I'll probably keep TruePlay on but fine-tune the EQ and upward sound levels.
• The line-in garbage mentioned above is fucking bullshit. I am outraged that not only is it fully disabled when you use them as surrounds... but you also have to buy a fucking dongle. It's as if Sonos said "WELL, YOU WANTED A LINE-IN, SO HERE IT IS... TOO BAD WE FUCKING BROKE IT!
• Until more studios really invest in doing Dolby Atmos mixes that are killer, I wouldn't buy these speakers just for movies with Dolby Atmos. It's just not a big enough upgrade given how many mediocre mixes are out there claiming to be "Atmos."
• The "killer app" on the Era 300s is Dolby Atmos music. Spatial audio provides an experience I haven't heard before and, for the most part, I absolutely love it. As more and more artists go back and remix their music (or remix the mixes that aren't that great) I think this is reason enough to give them a listen and see what you think.
• Yes, the price of Sonos gear is as heinous as it ever was. About the only justification I can offer is that they feel quality. They are noticeably heavy and seem built to last. And, needless to say, the sound quality is darn good given the size. Exceptional even. I have never had a complaint about the sound I get... and even a meager little Sonos One provides a great experience. Sonos is one of those companies where I think the cost is likely worth it. That being said, every piece of my Sonos gear was bought on sale because... damn.
• All my stuff was purchased directly from Sonos because I like that they offer a money-back-guarantee when you purchase from them. It's the least they can do given how much money it costs. If you are on the fence, it's worth investigating whether the shop you're buying from can offer a guarantee. Pretty sure not all of them do.
• If you are a long-time Sonos customer, Sonos will give you "upgrade credits" which knock 15% off the price of their wares. For every speaker you own that's old enough to earn a discount, you get one credit to use on another speaker to replace it. Except you don't have to return your old speaker... you get to keep it! If you registered your products with Sonos, be sure to look at your account and see what's available. I saved nearly $70 each on the 300s, which is serious money.
• A lot has been said about how "ugly" the Sonos 300s are. Personally, I'm not seeing it. I am very sensitive to design aesthetics and actually really like the look of them. When sitting on the shelf behind my couch, they look nice from any angle and have an impressive heft to them that makes me confident a cat isn't going to knock them off (if they were to ever climb up on those shelves, which they rarely do).
• I did not buy any Era 100s and really have no plan to do so. The improvement over my Sonos Ones seems minimal, as there's no up-firing speakers for rendering Atmos. The stereo separate looks like it might be pretty good... but since the speaker is so narrow, I'm not sure how noticeable it would be.

And there you have it.

If you've got a showroom somewhere near you with Sonos gear, it might be worth a look if you're thinking about investing in new speakers.

Don't worry, I'm here with a distraction from the Superb Owl... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Ronnie! Talked about a missed opportunity at the Superb Owl! I was waiting for Rhianna to walk out and say "Uh oh! Bonber alert!" then Andy Samberg would walk out as Shy Ronnie...

One thing's for sure... it would have been unexpected.

   
• Lo siento! This would be the kind of thing that happens to me (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

...assuming my girlfriend was Miss Universe 2020.

   
• Scam the Tragedy! A gentle reminder... if you receive an email wanting you to donate to a cause... any cause... don't click the link in the email. If it's not an organization you know the address for to type directly in your browser, do a Google search for the official website. I just received an email wanting me to donate to the Syria and Türkiye earthquake relief efforts from "The Red Cross," and it was a big ol' scam. All my donations go to Doctors Without Borders anyway, but holy crap... what kind of garbage would exploit a tragedy to scam people out of money?

   
• You're Poor! You can't afford it, you povo (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

Because you're poor!

   
• Luther! OOOOOOOH BOY! I am really, really looking forward to this...

It's like... Idris Elba is magic on the screen. Every. Single. Time. Just look what he did in the frickin' Thor movies, for crying out loud! And Luther is an exceptional character that shows off exactly why the guy is so good at his craft. Kudos to Netflix for sinking some money into quality.

   
• Alexa He Ain't! I really wish that Sonos speakers could use Siri. Because the Sonos Voice Assistant is fucking useless as a piece of shit at a pool party. Telling it to play songs never works. The only thing it does reliably is "stop" music when you tell it. Otherwise it's some bullshit about not understanding what you want and having to use your SONOS app. One thing I DO like, however, is the voice that SONOS uses for their AI. He's very calming. A little vulnerable. Which he kinda has to be given that he can't do jack shit. Though he's not as sexy as "Australian Male Voice 1" that I use for Siri but, let's face it, nobody could be sexier than Australian Male Voice 1. That guy sounds like he has slept his way through entire ecosystems.

   
• Again! After being severely disappointed with the last two Depeche Mode albums, I was surprised at the first single off their forthcoming album, Moments Mori. Ghosts Again is more like Depeche Mode than they've been in ages...

One can only hope that the rest of the album is this good.

   
Until next Superb Owl...

As I do every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I listened to his iconic I Have a Dream speech.

But this year was a little different.

This is amazing...

I can't help but hope that setting it to music might entice people who may not hear otherwise hear it to take a listen.

Don't worry about me being buried under snow, again, I'll manage just fine... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• I Can See Clearly Now! I didn't want to spend $720 to replace my two damaged windows... but it turns out it was money well-spent. If for no other reason than I can actually see out of them now. Having to try and look through condensation and sediment that was inside my old busted windows was impossible in cold weather. And since the kitchen window is the ONLY window on either floor where I can see out the front of my house... and my bedroom window is one of only two useable windows on the ENTIRE 2ND FLOOR... they're probably the most important windows I have! Ironic how that works! But typical, huh?

   
• Sing! This is Dave Grohl's daughter, Violet...

Gorgeous. Musical talent very much runs in this family.

   
• As It Should Be. Tennessee Becomes First State to Charge Child Support to Drunk Drivers Who Kill Parents. Absolutely shameful that this is not the norm in all 50 states. Actions should have consequences... especially for something as dire as this. I'd ask my Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell where they're at on this, but it's probably the same place that digital driver's licenses are for Washingtonians... nowhere. They're too busy cashing their Big Pharma checks... or whatever it is that's more important to them.

   
• Big Ships! Now this is both fascinating and cool...

When things get bigly huge is when they get very interesting. Where do they get the materials to build something so massive?

   
• Order-Free! Netflix occasionally likes to experiment with their content. I like to encourage this, even though it rarely results in big wins. Their latest is Kaleidoscope, a heist series with episode colors instead of episode numbers, that you can watch in any order (and which Netflix shuffles for every viewer)...

My order was Black, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Violet, Red, Pink, and White. Black is always first. White is always last. I don't know that my order is better than any other, but I like that Yellow was first because one of the very few twists in the series would be ruined otherwise. Ultimately this isn't a bad show... it's just not a great one. Probably because the episodes can be watched in any order, they have to be self-contained. They can't really build upon each other to create a narrative. And they can't really do anything monumental because then they could spoil something if watched in the wrong spot. They're all just meh after a while. Which is to say that though I enjoyed the series at first... by the time I was half-way through I was disappointed. The ending was kinda fun though. I'm not sure exactly how this concept could be improved in the future, but I wish Netflix luck in trying.

   
• Themes. Angelo Badalamenti died last month. He was a phenomenally gifted magician who had a long and interesting career, mostly scoring film and television. But what he's probably best known for is his collaborations with David Lynch. The guy made Twin Peaks what it was...

It's not exactly like his life was cut short... he was 85... but as I always do when somebody with such talent passes, I can't help but think he left us too soon.

   
• Old Amsterdam! Few shows made such an immediate impact on me as New Amsterdam (the second one, not the first one about an immortal in New York City, which was also very good). It's a hospital drama in a sea of hospital dramas, but one that feels quite different to me. And it's ending this month. It got an abbreviated final fifth season...

Over the years it's had some amazing stories told, and I'm a bit sad that it's not going to be around any more (even though the drama outside the hospital had gotten a bit stale). All I know is that this cast... starting with Ryan Eggold... better end up on great new shows as soon as possible.

   
Until next week, buckaroos.