my careless contagion

Recent events reminded me of this song by Bad Religion. Leave Mine to Me was released in 1994 on the album Stranger Than Fiction. A lot of things changed since then. Maybe you've noticed. But Bad Religion's songs have an uncanny ability to predict the future. A line of the song stuck out to me: "You create your own reality, and leave mine to me." What does that have to do with recent events? And what does that have to do with me?  Facebook recently changed its corporate name to Meta to "reflect its growing focus on the metaverse." The metaverse is something that doesn't even exist in everyday reality. So what's the big deal? It's a bunch of virtual worlds. If people didn't already live in their own little bubbles, they will soon. Why? Because reality sucks, as the song points out. If you want to escape reality and make your own virtual reality, that's an option. Many people already do with their online presence. They've tuned out the ...

Lately, I listened to some old CDs I used to have. Actually, listened on YouTube. I don't know if I still have them. But one was the Cable Guy soundtrack (they gave them away), as well as the Surge CD. Actually, the Surge CD was two CDs; you were supposed to give one to your friend. Remember the ill-fated soda Surge? They tried to promote it with alternative music. The CDs are still out there. If you search eBay, you can find them for as much as $75. I own two because I didn't have any friends. Oh, and Millennium Hip Hop Party, a collection of 90s hip hop, for, well, partying, which was always a hit (go figure) at the few parties we hosted. These albums are time capsules from a better, more interesting time, about 25 years ago. Speaking of old music ... It's time for my semi-annual posting of One More Day by the Descendents (whom I saw perform in Philadelphia many years ago). This is my Father's Day post. In case it isn't abundantly clear, my father was not a good f...