Kirk Israel's commonplace and blog. Quotes and links daily since 2001.

May 5, 2026

2026.05.05

may the fourth be with you, etc

2026.05.04

New to music playlist. Very anemic month, but some of that's my fault - I ran into a pile of cool music in Sicily but decided to stockpile it...

4 star:
* Out West (Meels)
Rollicking country song.
Meels opened when we saw the Nitty Gritty Dirty Band farewell tour, and she was great. Excellent Dolly Parton vibe...
* Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (Chet Atkins & Dolly Parton)
I'm delighted by Dolly Parton's giggles. Interesting how it sounds like "May the Circle be Unbroken" at parts.
Meels covered this song, actually.

3 star:
* Both Sides, Now (Joni Mitchell)
Strong Songs had a episode unpacking this one.
* invisible string (Taylor Swift)
I'm not a big Swiftie but she's a good songcrafter. I appreciate the "isn't it pretty to think so" Henimgway reference.
mentioned in the Olivia De Recat
* I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler (YACHT)
More of an interesting video than a great song.

May 3, 2026

2026.05.03

Woke up thinking about SCOTUS and their chicken shit way of pretending A. racism is dead and B. ensuring a partisan gerrymandered fractured landscape forever.

For both sides, depending on locality, parlaying potentially temporary political advantage into quasi-permanent impregnable districting is a path to that party never having to listen to the voters en masse, which is an obvious boon for authoritarianism and a system that only has to pretend that votes count.

from the 3000 odd photos we took in Sicily, a collage of cats and dogs, and some street art and then doors