Adam Schlesinger, Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter and co-founder of the band Fountains of Wayne, died today at the age of 52 due to complications from COVID-19. In my opinion, he was one of the true genius figures in modern pop … Continue reading Adam Schlesinger Remembrance Thread
Let’s cook up some steak ram-don and talk about Cannes Palme D’Or winner Parasite, directed by Bong Joon Ho. Continue reading Spoil Sports – Parasite
And so we’re down to the last four contenders for the NCAA men’s basketball title. In the Avocado bracket pool, Psmith and Bluelightspecial have Michigan State. PastyJournalist and Dan Pierce have Virginia. Joey Blowey’s got Auburn. Who will take bragging … Continue reading 2019 NCAA Tournament – Final Four Thread
Entering our second weekend, there aren’t a lot of underdogs left. I guess we have Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference, but they’ve been a top-of-the-bracket fixture for some time now. We have Houston from the American, even though they … Continue reading 2019 NCAA Tournament – Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Thread
Congratulations to first-time NCAA Tournament winners Wofford, UC Irvine, Central Florida, and, uh some other school I don’t want to congratulate. After round one, JGoo, CreepGang, and Zanoni lead the bracket with a 27-5 record in the first round. In … Continue reading 2019 NCAA Tournament – Second Round Thread
Congrats to Ja Morant, who became the first player to earn a triple-double in the NCAA Tournament since Draymond Green in 2012, as the Murray State Racers walloped Marquette. JGoo currently leads the Avocado pool after an impressive 15-1 day … Continue reading 2019 NCAA Tournament – First Round Thread (3/22/19)
Congratulations to the Belmont Bruins, who justified their inclusion into the tournament field with an impressive win over Temple Tuesday night. I told you these guys were good! The Avocado bracket pool closes to new entries at tipoff time, so … Continue reading 2019 NCAA Tournament – First Round Thread (3/21/19)
It’s time once again for the three week extravaganza of basketball known as March Madness, and for the concomitant tradition of winning glory through some combination of savvy prognostication and dumb luck. Welcome to the 2019 Avocado bracket pool! Last … Continue reading The 2019 Avocado NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Pool
We’re down to four potential champions: Sentimental favorite Loyola (1963 champions, winners of the Missouri Valley), Michigan (1989 champions, runners-up to *VACATED* in 2013), Kansas (1952, 1988, and 2008 champions; winners of 14 Big 12 titles in a row), and … Continue reading 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament – Final Four Thread
Basketball action starts up again today with a deeply strange set of teams, including Loyola, Nevada, Kansas State, Florida State and Texas A&M. The tournament’s remaining “favorites” will play tomorrow. Flubba Gunto currently holds a 30 point lead over ganews and LovableCreep in the pool and a 50 point lead over Rex Reilly and smilner, the closest contenders whose champions have not been eliminated. Games are worth 40 points this round, so anything can happen! http://games.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2018/en/group?groupID=2535275 Continue reading 2018 NCAA Tournament – Sweet 16 Thread (Thursday 3/22)
Welcome back, Retriever fans! Like a lot of people, I’m still trying to figure out just how the hell that happened. Last night, Emperor Snapper pointed out that UMBC lost to Albany 83-39 in January, and try as I may, I can’t wrap my head around that fact. A team that lost to a pretty good America East squad by 44 two months ago just beat the dominant winner of the ACC (by four games!) by 20. How is such a swing even possible? The memory that will stick with me from last night’s game is how fearsome Virginia’s press … Continue reading 2018 NCAA Tournament Second Round Thread (Saturday 3/17)
Well, if you didn’t stay up for the late games last night, you could be waking up to quite the surprise: 4 seed Arizona, widely considered talented enough to be a contender for most of the year, didn’t just lose to 13 seed Buffalo— they were flat out hammered. This is a high-schadenfreude result due to the allegations swirling around coaches Sean Miller and Book Richardson and star Deandre Ayton (as well as the complete elimination of the PAC-12 from this year’s tournament). Unfortunately, I can’t join the party wholeheartedly, as I had picked the Wildcats for the Final Four. … Continue reading 2018 NCAA Tournament First Round Thread (Friday 3/16)
The first round of the tournament kicks off in a couple of hours— make sure to get your picks in if you’re playing along with the Avocado (password: austinfreak): http://games.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2018/en/group?groupID=2535275 16 first round games today— what are your rooting interests? Upset … Continue reading 2018 NCAA Tournament First Round Thread (Thursday 3/15)
It’s time once again for the three week extravaganza of basketball known as March Madness, and for the concomitant tradition of winning glory through some combination of savvy prognostication and dumb luck. Welcome to the 2018 Avocado bracket pool! http://games.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2018/en/group?groupID=2535275 Our private group can be reached using the link above and the password austinfreak. Scoring is standard— 10 points for the round of 64, 20 points for the round of 32, 40 for the Sweet 16, 80 for the Elite 8, 160 for the Final Four, and 320 for the championship game. Picks must be entered by the start of the … Continue reading The 2018 Avocado NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Pool
A spoiler space to talk about the movie Annihilation. Go ahead, step into the Shimmer. You’ll be fine! Continue reading Spoil Sports – Annihilation
The full program! – https://www.mixcloud.com/AircheXX/caseys-top-40-with-casey-kasem-from-december-15-1990/ The full chart – https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1990-all-charts/ (Sadly, this chart does not have its own dedicated page; I’m not sure if they’re trying to hide it, or what. You can find it by scrolling down) Note: I’m … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback EXTRA: December 15, 1990
The full chart: https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1976/12/11/us-top-40-singles-week-ending-11th-december-1976/ How’s the chart as a whole? 1976 was a blockbuster year on the pop charts, with a twist– there’s an almost even split between the sublime and the wretched. For every groundbreaking and influential “Bohemian Rhapsody,” … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback: December 11, 1976
The full chart: https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1972/12/09/us-top-40-singles-week-ending-9th-december-1972/ How’s the chart as a whole? Arriving just after Nixon’s reelection, this is by far the most politically conscious pop chart I’ve reviewed, covering a wide range of social concerns. Even when the political content is … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback: December 9, 1972
The full chart from December 8, 1979: https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1979/12/08/us-top-40-singles-for-the-week-ending-december-8-1979/ All the Casey Kasem segments from this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suqnl4DymtQ How’s the chart as a whole? Decades are arbitrary markers of time, but there does seem to be a changing of the guard … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback: December 8, 1979
The full chart from November 26, 1977: https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1977/11/26/us-top-40-singles-week-ending-26th-november-1977/ All the Casey Kasem segments from this episode (no songs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL0whbAVpqk How’s the chart as a whole? In its component parts– soft ballads, disco, and what we now call classic rock– it’s not much … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback: November 26, 1977
The full chart: https://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1975/11/15/us-top-40-singles-week-ending-15th-november-1975/ How’s the chart as a whole? Once you get past Paul McCartney at #36, it’s possible to squint at this chart and see an alternate music history where the late 60s faded into the background instead … Continue reading American Top 40 Flashback: November 15, 1975
