It’s here. One solid year straight of putting this together for you, dear reader. Thanks for following along as I share — every week for one whole year! — What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering.
Thank you. I appreciate you.
On to the list!
Watching: The Latest Edition of The Vandy Program with My Guest John Puccio
John Puccio and I go way back: we started working together — he worked for a PR agency we hired — 20-plus years ago. We became fast friends and I always love talking with him.
For this edition of The Vandy Program, my podcast with 70,000 subscribers and counting, we talk about a ton of things:
Daylight Saving Time as John riffs on his excellent Substack article on the subject (link to that below the video)
Tampa vs. St. Pete and why neither of them are really pro sports towns
The Midterms and all that’s coming with them.
I thought it was a fun conversation, and I think you’ll enjoy it.
Here’s a link to his Substack that you should totally subscribe to:
Reading: Gaping Void and, Especially, The Lost Art of Nerding Out
I’ve been a fan of Gaping Void for a long time now — Their main site is gorgeous and you can find it at gapingvoid.com — but this particular essay, which you can find on their Substack below, really REALLY spoke to me. It starts with this opening salvo:
I’m reminded at least a little of a semi-recent quarterly all-hands meeting, where they have a “Guess the Colleague” game that involves a few hints about the person but without anything that’s a true giveaway of the identity. When it was my turn, I had thrown out a couple very random facts, and one of them struck a chord:
I collect foreign banknotes that are either really obscure or have very little real value.
They’re pretty, and pretty worthless: you’d have to bring a stack of these to buy anything of value. And that’s what I nerd out on.
People had questions after the “all-hands” and that’s part of what made this exercise fun.
While reading the Gaping Void piece, keep in mind that fun parlor game that’s popular on X: If you had to give a TED Talk on any subject, no matter how obscure, what would you talk about?
Listening to: Another Rolling Stone List (This One: Top Rock Songs of the 21st Century So Far)
I like music. I like rock music. I like to think I know a lot about rock music. I read Rolling Stone and realize that (1) some of the music isn’t as well-liked by other people as it is by me; (2) some of the rock music I like may not be rock music and some of the music I don’t think is rock music is considered rock music; and (3) I don’t know a lot about rock music.
Enter this latest list from Rolling Stone: “Top Rock Songs of the 21st Century So Far.” I’m way off on some of these; music is subjective, and there’s so much I just haven’t heard yet.
Rather than admit my ignorance, here are a few songs that were both really good and on my radar. They just may not have made other lists I’ve done. (Like this list: All of My #1 Songs for Every Year Since 2020.)
For instance, Broken Social Scene with “7/4 Shoreline.” I hear this on Sirius XMU from time to time and it’s just great. (No spoilers: I won’t tell you where this or the other songs ranked. It’s part of the discovery process.)
The Darkness, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” This was on my iPod.
Finally, The National with “Bloodbuzz Ohio.” Just a great tune from the band.
(See below for an amazing live performance from The National.)
Rediscovering: The Fixx
Speaking of rock music, I thought I’d go back to one of the more underrated bands ever: The Fixx. Formed in 1979 (!) in London, they had a few #1 Billboard Mainstream Rock songs in the 1980s, as well as a couple songs that hit the Top 20. Here are a few of my faves:
Easily their biggest mainstream hit in the US, “One Thing Leads to Another” made it all the way to #4 on the Hot 100 in 1983.
In 1986, “Secret Separation” went to #19 on the Hot 100, and #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts.
This song brings me back to 1989. “Driven Out” is a song that stays in heavy rotation on my YouTube account; it went #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart that year.
Finally: The National, on The Late Show with David Letterman
If this live performance served as your introduction to the band, you were in luck. A hauntingly beautiful tune, performed live in May 2010.
Did I mention this is my 52nd consecutive Saturday sharing this? Well…it is. Thanks for reading.
See you…next week!
Dave