Author: Brent Evans

morning babble / Friday 04-28-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Happy Friday, Saturday, Sunday – Happy Weekend! I’m in a good mood. I just finished up my 3-Day Fast recap / As a family we went to Pizza By Elizabeths – if you aren’t familiar with this restaurant, the concept is a fun one. Every pizza created is named after a famous Elizabeth. Mine last night was named “Montgomery” which is for the actress Elizabeth Montgomery (clip). Lots of meat on this pizza. I also had them add on some spicy sausage as well. Shook on some hot pepper flakes. I ate the whole thing. (clip) Feeling good though.

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• The National’s new album fully drops today – we get all the songs for First Two Pages of Frankenstein. This is an album that I need to get on vinyl, so I’ll be visiting my place Rainbow Records at some point in time soon – gotta save up again after Record Store Day. Anyway – this is an album that I describe as chill. I need to work on my adjectives more because I’ll say that a lot – this is chill. So, here’s what Pitchfork’s Brad Shoup, “With help from Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and Sufjan (soohf-yaan) Stevens, the National return with their gentlest album yet: a collection of airy, tender gestures.” He’s got good adjectives in there. The song being pushed today on Spotify is “The Alcott” which is the one with Miss Taylor Swift. (clip)

• Illenium has been releasing more and more music, so much so that I thought the album was already out. Nope – it’s actually today we get the whole sha-bang – 16 songs, nearly an hour of music and creatively titled Illenium. Saved the creativity part for the music (clip) that song is called “Eyes Wide Shut” and on vocals, it’s Avril Lavigne and on drums, it’s Blink’s banger – Travis Barker. Speaking of Travis, I do something a little creepy. Travis Barker recently posted this (clip) That’s Virgil Abloh’s book Icons – he’s an American fashioner designer or was . . . we lost him back in 2021. That’s a $75 book laying on Travis’ coffee table. But – it’s those pictures that help me explore what other people are looking at, reading, studying . . . it’s still creepy huh.

• (Clip of Emmaline) – That’s “After You’ve Gone” via the sultry jazzed up singer Emmaline released a six song EP. She was just featured in her first film called Sweetwater. Her vocals were featured throughout the movie and, of course, is on the movie’s soundtrack. However, there were a bunch of unused songs that she put together on this EP called Songs from Sweetwater. The movie was set in 1950, so this is a collection of old jazz standards. Definitely check her out.

• Since I listen and heart music from Emmaline, I believe that this is why this song appeared in my feed today with Spotify (clip) “That’s a plenty” and it’s off the Bing & Ella album – a duets album from Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald. Eight songs on this album. One of my favorite channels on Sirius Radio is the 50’s Gold channel – I love that type of sound. A $5 buy at Rainbow Records got me this vinyl American Graffiti (clip) I’ve got a story to tell about that album. I’m going to save it for another day though – too much babbling today so far.

• Other new music to mention: Coi Leray has a new single out called “Bops” (clip) That’s all I can play – my little girl watches these videos too much / Beach House released a 5-song EP called Become / and finally – Kesha gets producer Rick Rubin to help her with two new singles released today “Fine Line” and “Eat the Acid” (clip) Let her sing! Stop putting your hands in her mouth. Reminds me of The Edge in that video for U2’s song “Numb” (clip) Those were feet. I wouldn’t want feet on my face. All bunioned up ,smelly, ingrown toenails

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“I don’t have the patience to be a non-creator.” – by Virgil Abloh

morning babble / Monday 04-24-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Happy Monday!

Quick Record Store Day recap

5 albums – never have I bought that many albums in one trip to a record store – that was fun.

Rainbow Records in Newark, DE is my place to shop vinyl

Two stories from the day

GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –

Talking about setting up some goals and knocking them down – just for the week

3-Day Fast

More outside runs / Running heavy – I can feel it. / Any interest in running with me or know of someone or a group that I should tag along with – DM me

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Ask yourself: what is it that makes me come alive? Whatever that thing was or is now is the thing that deserves your full attention.” – by Eric John Campbell

morning babble / Friday 04-21-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Record Store Day Weekend – the actual day though is Saturday. Taylor Swift is this year’s global ambassador for Record Store Day – so, of course, she’s got something special going on – she’s releasing a special limited edition two-sided 7-inch clear vinyl record containing two versions of her song “The Lakes” from her 2020 album Folklore. Only 10,000 copies of the vinyl are available. That’s not a lot. However, there are more than 300 other new releases from other artists going on sale for Saturday such as Madonna, Pearl Jam, Blondie, Mariah Carey, Wilco, the Foo Fighters, and a 30-year anniversary release of PM Dawn’s sophomore album, “The Bliss Album…?”PM Dawn. (clip) You might not know that one. About this (clip)

Record Store Day encourages music fans to support independent record stores – I will be visiting mine – Rainbow Records in Newark, DE. Will I be in line for the Taylor Swift release? If it’s still there – why not? Otherwise, I’m all in on the P.M. Dawn and possibly the Pearl Jam.

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that! Heary on the rock / alternative today.

• Missed a new song last Friday via Ben Folds who will be releasing his 1st album in 8 years called What Matters Most – full release happens on June 2nd. This song is the 2nd release off that album: “Exhausting Lover” (clip) She’s tiring him out.

• The foreplay for this next song began back on January 9th. Sped up in March and continued throughout this month. Finally – today – the teasing ends as we get the new song from AJR called “The Dumb Song” (clip) No news on a full album release since that is apparently still being worked on by the brotherly trio. Apparently, they are also still at work on the music to a Broadway adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon. AJR – keeping themselves busy!

• First solo album in nearly 11 years. He’s half of the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels. I’m talking about Killer Mike. This past Monday, he held a listening party in New York . . . in a church. (clip) The song is called “Don’t Let the Devil” and the new album is called Michael – we get that full album though until June 2nd.

• Another album that is dropping on June 2nd – that’s a big day coming up – we the first album from the Foo Fighters since the unexpected death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins last year in March. Album is called But Here We Are and this is the song called “Rescued” (clip)

• Other New Music: /// Sublime has a new live album out called $5 At The Door – it’s from a show back in 1994 // Got another new song from Ed Sheeran called “Boat” which is off is upcoming album called (-) due out May 5th / Lastly, Soundgarden could release one last album featuring the incredible vocals of their late frontman Chris Cornell. In a statement, Soundgarden announced they had resolved a dispute with Chris Cornell’s estate and will be working together moving forward. It could be happening. (clip)

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“No one is you, and THAT is your power.” – by Dave Grohl

morning babble / Monday 04-17-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

So, the treadmill broke yesterday.

2 years ago – this would have been a huge issue for this

1 year ago – I had the Plantar Fasciitis issue

But now – I just want to run because I enjoy it. I also enjoy running early on the treadmill – like 4:30am to 5am. Not doing that in the woods.

No 3-Day Fast this week / Pushed to the last week of this month – need to keep my monthly streak alive – this will be 28 months in a row of 3-Day Fasts.

Breakfast all last week / Easter Candy / Trip to Trader Joe’s

GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –

Talking about setting up some goals and knocking them down – just for the week

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“If somone brings you down pick you’re self right back up. (spelling errors included)” – by Violet Evans

morning babble / Friday 04-14-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Wrapping up in Arizona – need this weekend to get away from the vacation!

Also, this past week, I’ve been the trash can for many of my children’s unwanted foods. I’m going to have to run like twice a day next week while also doing a 3-Day Fast? Who knows!

Definitely need a major tune-up after the food that was inhaled. Seriously. It was a lot.

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• Paul Simon (clip) has announced his first all-new collection of music for an album since 2018. The album, which came to Simon via a dream, is called: Seven Psalms and is due out May 19th. The album is a 33-minute, seven-movement collection intended to be heard—according to Simon’s announcement—as one continuous piece. So, there are some clips out there and teases but no actual single release yet. So, all I got today still is (clip)

• The National are back with another new song (their 4th) from First Two Pages of Frankenstein. “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” features Phoebe Bridgers, and it arrives with a new psychedelic music video, directed by Bridgers’ brother, Jackson (clip). The new song follows the band’s previously released tracks “Eucalyptus,” “New Order T-Shirt” and “Tropic Morning News.” Full album drop on April 28th.

• (clip) This past week, Saba teamed up with No I.D. to release a new song called “Back in Office.” No news on a full album, but I’ll take this one song.

• Metallica’s new album, 72 Seasons is out in its entirety today. Their tour dates have kicked off in Europe already, but there are North American shows later in this year.

• Lastly, Post Malone is back with a new song called “Chemical” (clip) Poppy sound happening there. Again, this is “Chemical” – the first song of more to come as he slowly working towards his 5th studio album.

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“I choose to live, not just exist.” – by James Hetfield

morning babble / Monday 04-10-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

So, I’m in Arizona.

My favorite part so far as we prepare for the week ahead – our trips with Lyft drivers and what we have learned about the area.

I learned two things about McDonald’s:

1. Sierra Vista is a military town and soldiers were not allowed to walk around in uniform, so there needed to be a way to serve them in their cars. In 1975, the very first McDonald’s drive-thru was born. So, credit Sierra Vista, Arizona. (Lethal Weapon clip)
2. The only McDonald’s with teal arches and not the trademark known golden arches is located in Sedona, Arizona. There are rules in place for buildings in Sedona to make sure that no structure intrudes too much on the surrounding natural scenery. Back in 1993, city officials believed that a bright yellow M would do just that. They claimed that gold would clash with the surrounding red rocks, and opted for a more pleasing, soft blue. (Pix)

Okay – that’s all I got for McDonald’s. But then I learned that apparently the best pizza in America can be found here in Arizona. People will actually fly in, wait in line (that’s key), enjoy their pie, and then fly back out. I then began remembering to myself about this guy Chris who had appeared on the Dave Chang show podcast. Both – when Chris was present or not on the show – Chang claimed that Chris had the best pizza around. So, I looked up all of this and it’s the same guy / same location. Pizzeria Bianco (Chris Bianco is the chef).

Lastly, when you order your tacos – you choose red chiles or green chiles OR Christmas Style, which is obviously both.

Speaking of Christmas, I’ve been feeling like Ralphie in the Santa Line. (clip) I’ve said it before but vacationing takes practice. Typically, I talk about setting up goals on a Monday – for me, that’s what I’m trying to do. Decompress, relax, enjoy myself.

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Nobody is thinking you’re an imposter. They are busy thinking about themselves.” – by Ryan Holiday

morning babble / Friday 04-07-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

This past week – 29 years ago – we lost Kurt Cobain. On that same dreaded date of April 5th – we lost Layne Staley 21 years ago.

Happier news – this past week, I did enjoy one of the new drinks at Dunkin called the Caramel Chocolate Cold Brew. Oh – it’s good. BUT – I ordered it that one day and then I went into the store to order it again the next day.

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• Michigan’s Greta Van Fleet have announced that they have a new album – Starcatcher – coming out this summer. To be specific: July 21st. That’s far. Don’t worry today we get one of the album’s singles called “Meeting the Master” (clip)

• Earlier in the summer – June 2nd – actually, that’s still considered Spring, isn’t it? Eh – anything after Memorial Day is Summer. Anyway, Mr. Ben Harper has a full album drop on 6/2 called Wide Open Light, but today we get one of the new songs AND it’s a duet with Jack Johnson. Song is called “Yard Sale.” (clip)

• A surprise new song last night from Drake called “Search & Rescue” (clip) Within the track, there’s audio of Kim Kardashian talking about her relationship with ex-husband Kanye West in the E! series finale of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” in 2021. “I didn’t come this far, just to come this far and not be happy, remember that,” she says in the sample. Don’t read it Brent, play it (clip)

• You know the drill by now with every new full moon this year, we get another song from Mr. Peter Gabriel. For the month of April, it’s called i/o and is described as “A song about the interconnectedness of everything”

• Other New Music: 20th Anniversary of Meteora from Linkin Park is out – over 5 hours of music – clear out the schedule for the rest of the day, I got some music to listen to. // The Talbott Brothers have a 7-song album that actually came out last Friday called Stripped from Studio Space Camp – I’m mad I missed that just over the name of the album. Really enjoy their chill sound though. Be sure to give them a listen. // Lastly, Jonas Brothers have a new song about “Waffle House” – zero references to bacon though (clip)

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Focus on the step in front of you, not the entire staircase.” – by someone

morning babble / Monday 04-03-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

What’s wrong with this world today . . . I’ll get to that in a second.

Happy Monday! Glad to get that April Fools Weekend done. Social Media all confusing – Chick-Fil-A open on Sundays . . . let’s go! They’re not.

I’ll tell you one thing that has happened which I wish was a joke. No more cream cheese at Dunkin locations. That’s a tragedy. (pix) That’s my favorite bagel concoction from them. Everything Bagel – toasted – with cream cheese and then I get a side of Snackin’ Bacon. At home, I level out the cream cheese and place the Snackin’ Bacon on top.

GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –

Talking about setting up some goals and knocking them down – just for the week

I had a possible “quote of the day” that sent me down a rabbit hole – “Positive obsession is a gift, not a behavior to be suppressed.” I wanted to know who said it. So – I “googled” it. BUT – I couldn’t find the person to be quoted.

I did find a blog post from one my favorite authors – Austin Kleon – from St. Patty’s Day, two years ago in 2021. Click here for the posting – “You have to be obsessed.”

He writes about another author – Octavia E Butler – and one of her essays that is titled “Positive Obsession”. He quotes her as saying “Obsession can be a useful tool if it’s positive obsession.”

Within another essay about persistence from Butler, Kleon highlights the quote from her: “Forget talent. If you have it, fine. Use it. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter. As habit is more dependable than inspiration, continued learning is more dependable than talent.”

Just get back at it / Set a goal and go for it / Keep Going!

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“If you don’t have a dream, there is no way to make one come true.” – by Steven Tyler

morning babble / Friday 03-31-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Last day of March – a fourth of the year is done. How are them goals coming along – more on that on Monday.

My own Skippy jar.

Anyway – before the new music. I must say I’ve been struggling lately – just staying “up” and “happy.” Some work stuff hasn’t been too much fun. BUT – music – the music of Sam Cooke I have latched onto nightly in my house library.

So much so that the song came on in the car – “Wonderful World” and I declared “Don’t touch. Let this play.” He immediately thought – ahhh, you love Animal House. The song can be heard in the famous lunchroom scene of the 1978 classic, Animal House. (clip)

That’s not why. Music always plays a “pick me up role” for myself. (clip)

New Music Friday:

I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!

• If you’re a Tyler, the Creator fan, then today is like Christmas for you. This past Monday, he tweeted out: “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST WAS THE FIRST ALBUM I MADE WITH ALOT OF SONGS THAT DIDNT MAKE THE FINAL CUT. SOME OF THOSE SONGS I REALLY LOVE, AND KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, SO IVE DECIDED TO PUT A FEW OF THEM OUT.” So, basically, he is releasing a bunch of songs that were tossed aside during the sessions for his Call Me If You Get Lost album from 2021. The new collection is: Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale. Also released this week was one of those singles as a video. This is “Dogtooth” (clip)

• I realize that I’ve talked about this one a lot – like 4 singles were released prior to today’s full album drop. I’m talking about boygenius and their new album called: the record. As I mentioned before, I know I’m certainly not the target for this album, but clearly something magical is happening with this trio as a group and I can definitely hear that. The latest single being pushed through on Spotify is called “Cool About It” (clip)

• Darius Rucker aka “Hootie” (Hootie clip) has a new single out. When asked what the song is about, he said: ““it’s a song about that time when you’re sitting at home with your significant other or girlfriend or wife or boyfriend or husband or whatever, and you know it’s time. It’s time to get down to business. That’s what that song’s all about.” Very nice – game on! The name of the song is “Fires Don’t Start Themselves.” (clip) Again – that’s Dairus Rucker who is putting the final touches on his 7th solo album called Carolyn’s Boy in honor of his late mother. The album art is a portrait of her. In an interview, “I wanted to name the record Carolyn’s Boy because Mom never got to see any of my success,” Rucker offered in the interview. “She died before any of this happened, so it’s just another homage to the greatest woman I’ve ever known.”

Cecil

• (clip) Other New Music: The White Stripes album from 2003 -, Elephant – has been released as a special edition 20th anniversary album. There is a ton of live cuts on here. The double-vinyl package arrives April 21st. I just received my pre-shipment label info – nothing “in transit” quite yet.

Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.

Remember – it’s an April Fool’s Day weekend. Don’t get fooled!

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Always smile, life isn’t full of reasons to smile, but your smile itself is a reason for others to smile too!” – by that person who said it first (unknown)

morning babble / Monday 03-27-23

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!

Welcome to National Scribble Day (show book) and yes, I’m also 50 now.

Proof of being 50 – I got this in the mail. (show AARP) I’ve been asked – “Do you feel 50?” And – I don’t. I’m feeling some age – most definitely. But not the age of 50. (clip)

I went down an odd rabbit hole for music this past Saturday night. (clip) For some reason, I just noticed all the recent albums from G. Love & Special Sauce. Like – one from last year, 2021, 2020, 2017, 2015. But you see what bums me out – I’m all into new music and I obviously missed out on those albums from last year and the year before.

From G. Love, it triggered the memory of Jimmie’s Chicken Shack (clip), back in the day, I was all over this band. My favorite album being from 1997. Now, their most recent album was from 2008. But then, I looked closer. They just released a new single “Simple Concept” – back on the 15th . . . not even 2 weeks ago. Totally NOT on my radar. (clip).

Lastly, for music reminiscing, this song popped up in my search for all this other music (clip) Does anyone remember that song? Listen again. (clip) That was “Groovy Train” from the band – The Farm, which was probably my last CD purchased of that type of late 80s / early 90s sound. Goes hand in hand with EMF (clip) Jesus Jones (clip) and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (clip). After that, I really changed by tune more to Rock and the Grunge Sound (clip).

Whew – that was a musical smorgasbord from a true Generation Xer.

So, I’m definitely 50 and grabbing onto some memories here and that’s okay, right?

I’m looking forward to all the upcoming memories to make.

So, it’s Monday and I typically talk about setting up goals on Monday and then knocking them down the rest of the week. I’m doing my timing blocks, because I’ve got some things that I need to get done. But – I think a good goal overall to always continue – go make some memories.

By the way, if you want to get me something for my Birthday . . . get me subscribers. Have someone you know to sign up on YouTube – now, that’s assuming you have already done the good deed yourself. To everyone though – I say “Thank You!”

Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“A new broom can sweep the floor, but an old broom knows where the dirt is.” – by Paul Mooney