Chris Conaton
@conatonc.bsky.social
Music writer, movie lover, professional grocery shopper
In case anyone was unclear as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Islamophobia is still a HUGE part of the Republican platform. “They’re trying to do Sharia law!” and posting photos of people existing while Muslim in grocery stores are both Republican scare tactics here in Texas right now!
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoJD Vance: "We don't want the next administration, whoever -- god forbid you're gonna have President El-Sayed in three years ... "
Seems like this was a bad night in Michigan for the people who conduct polls. Did any of them have this as a nail-biting squeaker won by less than 2 points?
Houston and Birmingham had different problems in the UFL, but two of them were the same: the teams weren’t good, and the league plays afternoon games outdoors in May. The latter is an issue for attendance in the South when the former is also true. It’s something the UFL needs to think about more.
UFL exits Birmingham, Houston in market realignment
The UFL is ceasing operations of the Birmingham Stallions and Houston Gamblers as part of its market realignment and long-term growth strategy.
sportsbusinessjournal.com
Tonight’s mystery movie was One Night Only. If you were wondering if they could pull off a romcom with the premise of The Purge (premarital sex is legal once a year for 12 hours), turns out they can’t. The premise keeps intruding on the wacky romcom hijinks and it sits together very uncomfortably.
Finally saw Disclosure Day. It’s like Spielberg decided to direct the action-packed finale of a tv show, and just didn’t bother to make the 50 episodes leading up to it. It’s an audacious concept, but it didn’t quite work for me.
We were SO close to everyone getting to make jokes involving the mostly-forgotten Dreamworks movie Flushed Away, but England took that from us.
Staybridge Suites in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I know the hot breakfast is the draw, but you have cereal, too. “Oh, sorry, we ran out of 2% milk, you’ll have to use the almond milk” with 45 minutes left to go in your breakfast period is unacceptable.
Clarence Thomas taking 90 pages to say, “Fuck Them Kids.”
Aaron Nagler@aaronnagler.bsky.social · last mo.Clarence Thomas wrote a 91 PAGE dissent?? Oh he's MAD mad.
I know the list is endless but I genuinely think trashing the legitimate congressionally chartered org for celebrating the 250th to instead hijack our national assets and taxpayer funds for his personality cult grifter crap should, in and of itself, be fully sufficient to merit removal from office.
I usually enjoy Old Crow Medicine Show. Here, bandleader Ketch Secor was determined to make an album celebrating the US’ 250th birthday. Even when Trump was elected again and started a fascist teardown of the country, Secor powered through and stuck to the plan: www.popmatters.com/old-crow-med...
Old Crow Medicine Show Celebrate America at 250 Years » PopMatters
Ketch Secor's insistence on making a "Hooray for America!" record ends up putting Old Crow Medicine Show in an awkward position.
popmatters.com
I would never show my face in public again if I was on the receiving end of this burn
Outspoken™️@out5p0ken.bsky.social · last mo.On March 26, 2026, during a debate on violence against women in Germany’s Bundestag, left-wing MP Kathrin Gebel was repeatedly interrupted by AfD MP Martin Reichardt. She responded: “Mr. Reichardt, the clitoris has 3,000 nerve endings, and you’re still more sensitive. That’s quite an achievement.”
Haiti’s players may not be the best team at the World Cup, but they are world class divers.
Not sure if this counts as petty, but I remember opening book 10 of The Wheel of Time only to discover that Robert Jordan had decided to start the book with a 100-page prologue featuring a brand new character and that was it for me, despite all the years and time invested in that series.
ONeillJones@oneilljones.com · 2mo agoalright y'all, what's the pettiest reason you DNF'd a book? I'll go first- the protag of the book disparaged Star Trek's Seven of Nine and said she wasn't sexy
As a person who isn’t in Maine, my Graham Platner opinion doesn’t count for much. But he seems like a real shithead, and I’m really not sure if I’m buying his “reformed shithead” shtick.
Using obvious AI-generated art in advertising can turn off a significant portion of the customers the advertisers are trying to attract. Here’s a corollary. If your company purchases a Cybertruck and wraps it with ads for the company, you are getting a negative return on that investment.
Intentionally or not, The Mandalorian and Grogu followed the course of about 80% of all anime tv-to-film adaptations: Stick to the basic premise, keep the characters to their broad archetypes, and don’t worry about hardly any of the ongoing plotlines from the show. For me, this worked pretty well!
We all literally, LITERALLY just watched NASA fly four absolute all-stars the farthest any human has ever been from Earth and back flawlessly, and yet we're still continuously forced to pretend Musk's bullshit catastrophe factory is the future of human space exploration
Nash@radiodeadair.com · 2mo agoSurprising no one, things did not in fact go according to plan.
If the actor with British accent is evil then you’re watching Sci fi. If the actor with a British accent is good then it’s Fantasy. If the actor with a British accent knocks something over then it’s a Rom com.
In case you were wondering how the youths are feeling about AI, this clip from a corporate VP doing a commencement speech at the University of Central Florida is worth watching.
Cabel Sasser@cabel.panic.com · 3mo agothis graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive. when you're inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn't.
@tmbg.bsky.social have a new album out, which means I get to ramble about it for @popmatters.com ! www.popmatters.com/they-might-b...
They Might Be Giants Are As Delightfully Weird As Ever » PopMatters
They Might Be Giants produce banger tracks, some really weird, very successful experiments, and another handful of songs where listeners' mileage may vary.
popmatters.com
You guys remember when Charlie Sheen was having a mental breakdown but kept insisting that everything was “Winning!” and everybody laughed and was entertained for a couple of months but then we stopped paying attention and his career tanked? Just thinking about that this morning.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo agoTrump: "The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear 'Dust.' This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezboolah situation. Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!
Recent rebrand a handful of gas stations around Houston. Are there any electric chargers at any of these Charge Ups? Nope. Just deep irony.
Sure, sure correlation is not causation but it really seems like Trump’s threat to initiate an apocalypse caused gas prices to jump about $.30 this morning to a new high.
Arlo Parks’ debut album from a few years ago is an R&B/folk masterpiece. On her new third album, she goes low-key dance-pop with pretty solid results. www.popmatters.com/arlo-parks-a...
Arlo Parks Dances the Pain Away with 'Ambiguous Desire' » PopMatters
Ambiguous Desire is a dance pop album, but since this is Arlo Parks, it's a low-key, introspective one. The indie dance pop feel is a successful sonic shift.
popmatters.com
I also did a review of the rerelease of Drive-By Truckers seminal album Decoration Day. This is an incredible album, but a lot of it is also really dark, lyrically, even for these guys. It’s also the debut of Jason Isbell, which is definitely noteworthy. www.popmatters.com/drive-by-tru...
Drive-By Truckers Decoration Day still packs a wallop
A new remix and rerelease of the Drive-By Truckers classic shows why the record was a classic in the first place.
popmatters.com
It’s been a while since I posted a music review, so here we go. I’d never heard of The Brook and the Bluff before listening to their fourth album, Werewolf, but I like them. They’re doing classic rock that kind of fits in between Tom Petty and the Eagles, but they’re doing it really well.
The Brook and the Bluff's Strong Songwriting Boosts Their Music » PopMatters
The Brook and the Bluff's Werewolf is a solid, straightforward album that will satisfy anyone looking for a classic rock fix.
popmatters.com
When Stubhub lets AI generate Facebook ads for them, it gives us things like this.
