Kevin Speicher

RON SINGS "SENSE OF WONDER" WRITTEN BY VAN MORRISON YouTube video by Rawnboy

Some Van Morrison music for your Thursday RS
youtu.be/J-aSguQ1DBo?...

Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills Some risk spending too few days in the emirate and too many in the UK

Tax exiles stuck in London desperately trying to get *back* to Dubai to avoid becoming tax resident in the UK? Just great stuff. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

i too would like to find that very special place on planet earth that is not exposed to geopolitics

Valley Winter Song (Fountains of Wayne Cover) YouTube video by John Scalzi

Here's a deep cut cover for fans of 2000s melodic pop. Fountains of Wayne peeps, I see you:

youtu.be/HifAglX2iS4

I no longer care what damage the popping of the bubble will cause to the world economy provided utter fuckwits like this get their comeuppance.

“Ah Caramel” cakes by Vachon — available only in Canada I think, I’ve never seen them in the US

Delicious, nauseating, they feel like they belong to some Linnean taxonomy that distantly includes the Cadbury creme egg

Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say A Stanford University team have tested their nasal spray vaccine in animals but still need to do human clinical trials.

Buried away at the bottom of this article, what could possibly go wrong with setting the immune system on permanent “amber alert”?

They're trying to *import* religious intolerance to Northern Ireland?

Passing the one-quarter mark through the 1200s on the list. Here's a playlist for #1201-1225 to help you through the weekend.

in the plus side, watching the president of the United States destroy the entire geopolitical order because he didn't get a shiny award has successfully cured all my hangups about subtle character motivation in writing

*Forget the ketamine, what about the cash

Where @aptshadow.bsky.social goes, scientists follow.

Picture of Greenland surrounded by a Lego wall of defence.

Love this

The Chrome Extension That’s Rekindling the 432 Hz Music Conspiracy Some believe that tuning our music to 432 Hz rather than 440 will make it sound better—and make us feel better. What gives?

Some believe that tuning our music to 432 Hz rather than 440 will make it sound better—and make us feel better. What gives?
https://bit.ly/48gmIh6

sponsored by Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

Happy new year!
The latest issue of Dublin magazine The GOO has arrived to kick off 2026 and features a couple of interviews I hosted, one with the awesome The Altered Hours whose self titled album was one of the best Irish albums this year.
Read the issue here: tr.ee/ZaoF3K5eKm

There it is. The final print edition, after more than 150 years, of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

elink75f.mail.breakermedia.com/ss/c/u001.o7...

‘The Wire’ actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. dies at 71 "The Wire" actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. died on Tuesday at age 71.

As fine an actor as he was, Isiah was an even better spirit and the greatest gentleman.

Tourist overcrowding of London is something else. But more concerningly I cannot find a Curlywurly bar anywhere for love or money and it's driving me a bit bananas

We're about to start a Season 2 rewatch.

'The Wire' Star James Ransone Dead at 46 After Apparent Suicide James Ransone -- an actor best known for his role in the hit show "The Wire" -- has died ... and the medical examiner is pointing to suicide as the cause.

I was just at the gym watching a The Wire s2 episode, and came back to this awful news. Ransone was incredible in that season — so believable as the screw-up determined to live down to everyone's low opinion of him. And great in almost everything else I saw him do. RIP.

Fine Shoe Sales & Repair at Jones and Danforth.

Todd Snider Live in Nashville 2010 - chimesfreedom Todd Snider passed away unexpectedly in November 2025 after some recent odd news. We remember his music and a live show from 2010.

Todd Snider Live in Nashville 2010: www.chimesfreedom.com/2025/11/17/t...

we must solve America’s loneliness epidemic

Reality Exists Without Observers? Boooo! Why I don’t root for the Many Worlds team

So, what's the deal with "observers" in quantum mechanics? Can one grok an interpretation of QM *without* observers? Well, @amandagefter.bsky.social has given this a lot of thought... nautil.us/reality-exis... via @nautil.us #physics #philosophy

This is good fun. I laughed so hard I cried. (Or maybe I just cried.)

Christmas in Washington: A Song About Heroes - chimesfreedom Merry Christmas to our readers who celebrate the holiday.  Today’s Christmas song is “Christmas in Washington” by Steve Earle.  The song first appeared on his El Corazón (1997) album, which is one of ...

Christmas in Washington: A Song About Heroes: www.chimesfreedom.com/2017/12/24/c...

Heroic tales that seldom end well.

Well, I’ll never win a Hugo or a Nebula, but I did finally make the front of Locus, which is no small thing.

Steely Dan | Black Friday Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions YouTube video by Top Load Tele

The only Black Friday we recognize here