We were early adopters of Netflix.  We became subscribers when they used to send you DVDs in the mail.  I think we started with a $7.99 per month subscription.  As Netflix morphed into a streaming service with original content, we continued to subscribe.  Our last monthly charge?  $28.60.  Wow.  But here's the even crazier thing:  we're watching it less and less.  I enjoy their sports programming, but there are very few other shows that I watch.  

You know what I watch a lot of now?  YouTube.  I've found some really great shows on YouTube and the best part of it is that they are FREE!  You know that BRP really likes FREE, right?  And not just the band (although I like them, too).  Check out this video - love the crowd!

I started watching a guy named Finn McKenty, who called himself the punkrock MBA, but apparently he was a complete poseur and never really liked the music.  It's crazy because I watched his Black Flag and Weezer episodes, and they were pretty good.  He says he did it just for the money.  Crazy story, right?  I happen to like both Black Flag and Weezer, and am pretty disappointed about how this story evolved.

I mean, how can you not like this Weezer video?  It's creative and features a great song to boot:

I get that Black Flag isn't to everyone's taste.  But I think they have a bunch of good songs like this one:
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But you know what's great?  I didn't pay a dime to watch the punkrock MBA channel.  It's not like Netflix that serves up a ton of lightweight or woke garbage and I pay for it.  

You can also find a bunch of great music on YouTube.  Like the XTC documentary which is awesome.  XTC is one of my favorite all-time bands and YouTube is full of content on the band.  Here's a great song by a great band:

And I take it that you are into art, too?  I am big-time even though I'm a complete hack and amateur at art appreciation.  Nonetheless, I found this fantastic YouTube channel called Great Art Explained by James Payne.  Here is Payne's explanation of what he is trying to achieve:

"I am on a mission to demystify the art world and discover the stories behind the world’s greatest paintings and sculptures. Each episode will focus on one piece of art and break it down, using clear and concise language free of 'art-speak'. ​"

The dude is great as he puts the artist in context as he explains the single masterpiece, and the episodes are short enough so that you can stay tuned in.  Highly recommended.  Here's one example:
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How did you like that?  Want to hear another song just to come full circle?  Of course you do.  Here's Philly's own Tisbury's:

In the words of Arnold, I'll be back.  Check out these hippos from South Africa and I'll catch you on the flip side:

Since I retired, I've been reading a lot more than I did previously.  I've always loved to read, but The Man sucks so much time and effort out of you that it's difficult to do when you're working (well, that and watching football on TV).  I generally read non-fiction, and I've been on an ancient Rome jag for a while.  I've read a few Rome books by the wonderful Mary Beard, a long history of the Punic Wars by Adrian Goldworthy, and some Rome novels, too.

However, I have trouble doing a non-stop non-fiction marathon.  I've got a stack of great books that I'm getting ready to tackle, but I had to stop and do some fiction reading first.  I did that to clear my head and so that I didn't have to concentrate as much while I'm reading.  I came across a great author of historical fiction named Alan Furst, and I've devoured 4 of his books.  They are generally about the WW2 era in Europe, and usually involved lots of espionage, but they are literate and have excellent character development.  I highly recommend them.  

Another author that I discovered is Michael Connelly of The Lincoln Lawyer fame.  While I liked those novels, I really liked his Harry Bosch series of novels.  In fact, I liked them so much that I also got into the series Bosch and Bosch Legacy on Prime.  They are really great, too.  Bosch is a murder detective in LA.  While he is devoted to getting to the truth and working the murder cases hard, he does so in a manner that sometimes deviates from the legal rules of the game.  The moral choices that he makes and how he gets there are as interesting as the well-written stories themselves.

What about music you ask?  How about this great old tune from the Climax Blues Band.  I wish I could sing like this guy:
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​As you know, I love the Beatles and I have been stuck on this particular track for the better part of 2025:

And for those wanting something from the 21st century, here are two tracks that I love.  First, it's Fatboy Slim's Praise You.  And then it's Role Model's Sally, When The Wine Runs Out.

Good enough for today?  I hope so.  I have to go do something or other, or maybe nothing at all, and I hope that you have a great day.  More later - I'm feeling my groove again!
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I've been having trouble getting my iPhone pictures to load onto the Weebly site (which is where I publish BRP).  I used Gemini AI to figure out the issue, and it turns out that my iPhone takes photos in a format called HEIC to save storage space.  But it's not a .jpg and certain web platforms, such as Weebly, don't support .HEIC formatted photes.

To solve the problem, I have to open the photo, right click it, and then save it again as a .jpg photo.  I tried it with this photo from the excellent archeological museum in Naples, Italy and it worked.  It's still a bit of a pain for me to have to reformat the pictures, but at least I have a work-around now.

And with that, I'm going to mosey on and do something else this fine morning.
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I don't think I've ever posted about Robyn Hitchcock.  I'm not the world's biggest RH fan, but he does have some great songs, both with the Soft Boys and all on his lonesome.  The trigger for writing about him is that I just got my 2025 year-end Spotify mix of the songs that I listened to the most this year, and two of them were by Robyn.  Here is Queen of Eyes by the Soft Boys - great guitar-based poppy rock tune:

How can you not like that song?  Impossible.  And here he is Robyn all by himself with So You Think You're In Love:
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Man, are those songs great!  I think I'm going to see RH the next time he tours.  

Hope you're doing well.  Keep on checking back periodically to see if I'm posting - you won't want to miss it!

I love this band and I love this song.  Enjoy!

Well, what do you know?  I haven't posted in a loooong time, and I'm now putting up a new post.  I lost steam on the blog a few years back and once you lose your mojo....  But I logged in out of curiosity just to see what was happening and I got the hankering just to post something.  Voila!

​And now that I'm here, I'm having trouble with the site.  Of course!  I tried to post a picture of Jonathan Richman (who I saw this year, but many months ago), and it wouldn't post.  Hmm, I'll have to see about fixing that.  

I've had some changes since my last post.  I retired!  And yes, it's magnificent!  Only idiots say otherwise.  That move has brought about a number of changes, but one of the unexpected ones is that I'm seeing a lot less music than before.  Part of it is that I never seem to be home when there is a band that I want to see.  Part of it is that I don't drive back and forth to work and listen to new music to find bands that I want to see.  And part of it is that I'm simply offended by pricing for concerts - $300 for a crappy nosebleed seat to see Rush?  Nah, I'll pass.

But I have been seeing a ton of cultural and nature stuff that is top notch.  I went to South Africa and saw some amazing sites, like this elephant:
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And no, I did not use a telephoto lens for that - that dude was so close to where I was that I just gaped and snapped.  I know that Africa isn't for everyone, and in fact, it's exactly what you have heard that it is:  3d world poor with pockets of wealth; beautiful and huge; full of incredible sites, both good and bad; and far far away.  But to see the animals on their own turf doing their own thing was something I'll never forget.  

We did a few trips to Europe, too, and a bunch to the Free State of Florida and to other domestic places because we live in the greatest and most beautiful country on the planet.  I've seen more great art, architecture and natural vistas in the last 24 months that I have to pinch myself to make sure I really got the opportunity to do it.  And of course, I can't figure out how to upload those pictures!  

I did see some bands:  Low Cut Connie; Jonathan Richman; The Tisburys; Pop Evil; The Dip; Sheer Mag (twice!); The Hoodoo Gurus; The Pretenders; KC and the Sunshine Band; and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.  Plus a couple of AC/DC tribute bands (don't laugh, they were both good).  This is way less than I used to see, but hey, that's what fit into the schedule.  I'm ready to see a couple of bands in 2026 already - the Hives, the Nude Party and yes, Sheer Mag again - plus I'm probably going to go and see AC/DC themselves.  I'm not totally out of the game, hahaha! 

OK, I'm going to leave this here and try to get some answers on why I can't post certain pictures.  No promises on more posts, but I'm feeling pretty good about being back.  And with that I'll bid you goodbye until next time.

The great jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis died recently.  He was 87.  I can't say that I know much of his music, but I do know that he and his band did an amazing version of Hang On Sloopy.  Remember that track?  Remember the McCoys version (featuring Rick Derringer)?  Here they are, back to back.  Great song regardless of who is playing it.

It's nonstop fun here at BRP!