When Democratic candidates lose debates, like Obama lost his first debate with Romney in 2012 or Biden lost to Trump in June, they acknowledge it and take the steps necessary to rectify the situation. By not acknowledging the plain reality that we can all see, Trump maintains his grip over the cult that accepts his word as gospel. But he also fails to reach out to potential voters outside his cult, which he needs to do in order to win.

Trump and the Republican Party have no ideas so they mainstream racist hoaxes from Nazis to keep their base outraged and fearful so they don't stray from the authoritarian cult leader they've been conned into believing is the only one who can keep them safe.

Issue 1 of Utriculi, a new journal of experimental literature and boundary-pushing art, is now available for viewing and download at https://www.sandy-press.com/ My thanks to editor Harry K. Stammer for including five of my poems in part one: "Anacrusis" from my music-themed collaboration with Chris Stroffolino; two pieces based on writing prompts given to me by my teenager; and standalone poems "Genocide" and "Too Late the Parasite". #poetry

Didn't Trump accept an endorsement from RFK Jr., a guy who recently boasted he's got a "freezer full of roadkill"? Stop projecting your own weird food kinks onto immigrants, you racist creeps.

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/EBsIag0TJKk
3. Jungle – "Let's Go Back". West London's Jungle are back with a groovy club concoction anchored in retro soul that, like "The Last Time" by Brooke Combe, feels utterly current. The choreography in the video is great, too. #music

https://youtu.be/gFxVi_JkJN8
2. Brooke Combe – "The Last Time". Northern Soul rave-up from the Edinburgh-born singer which, like Jungle's "Let's Go Back", manages to sound both classic and contemporary. #music

My Top 3 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 36):
https://youtu.be/806NwmR6VR4
1. Dummy – "Soonish…" This track from Los Angeles band Dummy starts out evoking the spae-age bachelor pad grooves of Stereolab and then adds a few blasts of My Bloody Valentine (i.e. loud & distorted, but still melodic) guitar shredding. #music

If Trump wins and Republicans capture both houses of Congress, they will absolutely make abortion illegal in all 50 states, no matter how hard they try to obscure their intentions now when they still need votes. The good news: a Democratic trifecta is possible, with Kamala Harris in the Oval Office to sign a bill restoring full reproductive rights and humane healthcare to women all over the country.

The poem itself can be read in the Spring 2024 issue of BlazeVOX here: https://www.blazevox.org/blazevox-journal/blazevox24-spring-2024

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIk88Sovihutc2-JjePgexog Here for your enjoyment is a YouTube playlist of all the music Chris Stroffolino and I reference in our collaborative poem "Cafe Pick Me Up".

“In the Nightclub”, as published in the Local Color section of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 1, 1992.

Pin-stripe Calathea, Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, July 2024.

Reminder that Trump's cognitive capacity is rapidly disintegrating, exposing his core mental features: toxic narcissism and megalomania. The election is in 57 days and the race is effectively tied in the swing states that will decide the outcome (Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina). Senate and House races all over the country will also determine whether we'll continue to be a democracy or fall to this authoritarian cult with its demented figurehead.

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/n6zF4Xl5vDU
5. Gardens – "Flaws". Moody, psychedelic/garage inflected indie rock from Vienna, Austria's Gardens. #music

https://youtu.be/nIjQr6J8qLw
4. Oceanator – "First Time". With its introductory power chord riffing, you half expect Brooklyn's Oceanator to start singing about the boys being back in town or some such. But once the harmony vocals kick in, what emerges is a pretty good modern power pop tune. #music

https://youtu.be/zIYfSXPk2Eg
3. Tasha – "Love's Changing". Chicago singer-songwriter Tasha with a beautifully sung jazz-folk meditation rooted in a shuffle beat, strummed acoustic guitar and piano fills that wouldn't be out of place on a Nick Drake record. #music

https://youtu.be/pbDBGuOM718
2. Wunderhorse – "Arizona". Another moody UK indie-rock gem from Wunderhorse. Based on their other material, I kept expecting the full band to burst in, but no, they left this one simple with just an acoustic guitar and lone voice. And it totally works. #music

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 35):
https://youtu.be/pe5Bsr-wpuA
1. The Waeve – "Broken Boys". You could picture this song showing up in the middle of a Blur record with its punk guitars and quirky effects, and not for nothing: The Waeve is Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's project with partner and ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall. Pushes my Britpop buttons for sure. #music