Fascinated by Manuel Moreale's take on blog comments.

I'm not a fan of comments in general and I think commenting on something should be done in one of two ways:

Privately via email or via direct messaging

Publicly by posting a reply on your own website

This is interesting as it has literally worked; look at me posting my reply here.

The beauty of independent publishing means there are no rules other than your own. There are any number of reasons not to allow comments. Maybe your blog is just your way of shouting one way into the void. Maybe your software of choice doesn't support comments. Maybe it's spam, trolls, monsters. It could turn a fun thing into a chore. And who wants that?

I allow and encourage comments, always have. Back in the day before the socials became a thing, commenting was a way to foster a little community of like minded individuals. Those halcyon days of Dave2's posts that could garner 30+ comments. It was a fun way to discover other blogs. You interact with them, they interact with you, you find an audience.

But here in 2024, with trackbacks and pingbacks still being a thing, I'd say Manuel has a good point. Maybe replying on your own site is also a decent way to engage with other kindred spirits. I'm going to give it a try.

Rusty Foster's Taylor Swift take.

Taylor Swift's music is not really my jam so I don't know if her new album is any good. In the interest of journalistic integrity I tried to listen to it but got bored three songs in so my review is: it sounds like Taylor Swift

Fair enough. I like her Karma song from some other album she did 🤷🏻‍♂️

In January I wrote how I'm fully vested in the streaming lifestyle. While my focus in that post was Spotify and music, it also applies to movies too. I think the last Blu-Ray purchased was The Grand Budapest Hotel or something? We don't even own a Blu-Ray player nowadays.

I'm making a tradeoff here for convenience vs availability.

Chad Comello has a piece about why he's still flying the physical media flag. And he makes that very point about availability. What do you do if the rug is pulled out from under you? Streaming services could wither on the vine. Studios and record companies could change their licensing deals. Movies and albums can just disappear.

I already run into this from time to time with Spotify. If a band has had a lengthy career they're likely to have been on a few different record labels. Not all labels have licensed their work to streaming services. That gap in a body of work is a legit problem. I'm looking at you Killing Joke.

But the convenience of having almost everything at my fingertips keeps that lure of streaming services alive. At least for now.

I commented on Chad's piece about the other elephant in the room.

Reintroducing physical media would mean a complete rethink of our lifestyle. We downsized, and because we were over a decade into the digital lifestyle all those old CDs and DVDs were donated. There would need to be a rethink of where this new media would live. And the non-trivial outlay of acquiring all the equipment to play said media again.

Dear reader, before you keel over horrified, I do still have my vinyl in storage. I'm not some animal.

Also the irony of me saying all of the above when I've just started buying physical books again is not lost on me. What can I tell you, It's complicated.

It's true.

Who did I listen to most this week? #lastfm says: Carpenter Brut (41), OGRE Sound (28), Perturbator (27), The Human League (26) & Nightstop (19) [via lastweekly]

Happy first-use-of-AC-in-2024 day for those who celebrate.

Got to thinking about Tesla's announcement of their 10% reduction in workforce. For years they gained a foothold because they were early to market and their cars just had something about them. They were cool, the company was cool, Elon was cool (I know, I know, stay with me) . I've admired the Model S and Model X from afar for years.

In 2024 all major car manufacturers make electric vehicles. The competition well and truly caught up. Now if you want a fancy lad electric vehicle you have other options. Those made by Volvo, Audi, Jaguar, BMW, and Mercedes are compelling. Tesla no longer the only game in luxury EV town.

But there's also a pretty big elephant in the room.

When it comes to me even thinking about a Tesla, that particular ship couldn't have sailed further if I'd pushed it out of the docks myself. Musk's toxic behavior has ensured I will never give a cent to anything he's involved in. I'm sure I'm not alone.

On the one hand I thought it was great Blur were headlining Coachella. But on the other hand, it's a bit of an odd choice. Blur were never that big here in the US to begin with. A lot of Americans my age would know Song 2, but 1997 was a long time ago.

And lo, the crowd wasn't very receptive. Perhaps Blur's management should have known this festival in 2024 really wouldn't have their target audience 🤷🏻‍♂️

last.fm are raising the price of their pro accounts. Which to be fair, has them join the club of lots of other services I pay for. There was much lamenting in r/lastfm on Reddit. And I get it, people will complain, as is their right.

I don't mind paying for services I get a lot of value out of. And last.fm is certainly one of those. I mean, I'm 18 years into it at this point, it's not like I'm suddenly going to have a change of heart. It's a coffee a month for something I enjoy. So yeah I'll continue paying to keep the lights on.