Monday morning, Friday’s far away
Pray you’ll make it, it’s a magic day
Bells will ring and you’ll go out to play
Spend your money, pass the bottle
Friday rules
Joe Jackson
You betcha’, Joe.
Friday rules, indeed.
the good citizens of tnocs.com
Hello, and welcome, dear hearts and gentle people! I’m your humble correspondent, mt58, dutifully reporting with your weekend Friday tnocs.com wrap-up. I’m coming to you today live, at an altitude of 36,000 feet, from somewhere over the heartland.
Tis’ true. In real life, I’ve been traveling for the past seven days. But with all of the week’s work now in the rear view mirror, I’m very glad to be on my way back.
“The dog sitter is nice and all, but I’d much rather be chewing on your slippers.”
All of this week’s posting, updating, coding, and general fretting have all been done via mobile phone, which is… a challenge. But I’ve been using the cool wi-fi-in-the-sky-thingy all week, and it seems to work quite well. Really now, aren’t we lucky that we live in an age where all of this wonderful, totally free hi-tech is available at the tap of a screen?
OK, so I’m not so good at reading the fine print. I’ll adjust. I’ll work out a deal with Delta; perhaps a shoutout or two in my next scintillating article. But, no matter – very soon I’ll be deplaning and will back in front of my trusty Commodore 64 . I promise that things will return to quasi-normalcy.
It was only 35 days ago that we launched the new site. I can hardly believe that we’ve had this thing chugging along for a whole month! So many of our old comment section friends have been kind enough to stop by, have a look, delurk (!) and participate by offering a comment. And, eight of you good souls have honored us by writing articles. These missives have been informative, comforting, funny, and just plain interesting to read.
In a huge compliment, someone emailed me earlier in the week to refer to Tuesdays and Thursdays as “appointment reading.” That was so kind, but the words were not really for me. It’s a recognition of the hard work and excellent writing that many of you have been kind enough to share with all of us. Truer words were never spoken: Without you? I got nothin’.
And, you just knew it was coming: here’s my weekly request to ask you to please write for us! Send your story pitches, finished pieces, or just PM me to talk to me a about your general thoughts on what you might concoct for a featured article to: submissions@tnocs.com .
If any of our “legacy commenters” are of a mind, I can say fo’ sho’ that the folks that hang here – both veterans and newcomers – would really love to see your byline. Hit me up if you want to float an idea. I appreciate you in advance.
So, tray tables up please, as we start our descent. As always, be sure to hang here and use this “The Weekend Files” space to enjoy chatting about whatever you’d like, all weekend long. Comment away below with alacrity.
But first… the cool stuff that you may have missed this week…
This Past Week’s New Articles
You might agree: Some of the most open minded music fans that we have ever had the pleasure of interacting with hang around here. It’s just in our DNA. The Beatles, Whitney and Carl Douglas not withstanding, it’s always a great treat to learn about artists and genres that were never, ever on my radar. Our tnocs.com Contributing Author Both Grouse has done an absolutely fantastic job with his entertaining and very informative series about the 2022 Big Ears Music Festival. He crafted four articles packed with video clips, reviews and backstories of some wildly talented composers and performers that you’ll want to check out.
I often like to say that “it was a good day if I learn one interesting new fact before hitting the hay.” If that’s the case? Then I’m good for a month. Thank you very much, friend BG.
I can now say that I know some of the music of John Zorn.
Well done, BG.
We can always count on Contributing Author Chuck Small for great pieces, and this week was certainly no exception. In his latest article about having multiple “life plans”, he posed the question: ‘What would 25 year-old you think of present-day you?’ It’s an interesting thing to consider, and there were many thoughtful responses in the comment section. It was quite a nice read, and I’d say that to have a friend like Chuck at any age is a good thing for us all. Keep ’em coming , friend – we love reading your stuff.
Bill “Virgindog“ Bois provided the bassics (nyuk, nyuk) in a fun read about a recent rehearsal experience with a brand new band. No matter if you’re at Juilliard or Jimmy John’s, you can appreciate in equal measures (nyuk, nyuk) the low key (nyuk, nyuk) post-Covid victory of actual in-person collaboration once again… as well as: whenever in life, we manage to find that tiny little blossom amongst the weeds. Thanks, V-Dog. We’re lucky to have you.
Contributing author JJ Live At Leeds did a very cool thing this week. He started out his excellent piece speaking about worldwide travel to various sporting events . OK, that alone was interesting enough… but then our scribe turned things up to 11, as he told the story of a Paralympian who refused to give up, and what it was like to see all it happen in person. You have probably heard the phrase, “you put us right there in the room,” or in this case, the arena. But this is not an exaggeration – I was on the edge of my seat. JJ is a good soul, great writer, and clearly appreciates the triumph of the human spirit. Thanks, JJ, and good on you.
Site Stuff:
- How’m I doin? Is the site loading and responding fast enough? Any major fails? Looking good on desktop, tablet, and mobile? Please let me know what you like, hate or would like to see for your best viewing experience. Feedback is appreciated and respected.
- Cue the foreshadowing music: Some new tweaks and enhancements are on the way. More on this next week.
• Any suggestions for channels? Content? Cool features? General mayhem?
• I really do want to keep growing the site, but advertising is crazy-expensive. Any mentions about our hangout on social media or other such places are greatly appreciated, because they bring new traffic and new users to the site. For questions about what and where to post, please PM me at mt58@tnocs.com.
I want this to be your place. Tell me how to make it better.
Thank you so much for your support and kind comments about the site. I’m impossibly lucky to be able to hang with all of you. Have a great weekend, please be careful, take good care of yourselves and each other…
.. and good on you all.
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No issues to report, Cap’n. The site’s looking and behaving great. Thanks for making it a supercool hangout.
Keep the content coming, guys! It’s all fun reading. How would I get through my work day without you?
All looking good this week mt, many thanks for keeping the show on the road while you’re on the road, or in the air.
Home alone this weekend as wife and daughter are in an overnight trip taking mother in law to the theatre for Mamma Mia the musical. I wasn’t invited, I’ll get over it. A whole weekend in control of home entertainment, luxury. On my way home from a lengthy walk in the country so now can feel virtuous while I slob out the rest of the day.
This week in culture finished season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Which is exactly as the title suggests; marvelous. Funniest show out there in my humble opinion, so consistently funny and whip-smart. Having completed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds this week has been a Belle & Sebastian binge, which has given me an idea for some writing. I’ll see how that goes.
And just listened to the new Fontaines DC album which met all my high expectations. Dark and absorbing and very impressive. Had a couple of friends recently bemoaning the lack of good guitar bands these days, all I can say is indie rock is in good hands with Fontaines.
Enjoy the weekend folks!
Hello, mt, it’s your Floyd, VA friend and long-time Stereogum lurker jpbaker64 checking in. The site looks great! Thanks for providing the hangout space. I got turned on to John Zorn by the supergroup Naked City and album of the same name. I saw Mr. Zorn in concert many years ago, around 1990 or so.
jp! Welcome! Great that you are here!