January 2017

Rob Weychert’s Year in Review

My personal movie-watching stats for 2016, provided by the always delightful Letterboxd.

Why Classic Rock Isn’t What It Used To Be

But do radio stations rely at all on the institutional knowledge of their DJs to decide what to play?

Nope. The role of the song-picking DJ is dead. “I know there are some stations and some companies where if you change a song it’s a fireable offense,” Wellman said,… See more →

“Congress can protect the American system from an overbearing president. But will it?” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

An excellent explainer on refugee screening. Fun fact: In 2015, only .4% of the world’s 20m refugees were resettled. embracerefugees.org/resettlement/

More detailed info on our existing refugee vetting process (via @sikthought). obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/11/2…

In all the opposition to Trump’s Islamophobia, I see little mention of how intensive our refugee vetting already is. thenib.com/why-the-refuge…

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it ambulance scene, an EMT says awkwardly to her charge, “I’m just gonna… check you.” She looks enough like Abbi Jacobson – a Philadelphia area native, like Split’s writer/director, M. Night Shyamalan – that it instantly becomes my favorite scene in the movie, a random cameo with Jacobson’s hapless Broad City character stumbling into an EMT job for which she is comically unqualified. But it’s not her. In her absence, the scene… See more →

Sending my love to Quebec City.

In these uncertain times, one man had the courage and wisdom to realize what we really needed: an M. Night Shyamalan cinematic universe.

The email at the bottom of my inbox is two years old today. I didn’t make time for the thoughtful reply it deserves. Its sender is now dead.

I’m on a bus on the Jersey Turnpike. Just passed the Statue of Liberty. There’s a plaque on the pedestal. I couldn’t make out what it said.

I just revisited this @shauninman post, which gets at part of it: “There’s an unmuddied economy of expression…” shauninman.com/archive/2010/0…

Trying to get my head around why this kind of work is so appealing to me. I want to believe it’s more than just nostalgia. twitter.com/Sir_carma/stat…

“Still, Mr. Trump, who does not read books, is able to end his evenings with plenty of television.” nytimes.com/2017/01/25/us/…

“Part of my discomfort here is the realization that a tactical approach to life may require privilege.” kottke.org/17/01/why-trum…

I always miss my dad, but every once in awhile, a moment strikes in which I miss him so much I can barely stand.

In case anyone forgot irony is dead.

Just saw a guy on the sidewalk go out of his way to properly dispose of a cigarette butt. May be the first time I’ve ever seen that happen.

An outstanding @TheeNerdwriter deconstruction of an outstanding Louis C.K. bit. youtu.be/ufdvYrTeTuU

Every YouTube upload of Chaplin’s amazing monologue from The Great Dictator is retrofitted with corny-ass Hans Zimmer music. 😒

A looser and more uneven amalgam of gags than I expected, which makes the coherence and emotional impact of its humanitarian rebuke of fascism – a system which, at the time, many Americans still regarded with curious optimism – all the more incredible.

Women, am I right? They love going to the mall. twitter.com/OhMyGOFF/statu…

Historic day. A deluge of badly needed medicine for the soul. Thanks, y’all. 💗

Stay safe out there today, everyone. Much love. 💗

Eight years ago today. twitter.com/robweychert/st…

“[T]argeting waste like @NEAarts and @NEHgov would be a good first step…” 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻 thehill.com/policy/finance…

If Trump fails, America fails. If he succeeds, a lifetime of terrible behavior is vindicated. Lose/lose. politi.co/2iSv854

When Rdio’s demise pushed me over to Spotify, Discover Weekly was the main saving grace, but a year later, it is talking right past me. 😴

How the community Betsy DeVos comes from has shaped her troubling positions on education policy. motherjones.com/politics/2017/…

Sending my love to Nigeria.

After following his landmark reporting for much of 2016, I got to chat a bit with @Fahrenthold today. Insightful, generous, congenial guy.

“Disruption in politics and dysfunction in government reinforce each other. Chaos becomes the new normal.” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

u up

When Ryan Gosling sings “City of Stars,” my ears editorialize it as “City of Cars,” but then he wins by making me wish I had nice hair too.

When Ryan Gosling sings “City of Stars,” my ears editorialize it as “City of Cars,” but then he wins by making me wish I had nice hair too.

Pretty nice to have a spontaneous lunch with my buddies @theledu and @tinochop after randomly running into them this afternoon.

Any way you slice it, a staggering number of people at Fox News have engaged in harassment and/or extortion. nytimes.com/2017/01/10/bus…

If you couldn’t sleep last night, maybe this will help you tonight. Maybe not. Any rest feels like privilege now. lawfareblog.com/about-explosiv…

❤️

When adults make unironic use of the word “sheeple,” they never seem to understand that they’re telling me to stop listening to them.

Four years is a long time for kids. So many will become aware of the broader world as it’s led by a profoundly bad example of a human being.

I’ll gladly acknowledge this was a bold debut for Errol Morris, training a genuinely curious eye on a variety of unglamorous characters in the orbit of the pet cemetery industry. Its willingness to keep the camera rolling through their lengthy and often unfocused tangents makes the film more interesting than if it had stuck rigidly to the topic at hand, and Morris’s straight-ahead style exposes a certain layer of everyday human vulnerability not often explored.… See more →

“Take your broken heart, make it into art.” washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-…

“I don’t think I need to see any more Ryan Gosling. His voice doesn’t match up with his face.”

I just naturally assumed when I opened this book it would start playing the backing vocals from “Runnin’ with the Devil,” but alas.

An Oedipal love triangle of professional liars is undoubtedly a concept worth mining, but The Grifters’s update of classic noir ultimately amounts to little more than stagey anachronism.

Actually, I want a @FrinkiacApp for all of @lorenbouchard’s shows. twitter.com/robweychert/st…

Snow piling up outside, day plans canceled, plenty of snacks. Still, my perfect couch day is doomed to incompletion without Resident Evil 2.

Hats off to the woman in self-checkout effortlessly managing a full cart of groceries with a guitar on her back and a baby on her front. 🏆

Productivity in Terrible Times: Helpful tips for making a difference even when your work feels useless. superyesmore.com//productivity-…

Day 59. This is still a thing that is actually happening, and it is still not remotely okay.

“We’re the effigies that haunt America’s nights harder
the longer they spend burning us” seattlereviewofbooks.com/notes/2017/01/…

If you want to add to your collection, there are several new additions to our Trump administration trading cards. propublica.org/article/the-ch…

Super informative thread on how the Podesta hack went down. twitter.com/pwnallthething…

Today’s unsolicited Siri interjection.

Dreamed I went back to college and moved into a dorm to take just one class. Woke up before my inevitable social and academic DOMINATION.

Gorgeous portraits whose vivid, kinetic impasto strikes a fine balance between abstract and representational. thisiscolossal.com/2016/12/enormo…

This thoughtful piece by @emmaogreen traces the origins of buzzwords and the work philosophies they represent. theatlantic.com/features/archi…

“But do radio stations rely at all on the institutional knowledge of their DJs to decide what to play? Nope.” fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-c…

A love letter to a city I do not love, La La Land nevertheless did an impressive job of disarming me with its vivid palette and dazzling setpieces. It managed to seize on my love of music while circumventing my distaste for musicals.

My personal movie-watching stats for 2016, provided by the always delightful @letterboxd: letterboxd.com/robweychert/ye…

For 2017: I’ll continue to surround myself with people who are smarter than me, and I’ll aim to be better about sharing my own knowledge.

Starting off the new year with 3.74 miles at 7:28/mi.

Sending my love to Istanbul.