Good morning good morning hello boy howdy hi hi hi.

I accidentally labeled yesterday’s entry number 1659 instead of 1649. The editorial department of GMHHAY regrets the error. Please update your catalogs commensurately.

A belated wish of sympathy to my deadhead friends. I myself was never a Dead fan, though I did see them in their 1991 Boston Garden run as part of a cultural exchange with my college roommate. It was a fun time. Seeing Shakedown Street in downtown Boston was a hoot. Whole thing was slightly scary to my country boy 18 year-old self if I am being honest. But I have always admired and appreciated them, even if their particular brand of jamming was not my particular brand of jamming. Can’t be having petty internecine conflicts between the assorted psychedelic jam communities now, can we. RIP Bob Weir.

RIP to the SeaTac Sub Pop store. We really are losing some gems in the world, aren’t we? Bottom of the Hilll, Phoenix Hotel, Music Hall of Williamsburg, SeaTac Sub Pop Store. All very sad. But I was informed by my friend Jon that the House of Records in Eugene Oregon is still open. I haven’t been there since 1993, but it’s still there, being a house. Full of records. Fifty-four years. It’s older than me.

I would also like to take a moment and congratulate myself on getting every single country right in my country flashcards on my first return to the weekly habit after the holidays. Okay that isn’t quite true: I misplaced the Crow tribe, mixed up the Seychelles and the Comoros, and got Lesotho wrong. But, I mean, in the whole world? Not bad! Pretty crazy, though. Only three weeks away from the habit and the memory was starting to decay. Had to really think. Almost mixed up Bhutan and Bahrain. Rookie move.

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We are listening today to Horsegirl, their 2025 album Phoenetics on and On, because I hear about this band all the time and I had never listened to them, I don’t think. Actually let’s search the archives. Nope. Not a whole album, anyway. I kinda like it. Sounds very 90’s. I would have been very into this had I found a 7” of them while flipping through the bins at Newbury Comics in 1995 my god I miss that. Finding weird 7”s, buying it just because of the cover, not knowing anything about them. The best. Anyway I would put this album in the whole “kids are into the pre-internet pre-cellphone era” schtick. Zine rock. Me likey.

Emma and I watched the six-part documentary Taylor Swift: End of an Era about the Eras tour. I know it was copaganda and all but it was very good. Reddit has been spoon-feeding me a lot of anti-Taylor propaganda of late, and those people have been going off on three, four specific scenes in this six-hour monstrosity, as evidence that she’s a terrible person. The propaganda onslaught was starting to work on me, but her counterpropaganda has decisively placed me back into her corner, with some qualified exceptions. I cannot stand the eye make-up I just can’t, and I see her whole career through the prism of ever-lengthening cats-eyes and her questionable approach to bangs. The years go by, the bangs get worse, the eye makeup gets wider. And I just can’t unsee it. Sort of like the way my wife can’t unsee a crooked picture or a paint blemish where a wall meets a ceiling.

But whatever, man, that’s just her personal style, style does not make the person. She is an excellent manager, just a phenomenal manager. And even if the whole thing is faked, like the anti-Taylor subreddits think, she is still out there propagandizing labor-first, no-asshole, constructive critique, kind management techniques, and the world needs more of that. I, myself, would never work for her, primarily because the Eras tour was short about six distortion pedals, but that’s just me. She seems an excellent manager. Leaders in their field do not work for 20 years for bad managers.

(As an aside this is what I must learn to accept about Jack Antonoff, whose production style is like nails on a chalkboard to me. But obviously he is a good dude because all these women keep going back to work with him again and again).

There were also several instances of her sitting at her little Nord electric piano working out the special-song-medley segues — unique to each set — and she really is a phenomenal musician. She is dynamically changing the keys of the songs to match, finding interesting ways to blend them, both her own songs and the songs of her guests like Gracie. Really very impressive.

And there is one moment, archival, where she is in Electric Lady studio in New York and she bursts out of a room and screams to Max Martin “I just fucking love songs” while jumping up and down that might be the most authentic I’ve ever seen her, and the most succinct distillation of her whole thing. Girl loves songs.

The whole thing about Marjorie was incredibly moving, I did not know that was a sample of her gramma singing Opera and yeah I teared up but more relevantly I do not know how her mom could bear to watch her daughter sing that song every night to a bunch of people, 100,000 people crying every night because your daughter did something incredibly moving for your mom. I would lose my shit every night. Just like Taylor’s mom did.

I find it very curious that four men in her life who have been there for a long-ass time were visible throughout the documentary but almost never spoke. Her father never once sits for an interview, though in the last episode or two you hear him talk. The same with her brother, who you see constantly, and he occasionally talks, but is never interviewed. So it is with Robert Allen, the guy who runs her management agency and has been her tour manager since the beginning. Ditto for Paul Sidoti, her guitarist Paul Sidoti, who has been with her for coming up on 20 years now. He does actually have one sentence in an interview in the very last episode. This is all very mysterious. If you are pro-Taylor you could say she surrounds herself with Men who let her be in the spotlight and don’t mansplain. If you are anti-Taylor you could say they’re scared they might say something wrong, or are svengalis in the background. I’m far more in the former camp than the latter, but it is real weird. So much interviews from her mom, almost nothing from her dad or brother.

Be a hoot if those four dudes had a secret clubhouse together.

I think it’s hilarious that her mom basically made her go on a date with Travis. Mom obviously loves Travis. I am more into their relationship now, I suppose, though I still suspect, ultimately, this will not be a successful marriage? But I am 60-40 on it. I think Taylor is a very very good communicator in a managerial sort of way, but it’s a different thing to be a vulnerable good communicator in a marriage, it is very hard, and most people are just not good at it. Though on the other hand if he does end his NFL career and can settle into being a good husband, podcaster, and pillar of support without seeking his own media domination, it could potentially work.

Also finished Game of Thrones book 4 last night, A Feast of Crows. I actually like the way it’s only half the characters, I think that was smart. I think he shoulda just done it and not apologized and told everyone it’s cuz the book got away from him. It works to have things be very mysterious with Tyrion, and what’s going on with Jon and the baby up at the wall. One more book to go. I will be happy when it’s done, though. It is a mostly nice bedtime read, but also Cersei is just so annoying. I cannot stand her chapters. She’s even more annoying in the books than the show. Just the stupidest, the worst. Thrown in the dungeon at the end of this book and I am very excited I basically don’t have to hear about her again since the next book is mostly in the east and on the Wall. Mostly. Shit I’m gonna have to hear from her again aren’t I? God. The worst.

Jane was in a better mood this morning. I wouldn’t say perfect but improved from yesterday that’s for sure. We played the Ford Tetris rip-off, Tiles in the car this morning. She did not eat her toast. She did say that we could play “Antarcticans Thawed” by Sleep every morning forever in the car, though, so that is nice. What eight year old doesn’t love stoner doom metal? She may have been being sarcastic, though. Shit. Is her sarcasm finally gaining nuance? Oh man I better get ready for so many burns.

Justa mix for you today. All new stuff, stuff I’ve been listening to in the last few days. So many new bands, I am a bit overwhelmed, as I go through all of these “best of 2025” lists and add albums I’ve not heard. Most of these I have only given a single listen to, most of these I barely remember so far. Well, Wedding Present, obviously, and the Conor/Blondshell song I remember those. The rest of these? No idea. I am working on it, working on it. Oh I remember really liking the Boland Underground I think I told you guys abou tthem. And Water From Your Eyes. And Cryogeyser is coming to town opening for Nothing in March so I guess I will be seeing them. That’s all I got.

Have a lovely day, dear friend. Until tomorrow.