Rude of Comcast to be out of service all weekend when you just know that it’ll be ready in time for work tomorrow.

Elon being Elon and funding an operation to stop voters from registering in swing states. This feels like it should be illegal as some kind of fraud.

I’m pretty excited that Pragmatic Studio is releasing a Phoenix course. Their videos for Elixir and LiveView are resources I recommend all the time, and the outline of the new course looks spot on.

My G&L is in the shop so I’ve been playing my MIM Fender 48th Street Strat (my first guitar). I forgot how flat this neck is, the action is really low. Almost feels like an Ibanez. And then I’ve got the G&L pickups inside and it sounds bad compared to my G&L with Fralins.

I blame this on the Dr. Z. It’s such a great amp, it really makes differences stand out. Some of this could be just my lack of memory, but I really didn’t think these guitars had a night and day difference in tone. Now I can’t decide if I want to buy new pickups for the strat or a whole new guitar.

It’s pretty weird that in 2024 the presidential nominee doesn’t know that some people have multiracial families and identify with more than one label to describe their identity. Didn’t Twitter (well before Elon) establish the multi noun profile?

Cool.

We’ve been trying to upgrade our flight all week with British and running into issues online. After forty five minutes on the phone, they told us they can’t honor the online price and wanted to charge us £1600. Figured we’d take our chances as the airport.

When we got here we learned not only are there no upgrades, there’s no change of changing our seats. So we have two middle seats on a 777 for over eight hours.

I was mad about how British Airways had technical systems that kept offering us upgrades for reasonable prices that didn’t exist. But now I’m just frustrated that it would take an astronomical amount of money beforehand to make the trip comfortable. On our flight out, I could not even fit an 11” iPad on my tray with the person in front of me fully reclined.

All of this came after our morning plans being thrown for a loop because the Elizabeth Line is not running. We chose our second hotel in part for its proximity to the Elizabeth line, making it easy for us to get to the airport in a timely fashion so we could have a relaxed morning. Our alternative options involved walking a half mile and a transfer— too much on a beautiful, but hot and sunny day with our bags. And, because it would have involved taking the Heathrow Express, the cost was higher than a cab.

So we got an Uber, a Model 3, which is not that comfortable, and no AC running. He then proceeded to circle SoHo in a bizarre way and take the objectively longest route any of our mapping programs could figure to get here.

We still have plenty of time and everything is going to be fine, but overall not an ideal travel day when I didn’t take the remainder of the week off from work.

There’s something pretty dystopian about walking around some of the most expensive real estate in the world and noticing no less than 3 WeWorks in a 3 block radius.

I see very little to object to in Biden’s court reform:

• 18 year terms
• Enforceable ethics/conflicts of interest
• Amendment to remove presidential immunity

I would want some further court reforms to end venue shopping, but this is a good start.

London is the city that feels the most like New York. It’s kind of incredible how alike they are in overall vibe. Although London feels more like New York in 2003 than New York today, and that’s good thing.

Elsa: can I have the ranch-mayo on the side?

Waiter: That’s so American.

Elsa: we’re both having an experience.

I got to play a Juliana and a Slö today. Surprisingly, I did not get along with the Juliana. I did really like the Slö, but I was not super into the modulation. Now I have to go listen to more reverb pedal videos on YouTube.

The thing that is miserable about Baltimore weather is we go several months where night time temperatures remain above 70 degrees without break. I need summer nights that require a light jacket. I need to want to throw open my windows.

For a place that seems to love them, the “chips” in the UK are pretty mediocre.

I just saw a Savannah Bananas in London.

A year ago around this time I added a few subscriptions to independent content. It’s been pretty good, but I’ve decided I want to change up what I subscribe to a bit. I can’t afford all the things, but I’d like to enjoy different things this year. What’s something you subscribe to and value?

Liberty was fascinating to walk through. Sure, it’s a fancy department store. But it is gorgeous and well preserved. A balance of modern and functional and old that does not exist on my usual side of the world.

This Boy and A Heron

Relay 10 was a great time. Of course TimeKoalaSing (something no one remembers) had to make the schlep. But it was a solid excuse to visit London for the first time.

In 1994, I would have said this is the coolest man on Earth.

30 years later, I still think that.

I find the deterioration of JD Vance’s friendship with Sofia Nelson deeply sad.

It is a powerful demonstration of how the thirst for power corrupts the soul. It’s an inside look at how these demagogues are built by stripping away compassion and intelligence in favor of media appeal.

I know I’ve been Alon-pilled when the enormous Underground stations in London just make me think about the high construction costs compared to the Paris Metro, where stations are shallow and simple.

A quick review of London food: everything I have tried to eat has made me think, “this is designed to be eaten after a late night of drinking” or “I would really enjoy this hungover”.

Deadpool and Wolverine is great, and made by a company (or at least people) that understand movies can be fun and made by people who have fun. The MCU I’d want is basically Iron Man, The Marvels, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Deadpool.