Doug Lay

🎵🎶 The harmonica plays 🎶🎶 The skeleton keys 🎵🎶 In the rain

If the season is done, Pete Alonso will end with an even 5.0 fWAR and 148 wRC+, both career highs and slightly better than his rookie breakout season. Career-high walk rate and OBP, best defense on a rate basis in 5 years. Exceeded all expectations in year 1 of the contract.

RIP Jennifer Finch. youtu.be/vSYHZbSBP7Q?...

Wilbur Tile.

Happy 250th, y'all. youtu.be/POZNheF-KdY?...

Sam I Am.

Old vet’s last big hit, from 1963. Very much in the style of the young rockabilly Turk Johnny Cash. youtu.be/eHXPiGhkdLM

An early J Dilla production, off the second Pharcyde album Labcabincalifornia, which was pretty underrated at the time… youtu.be/wqVsfGQ_1SU?...

Early 90s DIY power pop with a punk ratio of exuberance to skill, except the band didn’t really exist except for the vocalists, and most of the songs were written by the producer. Lyrics sometimes cribbed from random 70s tunes. Weird, yet often very moving. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poo...

This deserves an award for using visuals in data journalism.

The DOJ is no longer legitimate on any level. It’s just a goon squad. This has enormous implications for the country long after Trump is gone.

I really want people to understand that CBP is arguably as bad or worse than ICE. CBP was engaged in horrible behavior back when ICE was mostly doing custody transfers. Over-fixating on ICE doesn’t solve it. We really need a comprehensive overhaul of the DHS monstrosity when this is over.

As of this point in time, Al Jackson Jr. gets my vote for drummer GOAT. This is one of many reasons why. youtu.be/Fb3EMo6Hlnk?...

I feel like copyright terms are at least 20 years too long, but it’s still cool to see th books, films and songs pass over into the public domain after basically a century as part of the culture. “I Got Rhythm.” “Dream a Little Dream Of Me. “ web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...

Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle Cheetos? For real?

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains

A masterpiece of British rock, from arguably the tail end of the rock era. amazing mastery of rock idioms from a bunch of guys barely 20 with just a couple years of playing clubs under their belt. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whateve...

It has been cold enough in Baltimore these past few days for a polar bear to show up.

The Orioles now have 3 right-handed-hitting first basemen -- Pete Alonso, Ryan Mountcastle, Coby Mayo. They also have catcher Samuel Basallo, who was expected to get some time at first base. Will be interesting to see what moves are made from here and how this all shakes out.

Steve Cropper was one of the greatest session guitarists ever but I didn’t know til today that he played on Big Star’s cover of the Velvet’s “Femme Fatale.” his playing fits the song perfectly as always. RIP. youtu.be/M7MghG2mRLk

This 1988 reunion album has got to be Pere Ubu's most consistent and listenable record. David Thomas' crazy falsetto and Allen Ravenstine's synth fills still sound like nothing else, but here they are tied to a steady, punchy backbeat and some sticky melodies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten...

Haunting LA cow punk from the early 1980s. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0U2...

Driving north from Baltimore on I-83 you see signs for fireworks stores when you get close to the PA line. Driving south from Harrisburg on I-83 you see signs for weed dispensaries when you get close to the MD line. Gotta love federalism.

Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵

Happy Veterans Day, y'all. Shout out to all the immigrant soldiers. youtu.be/z63wb0LpDfQ?...

I have been actively watching contracts and surge funding over the last few days and what I would say to my friends in Baltimore is “be absolutely ready, right now.”

A guy who cared a lot about Baltimore. Gone way too young. At least he lived to see the city’s violence problem trend in the right direction, finally.

Will there be a 4th D’Angelo album? He was apparently working on some stuff with Raphael Saadiq. It would be a high bar to clear to stand with the other 3 records. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rejA...

Too many U.S. Attorneys have weaponized that horrifying statute for too many years. It was only a matter of time before it slipped into the arsenal of the worst political players. I won't take responsibility. That's the American way, of course.

I think Bob Dylan has done at least 6 albums of other people’s songs. I can’t vouch for most of them but this one, from 1994, is pretty great. you can hear him reinventing his voice (seriously) on eerily moving old country blues songs. Plays a fine guitar too. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_G...

I was yesterday years old when I found out that Marvin Gaye not only co-wrote Martha & the Vandellas' "Dancing In The Street" but also played the drums.

the crisis in which the University of Chicago is now engulfed -- one entirely of its own making, and which has led to the (hopefully temporary) suspension of admissions into numerous PhD programs in the humanities -- represents I think a seismic event in the history of American higher education 1/

N: Cullen, Scotland E: Burano, Italy S: Oranjestad, Aruba W: Honolulu, Hawaii

The NIH, which has faced major budget cuts, is now overwhelmed with submissions for grants because they’re getting spammed with AI generated applications www.404media.co/nih-capping-...

A film you’ve watched more than six times with a GIF.

"I would prefer not to." —Bartleby, the Scrivener

Raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. A Midwestern sound at heart, rooted in marching bands and county fairs as much as the blues. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaTT...

Playing .382 ball in Year Seven of a lose now / win later rebuild is more or less indefensible!

There were 5 homicides in April in Baltimore. This is a new record for fewest homicides in a month in the city's modern history (since 1970). The previous low was 7, which happened in June of 1983, and April of 2014...

Polished LA studio rock at the tail end of the 80s with a twisted lyrical sensibility to keep things from getting too comfortable. I *think* Donald Fagen would approve. I like it a lot. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Up...

Five years gone, today. youtu.be/Qs3ynLjqECE

Sit down, Duran.

Slacker elegy, in 3 movements. youtu.be/9O9hY30PVUw

This song has lurked around the edges of my brain since I first heard it 43 years ago. “Do it now, you know there’s never a next time.” youtu.be/ywHE3aARjS8

I received one of the 232 NIH grant "terminations" sent to scientists at Columbia last night. My research focuses on improving maternal and child health in the US. Also affected: ongoing clinical trials, research training programs, and research centers that aim to improve the health of Americans.