Faulkner

Oh wow. I was in Yerevan last year for a work trip in Armenia and Georgia. Loved it there. Nicest people ever. It’s interesting traveling certain places as a black man. I was surrounded by crowds as if I was a celebrity.

Longer clip:

No Tom Pelphrey nomination for Ozark but, as an aside, black folks cleaned up today:

LOL at Meghan picking a fight with Whoopi and Sunny smirking and sipping her tea. Whoopi seemed like she wanted to jump through the TV and choke the hell out of Meghan, pregnant and all.

From Manizales, Colombia 🇨🇴

I disagree with that comparison certainly. We’ll have to wait and see on the reboot (although Lee Daniels’s involvement gives me pause). But a big yes to her skepticism about the networks’ commitment.

Amen to Anne-Marie Johnson’s comments. And again, will these commitments apply to their daytime lineups, or are the soap writing teams simply flying under the radar due to apathy?

Grain of salt given what we’ve already spoken about (comparing artists from different eras, as Billboard and technology move the goalposts), but... And they come with “features” on other people’s records:

Pretentious is the key word because they saw themselves as the “thinking person’s music site.” In the early 2000s, they were known for mostly reviewing indie rock music, with a glancing acknowledgment of hip hop. Once they realized that niche alone wasn’t going to pay the bills, as guitar-based music had increasingly fallen out of favor throughout the 2000s, they started trying to take pop more seriously. But you’re right: even as late as TS’s 1989, they didn’t deem her work worth exploring until Ryan Adams came along and validated it. Slate nailed it a few years ago: their mostly male staff dismissed pop and mainstream country because their audiences were strongly female. And Taylor wasn’t seen as “edgy” enough for them.

From Mexico 🇲🇽

As much of a hit Pitchfork has taken over the years, they still remain the one outlet whose review people wait for. They gave it an 8.0, which is lower than what they gave Red, Speak Now, and Fearless. I don’t think these scores matter, but it’s funny how they throw people in a tizzy.

I’ve been encouraging people to watch Potomac on Hulu. It’s hard to get people to watch new HW series. Hopefully indeed the lack of competing series will give it a moment to shine.

Scary.

Just going through the ratings threads on Reddit: Demos for BH and NY have taken some hits this season (while the original Below Deck has moved past BH to become the No. 3 Bravo series and the BD: Mediterranean series has actually slightly grown its audience to become a stronger No. 2 behind ATL). NY has fallen behind NJ.

From Sopot, Poland 🇵🇱

Stevie Nicks’s statement on Peter Green:

She is Spanish, but from Spain (She’s Basque). Not Latin American. There’s an odd quote attributed to him on his IMDB profile. I can’t find the source: