Motor City Sonics

This morning I logged into the music portal for work to see if anything new was released yesterday and I saw that Gwen Stefani has a new song called Rich Girl and I wanted to see, just see, if it was a really bad Hall & Oates remake, so I found the song and listened and it's not. But I do have to tell you this, and it's been the case since 1995 or so. Gwen Stefani is the absolute worst. Musically, I dislike her more than any other artist who has ever existed. No Doubt killed the "Alternative" format. The second they started getting played the quality of the format went down the toilet. I was forced to play that No Doubt crap. Why not just play Madonna? But Madonna's better. Stefani's got that Nails on a Chalkboard voice and just everything is fake. She's so fake and artificial and no wonder she's a big star. Shouldn't have been the first thing I checked on this morning. It was like waking up and vomitting.

But with Stephen Colbert it was a tumor and a botched surgery. With Brian his father hit him with a board (Murry was a real bastard). I don't know what's going on here. I was getting ready to go to sleep, no trauma, just gone. I can hear rustling a little bit when I rub the outside of my ear canal and it's a little stronger every day, but it's not like natural hearing, it's like a contact thing. I am going to go into the shower with a shower cap on over that ear because when water hits that cap it's loud and I want to know if I can hear it on that side. But today I am starting to deal with some nasty Vertigo, so I am a little worried about trying to stand in the tub. Does Vertigo this late mean something is changing? I had a little at the start, but it's profound now. Went to the movies yesterday and looked at the carpet with these swirly patterns and almost fell and almost gerfed too. I just took the 4th steroid dose this morning, they gave me a ten-day run which ends the morning of my follow up apt next Thursday. Maybe I'm just being impatient. Maybe they specified 10 days of steroids for a reason. My ear does feel blocked in a weird way. Like something wants to go POP. And I hear these tones all the time, but that's my brain searching for a signal. For someone who is 61 and has used headphones in my job for years and years, my hearing was really good. I could be in a crowded restaurant and the people I was with couldn't hear the overhead music over the people talking and I could tell you the actual song that was playing. I would do that all the time and people would say "I don't hear any music at all" and I'm like "that's McFadden & Whitehead, Ain't No Stoppin Us Now".

There's the little cheating on things that most of do in one way or another and then there is the blatant need to steal or ruin someone's website by infecting it or infecting a computer to lock it and demand a ransom. People like that - there's no use in the world for them, in my opinion. Of course many of those people run things now, so why would they ever stop? Cheaters prosper all the time. If only they didn't. If only we really punished people for it. I saw some documentary on You Tube about phone scammers in India. Many of them get suckered into thinking it's a sales job and then when they start they realize that no, they are scamming people and the folks that hired them had them sign these ridiculous contracts that basically allow their employers to take everything from them if they quit the job or don't meet certain demands, so they just do it. LIke trying to create sympathy for the guy that calls himself "Dave" on the that got roped into it. Sorry, no sympathy from me. They get away with it because the scammer overlords pay off cops and judges. That's why they never get shut down. Burn them all down. All of them. Sorry you got lied to as a working person, but you're trying to steal from my mom and you should suffer for it.

Yep, and one of the reasons Brian shut down in the 70s was the move to stereo. He couldn't deal with it.

Because he probably had someone stealing the defense's signals

SPOILERS There is one big gripe I have about the finale. So this other world is descending upon ours and time is running out and people are having conversations and just standing there. We can't walk and talk?

SPOILERS I enjoyed it too, and I guessed a few things where I was close. Like there would be a lot after the fight ended. I was wrong about Henry being redeemed, but it was close Wrong about Hop dying. Kali did not betray anyone I thought someone from the party would certain die to hit the audience harder, and I don't count Kali No timeline reset, but they did play a game of D&D in the basement I was right about Dustin going to M.I.T. I was right about them flashing forward to the Graduation. And I predicted will would write the stories but it wound up being Mike and I like the fact that Karen Wheeler refuses to cover up her scars. And I'm glad Ted's alright. Hope he gets his bacon every morning. Good ol Ted. I don't think EL is dead, we did not see her get blown away with the upside down, Her image vanished before that and here's another reason why. You talked about Hop being okay with it. Hop knows she's alive, but he has no idea where because he realizes they can't ever know to keep her safe, but he told Mike before the Graduation and that's why Mike was calmer in the last scene in the basement. As far as no jail time for killing soldiers, because they have to keep it quiet. Keep in mind that there are other Stranger Things stories coming, but nothing to do with this story, but Dr. Kay could be behind something else. They probably made some deal with the govt to stay quiet about the hundreds of deaths they caused - if everyone got left alone. I am worried Nancy going to turn into a killing vigilante. She did not seem right in the end. I think it took so long for this to come out because they really did wait about 18 months to film the last sequence. Those kids looked quite a bit older. Especially Lucas, who looks 30 (he's only 24). I am a little disappointed because when they were showing the graphic novel version of the characters they showed a lot of characters from previous seasons, dead and alive, but no Argylle. Unless it was super fast and I missed it. Someone oughta get schmacked for that. I liked the finale. Fun little show Best Line Joyce "You ****ed with the wrong family" 2nd Best Delightful Derek to Henry "suck my big fat one" And I expect Purple Rain to re-enter the Billboard Hot 100 next week. I should do a whole segment on the air next week with songs from the finale. I can do that without spoiling it. END SPOILERS

Had an MRI on my head. Ain't nothing in there. No clots, no tumors. Funny that they asked what kind of music I wanted on the headphones and I picked Bossa Nova (neither tech ever heard of it) because it chills me out the most and I can still hear in the right ear. About 20 minutes into the scan a song came on and the rhythm of the machine and the song were in PERFECT UNISON and I started to laugh and they must have a camera on my face because they thought I was having a panic attack, but I told them it was just laughing. I thought I'd have to start over. I am a bit claustrophobic, but that wasn't the problem, it was so painful on my neck in that position. So - No perforations in the ear canal or ear drum In fact, the doc says my eardrum looks great, perfect color, no swelling. No blockages, almost NO earwax, there was actually more on the right side, the good ear, and the sucked it out (and it kinda hurt). So the theory is - at this point - that I have a virus that is causing major inflammation right on the nerve, behind the eardrum. That's not likely to show up on an MRI. So they've given me a high dose oral steroid, I took the first dose Tuesday afternoon and the last two mornings. Tuesday, rubbing my finger around the ear, I could not hear a thing. Yesterday, the finger test - I could faintly hear something deep in my head if I blocked the right ear, Today I can hear slight rustling in the left ear when I rub my ear without blocking my right ear. So maybe this is actually getting better. I think I'll know if this is the answer by Saturday. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go see Stranger Things in a theatre today because it's VERY loud, but I got Vertigo about 4 times at the AMC Livonia. The carpet has these swirly patterns and when I looked down I got Vertigo. Then I went to look at the menu, but I tried to read it using reading glasses which made me really really dizzy. Driving was fine, however. I am hoping to be able to hear actual sound by Saturday. This is so scary. Music is like the absolutely #1 joy in my life and I miss hearing it the way I am supposed to. Regarding the steroids, I am waking up in the morning with absolutely NO PAIN. That's kind of nice.

People who use the internet to scam and steal should have their damn hands cut off. Discussing with our radio station engineer and IT guy that fact that pretty much EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE is infected with viruses, and most of the time the actual host of the website has nothing to do with it and no knowlege. So by going to any and I mean ANY music-oriented website, or You Tube or anything is now risky and our company might start actually blocking sites that we need to use for research every single day. They don't want to do this, but it's gotten so bad that they are considering it. I just really hate dishonest people. Just go earn a living not ****ing someone over, please. It can be done.

Is he the new Homer? What happened to Marco Kasper. It's kind of an alarming drop off. Looked so promising last year. The Wings are having a nice season but they are extremely top-heavy. Larkin, DeBrincat, Raymond, Seider, then a big cliff. They're in first, but still only 7 points from missing the playoffs. Better keep those guys healthy.

I don't know what that means. I mean, I like it if it's anti-Ohio State, but what does that mean.

Thank You Miami.

I haven't watched it yet, but that was my prediction. That the final fight would end well before the episode. I liked my version. Might have been a bit syrupy, but I think my last scene would be great. There are other Stranger Things shows coming, but nothing to do with this story -- so no sequels. But something tells me that 15 years from now the adult versions of these characters will come back just in time for Y2K.

Who will get the funniest line in the finale? Gotta be Steve Harrington or Murray. Maybe Robin.

Staying off You Tube tonight and tomorrow. The Algorithms will make suggestions in my RECOMMENDED line

Chet Lemon hurts the most for me, probably for most of us. He brought a level of joy to the game and was fun to watch in CF. And CF at Tiger Stadium was a canyon.

[SPOILER] I think the big fight won't even be half the episode. There needs to be some reckoning after the fight. Sarah Conner's gotta pay for her sins ! I would love it if when they are closing down the final battle, if they used the music from the Jeff Bridges movie Starman (at the end when the ship comes to the crater - awesome crescendo in that piece). So Hop lives? Wow, I don' see that happening. Hop is destined to "die". But will live, still tortured, but live in the re-set timeline (they've been hinting at time travel an awful lot). Saving Henry from Vecna may be a big key. Henry is not the real villain here. He's the portal. He didn't deserve what happened to him. When Lucas was hovering over Max in the laundry room - when she woke up, he looked about 28. LOL. Because maybe he is. I used to think Karen Wheeler was useless, but Karen Wheeler is a total badass [/SPOILER} I'm not seeing it until tomorrow at Noon at the theatre (unless they have to remove some kind of blood clot from my ear in the morning).

Stranger Things Series Finale Predictions The text will be in white, if you want to mouse over to see it so we don't spoil it for those who are not caught up to the final episode Okay, we're headed for the final fight. I think there will be a few deaths. And the final fight will end with 45 minutes to go or maybe an hour because a lot will need to be unpacked........... #1 I think Hopper dies. I think Hop's had a death wish since the show because carrying tremendous survivor's guilt over his daughter, but he needs to redeem himself like he could not do for Sarah and he knows that allowing Vecna to kill him will enrage Eleven to the point where she will be able to team up with Will and defeat Vecna together. Remember, if Hop lives, he's probably facing the death penalty for killing soldiers. #2 But part of killing Vecna actually will have a redemption arc for Henry. We saw in the memory scene in the cave that Henry was being the best a Boy Scout he can be by trying to save a man (rumored to be Dr. Papa Brenner's father) and wound up getting shot. We don't know what happened when he opened that briefcase, but the Mind Flayer is in that thing and it takes control of Henry from that point on. Henry was good until he was corrupted. Killing "Vecna" will free him and may help him join with Will and Eleven to defeat the REAL villain, the mind flayer. #3 Kali will try to betray Eleven on behalf of Dr. Kay. But Eleven will pull some kind of trick on them, somehow forcing Kali's own "vision" power against her and Dr. Kay will be stricken with locked-in syndrome, like Eleven's birth mother, who will, in-turn, be released and from it and reunited with Jane. They move to another state, far away from Hawkins. #4 Someone from The Party will die in the final fight. It's either going to be Steve or Jonathan, who will die saving Steve telling him he's cool if he gets with Nancy, that Nancy will protect him, then Jonathan "dies" But................... , #5 Eleven will collapse the wormhole, which has a Tesseract within (remember Dip**** Derek was making a little tesseract in class). When she does this, she resets everything to November 6, 1984 and the boys are in the basement playing D&D. Will goes home, safely, nothing happens to him. Joyce comes home, gets on his case about not washing the dishes and is a real mom finally. Elle uses her new power to "lock in" several of the scientists at Hawkins Lab. The whole project is deemed too dangerous and shut down - freeing the children. The families of the children sue the government, allowing them to leave Hawkins. Then we flash forward to June 1988 (or 1989). The boys in The Party are getting ready to Graduate Hawkins High School. Elle quietly attends to watch her friends, who have now never met her. We find out Dustin got a scholarship to MIT. Mike is headed to Indiana University and that Jonathan, Bob, Hopper, Barb and everyone that seemingly died is still alive. Lucas and Max actually dated but broke up. Billy, seeing how sad his stepsister is, goes to Lucas and apologizes to him for being a jerk and tells him go to be with his sister. Joyce ends up marrying Mr. Clarke, the science teacher. Jonathan pursues photography and Nancy goes to Journalism school. Steve "The Hair" Harrington goes to play college basketball at some small Indiana college, but has an on/off thing with Nancy. Hop continues living a sad and lonely life as the pudgy drunk Sherriff, never getting over losing his daughter. While El is in Hawkins for the Graduation we see her go to a bar where Hop is. He's sitting drinking alone. She approaches him and tells him that he should let go of the guilt. He asks "are you old enough to be in here?" and she says she's leaving but she just wanted to tell him that bad things happen to good people. She knows from her own experience and that holding the guilt will destroy him. Hop gets really pissed off and El says "it wasn't your fault, sir, you need to realize that. Hop tells her to leave, and she does. Hop sits back down at the bar and reaches for his drink and it slides away out of his reach, pan to the door, El turns and walks away. Hop ponders things for a minute. Reaches for the drink again and stops and buries head head in his hands and sobs. Maybe not a happy ending for Hop, but a Catharsis. We are given details about all the characters futures. Dustin still met Suzie at Science Camp (he was headed there in the show anyway). Dusty-bun and Suzie Poo are married and work on the SETI project. Lucas and Max stayed in Hawkins and married and Lucas became a teacher and coaches the basketball team at Hawkins High, while Max counsels troubled youths. Mike got married and works as an IT expert and lives a quiet life in Indianapolis. Jonathan became a photojournalist and actually won awards. Nancy writes a column for a Chicago newspaper. Joyce & Mr. Clarke stayed together and are happily retired (but Mr. Clark still tutors science). Erica is now the science teacher at Hawkins Middle School and constantly battles with her brother over school district policies. Robin became a DJ in Chicago, but never met The Party. Ted gets bacon with his breakfast. We even find out that Suzie's sister Eden, on a trip to California, met Argyle at a Surfer Boy Pizza. They got married and now Argyle owns a vegan pizza chain called Garden Of Eden Pizza. Murray has a popular Conspiracy Theory blog and podcast (kind of like a tamer Alex Jones) Eddie has had a couple of minor hit records with heavy metal band Halos Of Hellfire. And then we flash forward to Will. Will took much longer to come out in this new time line (it was a different time). It caused him torment and he had vivid dreams about the things that happened on the show. So he writes a series of WILDLY popular Science Fiction novels called The Upside Down. His latest book has just been released and he's at a book signing (around 2003 or something like that). They'll age him up with special effects. A woman comes up to the table (we see a low angle from behind) with a book and slides it over to Will and tells him she loves the books. It's Eleven (Jane). They look at each other and time kind of freezes as Will reaches for the back of his neck as he gets that feeling again. He looks at her, understanding that they weren't dreams at all. He says to El "Was it real?" and El says "it doesn't matter now" and she moves her finger to turn the page with telekinesis on the book for him to sign and they both laugh. END.

Only one way to pay tribute to Isiah Whitlock.........

I am so glad The West Wing is back on Netflix. I just watched a Season 7 episode called "Duck & Cover" about a nuclear power plant crisis that changes the election. Incredible writing. Nice to imagine actual intelligent grown ups handling a crisis.

No perforations. No earwax blockages. Theory is that the nerve is being blocked by viral swelling, but I am doing a head MRI to see if it's something else. Wish me luck. They gave me steroids for the possible viral swelling. I'm really hoping that's what it is.

A couple of questions 1. Who would you like to see win it? 2. Which team out of all of them do you NOT want to see win it? 3. Who do you think will be in the Super Bowl? 4. Who will win the Super Bowl? Some fresh blood in the playoffs this year. Jacksonville is a great story. A redemption, of sorts, for Trevor Lawrence. I am sure if they won the whole thing we'd get a better DUVALL from Liam Coen than we did in his press conference. The fresh blood in the AFC might ber stifled by Buffalo and Baltimore - showing that playoff experience out does W/L records. In the NFC Ben Johnson certainly is the story for the coaches. Amazing turnaround. We lost a real gem there. But it would be so painful to see Stafford win in his first year after the Lions and then Ben win in his first year after the Lions. I don't think the Bears will. 11 or 12 win teams are not frauds, but they did benefit from a weak schedule, and keep in mind that last year the Bears were a better team than their record. They Eberflused several games. Philly's obnoxious. Seattle is the team tucked way up in the corner of the country that nobody seems to talk about. That works in their favor. And Carolina is a cute little story - but a reason that the Lions were right to try and change playoff seeding. It's ridiculous that a 12 win team from the West has to go on the road to Carolina or Tampa to play an possible 8-9 team. I'll Go First 1. Buffalo. As a long-suffering Lions fan, I feel their pain. I would love to see that city exorcise it's Super Bowl demons 2. Rams. I just don't want to see Stafford win 2. That would rip me up. 2b. Chargers. Because Jim Harbaugh is a dirty rotten sociopath and the ****ing Chargers belong in San Diego so we can hear that great disco Superchargers song again. Put Chicago, Philly and Green Bay near the top. Yep, good ol' spite 3. Buffalo vs. San Francisco. No more Mahomes to get in the way and San Francisco's return to form would give me hope that the Lions could see a similar path soon. The least-likely would be Carolina vs. Houston. 4. Buffalo 41, San Francisco 35. I think long playoff experience comes in handy for both coaches.

It hasn't been fully investigated yet. They shouldn't take action against him. But if it turns out to be true, he should be gone immediately.

Coach Hot Seat Rankings GOOD AS GONE 1. Jonathan Gannon - Cardinals. Full rebuild coming here. Maybe the Lions can find an O-Lineman for a mid-round draft pick. Kyler Murray will be leaving too (my guess would be for Minnesota). We could see a similar Stafford for Goff type deal with JJ going to the desert with a few draft picks. 2. Raheem Morris, Falcons. They had a nice swansong for him against the Rams, but this dude's been done since midseason and Arthur Blank was just being patient. 3. Pete Carroll, Raiders. Remember when Al Davis was the maverick who spit in the face of the NFL and won (for awhile). Well, his son is the opposite. Horrible owner. How many coaches in how many years? Pete should have walked into the sunset after Seattle. What a story if Gruden came back. It's the Raiders - Never Say Never. 4. Kevin Stefanski, Browns. I don't think it's his fault that the Browns are a mess. It's still because of Deshaun Watson. And they still have to pay him next year. I don't think the greatest coaches of All-Time could have done anything with this mess. HANGING BY A THREAD 5. Zac Taylor, Bengals. The team is too dependent on Joe Burrow. Is it Tay-Tay's fault they struggle? Would be a great choice for Lions OC 6. Todd Bowles, Buccaneers. Injuries played a huge part in the Bucs' collapse. I think he gets one more shot 7. Mike McDaniel, Dolphins. The Pats leapfrogged them big time. I expect the Jets, with a better QB, to close the gap next year. They continued playing hard for him. Tua is a bust with good numbers, but not a real winner. Goff might get that rep pretty soon too. 8. Mike Tomlin, Steelers. It's just stale. But Pittsburgh does not change coaches often and haven't fired one since 1968 and have only had 3 Head Coaches since then. That's amazing. 9. Shane Steichen, Colts. The collapse was brutal. It was a great story, they were the Belle of the Ball until about week 10 - from 8-2 to 8-8 and no playoffs. I think he gets another shot. BUTTS GETTING WARM 10. Dan Quinn, Commanders. We don't know much about the new owner and his patience, but what a drop off. 11. Aaron Glenn. I don't think the Jets will dust him after 1 year. He doesn't deserve that. But that owner is an idiot 12. Matt LaFleur. Pack fans might be sick of just making the playoffs, eh?

Priorities 1. Find the best OC you can find. Brian Daboll was a very good OC at Buffalo (but was it Josh Allen?). I think he'd be great. If the Bengals fire Zac Taylor - he's the #1 choice, since he's worked with Goff in the past in LA -- and very well. Stay away from Eric Bieneimy (that was Andy Reid & Patrick Mahomes). Press Taylor from the Bears could be an option too. 2. Figure out the O-Line issues. Losing the anchor Ragnow, AFTER the draft, really really hurt. If he retired before the draft I think they would have taken a Center. His late retirement made it so guys had to move over, play in different spots. I think Decker is done - and honestly, the way he was playing late, it might not be a drop off having someone else. I would be stunned if he doesn't retire. Some of the young guys are okay, but they need better anchors. I don't know that I'd move Sewell to LT, though he may be the best option. He's the best RT in the NFL. They'll have to draft someone and sign a top level FA. I don't know why Zeitler left to go to such a horrible team. He'd have helped. But we went from a Top 3 O-Line to a bottom 10-O-Line in one season. Having an inept OC made it worse, and losing both TEs, who were good blockers hurt too. After Wright went down, the offense really fell apart. I think this is actually very fixable without being super expensive. 3. Hire medical experts to maybe help you figure out a way to stay healthy, dammit. Do something. Figure this out. It might be from playing so much man-to-man, but they've been a MASH unit on Defense two years in a row. Even with all that the defense was really good in the Minnesota game. Only a couple of mistakes. The horrible Offense gave the Vikings a short field all game. 4. Coach, Keep your onions packed away a little bit more often. Sometimes it's okay to take the 3 points. The O-Line is not the same one that made 4th down tries a good gamble. The 2024 season - just about everything broke their way. The 2025 season - just about everything didn't. Look at the Niners - last year they had this kind of season and then, they are back in the playoffs with a legit shot at reaching the Super Bowl. They lost a lot of players too. This year they had a 4th place schedule which the Lions will likely have next year. If it is a 4th place schedule, then they get The Saints, The Jets, The Giants, The Titans and The Cardinals. Their baked-in opponents are the AFC East and NFC South. The NFC South is garbage. If the Falcons actually hire a good coach they could be decent. I think Kyler Murray will be the Vikings QB in 2026. I always believed they'd have a step-back year, I didn't think it would step back this much, but this was it. A lot of people have soured on Brad Holmes and I think that's ridiculous. He built a great machine in the span of 3 years and I think he can do it again. The biggest failure of this season was the hiring of John Morton as OC, which a lot of people around here questioned. Going from Ben Johnson to John Morton is going from a Ferrari to a Golf Cart. He may be one of the worst OCs we've ever had. It was a very strange hire. They should have promoted from within.