Andrew Perkins

GM. First day of school for my daughter. She is so stoked:)

GM. I love the fact that I start waking up around 5 am once Fall starts falling.

You all should follow Everyday Astronaut (on X @everydayastronaut) and his Youtube channel is https://www.youtube.com/live/04-mfJavLT0 He has created an entire system of watching the SpaceX launches down in Texas. He has spent tens of thousands streaming this, he has interviewed Elon multiple times, and he creates super-detailed videos about space history and technology. I'll see if I can get him over to the free place:)

GM. What a day.

Was that the most shit Man City performance of all time in the modern era? Up the Spurs:)

Im so glad I got up for this.

If I have to get up, you have to get up.

Fuck yes. VAR goal.

GM. Tottenham started this morning at 4:30ish on the West Coast.

GM. An old person said something, and the market rips.

Adding to the beef inflation discussion. Top: 8/17/25, 17.99$/lb. Bottom: 9/01/24, 14.99$/lb. 20% increase in less than a year. Remember, this is a tenderloin primal, so it hasn't been processed other than removal from the animal.

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxb_UelPx89070LcVAYeodi3w7CefTCE2s?si=Jvm5PSrF23WHmlf- I want you all to watch this. Van Halen at full power in 1984, doing the walk out at the Monsters of Rock festival in Donnington, England. Look at the nerves on Dave's face as he fidgets with his hat. Watch the camera pan behind him onto the crowd, 65,000 strong. No banners, no cameras, no selfie sticks. Absolute bedlam. Have we lost something? Probably. This came up on my feed yesterday and I almost lost it. Van Halen was a massive part of my early teens, and to see this priceless video (that https://youtube.com/@shitsandgiggles1377 upscaled and uploaded) launched be back to that period in my life. I'm very much a "be in the present" guy. But very occasionally something like this will jerk me out of the present and those emotions flow back in. Feelings I forgot, or maybe ignore.

GM, prepping Intro to Marketing class that starts tomorrow. Going to be very interesting...

When I was on my job interviews 25ish years ago, I happened to be at an airport bar where a very tan 60-something with a very expensive watch was next to me. A bit of talking, and he was a America-to-Europe commercial pilot. Great guy. He tells me a story: "At the old airports, go look at the tarmac. You will see two big dark spots on the ground where the ass-end of the plane is. Why? Because when everyone smoked on flights, and when the air in the plane circulated through the plane and went out the back, once we got close to landing, that shit would condense and drip out of the ventilation shafts". The tar/nicotine was so thick in those planes they would drip on to the tarmac.

GM. Youtube promotes channels that rip off the visual look of other successful channels. This is stupid.

GM. Heat advisory today. Classes start in one week:)

GM. I am a very casual vinyl collector, mostly albums from my youth that I like, that are influential, etc. Short story: when I was very young (like 10-11), my grandmother (who lived to be 96) took me to the five and dime to buy a record (I was becoming obsessed with music, and had just started playing guitar). She lived in a tiny town called Grand Coulee, and was married to a farmer/cattle rancher named Russell who had lost one eye when he tripped while fixing a combine. He was awesome. Grand Coulee is where the dam is (my father actually worked on a blasting crew for the new part of the dam when he was in. his 20s.) The farm was about 30 mins outside of town. They had an old record player that was built into a piece of furniture, where the speakers, player, and storage were all one piece. As I was flipping through the albums, this one caught my eye: I had to have it (still one of the greatest album covers of all time). I showed it to Gma, and she gave me a resounding "NO": pick something else. Right behind it was this: Sword? Cool. Now, if you don't know, Toto 4 is THE Toto album. 6 Grammys in 1983, with "Rosanna" (#2 on the chart) and their only #1, "Africa", which literally everyone in the Western world can sing the chorus to (it's also the first well-known use of a tape loop). I wore that album out, over and over, until Russell made me shut it off. And then I listened to it over and over at home. I still have it: it's destroyed, almost unplayable. So I have been looking for a vintage copy as part of my LP collecting. But here is the kicker: It doesn't exist. I have been looking for nearly a decade in dozens (hundreds?) of record shops, antique stores, Goodwills, what have you. I have never found a copy of Toto 4 in any shape. It doesn't seem possible. This was a HUGE hit album. There were 4 million copies sold in the US alone. This album should be found used everywhere. Nope. This is the great mystery. Where are all of these albums? (BTW, if you are into Poco, Ted Nugent, Three Dog Night, or BTO, there is lots of stock, don't worry). Anyway, if you have an original copy of Toto IV (not the reissue, but the 1982 version), Ill pay you sats for it. Has to be in near pristine shape.

Who says there aren't any deals in pawn shops anymore: If you play guitar, you probably know what this is and why it's important. https://www.guitarworld.com/news/josh-homme-secret-weapon Josh Homme, the leader of Queens of the Stone Age, revealed a few years ago that this little amp, the Peavey Decade, was the secret to the awesome tones on many of his records, including the bass tone on "No One Knows". Homme is well known for not telling anyone what he uses in the studio, going so far as to hide gear, cover settings, and such. Anyway, these little amps went from basically worthless to fetching $5-600 USD on Reverb practically overnight. I never thought I'd see one much less find one in a local pawn shop for... $80. Yep. BTW, it sounds great:)

HOLY SHIT https://youtu.be/15_-hgsX2V0

https://youtu.be/IqLHZpeksP8 Your daily reminder that Zakk and Ozzy (with the Black Sabbath rhythm section) crushes. Zakk was like 21 here.