Author: DOuG pRATt

Oliver Blocked Me!

Not John Oliver, Oliver Kornetzke. I’ve been blocked from his Substack page:

https://substack.com/@oliverkornetzke

I had previously posted a comment on his page that is now deleted. The text of my comment is here:

Waiting for Oliver or Someone Like Him

Nobody liked or disliked that comment, or commented on it. Then Oliver posted an alleged autobiographical essay that provided no actual background information, amounting to a pile of AI gibberish.

https://oliverkornetzke.substack.com/p/my-autobiography

This time, my comment was terse and intended to elicit some sort of a response. I said, “Obviously not written by an actual person.” Well, that woke somebody — or something — up, resulting not in a pointed rebuttal, but in my being banned.

As far as I can tell, the person, or persons, who are Oliver Kornetzke aren’t trying to cash in, other than perhaps accepting paid subscriptions on Substack. That much is good, but there’s a lot of left-wing flavored candy being tossed to the most sweet-toothed of gullible Trump haters. What distinguishes me from them is that I’m not so gullible.

Continue reading Oliver Blocked Me!

Anonymous Guest Post

This comment came up in, of all places, an audio group I follow. It was written by someone who worked at a legendary, long defunct Boston loudspeaker company. I thought it would be worth posting here.

Most of those billionaires are libertarians who keep copies of Ayn Rand’s novels and nonfiction in a small bookcase in their bedrooms. Each of them sees themselves as versions of John Galt, a superior human being who has contempt for most of mainstream humanity, especially the inept losers who are struggling to survive.

Scratch a Republican and under the scratch you will either find an evangelical or a libertarian. Scratch either of those and underneath the scratch you will discover a fascist.

Socially, the chaotic and nasty situation we have in the USA today is an amplified version of what the country has been all along. Note that the rest of the world is no better, just less lucky.

I essentially agree with him, although I personally know exceptions to Evangelicals and Libertarians being fascists underneath. Since Trump’s return to power, I’m not sure we’re all that lucky anymore.

Journey to the Center of 1968

Denro favors 1969 as the peak year for popular music, but I keep returning to 1968. That was the year of ‘Classical Gas’, ‘Love is Blue’ and the outstanding ‘This Guy’s in Love With You’. But ’68 also had the flip side of music, revealing the growing tension between Top-40 AM and nascent Underground Radio on FM.*

It began a year earlier with the Doors and the Jefferson Airplane. The Summer of Love in ’67 also had a hard edge. It came into very compelling full view in ’68.

The first time I became aware of “album cuts” was in 1967, with the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire’. Other records followed in ’68. Two examples include the Chambers Brothers.

And, in what is perhaps the ultimate example of the changes brought about in the Sixties, an era of change that I maintain can never be repeated, there is this AM single/FM album gem.

I didn’t even include Cream, but you’ll find them in this playlist that shows why I can never let go of 1968.

* The phenomenon of album-centered underground FM radio resulted from a unique and coincidental timing of events — The undeniable shift in the music industry; an FCC mandate requiring unique FM programming; and Vietnam Vets returning home with Japanese stereo receivers, which upended the American hi-fi market and marked the end of true mono-mixed singles.