Frisson

Sam Bagenstos (@sbagen.bsky.social) โ€” Bluesky

Oh, I have so many of these, though I’m thinking mostly of a slightly longer time slice. But still, in the spirit:

1) When Phoebe Bridgers says “I turned around, there was nothing there / Yeah, I guess the end is here” in “I Know the End.” That whole third verse is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant but that part is nonpareil.

2) The second time in Rick Ross’s “100 Black Coffins” when he raps the lines, “I need a hundred black preachers / With a black sermon to tell /ย  From a hundred black Bibles / While we send them all to hell.”

3) In ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago” the first part of the initial dirty guitar solo after the first verse.

4) In Yelle’s “Qui Est Cette Fille” after the bridge when she starts off with, “Faisons un petit jeu que tu ne connais pas….”

5) The very first part of Ministry’s “Dream Song” when the woman says, “When you’re dreaming, you feel alive.”

6) The start of Stereolab’s “Lo Boob Oscillator” when Laetitia sings “La / La lune est libre je crois / Qui rayonne au-dessus.”

7) The bass lead-in in Lucinda William’s “Righteously.” What a set-up for a perfect song.

8) Speaking of bass, the bass figures Blu DeTiger starts playing at 0:44 in “Figure It Out.”

9) In First to Eleven’s cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” when Audra sings, “Pickin’ up whatever is mine.” It’s better than the original, and I love the original.

10) The first seven words of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog.” It is infinitely superior to the Elvis version.

11) In Julie Driscoll’s cover of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch,” the first time Julie sings the chorus. That might just be the best cover of all time and hardly anyone knows it.

12) The initial keyboard chord and melody in the first seven seconds of Van Halen’s “Jump” before the drums kick in. That Oberheim OB-X sounds so fucking good oh my god.

13) In Clou’s “La tempรชte” in the outro when they are layering her voice and the drum-like bass kicks in.

14) The Cranberries’ “Ode To My Family” when Dolores sings, “My father, my father, he liked me….” Heartbreaking.

15) The part in Sleigh Bells’ “Rill Rill” when most of the backing music goes away and Alexis sings the third verse against only electronic finger snaps and a drum.

16) In Kate Rusby’s “Planets” when the bass kicks in for the first time as Kate sings, “You said, turn around so I cannot see your tears falling….”

17) Dead Sara’s “Weatherman” when Emily screams, “So go for the kill!” the second time.

18) MXMS’s “Death Row” when Ariel starts off with “Lies on my lips, crucify the sun / Ties on my wrists, executioner’s drum….” That entire song is more gangsta than 99.9999% of all gangsta rap.

19) Jane’s Addiction “Been Caught Stealin’,” the “Well, it’s just a simple fact….” part. The whole song is great, but the syncopation in that section really hits. I remember in 1990 when this video came out, how big a scandal it was and how I thought the goth pole-dancing girl in it was the hottest woman I’d ever seen. Ha.

20) The chord, drum hit and “Stars….” in Hum’s “Stars” at 0:33.

21) In Kitten’s Memphis when Chloe sings for the second time, “Plane ride 5 AM / How’d we end up at a dirty hotel down in Memphis?”

22) Muireann Bradley’s cover of Kansas Joe McCoy’s and Memphis Minnie’s “When The Levee Breaks” when she starts to play the solo finger-pickin’ part the first time. So, so good and honors the original.

23) In MoloKali’s “Butterfly Milk” when the slightly-more melodic part starts and the woman sings, “Vue Tech….”

24) Ninajirachi’s “Sing Good” when Nina says, “‘Cause I can’t really sing good, but I’m still gonna try it.”

25) In Baby Queen’s “Obvious” when Bella sings, “But then she would die / Before I said goodbye.” Oh no, Bella, take it back. Take it all back.

I could list thousands. Thousands. But I should stop. I have other things I should do. Music is such a gift, though. I do not get along with people who do not like music.

Good Ev

I love how this obviously-true result is making people so very angry. It’s long been obvious that human evolution didn’t magically stop 10,000 or even 500 years ago — anyone who believed anything else was, sincerely, a fucking laughable clown.

And now there is good evidence. It’s better to know the truth than to pretend people are and have always been exactly the same.

The Dangers of Californiaโ€™s Legislation to Censor 3D Printing.

A New Bill proposes Federal Age Verification on any Operating Systems in entire U.S. Pure evil.

Yes, money can buy you happiness โ€“ if you spend it right.

Drivers sue San Jose over nearly 500 police cameras used to track drivers across the state.

B-21 Raider Seen From Above For The First Time.

Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, long-term study shows.

The Big Tech verdicts youโ€™re cheering for are actually terrible for free speech.

Nature Is Still Molding Human Genes, Study Finds.

Why Did China Buy Up the Worldโ€™s Ports?

New 3D map of Universe could solve dark energy mystery.

Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US bases.

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought.

The Dostoevskian Moment.

IQ Test

I like how you can ascertain who the low-IQ people are very quickly now because they complain AI “doesn’t work” and “can’t do anything.”

Meanwhile, I performed a complex analysis on part of my company’s infrastructure that would’ve taken me 4-5 full work days in 4-5 hours with AI.

All the Devils

paleoneoliberal (@armsq17) / X

Europe’s only hope is the right/far right, and that’s a deal with the devil as they are so terrible in other ways.

Has a civilization ever willingly destroyed itself like that? That must be a first in history.

Rate

Every time I think about it, my mind boggles that Gen Z thinks normal dating is “grooming.”

Those who think the fertility rate is gonna increase any time soon, prepare to be very disappointed.

Single-Family Home Sales Drop Further into Deepfreeze, Supply Hits 10-Year High, Condo Sales Plunge to Record Low.

A tabletop ring of atoms brings the universe's doomsday vacuum collapse into the lab.

Von der Leyen uses Orbรกn defeat to push for end of veto in EU foreign policy.

Some Contemporary Heresies.

All political systems are just various ways of attempting to solve: how do we live together in peace?

The labor economics of 'Alien' โ€” and its lessons for inequality on Earth.

Americans hate the 2026 economy.

The Looming College-Enrollment Death Spiral.

AI bioterrorism risk on the rise, warns leading scientist.

China shock 2.0: the flood of high-tech goods that will change the world.

Puddlefish.

Despite Apocalyptic Warnings, California Fast Food Wage Hike Didnโ€™t Kill Jobs.

How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply?

Why rural hospitals in Pennsylvania and across the country are closing in increasing numbers โ€“ 5 myths about rural health care.

Zen

What Zendaya Leaves Unsaid. Her films rarely center onโ€”or even acknowledgeโ€”her race, seemingly out of concern that focussing on identity might limit her charactersโ€™ emotional palettes. But why couldnโ€™t it expand those palettes?

I mean, who gives a fuck about Zendaya’s race? She’s either an effective actor or not. She’s not a favorite of mine particularly, but she’s pretty solid in most things I’ve seen her in. That’s all that matters to me.

This focus on race over all else makes the country worse, not better. We were doing this in a far superior way in the 1990s when we were attempting to include, rather than divide. We should get back to that.