dr. b

I just discovered this dude Donny Benét today. It's a kinda goofy take on 80's pop and disco. Pretty incredible stuff. The bass line on "Mr Experience" I'm gonna take a deep dive into his albums on Spotify over the weekend.

Seriously enjoying the Mei Semones LP "Animaru". Highly recommend you folks give it a spin

I got turned on to this artist Mei Semones and wow she and her band are a talented bunch Fun mix of jazz, indie, bossa, among other influences. The style and range of her vocals may not be to the liking of some, but even if you don't like her singing you've gotta appreciate her skills on the guitar. Born in the year 2000...! I feel old AF Also I've been playing guitar since before she was born and she could play circles around me. I've gotta practice more. Here's a set they did on KEXP.

Lots of good stuff this week in Jump I don't have comments on everything, but a few thoughts popped into my head... Spy Fam #125 Bill is officially one of my favourite dudes now. Tonitrus Bolt is no big deal, we gotta help Mr. Henderson! Then taking out the gym coach as a 6 year old Elusive Samurai #228 It's really going to end soon Seems like we skipped a chunk of time here from the previous chapter to this one. Interesting turn for Takauji after they drove the evil spirit from his body. What will the final encounter between him and Tokiyuki be like..? Akane-banashi # 184 That last page... Master Issho seems like such an evil bastard Surely it will all be explained later in the story as some grand plan of his to ultimately benefit rakugo, but his methods seem to be rather suspect. Someone Hertz #11 I just love the vibe of this one. The two main characters are so darn likeable. Kagurabachi #102 I feel like the battle that's about to start is going to be epic. Very hyped. Could be the beginning of the end of the story. I am curious to see what happens.

I know, what a cliffhanger! Things really escalated fast in this chapter of Kurimizawa. And it’s on a two week release schedule now so we gotta wait for the next one to drop Does he wriggle his way out of this situation somehow or does it all come crumbling down??? I love the style and an athletics of Gonron Egg too. Something about the looks of it grabbed me right away. There’s a bit of rawness to it that I like. Not everything needs to be super polished. The story and dialogue are quite simple. I assume it has to get deeper at some point if it doesn’t get axed early. We’ll see.

If you want something a bit more upbeat: “She Bangs the Drums” or “This is the One” Something a bit more psychedelic: “Waterfall” Moodier and a bit heavier: “I Wanna Be Adored” and “Made of Stone” If you like some of these tracks then you’ll probably enjoy the whole album. Their style was a mix of indie rock, 60s-esque pop and psychedelia, and dance-y vibes. I don’t enjoy their second record as much, and unfortunately they never did anything after that, but the self-titled album is IMHO a masterpiece that I never get tired of.

Anya will set things straight for Mr. Henderson even if he decides to call it quits in the end 😤 Ditto on Elusive Samurai. I love this series. Have you checked out Gonron Egg or Mage Next Door? They’re both pretty decent so far.

Mani, bass player of The Stone Roses and later Primal Scream, died His bass lines were such a big part of my favourite Stone Roses tracks. Have to listen to this one tonight, really loud, through my best headphones

Witch Watch #225 Whoa, I did not see that coming!!! Part #3 starts now. It’s serious. The Elusive Samurai #227 It’s going to end soon

Spy Fam #124 I'm enjoying this little story arc. This guy who did Mr. Henderson dirty better get caught. Anya to the rescue! The Elusive Samurai #226 Kojiro is a certified badass Sooooooo close. But the important thing is he got out of there alive. Phew! I enjoyed all the other new stuff this week but I guess I don't have much else that jumped out at me to comment on. Still think Gonron Egg is cool after three chapters. And the first two chapters of The Mage Next Door were better than I expected them to be. I like how Osoegawa is this sort of super-mage, but his magic is all about random stuff to make life more convenient, and yet he can use it in clever ways to out-wit and overpower other mages. It's sort of similar to Sakamoto in the sense that Sakamoto is very strong and skilled, but he also uses pens or whatever else is around him to win a fit instead of the stereotypically OP weapons like guns, etc. Finally, Someone Hertz is rapidly becoming one of my most-looked-forward-to new chapters every week. I love the art style and the subtle humour. It's very charming.

I would have laughed so hard (and also kinda hated it) if the umps had overturned that call. Smith's foot did appear to come off the plate for a moment just as the runner was sliding into the plate. Can't decide the World Series on a stupid challenge review though. It was extremely close, but Out was the correct call. As a mega Jays fan, it's hard for me to be objective, but I do genuinely feel like they were the better team for a good portion of the World Series. A shame they didn't find a way to win it. At the very least, this year the Jays won the division, knocked the Yankees out of the postseason (an absolute knockout!), won the ALCS, and were plenty good enough to have won the WS. The Yankees didn't make the Dodgers work nearly that hard in the 2024 WS, for whatever little that's worth

Yamamoto is a very good pitcher indeed. Bummer.

Elusive Samurai #225 Kojiro is smooth AF Him and Nagao better come back alive! Witch Watch #224 Awwwwww they’re adorable I like how quickly the story is getting going in Gonron Egg. I’ll keep reading it. Not an incredibly original story premise but it’s interesting anyhow. Another new one this week, The Mage Next Door. I didn’t read it yet.

That was a great back and forth game last night. If I wasn’t such a die hard Jays fan and could look at it more objectively, that’s what I’d say anyways. The end was such a devastating heartbreaker. I am going through all the stages of grief All in all, it was a really competitive and exciting World Series even if my team lost and I feel absolutely gutted. Like seriously I feel sick. Gotta give credit to LA though. Three of their four WS wins were on the road. The Jays could have won last night if they could have cashed in a couple more insurance runs. They had chances. Or if the relievers could have made some better pitches Ugh baseball is so cruel

I wish Ernie had taken a few pitches instead of swinging at the first one Glasnow threw. But ambushing first pitches is his M.O. Giminez had a bit better at bat. Great play and throw from LF to end it. Barger got a bit too far ahead before making sure the ball dropped out got caught. The Jays will bounce back tonight. They seemed unphased after losing the 18 inning game, or going down 0-2 to Seattle. Gotta win tonight!

Big night tonight in Toronto!!! I am fully expecting the Dodgers' lineup to punch back at the Jays with everything they have. I'm curious to see if Dave Roberts shakes up the lineup some more. Or if Mookie Betts can figure out how to hit again. The dream scenario: Gausman pitches a clean top of the 1st inning, and then the Jays lineup jumps all over Yamamoto to get an early lead. If Toronto can demoralize the Dodgers just a bit early on in the game, they might start to let go of the rope. Easier said than done, obviously. Yamamoto pitched incredibly in his last two starts. There's no reason to expect him to be worse tonight. The Jays' hitters have to find a way to adapt and beat him. He's not going to just let them win.

Totally agree. Takauji breaking the fourth wall (I think I'm using that term correctly? ) to tell the reader about he's the good guy was a fun element. I remain unconvinced by his arguments! I still look forward to Elusive Samurai every week with lots of excitement, and I will be a bit sad when it ends, but I guess we will be arriving at the end fairly soon. I don't want to jinx it, but I don't see how Matsui could possibly botch the ending at this point. This manga has been consistently very good for a long time now and he seems to have the whole story planned out very nicely. I suppose it helps that it's based on historical events, but obviously he's taking some artistic liberties to make it more compelling in manga format. He just has to stick the landing now.

Seriously! Incredible pitching line for Yesavage last night. I’m glad he finished the 7th. Very timely double play there. It was another great team win last night. Jays are up 3-2 heading back to Toronto I sure hope they can figure out how to get to Yamamoto. Finish the job in Game #6. Crazy stuff happens in Game #7’s…

So, they pitched to Ohtani last night and seemed to get away with it. Bieber didn't hit all his spots, but at least he didn't leave any pitches over the middle of the plate. Great team win by the Jays last night. Series tied 2-2!

I liked the first chapter of Gonron Egg a lot. Looking forward to seeing where it goes. I like the art style.

I am really into Kurumizawa's Folly! So, did he also exploit an assistant with his previous series..? (Cyber Joe?) Or did I misunderstand something that happened in the previous chapter. He starts out as a down-on-his-luck kind of character but perhaps he was a scammer all along. That last page of last week's chapter - "He's lying to you!" - was a great cliffhanger.

I watched the condensed version of last night's game over lunch today and I am astonished how one of these teams did not manage to win the game much earlier than the 18th inning Both sides had lots of chances. The Jays should mostly keep doing what they were doing, and just tighten things up in a few areas. I think it was a mistake for Schneider to make so many substitutions in the lineup in the later innings. It went to extras and they basically had the B-team out there. Pretty funny though that the Dodgers couldn't get one run off them until the 18th. They certainly had their chances too. Everybody is ready to go in that Blue Jays bullpen tonight. Lose tonight and the series is all but over. Have to hope they get length out of Bieber, but if he doesn't have it then I guarantee all those guys are ready and willing to pitch. I just don't want to see Little take the mound again. Gimme more Chris Bassitt maybe. I am really curious to see how Ohtani plays tonight. It was a long night last night, and tonight he'll be pitching. Maybe he doesn't get tired though? He is something else. The vindictive side of me would rather see the Jays bean him instead of intentionally walking him That is of course dumb and evil and would risk retaliation against a Blue Jays hitter (probably Vlad)... but I'm Canadian and grew up on hockey! When you can't beat a guy on the other team you just hurt him instead

Scratch that. It is in fact not a winner. The creators of Gnosia pulled a fast one on me. I thought the first episode was a good start. Interesting sci-fi stuff. But it dawned on me a few minutes into the third episode - which I was starting to find painfully boring - that this show is basically just an animated game of Mafia. Ick. Do not continue watching

Oof, 18 innings. Glad I didn't stay up for it last night The Jays need to find a way to win tonight to even up the series. Otherwise all those "Dodgers in 5" picks are going to start looking really good Ohtani is unstoppable. And tonight he is pitching too. Yikes.

Agreed! Akane-banashi #180 was a very nice wrap to the Zuiun Prize tournament. Fireworks on the beach and then a night of boozing. Wish I was there with them! Elusive Samurai #224 Did they finally get him??? Tokiyuki's arrow travelling up Takauji's arm and then through his back was kinda ridiculous but cool anyways. Tokiyuki's reflections and thought processes in this chapter were really mature for such a young character. He's a genuinely likeable character, not a single flaw. Witch Watch #223 Totally forgot there was one butterfly left somewhere out there..! I liked how that came together. Naturally, now I expect something very bad to happen. Probably the Warlocks show up soon to ruin everything. But the whole squad has been training to get stronger and they won't get caught off guard this time. Sakamoto #234 Very curious to see how Seba gets out of this miss. The invisible/indestructible ICU room seemed too good to be true Gotta love this series for coming up with the most outlandish concepts. Ekiden Bros. ended. Fairly satisfying ending. Didn't expect it to last very long... And it didn't. No new chapter for Kagurabachi this week. That was a bummer. The art has been rather rough in spots the last couple months. Maybe the author needed some extra time. The story is still good although it's getting confusing with all the characters involved in what's happening right now. Perhaps not a good sign. There was a new one - Gonron Egg - which I've yet to look at. Maybe later today. I need to read the new Dandadan and Chainsaw Man chapters first.