Aura

this is floating my boat, big time. probably gonna be in my top 5 for the year.

I'm not the biggest Kurt Vile fan but Courtney Barnett is fucking boss. So this album is good for me just because she's on it.

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice

Fongs Pizza in Des Moines... 'Dragon Balls' (stuff wrapped in bacon) and crab rangoon pizza.

Love ya Steve, keep us updated!

Been looking at NAD's digital amps for a long time for secondary (living room) rig, whenever I get around to it. The 3020 or 7050 would be main candidates for a low-powered bookshelf rig.

My Frigidaire still going strong after two moves in the past 5 years. But it's probably half the size of what you looked at. It also stores more beer than wine.

Never could get into them (though I like their first two albums a bit). I've heard they are great live, so we'll probably see them close out Lollapalooza on Sunday.

I hate frosted pop tarts, in general. Only ever buy unfrosted strawberry, and on occasion I'll put peanut butter on them.

Hard to choose between my speakers or the amp, but I remain pretty confident 2.5 years later that the M22 is the best piece of gear I've ever owned.

I love how half these teams' overall strategy is to just cycle through star after star, somehow hoping they can catch Golden State with rag tag crews. Makes me appreciate Boston and Philly willing to nosedive for multiple years to try and assemble an intentionally devised team with actual focus. Please Chicago, please do this. Guys like Howard, CP3, Melo... I just don't see it.

Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory digging a lot more than expected

It's disgusting how far they've fallen from the 2011-2012 roster on every possible front, including coaching. Pre-injury Rose, Noah, Deng, Boozer, Hamilton, Gibson, Korver, and Butler. A couple more seasons with Thibs and that roster would have had a title.

What in the fucking hell is Chicago doing? Pax didn't just kill this team, he absolutely obliterated any semblance of cohesiveness, skill, or potential.

Our back patio fence is a giant piece of wooden shit. Adding a dartboard to it (until we replace the damn thing) isn't a half-bad idea... I wouldn't care about putting holes in it one bit.

Bought a 2 bed/1.5 bath in September. 5 unit building from 1940, full brick exterior. Half our basement is finished and that's where the rig is at. Next door neighbor said she has never heard us, apparently these walls are some kind of magic because we've never heard anyone else either. Most unique thing for us - there's no association at all. Typical HOA would've been $5-700 around here, nice to pocket that instead to use it for what we need it for. The general agreement seems to be that for all our shared spaces, we try to stick together. All of us are using the same landscaper in front, $10 per unit a week and we all pay separately. Two of the units got their roof sections done late fall last year, so we'll just go with the same roofer when it's our turn. One neighbor seems keen on getting everyone involved when doing things like windows to get us all discounts. So overall we have more risk with the big fixes but everyone has been great and we'll just go with the flow. I don't have much negative to say on the building overall. Our only issues are within our space, particularly a crap kitchen but we've plans to remodel within a year or so. Had to drop the coin for all brand new HVAC and washer/dryer but it's been worth it. Best of luck posty, it sounds like a good move!

Pillorian - Obsidian Arc

Congrats KD, though I sure wish you'd been wearing an OKC jersey when you got it done. And congrats warrior fans, of course. Watching LeBron walking off was interesting... He's said he has nothing more to prove and he looks the part more than ever. I hope everyone hating him these last 5-6 years wakes up before he's done because this is the second time he lost a finals and should be series mvp. Unbelievable stuff.

Not specifically game 6. There was no excuse to get pounded in game 5 in Pitt the way they did. Especially coming off a ton of momentum from the wins in Nashville prior.

Blah. My initial reaction last night was "Thanks for fucking that up, Nashville." But then I got the blackhawks-douche out of me and can now admit that Pittsburgh is just on another level of resiliency compared to the rest of the league. I hate Crosby and like Malkin and have to admit that they're just the best overall combination of skill. Pairing them with Kessel, a shitload of speed, veteran niche players, an underrated young goalie, and (annoyingly) an excellent head coach... and you get the repeat. It's crazy they got through the wave of injuries this year with the same end result. --- Anywho, I'm ready for offseason. Hawks are supposedly going to be very active. It would seem that Kruger, TVR, and Seabrook are gone. We gotta get faster via a retool, not a full rebuild. Skill is still there and the young guys looked decent throughout the season I thought.

You read my mind, biscuit brother. I was just looking at the PS4 Pro but I haven't played games since college. I suspect our use will be 100% streaming TV and spinning movies. Oppo looking good as always, I definitely do not need the extra shit in the 205. Already thinking too much about how I'd want to connect the audio stuff...

Wife and I were listening to the speaker rig yesterday and she randomly said "yeah, I think we need a TV down here." This is a basement capable of going pitch black in an instant any hour of the day and definitely large enough to support something bigger than the old 50" Panasonic plasma in the living room. Both luxuries I'm not used to. And my wallet won't be, either. Probably wait until closer to end of year. 65" LG B6 that Brent mentioned looks dope. I'll probably end up adding a 4K player but I'm not gonna double dip on much that I've already bought in regular blu ray. Probably around 400 now, I suppose I'd double-dip on some action, sci-fi, and horror stuff but ugh. Too much time and money invested already.

Live night #2, waiting for Thrice, followed by Deftones, followed by Rise Against at Huntington Bank Pavilion. Listened to the Rise cd, Wolves, that released this morning in preparation. Should be good.

Anyone who's a fan of the Ænima album really should get to one of the shows this tour. Third Eye live was mind-boggling good. Maynard stepped up and they played The Pot as well, which is a rarity in recent years. Waited a long time to see them, absolutely worth it.

Just found our seats for Tool. Can't wait.