"I played major league baseball for parts of 10 years, and I played in the magnificent city of New York, and as a child in St. Croix that was beyond dreams. Yes, I am a happy man." -- Horace Clarke
The worst stretch of Yankee baseball since the Highlander days, the mid 60s to the mid 70s, is remembered by those who lived through it as the Horace Clarke Era. Unfairly or not, the bespectacled switch-hitting middle infielder from the U.S. Virgin Islands came to symbolize all that was wrong with the Yankees in those sad years.
Horace Meredith Clarke grew up on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was just the fifth player from the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the majors, and the first Yankee. His father had grown up playing cricket, and because there were no youth baseball leagues on the island, young Horace played softball. He said he didn't see his first baseball game until around age 13, when he saw some U.S. Navy sailors playing.

“We were poor kids in St. Croix. We played on a field which was right on the ocean and had no fences. We couldn’t afford baseballs. So the coach made the lefthanded batters hit righthanded and the righthanded batters hit lefthanded. This was so they couldn’t hit the ball so far. It saved us from losing the baseballs in the ocean.”

Clarke was spotted by a Yankee scout in the Caribbean and assigned to the lowest run of the Yankee farm system -- the Kearney Yankees in Class D ball. Imagine being an 18-year-old kid from St. Croix in the Caribbean, and arriving in Kearney, Nebraska in the spring of 1958. The culture shock must have been overwhelming. Maybe not surprisingly, Clarke hit a disappointing .225/.322/.283 in 187 at-bats. He said the biggest adjustment wasn't the cold weather, but night games played under the lights, something he'd never done before.
The following year Horace was in the Florida State League, and he thrived in the warmer weather, hitting .293/.375/.366 in 571 at-bats. He also stole 34 bases that year. The year after that, he was back up north, playing for Fargo in the Northern League, and hit .307/.389/.369 in 537 at-bats. The following year was Amarillo in the Texas League, where he hit .300/.364/.429.
Then the next three years in the International League, where he hit .281/.345/.352 in 1,494 at-bats while playing shortstop and second base.
But despite Clarke's promise, he was blocked by Bobby Richardson. By the time Clarke had reached Triple-A at age 24 in 1963, the 27-year-old Richardson had already been a four-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and had won three World Series rings... plus the MVP for the 1960 World Series, the only time in baseball history a player for the losing team won the award!
But the Yankees knew Richardson was planning on retiring, so they kept Clarke waiting in the wings. He opened the year with the Toledo Mud Hens, then the Yankees' Triple-A team, and then after a month he finally got the call to the show.
Fifty-nine years ago today, on May 13, 1965, Clarke was sent up to the plate in the 7th inning as a pinch hitter to make his major league debut in a game the Yankees were losing, 4-1, to the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.
Clarke, facing Dave Morehead, beat out an infield single. It was a promising beginning. But, as if scripted to be symbolic of his career, Clarke's success was short-lived as the next batter bounced into a fielder's choice. Forced out at second base, Clarke watched the rest of the game from the dugout. The next day he'd get the start and go 0-for-4.
Hitting .250/.298/.269 at the end of June as a utility infielder, Clarke was sent back down to Toledo for two months to get more regular playing time. It helped. When he returned on September 3 -- coincidentally, also against the Red Sox -- he went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Overall that month, Clarke hit .273/.298/.327, and for the season, .262/.298/.299 in 115 plate appearances. But the Yankees, the reigning A.L. champions for the past five seasons, finished a shocking 77-85, all the way in sixth place.
That off-season, Phil Linz -- the harmonica playing utility infielder -- was traded to the Phillies, opening up a roster spot for Clarke. Richardson, though only 31, had told the Yankees he would retire at the end of the 1966 season, and the Yankees wanted him to mentor Clarke as his successor.
Clarke started just seven games over the first half, but a series of injuries forced him into regular service. Over the second half, he played almost every day, hitting .276/.334/.404 in 300 plate appearances. He was mostly used at shortstop, where his defense wasn't great, but in 16 games at second base he looked good enough that the Yankees were confident he could be a regular there. Yankee fans were no doubt a little sad when Richardson officially announced to the press on August 31 that it was his last season, but at least we knew who would be playing second base the following year.
Indeed, second base was the least of the Yankees' problems. New York finished dead last at 70-89 in 1966, the team's worst performance since 1925, as injuries fell Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Elston Howard, and Whitey Ford.
Entering 1967 as the starting second baseman, Clarke hit a solid .272/.321/.316 (94 OPS+) in 633 plate appearances while leading the league in fielding percentage, assists, and range factor as a second baseman. He also stole 21 bases in 25 tries, a second-best .840 SB%. His 3.7 bWAR that year was better than any season Richardson ever had -- his career high was 3.2 bWAR in 1962.
The following year, the Yankees finished 83-79 -- above .500 for the first time in four seasons -- but a whopping 34.5 games out. Clarke had one of the worst years of his career, hitting .230/.258/.254 (60 OPS+) as he played through injuries all year.
He rebounded in 1969 to .285/.339/.467 (101 OPS+), with 33 stolen bases. It was, statistically, the best season of his career (3.9 bWAR). But once again the Yankees were terrible -- 28.5 games out.
In 1970, Clarke again disappointed, hitting .251/.286/.309 (68 OPS+). The Yankees won 93 games that year, but it amounted to naught as the Orioles ran away with the pennant, going 108-54 to win it by 15 games. In fact, it was pretty much over by July, with the Yankees 7 games out at the All-Star break.
It was around this time that Yankee fans began focusing their frustration on Clarke. One New York sportswriter routinely referred to him as "Horrible Horace". Miscast as a leadoff man -- he had a career .308 OBP -- and criticized for "bailing out" on double plays, manager Ralph Houk years later offered a tepid defense of his second baseman:

“I know I got a lot of criticism for playing Horace Clarke as much as I did, but he was a lot better ballplayer than anyone gave him credit for. He did a lot of things good but nothing great, and that was his problem. Besides, I didn’t have anyone else.”

The lack of a replacement was certainly an issue. In 1971, there was talk in The Sporting News about a prospect named Fred Frazier being the heir apparent to Clarke at second base. That year, Frazier hit a disappointing .261/.316/.313 in Triple-A; the next year, .216/.302/.281. The year after that, he was in the Orioles organization. He never made it out of the minors.
In fact, Clarke was the only constant in the Yankee infield in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Yankees during the, ahem, Horace Clarke Era had holes everywhere, with a revolving door at first base, third base, and shortstop. For five years, from 1967 to 1971, Clarke was the Opening Day starter at second base; during that same stretch, there were five different third basemen, five different third basemen, and three different shortstops. Between 1967 and 1973, he started 1,017 games at second base, or 90% of all Yankee games.
But that, explained Yankees PR man Marty Appel, was kind of the problem. "Fans especially didn’t like the second baseman, the beleaguered Horace Clarke, whose major flaw seemed to be longevity. It wasn’t his fault that no one better came along, and he was a better player than the fans gave him credit for. But because he was out there, year after year, he came to stand for this disappointing run by the club."

"I always did my best. I always played as hard as I could. I never was concerned about how the fans reacted to me." -- Horace Clarke

The following year Clarke hit .250/.321/.318 in 696 plate appearances, but the Yankees again were out of it, finishing 82-80 in 1971.
Yankee fans had been miserable since 1965, but frustration with the team in general -- and Clarke in particular -- reached a boiling point in 1972. It had been seven years since the Yankees had been in the post-season, and 1972 was the first year the Yankees had the playoffs within our grasp since winning the pennant in 1964. (The "closest and latest" the Yankees had been since the 1965 season was 9 games out of 1st place on September 8, 1970.)
On September 12, 1972, the Yankees were a half-game out of 1st place at 74-64, with 17 games left to go in the season. The Red Sox were in 1st at 73-62, the Orioles tied with New York at 74-64, and the Tigers a half-game behind at 73-64. Over the rest of the season, the Yankees went a heartbreaking 5-12, while the Tigers won 13 out of 19 to win the A.L. East.
There was plenty of blame to go around for that collapse, but Yankee fans were particularly irate at Clarke, who hit .225/.267/.296 during those final 17 games.
To his credit, Clarke never complained about the boos from fans or the criticism in the press. As quoted by Dick Young in the New York Daily News in 1972:

"Sure, I would feel bad when I saw in the papers that, 'the Yankees can never win the pennant with that guy at second base.' But why get mad. I figure that's his opinion, and he's entitled to it. I must have been able to do something. Don't tell me a ballplayer can fool a manager for seven years."

Years later, Thurman Munson said his adversarial relationship with the media was based on how Horace Clarke was treated.
In 1973, the 34-year-old Clarke hit .263/.317/.308 (80 OPS+), his defense was no longer among the league leaders, and the Yankees were once again double-digit games behind by Labor Day.
It was finally time to move on. That off season, the Yankees acquired 23-year-old utility infielder Jim Mason from the Texas Rangers and installed him as the starting shortstop for the upcoming 1974 season; Gene Michael, the Yankees' on-again, off-again shortstop since 1968, was moved to second base; and Clarke to the bench. It wasn't exactly an earth-shattering move -- Mason was coming off a season in which he hit .206/.273/.290, and Michael .225/.270/.278. If anything, the two represented a substantial downgrade from Clarke's numbers. (By bWAR the previous season, Clarke was still the best option of the three, 0.6 compared to Mason's -0.7 and Michael's -0.9.)
After hitting .234/.294/.255 in 53 plate appearances as a pinch hitter and spot starter, on May 31, 1974, the Yankees finally ended the Horace Clarke Era by selling his contract to the San Diego Padres along with minor league pitcher Lowell Palmer for $25,000. At the time of the deal, Clarke was still the Yankees' best option at second base as Mason was hitting .214/.287/.307 and Michael a putrid .134/.224/.179!
Six weeks later, the Yankees tried to address their second base problem again by acquiring former All-Star Sandy Alomar from the Angels. Alomar, who fathered major leaguers Sandy Jr. and Roberto, played for the Yankees for the next two and a half seasons, hitting .248/.287/.302... again, worse than Horace's career average of .256/.308/.313.
And yet getting rid of Horace Clarke immediately turned around the Yankees' fortunes. With Horace, the Yankees were 23-27, the worst record in the American League; without him, a second-best 66-46. New York finished 89-73, just two games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees finally found a solution to the second base problem on December 11, 1975, trading previously forgotten Yankee Doc Medich to the Pirates for Dock Ellis, Ken Brett, and a 20-year-old prospect named Willie Randolph.
Meanwhile, Clarke went to San Diego and hit .189/.255/.200 in 99 plate appearances. He was released at the end of the season and retired. He was a frequent attendee at Yankee Old Timers' Games, and promoted baseball in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He died at age 81 on August 5, 2020, from complications due to Alzheimer's disease.
The Clarke Side

• Horace's nickname was "Hoss". Yankee play-by-play man Bill White loved to draw out the "s" sound.
  
• Clarke had a reputation of being timid on double plays -- the team's pitchers thought he was apt to hold onto the ball and hop aside rather than try to get off a throw if it meant getting barreled over by the runner. (And in those days, runners came in hard -- just ask Willie Randolph!) Yankee pitchers complained to the press about it, and fans started watching for such plays. Any time the 175-pound Clarke didn't complete a double play, the boo birds came out. To be fair, despite his reputation as being afraid of contact, Clarke led the league in double plays turned as a second baseman in 1969 and again in 1971, and finished in the top five every year he was a regular.
  
• Clarke was the last Yankee to live within walking distance of Yankee Stadium, at the Grand Concourse Hotel. His commute to work was a three-block walk... which could be a problem sometimes. Sportswriter Dick Young reported Clarke had an awkward moment when a fan, "this kid, maybe 11 or 12," walked up and asked: "Hey Hoss, how come you can't make the double play?" Clarke replied: "Well, we can't all be stars. I guess I'm just a lousy ballplayer."
  
• Clarke had an unusual batting stance, a throwback to the Deadball Era. He stood with his legs far apart and he choked up high on the bat. Not surprisingly, he had just 27 home runs in 5,243 career plate appearances... but apparently all of them were of the over-the-fence variety.
  
• The first of those 27 home runs was a grand slam! It was off Floyd Weaver of the Cleveland Indians on September 21, 1965. The two-out grand slam in the 4th inning helped power the Yankees to a 9-4 win.
  
• And Clarke's second career home run? Another grand slam! It came on July 16, 1966. Clarke came up with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th of a 5-5 game. Clarke crushed Jack Aker's offering to deep right to clear the bases and give the Yankees a 9-5 lead; Pedro Ramos pitched a perfect 9th to preserve the victory. Whitey Ford, who had entered the game in the 9th inning in relief, got the win. Clarke's first and second home runs were the only grand slams of his career!
  
• Aker was later Clarke's teammate with the Yankees from 1969 to 1972, and the sinkerballing reliever was one of the pitchers who criticized Horace about bailing out on double plays.
  
• Long before John Olerud made it cool, Horace sometimes wore a batting helmet while playing the field. He never explained why; some speculated it was because he'd once been hit in the head by a thrown ball.
  
• Clarke said he grew up listening to Yankee games on the radio, and Phil Rizzuto -- a similarly undersized infielder -- was his favorite player. Horace was 11 years old when the Scooter won the A.L. MVP in 1950.
  
• Mickey Mantle, his knees shot, moved to first base for the final two years of his career. Clarke, the regular second baseman both of those seasons, said that Mantle told him to get every ball he could. Horace led the league in range factor as a second baseman both of those seasons.
  
• The Sporting News reported on March 14, 1970, that Clarke had a "novel twist" during salary negotiations for the upcoming 1970 season. He told the Yankees he'd take less money in salary if they helped him secure a $1 million loan for a construction project in the Virgin Islands. Sportswriter Dick Young speculated: "It's a very simple gimmick. First you get the Yankees to lend you $1 million for an investment. You bank it at seven percent. That brings in $70,000 a year. Then you negotiate your contract with the independent feeling that you don't have to play baseball for a living." Clarke and the Yankees eventually agreed on a more conventional contract at $32,000 -- and no loan.
  
• Check out Horace Clarke's leadoff single on Opening Day in 1970, called by Phil Rizzuto! #23 playing first base for the Yankees is not Don Mattingly, but previously forgotten Yankee John Ellis.
  
• Clarke set the major league career record -- since tied by Joe Mauer -- of most no-hitters broken up in the 9th inning. Both players did it three times in their career... but Clarke did it three times in the same season! He had 9th inning singles to break up no-no's by Kansas City's Jim Rooker on June 4, 1970, Boston's Sonny Siebert on June 19, 1970, and Detroit's Joe Niekro on July 2, 1970. No other hitter has broken up more than two no-hitters in the 9th inning in his career, according to the book Baseball's No-Hit Wonders by Dirk Lammers, but Clarke amazingly did it three times in 24 games spread over 28 days. Mauer's 9th inning heartbreakers came over a six-year stretch.
  
• Clarke went 5-for-6 with an RBI in the second game of a doubleheader on April 19, 1970 -- and had 11 other games where he had four hits. In terms of fantasy scoring, his best day was either May 21, 1969, when he went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and three stolen bases, or July 22, 1971, when he was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs.
  
• Clarke was involved in one of the most surreal moments of baseball history on the final day of the 1971 season. The Yankees were playing the Washington Senators -- not the original Senators, who had moved to Minnesota to become the Twins in 1961, but the expansion team founded that same year to replace them. Rangers owner Bob Short, who had bought the team three years earlier, announced he was moving the team to Arlington, Texas, to become the Rangers. (Coincidentally, in 1957, Short had bought the Minneapolis Lakers and, three years later, moved them to Los Angeles.) The final home game of the Senators at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., was on September 30, 1971 against the Yankees. The game was tied, 5-5, but the soon-to-be Rangers scored a pair in the bottom of the 8th to take a 7-5 lead. In the top of the 9th, Felipe Alou and Bobby Murcer grounded out to bring up Horace Clarke. Before he could get to the plate, however, a fan ran onto the field and pulled up first base, prompting hundreds more fans to run onto the field in search of their own souvenirs. Clarke and the Senators ran off the field and the umpires called it a forfeit in favor of the Yankees.
  
• Horace wore #20 all 10 seasons he was with the Yankees. It was never a particularly popular number before him, as the only player who wore it more than a few seasons was Tiny Bonham (1940-1946). Bucky Dent wore #20 from 1977 to 1982, and previously forgotten Yankee Bobby Meacham from 1983 to 1988. Another previously forgotten Yankee, Mike Stanley, wore it from 1992 to 1995, then Jorge Posada had it until Stanley returned in 1997 and reclaimed it. After Stanley left the Yankees, he asked Posada to take it back, saying that number should belong to a catcher. And now it always will, as it was retired for Posada in 2015.
  
• His obituary in The New York Times noted that among major leaguers from the Virgin Islands -- "a relatively small roster" -- Clarke still holds the records for games played, hits, runs, RBIs, and stolen bases.
  
• After he retired, Clarke helped promote youth baseball in the U.S. Virgin Islands. One of the players he mentored was Jerry Browne, who played 10 years in the majors between 1986 and 1995 with the Rangers, Indians, A's, and Marlins. In his SABR biography, Browne credits Clarke with teaching him baseball fundamentals.
  
• According to the book Where Have All Our Yankees Gone? by Brian Jensen, Clarke played a uniquely Caribbean instrument called "the vibes." "The vibes is like a xylophone, marimba-related type sound. It's a keyboard-type related instrument." Clarke said he played the instrument during his Yankee days, but -- unlike Bernie Williams, who frequently strummed on his guitar in the clubhouse -- only during the off-season. "When I was with the Yankees, ya know, the instrument that I had, the vibes, I was doing it, ya know, but never in the clubhouse, though. Once you are in the clubhouse, it is all work, ya know. That was never so much allowed. I had the instrument all the years that I was a Yankee but I was involved with baseball. That was my full time and I didn't have full time to play music but, ya know, in the off-season I would have a vibe and try to learn a song by hearing from a tape or a record and that's what it was." After retiring, Clarke played the instrument with a local band called Out of Nowhere.
  
• Of the 15 major leaguers to have been born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the only other Yankee was Elrod Hendricks, a backup catcher for the Bombers from 1976 to 1977. Jabari Blash, born in St. Thomas, gets an honorable mention for the three months he spent as a Yankee during the 2017-2018 off-season. Blash was acquired from the Padres for Chase Headley on December 12, then traded to the Angels for a PTBNL or cash considerations. I guess we got the cash, because apparently no player was ever named.
  
• There's a Horace Clarke High School in Jamaica, but it's not named after the Yankee. It's named after the Horace Clarke who was a member of parliament in Jamaica from 1972 to 2002.
  
• Also not him: Horace Clarke, a teenager shot and seriously wounded by a Blackfeet Indian named Owl Child on August 17, 1869. Clarke's father, Malcolm, was killed in the same attack, which was purportedly revenge for Malcolm Clarke having attacked him two years earlier... which Malcolm claimed he'd done because Owl Child had stolen horses from him... which Owl Child said he'd done in revenge for yet an earlier dispute. The pursuit of Owl Child resulted in a massacre of at least 170 people, mostly elderly men, women, and children. As for Owl Child, he escaped to Canada and was never seen again.
  

"I remember the first game I played in Yankee Stadium in 1965. There were more than 40,000 people in the stands. I had just come from my country where there are 30,000 people in the entire country. That was some adjustment." -- Horace Clarke

Overall, Horace Clarke hit .257/.309/.315 in 5,144 plate appearances as a Yankee. His numbers aren't quite as bad as they appear, as he played during one of the lowest offense eras since deadball... an 84 OPS+. That ranks him ahead of fondly-remembered Yankees like Shelley Duncan (81 OPS+), Rick Cerone (80 OPS+), Miguel Cairo (80 OPS+), Bucky Dent (72 OPS+), and... Bobby Richardson (77 OPS+). And while many complained about his defense, his defensive metrics -- such as we have for his era -- indicate he was at least an average defender. He led the league in range factor three times, in fielding percentage once, in assists six times, and in double plays twice.
People tend to think about Clarke -- if they think about him at all -- as either a terrible player, representative of the teams he played on, or a good player who was wasted on bad teams. The truth is somewhere in the middle. As sportswriter Maury Allen said, he was "an average big-leaguer on below-average Yankee teams."
And in fact, Clarke's 16.0 career bWAR as a Yankee is twice as much value as the player he replaced, Bobby Richardson (8.0 bWAR). But Richardson was a fan favorite, while Clarke was scorned. But of course... Richardson won three rings. And Yankee fans love a winner!

"New York is New York. You don’t win, you’re going to hear about it. I was in the middle." -- Horace Clarke

Had Clarke come along a few years earlier and been part of the early 1960s dynasty, he might be remembered fondly as a scrappy infielder, a Tony Kubek or a Bucky Dent or a Scott Brosius -- a good but not great player who had some memorable moments.
Instead, Horace Clarke defines an era of futility.

There has always been a huge amount of rumors floating around in the hardcore techno scene; but one of the hottest takes I ever heard was that, supposedly, Rick Rubin was a huge fan of Gabber in the 90s, had the desire to make this very sound big in the US of A, and called up the "big dutch labels" at that time to make a deal and sort things out; but they were confused by this, so they declined in the end. Not sure how legit this rumor is - it originates from the uppermost echelon of the HC world, so it might actually be quite true. It's a shame this did not work out, because it would have been interesting to see a huge Gabber scene on American soil growing under the reign of rick; and if Gabber went big in the US, it would surely have conquered the world from there. Would make an interesting plot for an alternate history novel. But even though that, "in our timeline", it did not happen, there is reason to believe that Rick Rubin had an important and lasting influence on Hardcore Techno nonetheless
So let's begin. I don't think I need to introduce Mr. Rubin, but in case you lived under a rock (maybe the 3rd rock from the sun), you can read up about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin But, what is his connection to Hardcore Techno? First, the best known track with Hardcore origins worldwide is probably "I like it loud". Originally by Marc Acardipane, it went into platinum-like spheres after being "re-released" together with Scooter. This track can be heard during football matches (both american and "real" football), TV adverts, on the radio, at restaurants, cafés, and street parades and festival, I even heard it being chanted at rock concerts.
Some would argue the scooter "version" is not so hardcore anymore - that's why I said "a track with hardcore *origins*". Also, the original hardcore version is quite popular, too, and when the famous melody is being chanted by people, does it make a difference? the history of the track is quite interesting. the line "my radio, believe me, i like it loud" (misunderstood by scooter as "maria, believe me...") is taken from a rap song by LL Cool J; that song was produced for the movie "krush groove", which is a half-biographic, half-fictionalized account of the def jam label, of rick rubin and russel simmons (who both ran the label in the beginning), and the artists connected to the label and the scene. quite a few artists play themselves in the movie, like run dmc or sheila e.; and rick rubin is actually portrayed by - himself - too!
the story runs that ll cool j was never meant to be in the movie, but that he kept gate-crashing the shooting of the film, talking to the crew and insisting that his music was to be included, until they said "well, damn it, let's give him a chance". ironically, in the movie he is shown busting an audition too, and then being given a record deal by rubin and his crew. did marc first hear that song by watching this movie? could well be the case, as it was an infamous movie in its time - at least to listeners of rap music. either way, it's a rick rubin production and the sample landed inside this gabber hit. But it's of course not just about this track - when one takes a closer look it turns out that many, many hardcore and gabber tracks use samples that originate from the hands of rick rubin and his label (we'll get back to that later).
keep in mind that, unlike in many other genres, samples provide the backbone for many hardcore productions. it's a 90% "voiceless" genre without singers and vocalists, so the "voice" of a specific track often comes from a vocal sample. these samples set the mood, topic, theme of the track then, and in many cases they end up defining the very track. And i don't think it's an accident or coincidence that so many samples originate from rick rubin productions. if we look at his life as a producer, we see that he had his roots in hardcore punk / rock, then switched to hardcore rap by the mid 80s, only to later "switch" back to extreme forms of guitar music, like thrash metal etc again; and going in *any* direction from then on. these drastic "jumps" from opposite genres to each other confused many people in the 80s; and when rick was asked about it, his reply went along the lines of: he doesn't care if it's rap or rock, as long as it's hardcore. wouldn't it make sense then if he does not care whether it's hardcore rock, hardcore rap, or *hardcore techno*?
but leaving that aside. rick is known as a producer who does not just push knobs (actually, he claims he never pushed knobs at all), but also gets directly involved in the songwriting and other aspects of production, changing lines of lyrics occasionally, and generally infusing the songs and tracks of his artists with the thoughts of his own mind, too. And I make the hot claim that a certain "hardcore attitude" can be found in his productions, and thus it would only be reasonable that so many hardcore techno producers fell in love with his releases, decided to sample them, and that this 'hardcore legacy' lives on in numerous tracks and helped to shape and define the scene! (and, in my opinion, many songs that have rick rubin as a producer still sound more "hardcore" then quite a few actual 'hardcore techno' tracks of today).
Rick Rubin in 2009
take it like you want - but i believe it to be the truth.
a look at some hardcore tracks that sample songs which were produced by rick rubin, released on def jam recordings, or are otherwise connected to him:
(these are just a few examples - there are literally thousands of tracks out there like this).
Marshall Masters - I Like It Loud Chosen Few - Name Of The DJ Technological Terror Crew - The Ripper Nasenbluten - Machete Bertocucci Feranzano - XTC Love (Buzz Fuzz Mix) DJ Rob & Tim B - Loud and Proud DJ Skinhead - I Don't Understand This ?? Industrial Terror Squad - Unbelievable Search & Destroy - Def Jam DJ Dano - Something Bigger (Here We Go Again Remix)
Sources for this feature:
Rick Rubin - In The Studio (book by Jake Brown)
Krush Groove (Movie)
Discogs.com
Whosampled.com
Wikipedia
Anonymous and other sources

PART 1 HERE ***The paragraph numbers in this post continue from Part 1, as in, that post ended with paragraph 11, so this one starts at paragraph 12 instead of restarting at 1.***
12: All good so far, but, BUT, then Jesse appears in 5x12. Rick had made considerable progress up until then, such as symbolically shaving his beard (a practical choice, but also a manifestation of his desire to let go of "the fight" that Michonne wished for him), but then he meets Jesse. Many people say Jesse was a pointless blip in Rick's life, or that he had more chemistry/was better suited with her than with Michonne, and I myself originally hated this arc because I thought it was unnecessary since he seems to have forgotten her the episode after she dies, but now, I've come to a different conclusion. Realitychker20 and others explain it very well, IMO. When Jesse gives him a haircut, she makes an allusion to Lori, which causes Rick to shed a couple tears. This confrontation with the past, combined with Jesse's resemblance to Lori (in what she represents, not appearance or personality) and Rick's clean-shaven face harkening back to pre-apocalypse days, takes him right back, unconsciously, to the root of his trauma: Lori's death and his guilt about it. His mind has reverted back to that time, as shown when he says to Daryl that "Lori and [him]... used to drive through neighborhoods like this." This wound is now at the forefront of his subconscious, winning out over his desire to be with Michonne.
13: It is further shown that his trauma has overtaken him when later that first night in Alexandria, he and Michonne share a last moment together before she knocks him out in 5x15 (it's very telling that they don't interact much in the next 3 episodes after 5x12. They do have another moment after the one I'm about to talk about, albeit a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment right after Deanna offers them the job of being constables and Rick says yes to Deanna then quickly gives Michonne a look asking for her approval, to which she nods and smiles. It's very brief, but further proof that they're so in sync on many things (not all, as we can see at the moment)). They're talking about Deanna giving them jobs, whether they want one or not, and what it signifies to accept one. Michonne is ready to commit to a job and to Alexandria exploring a relationship with Rick, but Rick, who seemed to be leaning in that direction at the end of 5x11, is regressing, giving in to his fear. In his mind, it's absolutely necessary to fix everything that went wrong with him and Lori, and Jesse can provide that absolution for him. Yes, he's attracted to her, but his true motivation for seeking her out is to heal his Lori trauma, not because he feels this great bond with her (he already has that with Michonne). In addition to this, he, in a sense, turns down Michonne in favor of Jesse because it is far easier and less risky for him to be with someone who doesn't truly have his heart. If things don't work out with Jesse, he has far less to lose than if things don't work out with Michonne, namely, the pain he'd feel with Michonne's death would tear out his heart as viscerally as Lori's death did, perhaps even more so. So, being reminded of Lori through Jesse also reminds Rick of what he stands to lose should he truly allow Michonne into his heart.
14: Next, in episode 5x14, I think Rick kind of realizes the cause of his unhealthy fixation on Jesse, possibly after being shocked at his own cave-man-like instinct at the end of 5x13 when he reflexively reaches for his gun (that he got a hold of without informing Michonne, dun dun dun) and snarls (would you call that a snarl? or more like a look of contempt? I'm not sure. Also, that's the best clip I could find of the scene, with the least amount of annoying edits) upon seeing Pete place his hand on Jesse's back (he's obviously not shocked at himself in the moment, but perhaps later, off screen). He wants his group to legitimately try to integrate themselves into the community and for them to be accepted by the Alexandrians in return, so he unconsciously acknowledges that if he follows his base instincts in order to heal his trauma, he'll likely ruin his group's chances. We do see him at the beginning of 5x14 go to Jesse's house and kinda flirtily ask her about the broken owl sculpture, but I think that interaction really put the lid (temporarily) on his attachment to her. Pete then visits him and it further seals the deal for Rick to stay away. His visit seemed a little like a warning and Rick picks up on that, so he decides to forget his strange Jesse predicament. This is before Rick knows Pete is abusive to Jesse, so while he clearly does not like Pete and senses him to be off in some way, that's not enough to warrant the break-up of their marriage, and therefore decides to stop meddling. He even notices his wedding ring right after Pete's visit and takes it off. He's really putting 2 and 2 together between his need to rectify his role in Lori's death and Jesse. He senses the danger for his group, for Jesse, and for himself.
15: But unfortunately, Carol's got some bad news for him. She informs him of Pete's true nature immediately after deciding to let go of his irrational attachment, thus flinging him right back into Jesse's path. There's no way he can let things be now, obviously, though he is reluctant to jeopardize the group's haven. At the top of episode 5x15, Rick asks Carol why she cares about Jesse, which shows this reluctance. Carol reminds him of Ed, then says she knows why Rick cares, as she's "seen [him] talk to her," implying that Rick has a crush on Jesse. Rick's face during the anticipation of Carol's answer and in the aftermath of it, however, tells a different story. He does care about a woman being abused and genuinely wants to help her, but he knows that he feels particularly strongly about it not because of a crush, but because this is his chance to save Lori. He's scared of what that means for his group because since his feelings are so strong, he knows he'll have trouble restraining himself in subduing Pete. He could easily take it too far and ruin things for his group (which he almost kinda does, lol). But he's also subconsciously scared of what it means for himself, for his mental and emotional health. He wants to help someone in need, but this specific case hits too close to home. He senses he could get messily tangled up in his ulterior wishes and fears, all under the guise of honor and love?? (I don't think even he would use this strong of a word, but I can't think of a better one).
16: Later on in this same episode, Rick reveals to Jesse he knows the truth about Pete. He offers his help, but Jesse is alarmed at his heavily invested interest (they do barely know each other). She asks him, "Why do you care? Why is this so important to you?" Of course, we know why. It's because he doesn't "want [Jesse] Lori to die." He claims he "can help [Jesse] Lori... [and] can keep [Jesse] Lori... safe." He places a good amount of emphasis on the fact that he himself can, in fact, help her, save her. He feels so guilty about Lori's death, about the awful state of their marriage during the last months of her life, and about the fact that he didn't make an effort to mend it at all after months of silent contempt, despite Lori reaching out to him near the end (yes, I know Lori was the cause of their relationship's downfall at the end of season 2, and I'm not a Lori fan, but I mean come on, Rick really found the energy to hold on to that grudge for 7-8-ish months?? I mean, I suppose she did reject him pretty harshly without hearing a proper explanation of what went down with him, Shane, and Carl, so I guess Rick is justified... but still, that's pretty excessive considering Rick's character and his whole family loyalty thing. Anyway, I digress). He feels so guilty, and he now sees his opportunity to redeem himself through Jesse. He tells her he wouldn't help anyone else like he's helping her, and he's right, not because he wouldn't actually help other people in a similar situation as her, but because he's primarily helping Jesse because of her connection to Lori, in his mind, and no one else could be Lori for Rick but Jesse (I'm sure there's other women out there in the apocalypse who could also fit the bill, but you get the gist).
17: This next moment I'm going to talk about, Rick’s speech at the end of 5x15 that lent part of itself to the name of the Richonne spinoff, is ummm... probably a bit of a stretch, more so than my previous points. I'm not entirely sure if I should include it because it's a pretty iconic speech and to attribute some underlying Richonne/Rick trauma tones to it is... wild? blasphemous? 😐😬😐 IDK... but here goes (take it with a grain of salt). Yes, he’s talking about the Alexandrians having to open their eyes to the reality in front of them, but in an obscure way, he’s also subconsciously talking about himself having to open his eyes about Jesse and Michonne. He “wish[es] things weren't what they are,” meaning he wishes he didn’t have a reliance on Jesse to fix himself and wishes he could be brave enough to pursue his feelings for Michonne. He claims that in order “to live… to stay standing,” (i.e., be true to himself and be more fulfilled), he has to stop pushing away what he wants, he has to stop his irrational mission to change the past, and he has to fight for what’s truly important to him. He recognizes that his "way of doing things is done" and that it's "gonna destroy this place." If you go back to paragraph 9, where I explain the significance of Rick's line about the relative safety of his way of doing things compared to Michonne's dangerous way, it is evident he's unconsciously come to realize that he was wrong when he said those words to Michonne. He doesn't want to destroy himself, his potential happiness, by living in the "safety" of choosing Jesse, of choosing the easy, familiar pain instead of venturing out to find a better life for himself. Unfortunately, of course, he comes across as a raving lunatic when he says these (true and valuable) things, so Michonne is forced to save him from himself. Yet another perfect example of how they truly understand each other and how willing they are to help each other.
18: In episode 5x16, when Rick admits to Michonne in the holding cell that "it's like the train car [and] after the whole thing, [he's] still there," he's, perhaps now more consciously, admitting his problem of his tendency to get stuck in the weeds of the past. He says he couldn't tell her about the contraband gun because she "wanted this place," (i.e., she was subconsciously brave enough to want to pursue their connection), implying that he was too scared to do the same, and so he's been hiding stuff from her and distancing himself. When she asks him where he got the gun from (the gun being a symbol of Rick's trauma and the reason for his fixation on Jesse. Oh my god, someone help me, I'm looking wayyyyy too into this!!) just as Carol, Glenn, and Abraham join them in the holding cell, Rick's face looks like he wants to tell her the truth (Carol, Daryl and I made a pact to steal it and a couple others from the armory I feel super guilty about Lori and I'm transferring that guilt onto Jesse and I know it's a huge mess now), but Carol deftly gives a false answer before he can say anything (plus the vulnerable moment between them is broken by the arrival of these 3 characters).
19: Later on in this same episode, when Carol goes to wake up Rick, there is further evidence of him realizing he was wrong to push Michonne as well as his own inclinations away. He owns that he deserved getting knocked out by Michonne and he explicitly states that he doesn't "want to lie anymore." He knows what he has to do for himself, for Michonne, for Jesse, for the Alexandrians, and for his own group, so he starts putting this into practice soon after when he finally tells Michonne the truth about the gun (if you've read this far, I'm sure you can guess by now what I believe the deeper meaning to be, lol. Sorry, I've been at this for hours now. Plz send help). He tells her (and this is huge!!!) that she could've talked him out of it. Please recall the pattern that we see 4 times that I discussed at the way beginning of this analysis. Remember that he couldn't help but be swayed by her first 3 requests, and remember that he was on the verge, but hesitant, to accept being swayed by her 4th request, the request to better himself, emotionally-speaking. At the time she made that request, it was too much for him to accept, but he was heavily contemplating it because of the influence she has on him. His fear got the better of him upon meeting Jesse, and so, to run away from the scary thing Michonne asked of him, he became distant (colluded with Carol and Daryl about the guns and about a possible coup d'état). He didn't want to be talked out of his fear. Michonne, with her steadfast hope and optimism, tells him she'll stand by him whatever he decides to do. Later, after Michonne leaves, Rick calls to mind what Bob had told him several episodes before, in 5x02. Rick is turning over in his mind the idea that the nightmare, his own personal nightmare, will soon end, and also contemplates the new possibilities created by its end.
20: And so, this is the frame of mind we leave Rick and Michonne in at the end of season 5. A lot more hopeful (in Rick's case) than at the start of 5b. Sure, there's still 9 more episodes between this and when they finally do get together, and yes, he does still linger a bit on the Jesse illusion during these episodes, but if I'm not mistaken, those first 9 episodes of season 6 all take place within the span of like a day or two, at most. And the first episode of season 6 takes place, I think, the day after the events of 5x16. Not to mention the fact that from the time the group arrives at Alexandria to the end of 5x16, what?, like only 11-ish days have passed, right? I'm not 100% sure on the timeline, but if I'm in the ballpark, then it means Rick only knew Jesse for like two weeks before she died. Their relationship was a short-lived, intense emotional reaction on his part, grounded in fear and regret, the final remnant tethering him to the past, whose ultimate purpose was to make perfectly clear to Rick what he didn't want (and the dangers of clinging onto that despite not truly wanting it) and what he did want. There's also a 2 month time jump between episodes 6x09 and 6x10, as confirmed by Danai Gurira on the Talking Dead episode of "The Next World." It's not made very clear in the show, but it's a reliable piece of info from an insider. In those 2 months, I'm sure Rick mourned the loss of Jesse, but not for too long because A.) he barely knew her for two weeks, and B.) I'm like 99% certain he had, by that point, completely figured out the true cause of his being drawn to her. He became fully conscious that his regard for her was NOT because they were kindred spirits, and therefore, his heart wasn't too moved by her as to merit an extended grieving process. Like I've said before, Realitychker20 and many other fans have pointed out this, I think, very accurate interpretation of the Jesse storyline. Yvette Nicole Brown also explained it quite well in the Talking Dead episode for "Try."
21: What else did Rick become conscious of in those 2 months, I wonder? Maybe, possibly... yes, yes, I know. I know you know, too. Rick confirmed as much in The Ones Who Live, episode 5. That whole time they were living as a family unit, Rick was hyper-aware of his feelings for Michonne and was just waiting for the right moment to confess. Which he did. With the power of the mints.
22: Well, I think I've done it. Finally finished writing this dissertation, lol. I've gone insane!! Jk, jk, it was a labor of love. The beauty of this is that the story of Richonne has many more phases and layers that one could look into. Ultimately, I did this because I generally hate romance stories because many of them are just awful, unhealthy, toxic, or not nuanced enough to be realistic, but this is one glorious exception. I know there are other examples out there, but this one is very iconic and resonates so deeply with me because I know for a fact that these two characters, unquestionably, are soul mates. I mean, the fact that Rick admits to Abraham in episode 6x15 that he is, in fact, afraid to be so vulnerable as to allow him to be in a relationship with Michonne, but has the strength to do it anyway, just makes me love them even more (in this same episode, btw, we get the apple scene, in which he looks like an Adonis-type figure to me). I can only compare them with the other iconic rivals-to-lovers couple of over 200 years ago: Lizzie and Mr. Darcy.
To the people who stuck around for this whole thing, I'm greatly honored. I sincerely thank you for following me on this journey. Peace out, fellow Richonners!!
PART 1 HERE

This one has a clear beginning, middle, and end from a trailer park lawyer to insurance company stooge, to active policy lobbying during the Obamacare debates, and finally his death, and sale of company leaving the small town in KY stuck with a ton of soon to be empty office park.
Also has the benefit of deep reporting from the Courier Journal for source material, and potential to comment on subrogation, and medicare fraud in general (possible side comments on Rick Scott, and the like).
For incidental weirdness there's his owning a Palm Beach mansion not far from Mar a Lago, being a major polo team owner, and his assorted weird and abusive HR practices. A deeper look is very likely to find more worth reporting.
https://www.rawlingsgroup.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subrogation
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/04/05/insurance-bounty-hunter-george-rawlings/1035929001/
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/04/05/rawlings-group-working-conditions/408062002/
https://www.reddit.com/Louisville/comments/fnx7jj/rawlings_is_descending_into_madness/
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/03/20/louisville-company-rawlings-goes-to-split-shifts/2883944001/
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/companies/2024/04/03/rawlings-group-in-oldham-county-is-largely-acquired-by-new-york-firm/73179253007/

Back in September of 2019 the musical artist Grimes posted a photo of a tablet full of rows of emojis/symbols to her official blue checkmark Instagram account.
In the sixth line down there is a petri dish, a C-19 spike protein (germ/virus bug), and three vaccines. Grimes studied neuroscience when she went to McGill University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes
Her father, Maurice Boucher, is the executive chairman of the gene editing company Renaissance BioScience in Vancouver, Canada.
https://renaissancebioscience.com/about
Elon Musk's (Grimes' ex boyfriend) company Tesla has had a partnership with the German biopharmaceutical mRNA technology production company CureVac since 2016. Tesla helped create the parts for CureVac's mRNA printer for the C-19 vaccine.
Elon Musk speaking with CureVac employees about the C-19 injection video:
https://youtube.com/shorts/2JxPXWqS3MI?si=FdeQlD1TYjvxSTTZ
In the seventh line down we see weapons which is pointing towards the two most talked about/major wars occuring currently: Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine. We then see a knife followed by two DNA strands in the same line. This is refrencing gene editing via the mRNA technology in the C-19 mRNA technology injection.
https://www.pfizer.com/science/innovation/mrna-technology
https://www.mskcc.org/coronavirus/what-s-different-about-messenger-rna-vaccines-covid-19
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/different-types-of-covid-19-vaccines/art-20506465
In the eigth line down we see a face going through different emotions: Upset, shocked, alarmed (!), feeling unsure/having questions (?), realizing the truth (...) about the wars and the gene editing C-19 injections, feeling sick over learning this, pondering (..) and then not caring. The last face in this line of facial emojis has an open wound in the head as if it had been bombed/struck with a weapon...
In the tenth line down there are two dragon emojis. Elon Musk (Grimes' ex boyfriend) has a rocket named Dragon.
https://www.universetoday.com/112213/elon-musk-premiers-spacex-manned-dragon-v2-astronaut-transporter-1st-photos/
In the final line we see three emojis which symbol nuclear war.
Elon Musk visits with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a lot. Almost as if they are friends (or, friend-LY at the very most). Elon went to Israel in November last year and met up with Netanyahu. Elon had previously said (on his official blue checkmark Twitter account) that ad revenue on Twitter would fund the rebuilding of hospitals in Gaza. He had also previously stated that he would work with Palestine/the Palestinian civilians in order to give them access to Starlink so that they could have Internet after their power lines/sources were knocked out. However, after his trip to Israel last November, he did a turnaround. He started censoring/straight up deleting accounts speaking about Palestine on Twitter and did the same with anti-Zionist accounts/posts on Twitter as well. He also Tweeted out that he was sorry to hear about the war in Israel but only mentioned Israel. There are several countries at war as we speak not just Israel. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism as there are plenty of Jews protesting Zionism as we speak. They (correctly) state that Judaism and Zionism are not the same and that they just want peace for both Palestinians and Israelis. No more war-ceasefire.
I believe that Elon's SpaceX company makes missiles/nuclear weapons. Rockets look exactly like missiles/nuclear weapons. I believe that NASA's/SpaceX's rocket launch pad sites are, in fact, missile launch pad sites. Why do both Elon and Grimes (on their official blue checkmark Twitter accounts) follow the IDF's (Israel's military) official blue checkmark account on Twitter? Why does Elon meet up with Israel's Prime Minister so often? Why did Grimes come out with the New Gods music video about one year ago which depicts missile strikes on the earth? She presses a giant red button in the video with the word: "Missile" above the button. She came out with this video after she posted the photo of the prophecy tablet to her Instagram in 2019, mind you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smsZGAUGHtg
Images of missile strikes in various countries-
https://www.google.com/search?q=missile+strikes%C2%A0&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&udm=2&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWIIvLgH_Aw88aBbGrXXR45SooKh5XA%3A1715184027646&ei=m6E7ZvCAJ9rGp84P5q2X4Ak&ved=0ahUKEwiwusS1tv6FAxVa48kDHebWBZwQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=missile+strikes%C2%A0&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEW1pc3NpbGUgc3RyaWtlc8KgMgUQABiABDIEEAAYHjIGEAAYBRgeMgYQABgFGB4yBhAAGAUYHjIHEAAYgAQYGDIHEAAYgAQYGDIHEAAYgAQYGDIHEAAYgAQYGDIHEAAYgAQYGEj3ElCgBFjEEXABeACQAQCYAZQBoAGdDqoBAzguOLgBA8gBAPgBAZgCD6ACmg6oAgDCAgoQABiABBhDGIoFwgIEEAAYA8ICCBAAGIAEGLEDwgIOEAAYgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAhAQABiABBixAxhDGIMBGIoFwgINEAAYgAQYsQMYQxiKBcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBmAMCkgcDNi45oAeUUA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Elon Musk rockets images-
https://www.google.com/search?q=elon+musk+rockets%C2%A0&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&udm=2&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWII2UM5pwEyCwwyfcdVvpiu8gQBBFw%3A1715184490053&ei=aqM7ZrzxAu6optQP3qeFyAs&ved=0ahUKEwi8zoOSuP6FAxVulIkEHd5TAbkQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=elon+musk+rockets%C2%A0&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiE2Vsb24gbXVzayByb2NrZXRzwqAyBRAAGIAEMgQQABgeMgYQABgIGB4yBhAAGAgYHjIGEAAYCBgeMgYQABgIGB4yBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBhIgRFQxAJY_w9wAXgAkAEAmAGRAaABlQmqAQQxNy4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAISoAKJCqgCAMICChAAGIAEGEMYigXCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICBBAAGAPCAggQABiABBixA8ICDhAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgIJEAAYgAQYGBgKmAMDkgcEMTcuMaAHkVw&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Missiles images-
https://www.google.com/search?q=missiles%C2%A0&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&udm=2&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWIKtosIHpjV-dGjfNeYw4Auq1OOvSg%3A1715184521311&ei=iaM7ZsLKEsCJptQPtqCm-AY&ved=0ahUKEwiCs_eguP6FAxXAhIkEHTaQCW8Q4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=missiles%C2%A0&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiCm1pc3NpbGVzwqAyCBAAGIAEGLEDMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAESNEKUIgDWMsJcAF4AJABAZgBzwGgAaEHqgEFMy40LjG4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgegApEGqAIAwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICBBAAGAPCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICDRAAGIAEGLEDGEMYigXCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAZgDBpIHAzMuNKAHlyc&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Nuclear weapons images-
https://www.google.com/search?q=nuclear+weapons&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&udm=2&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWIK02rrZVtkiM1hqcDoahYzUWIevNQ%3A1715184536813&ei=mKM7ZqmeMbejptQPh6e0qA8&ved=0ahUKEwipyqmouP6FAxW3kYkEHYcTDfUQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=nuclear+weapons&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiD251Y2xlYXIgd2VhcG9uczIIEAAYgAQYsQMyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgARI0xNQ7ARYghNwBHgAkAEAmAFToAHGB6oBAjE1uAEDyAEA-AEBmAISoAK_CKgCAMICChAAGIAEGEMYigXCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICDRAAGIAEGLEDGEMYigXCAgQQABgDwgIOEAAYgAQYsQMYgwEYigWYAwKIBgGSBwIxOKAHgFE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
No one is going to space. I repeat: No one is going to space. It does not exist. Elon is in bed with the Israeli military and Israel's Prime Minister. They most likely buy rockets (missiles) from SpaceX.
Wernher von Braun was an aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and the leading figure in the development of rocket technology. The article linked below explains how after WWII von Braun worked with the U.S. army in the development of balistic missiles.
https://www.nasa.gov/history/sputnik/braun.html
Wernher von Braun info-
https://www.google.com/search?q=wernher+von+braun%C2%A0&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWIIw1Wx9m_f_RuiYkn7DZa1jGCryRQ%3A1715184807609&ei=p6Q7ZtTuJOyaptQPou6HgA4&ved=0ahUKEwiU3rmpuf6FAxVsjYkEHSL3AeAQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=wernher+von+braun%C2%A0&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiE3dlcm5oZXIgdm9uIGJyYXVuwqAyDxAAGIAEGEMYigUYRhj7ATIFEC4YgAQyBRAuGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAuGIAEMgUQABiABDIbEAAYgAQYQxiKBRhGGPsBGJcFGIwFGN0E2AEBSLwIUPsBWJAGcAF4AZABAJgBtgOgAfcEqgEHMS4xLjQtMbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCA6ACwATCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgINEAAYgAQYsAMYQxiKBcICDRAuGIAEGLADGEMYigXCAgoQABiABBhDGIoFwgIIEAAYgAQYxwPCAgYQABgWGB6YAwCIBgGQBgq6BgYIARABGBOSBwcxLjEuNC0xoAeMKQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Wernher von Braun's tomb has the Bible verse Psalms 19:1 on it.
Wernher von Braun's tomb images-
https://www.google.com/search?q=wernher+von+braun+tomb&client=safari&sca_esv=74c740cd3a771c52&sca_upv=1&rls=en&udm=2&biw=1039&bih=599&sxsrf=ADLYWIINGTPxB9l8Pk8Fa4ts3wXZWm7teA%3A1715184732917&ei=XKQ7Zt3XN_auptQP9OqU0AY&ved=0ahUKEwjd9eqFuf6FAxV2l4kEHXQ1BWoQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=wernher+von+braun+tomb&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFndlcm5oZXIgdm9uIGJyYXVuIHRvbWIyBRAAGIAEMggQABiABBjHA0jwF1DDAVjhFnABeACQAQCYAZkBoAHTC6oBBDIxLjG4AQPIAQD4AQGYAhagAuMMqAIAwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAgoQABiABBhDGIoFwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAg0QABiABBixAxhDGIoFwgIOEAAYgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAgQQABgewgIGEAAYCBgewgIHEAAYgAQYGJgDA5IHBDIxLjGgB-lq&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
This verse has the word firmament right in it. Wernher knew space does not exist. He was, in fact, making missile technology when he was in the Nazi party and when he was working with the U.S. military.
Psalms 19:1 KJV- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2019%3A1&version=KJV
In Grimes' song My Name is Dark there is one line about imminent annihilation...
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/grimes/mynameisdarkartmix.html
The three nuclear symbols in the last line on the tablet stand for the following (in order):

1. The logo for the Nuclear Security Summit. The last summit was held in 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama was the host of both the 2010 and 2016 summits. This is ironic due to the fact that Obama sent drone strikes to Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen when he was president. It is also the icon/symbol for nuclear science/nuclear physics.
   
2. Fallout sheltebunker. There are bunkers under the White House in the U.S., Vladimir Putin has bunkers in Russia, Benjamin Netanyahu has a bunker in Israel, Mark Zuckerberg, the Tate brothers, the Kardashians, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Rick Ross, and many others also own bunkers. If they could travel to space then why would they need bunkers? They've seen all these wars occuring and do not want to fall victim like the rest of us plebs.
   
3. Nuclear fallout/nuclear radiation. In simple terms, World War III is being fought with missiles and bombs.
   

Look at before and after images of the following areas especially:

1. Mariupol, Ukraine
   
2. Gaza Strip, Palestine
   
3. Rafah, Palestine
   
4. Beirut, Lebanon (after the 2020 port explosion)
   

The rich see these events occuring. They know nuclear war is coming. No God is coming. They are not running and hiding in bunkers from a God. They are hiding because they know almost every country will be dragged into WW III. They also see all of the fires happening. The fires listed below were one hundred percent due to directed energy weapon drone strikes. Elon Musk owns the Starlink satellites which are directed energy weapons. Look up images of the following fires listed below and tell me if they really look natural to you? Houses, buildings, structures and vehicles reduced to ashes and liquified but nearby trees are only slightly burnt if even? Not to mention the increase of blue roofs in towns like Guiyang, China and Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, South Korea. Oprah Winfrey's mansion with the blue roof in Hawaii.

1. Gatlinburg, Tennessee fire 2016
   
2. Mati, Greece fire 2018
   
3. Paradise, California 2018
   
4. Conjola Park, Australia 2019-2020
   
5. Algiers, Algeria 2021
   
6. Boulder County, Colorado 2021
   
7. Yellowknife/Enterprise, Canada 2023
   
8. Lahaina, Hawaii 2023
   
9. Texas Panhandle 2024
   
10. Viña del Mar, Chile 2024
    Not to mention two deadly earthquakes in less than a year with the Turkey/Syria earthquake last year (2023) killing over 55,000 people (!) which is unheard of and the earthquake in Japan in January this year (2024) killing 245 people.
    

As well as the flood in Derna, Libya last year which killed around 11,300 although Derna's mayor says the death toll could be around 20,000. This is almost unheard of as well for a flood.The rich know the earth is being reset and the rich also know key areas where they'll be safe from any freak weather disasters and safe from nuclear fallout. Grimes' tablet is literal and straight to the point but people still want to act clueless...

Last time on Party Roll

We follow Krimbim's story arc for a bit to open. We find out that he's alive! And when the shit went down, this slick rick decided to tunnel his way to safety.Making his way out of the desert, Krimbin just happens to come into the settlement of Drybed unbeknownst to the party.What's coo coo crazy is that, after his long journey, he goes looking for an inn to rest his wary feet, only to be thrusted into a battle with our party and some baddies! Talk about luck eh? Let it be known, Krimbin has a thing for sand. Do with that as you will...
We manage to get a hostage out of this battle and we begin to get a clearer picture of what's going on here. Basically, the "cultist" see Alabaster the child, as the rightful king and they are willing to do anything to achieve this goal.During this waterboarding, Otto, are almost useless boy squire, Otto.... decides that he would take a random wand off our hostage and hold it next to her head...Yup, A fireball explodes. LOT'S of damage is taken; Sarn is near deaths bed and our hostage almost makes an escape! but somehow, we dust ourselves off and try to find a place to recoup with one hostage in tow
Party Roll to beat: 4
Matt 5 Cory 3 Jose 12 Dusty NAT 1 Mark Vanessa
Hambone eats all the party Burritos while Jose does a traditional Mexican dance around Matt's throw up.
​
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Back to the Party!
Hokay, so the Inn is looking pretty much like a disaster from all that's been going on. The bartender is totally dead btw. We gotta get outta here. We put the unconscious Sarn on the back of a horse, the same goes for our hostage Wizburr. Oh! we loot the dead bartender to grab some change and a key. We look into the backroom and see a safe...maybe this key goes to that? Hmmm....We check it out and it works! The safe clicks open and we find 100 gold and the deed to the bar.
Krimbin tells us there is an oasis nearby where they can go to rest and interrogate more of this hostage. Leading the way, it's ye 3 hours away, but things are uneventful. We arrive, it's quiet. There are some shotty wooden structures and they head inside. We begin to interrogate our elf wizard and find out some interesting things. The baddies are still looking for the staff (But the unconscious Sarn still has), while we don't know the King's motives, we do find out that the orders are coming from Sir Onn'd who's in the castle within Storms End. These orders are given to them in the guards station outside the castle...and there is a password to get in... "World eater"
Donoub clues in that this is a reference to their insignia and shows her flakey tattoo of the snake symbol (the ouroboros) upon her breast towards Wizburr the hostage.The elfen wizard pauses and asks, "are you one of us?". Donoub plays off this and goes along with the flow, currying enough favor to basically win Wizburr into trusting us. Wow...Waterboarding DOES work.
Wizburr asks to be released from her bonds, but the group isn't just about ready to do such a thing. Krimbin says it's best for her safety that she stay this way...
Sledge, Roll for persuasion 5, fail
Krimbin, Roll for persuasion 11, pass
She just lays there hesitant and lazy

"Well it's because the false king, he allows the walls to stay up and just lets the desert and everyone else in it consume themselves. The true king tho, the true king and his hand will open the wall and will let everyone to freedom." - Wizburr

So we kinda get a better picture of what's going on. The crown has the ability to control the people, while the staff along with the crown opens up the storm wall. Hmmm well....which King is the right King now?! Hmmm well on that note, we finally get some rest within this shack at the Oasis.
We wake up, spell slots regained, but Sarn is still knocked out. Unwilling to take Wizburr with us, we place her in a hut, where she will be protected from the wilderness.Welp, it's early morning and we have to trek back the 3 hours towards the settlement town, free of our hostage and onwards with the story!
We devise a plan where we'll head back to Drybed, go through the poop tunnel (what is with our Party and Poop tunnels?!) and if we catch any trouble, bribe our way in.Donoub will cast, 'mask of many faces' to mimic Wizburr, while donning her clothes which had to be tailored to Donoubs body to be passable.
As we get closer to our destination, we can actually smell it. The place looks like an old western town.
It's kinda what you'd expect a shit pipe to look like. The waste and fecal matter of the town is plopping out of this pipe, at a pretty consistent rate. Garbage floats to the top of this bog water. To the side of the pipe is the city wall, where people with carts come and go. We walk on over to the gated wall and are stopped by a guard. Upon seeing Donoub's robe, which is a complete replica of Wizburr's, we are given a glance and a nod to carry on.We are now in the Slums of Storm's eye!
Now just to recap...
We were sent out by the King to find a scouting party that went MIA. En route to checking them out, we were also tasked to find parts to repair the King's royal sandcrawler, which has surely broken down and come to a standstill now. We however got ambushed, lost our horses, got side tracked a bit and find ourselves back in the city. Which isn't too bad, seeing as the parts we need are actually somewhere in this forsaken place.
​
Krimbin tells us of the royal repair station, a place that will surely have what parts he needs. There, they can get a cart, load it up and head on out. As we arrive we notice that the shop is right next to the guard station. Krimbim notices a few fellers from his crew, who begin to look busy, seeing as their boss is now back. Ushering one of his grease monkey's into his presence, Krimbim tells his worker that he needs these parts for the King's sandcrawler; keeping things as vague as possible. The worker is a tad confused...because the King is here in the city....EEEEeeeee! Krimbim, quick on his toes, informs his curious worker that this is a separate thing, for the king, where he'll have two crawlers.
The workers are a little wary, esp cause Krimbim came outta nowhere, with a bunch of randoms, with an even more random project. The workers band together and ask to have a word with Krimbim. Donoub heads into the shadows and eavesdrops/readies for any action if needed....
Krimbim, Roll persuasion to convince his workers to do what he says and get the parts 8, Fail The worker doesn't bend and heads off to find someone with authority to confirm this work requisition.
​
The party is feeling the heat here. They wanna just grab the parts and book it, but it seems the remaining workers aren't going to help them. Looks like they have been taken care of in Krimbim's absence and don't wanna fuck that up. Krimbim doesn't know how to give up.
Krimbim, Roll persuasion to convince his workers to fill his cart with the parts 12, Pass Some workers start filling the cart, but not all.
​
The process is taking longer than expected. Steven rolls a d20 to see what the result of this waiting...but he rolls poorly, so nothing happens. However, just as they are about to depart, we hear one of the workers bringing Sir Onn'd over to confirm the work order. Donoub enters into the washroom undetected and disguises herself as Wizburr the female elf. Sledge manages to find a good hiding spot with a 18, Otto with a 4, not so well. Kinda just around the corner. Into frame, comes the jet black oiled hair, fine mustache wearing Sir Onn'd. Looking dapper as per usual. He looks around and just sees Donoub, who has disguised herself. Sir Onn'd approaches her, as he's never seen her before. A tense banter of words between Sir Onn'd and the disguised Donoub passes smoothly when he remembers her name. Turning his attention to Krimbim, he questions the work order here and how this order doesn't make sense. Kimbrim does a lot of bullshitting here and kinda gets lucky. He passes off any inconsistenices with the fact that everything he is doing is for the rightful King Alabaster. Further more, Krimbim doubles down and lies, telling Sir Onn'd that the old King is dead and they are out there looking for his body. The workers back Krimbim with a cheer and the good feels put Krimbim in a position of a promotion. Sir Onn'd depart and the entire party slowly let out a nervous flat fart.
Free to leave, we head towards the main gate, covering up their cart with tarp to avoid prying eyes, towards the dunes.
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Quotes
"I've seen a few out west...it's insane, like the apocalypse is coming or something" - Dusty's Haboob experiences
"He's gunna show you his haboobs" - Dusty
"Someone taped over my tape...ugh...with um...I dunno...'Sand eye for the straight sand'...I dunno..." - Another Failed Matt joke
"...The question is...when you close the door, what remains?" - Steven's deep thoughts on NPC's
"UGGGGGHHH!!!" -Dusty, when Steven says "You come upon..."
"Of course I cum fast, I got fishing to do!" - Dusty
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Trivia
-Dusty rolled a 20 on the last party roll. For this episode, he rolled a Nat 1. I'm calling it a 'Michigan Cheesesteak'
-There is a joke at timestamp 5:57 said by Dusty, but I can't make it out. Does anyone know what he says? The guys really crack up over it. "Matt style" I think.
-Krimbin's horses name is "Sandy"
-Master Qui Gon, what's an Haboob? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haboob
-Sir Onn'd claims to be from beyond the desert storm walls.
-Rory and Matt played with an idea of opening a bar called "Bottom's up"
- Matt wants you to check out this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sewC255u304
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From Indelibly Stamped, 1971
Listen to it here
And so, we've finally arrived to the one track I feel most of you would've put at the bottom: Potter.
This one is such a weird Supertramp song, I'd argue it doesn't feel like them at all: it's as crude as they get (The band themselves where well aware, calling it a "Crude piece of British Rock" in the album's liner notes). And yet I can't help but love it, be it ironically or not. Everything about it is just so interesting to me.
Music wise, it's a very by the numbers rock song, nothing special about it really. The piano is basically absent, making this one of the more prominent "guitar" tracks. As you may hear, the guy singing is neither Roger nor Rick, but their horn player, Dave Whintrop: I think his rough voice really fits the vibe of Potter, and ends up making it stand out even more. There is some debate however as whether Rick or Roger wrote the track {1}, as they usually sing lead on their respective compositions, but for Potter, this ain't the case.
Lyrics wise, I've always pictured Potter being some sort of sex crazed freak, narrating some of his usual "routine". Of course, we can't talk about Potter without mentioning the line, you know what I'm talking about if you heard the track. Well, that expression was commonly used to refer to something being suspicious {2}.
In the end, I'm probably in the minority for liking Potter this much (altho it's still kinda low as you can see), but this song just fascinates me. It's the least Supertramp-sounding thing and yet it still carries over some of that charm, as misguided as it may be.
{1}Who Wrote Potter? - A Supertramp Mistery
{2}Wikipedia
Index

From Free As A Bird, 1987
Listen to it here
{1}

The album [Free As A Bird] was a turn of direction of sorts, with most of the songs stepping back from their progressive rock sound, employing synthesised dance beats and rhythms.

This is usually the main criticism of Supertramp's 1987 output: it just doesn't sound like Supertramp. I don't think that's a good enough excuse to completely dismiss it, tho.
You Never Can Tell With Friends being the example of a song that couldn't have found its home on any other Supertramp album, yet fits Free As A Bird's vibe so well. Yeah lyrics wise it's yet another love song, as if Free As A Bird isn't already filled to the brim with those, but I digress.
No, what sets this track apart from the others is Rick's delivery and the "yeah you ought to be ashamed" sections, especially: I've always pictured them being used in some sort of Broadway Musical during a discussion between two characters. I also enjoy John (or another of the brass section guys they hired!)'s solo during the outro, and that little count at the beginning, even though for me that's more of a Roger thing.
While similiar in ways to It Doesn't Matter and Where I Stand With You, I find this one to be way more charming, and that reflects its higher ranking: check it out, much like Friend In Need before it, it's not anything special, but it's catchy good fun. Sometimes you need just that.
{1} Wikipedia&ved=2ahUKEwjJ_Z3h9PSFAxXJh_0HHUR1DbgQFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw07-r7vi7QXqSR_wPe6moWH)
Index

From Even In The Queitest Moments..., 1977
Listen to it here
Ah, Babaji. The Supertramp meme song. I've stated multiple times, on this site and others, that I'm not too fond of it. In a way, I do feel I'm responsible for some of the "Babaji bad", discussions. I've always found it annoying in many ways, from the intro down to the chorus. It's 4 minutes I could do without.
And while it's true that some things never change, some do. If I were to make this list, I dunno, 3 years ago, this would've been dead last. But the more I listened to it the more I grew accostumed to it. It's still pretty low as you can see, but it's climbing its way up. Who knows, pheraps I might consider this one of the absolute best in the near future.
Lyrics wise, the song is one of Roger's many "spiritual" tracks, this time calling forth some sort of guiding figure to help the main character walk through life's hardships. The title of "Babaji" isn't taken randomly, in fact.
{1}

"Babaji" is an Indian honorific that means "Father", usually with great respect or to a Priest.

{2}

Hodgson wrote "Babaji" in honour of Mahavatar Babaji, whom he regarded as a Christ- or Krishna-like figure, or even a manifestation of the spirit or force of God. According to Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg, "Babaji is like Roger's light of life" and "Roger's guiding light sort of guy."

I do like the rythm section to this song a lot (apart from the outro), the piano in particular sounds very "crunchy". I don't, however, like Roger's delivery, especially during the chorus and outro, being way too repetitive for my tastes, and also somewhat whiney-sounding, although that may be intentional, as it's a cry for help. I've also always found John's solo a bit of a letdown, simply because it is way too short. Actually, the rest of the band themselves weren't too thrilled with the song, but it has less to do with how it sounds and more with its subject matter. {2}

Other band members were less enthralled with the song's spiritual subject matter. Keyboardist Rick Davies told NME that "Personally, I decry it. I'd sooner remain anonymous than become religious. I might fight with Roger on this next album about that ... It's not right. You've got people in the band who couldn't give a damn." Saxophonist John Helliwell stated that "when [Hodgson] wrote about Christ or Babaji—whoever that is—we just wished he would sing about something else."

If anything I'm kinda biased against this thing because it was released as a single with From Now On as it's B-Side, and yes, Babaji is more "commercial", but come on now: you can't put From Now On as the B-side to Babaji of all things!
In other news, Babaji also marks my last "skip worthy" song; from here on out, I like each and every track a lot; I just so happen to like some more than others.
{1}Wikipedia
{2}Wikipedia&ved=2ahUKEwjGlKvo1O-FAxVjgP0HHcfRAv0QFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1jdmZEKx3OX3RC8a-WSKpk)
Index

Brother Bear
2024-161 / MLZ MAP (Score): 81.49 / Zedd MAP (Score): 80.65 / Score Gap: .84
Our Collection
IMDb Summary: When a young Inuit hunter needlessly kills a bear, he is magically changed into a bear himself as punishment with a talkative cub being his only guide to changing back.
Starring the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Jason Raize, D.B. Sweeney, Joan Copeland, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
This is a special film for me, having taken Little Miss Zedd to it on my own without Zedd along. We tended to do as much together as a family as we could, so this was very different. I miss that little curly-haired girl, but am super glad to be the Mom of a curly-haired young woman who is just killing the adulting out there.
I can’t say anyone else in the house loved this film as much as I did, but in making those last Disney Movie Club purchases, I wanted to make sure this was on the shelf.
The filmmakers really spent some time & effort on this project. It was originally based around a landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt. The animators took trips to Alaska where they traveled on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and Kodiak Island. They also traveled through Denali National Park and the Kenai Fjords National Park, where they visited Exit and Holgate Glacier. A year later, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Sequoia National Park. Whew, a lot of prep work! You can see it in the art that follows.
It’s a sweet film, with the calls to respect nature and be guardians of the earth first and foremost, as well as some humor provided by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas playing moose (mooses, meeses, moosai?) a pair of moose based on Bob and Doug McKenzie. Eh, hoser?
Zedd mentioned that the film was a little more simple than the more recent Disney flicks. It is a musical where they followed the format of the time, with a famous musician heading up the score, this time Phil Collins. The tunes are pretty catchy!
It is a beautiful example of traditional animation, with only a bit of CGI on a few scenes. Joaquin Phoenix is our main characterbear and was pretty excited to get the part.
All in all, a good little film for a Thursday. Luckily no one has turned us into bears so we can still use our hands to change out the disc and Movie On!

Brother Bear
MLZ MAP (Score): 81.49 / Zedd MAP (Score): 80.65 / Score Gap: .84
Our Collection
IMDb Summary: When a young Inuit hunter needlessly kills a bear, he is magically changed into a bear himself as punishment with a talkative cub being his only guide to changing back.
Starring the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Jason Raize, D.B. Sweeney, Joan Copeland, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
This is a special film for me, having taken Little Miss Zedd to it on my own without Zedd along. We tended to do as much together as a family as we could, so this was very different. I miss that little curly-haired girl, but am super glad to be the Mom of a curly-haired young woman who is just killing the adulting out there.
I can’t say anyone else in the house loved this film as much as I did, but in making those last Disney Movie Club purchases, I wanted to make sure this was on the shelf.
The filmmakers really spent some time & effort on this project. It was originally based around a landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt. The animators took trips to Alaska where they traveled on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and Kodiak Island. They also traveled through Denali National Park and the Kenai Fjords National Park, where they visited Exit and Holgate Glacier. A year later, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Sequoia National Park. Whew, a lot of prep work! You can see it in the art that follows.
It’s a sweet film, with the calls to respect nature and be guardians of the earth first and foremost, as well as some humor provided by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas playing moose (mooses, meeses, moosai?) a pair of moose based on Bob and Doug McKenzie. Eh, hoser?
Zedd mentioned that the film was a little more simple than the more recent Disney flicks. It is a musical where they followed the format of the time, with a famous musician heading up the score, this time Phil Collins. The tunes are pretty catchy!
It is a beautiful example of traditional animation, with only a bit of CGI on a few scenes. Joaquin Phoenix is our main characterbear and was pretty excited to get the part.
All in all, a good little film for a Thursday. Luckily no one has turned us into bears so we can still use our hands to change out the disc and Movie On!

2024-161 / MLZ MAP: 81.49 / Zedd MAP: 80.65 / Score Gap: .84
Wikipedia / IMDb / Official Trailer / Our Collection
IMDb Summary: When a young Inuit hunter needlessly kills a bear, he is magically changed into a bear himself as punishment with a talkative cub being his only guide to changing back.
Starring the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Jason Raize, D.B. Sweeney, Joan Copeland, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
This is a special film for me, having taken Little Miss Zedd to it on my own without Zedd along. We tended to do as much together as a family as we could, so this was very different. I miss that little curly-haired girl, but am super glad to be the Mom of a curly-haired young woman who is just killing the adulting out there.
I can’t say anyone else in the house loved this film as much as I did, but in making those last Disney Movie Club purchases, I wanted to make sure this was on the shelf.
The filmmakers really spent some time & effort on this project. It was originally based around a landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt. The animators took trips to Alaska where they traveled on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and Kodiak Island. They also traveled through Denali National Park and the Kenai Fjords National Park, where they visited Exit and Holgate Glacier. A year later, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Sequoia National Park. Whew, a lot of prep work! You can see it in the art that follows.
It’s a sweet film, with the calls to respect nature and be guardians of the earth first and foremost, as well as some humor provided by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas playing moose (mooses, meeses, moosai?) a pair of moose based on Bob and Doug McKenzie. Eh, hoser?
Zedd mentioned that the film was a little more simple than the more recent Disney flicks. It is a musical where they followed the format of the time, with a famous musician heading up the score, this time Phil Collins. The tunes are pretty catchy!
It is a beautiful example of traditional animation, with only a bit of CGI on a few scenes. Joaquin Phoenix is our main characterbear and was pretty excited to get the part.
All in all, a good little film for a Thursday. Luckily no one has turned us into bears so we can still use our hands to change out the disc and Movie On!

From ...Famous Last Words..., 1982
Listen to it here
Famous Last Words is kind of a mess of an album. Not to say that it's bad, but it's thematically very uneven: you got your certified pop hits, some ballads, and then two prog tracks to close the deal. I think it's a very maligned record, which actually holds lots of good tracks, but this "lack of direction" is very noticeable. {1}

They [Roger and Rick] each conceived their own vision for the album. Hodgson wanted to do another pop album in the vein of Breakfast in America, while Davies had envisioned a heavy progressive rock album with a 10-minute song called "Brother Where You Bound" as its centerpiece.

Despite singing my praises for FLW, Bonnie is a track I never managed to care much for. It tells the story of a guy who ended up falling for a celebrity, and desperately tries to make her notice him; a refreshing take on Davies's love songs, who usually never quite got this "desperate", so to speak. I could see this idea being used in a Steely Dan song, it has a lot of potential.
But musically, this track just kinda... goes nowhere. Pheraps it's that I don't find the chorus to be as strong as other tracks on the album, and that middle section especially isn't interesting enough to keep me engaged in those 1-and-a-half minutes, despite the "na na nas" towards the end. I do like Roger's guitar under the verses and chorus afterwards tho, that's a nice touch, but not enough for me to avoid skipping this from time to time.
In the end, Bonnie is a beautiful sounding song, but it also somewhat encapsulates the biggest fault of the album: it feels like it lacks a specific purpose.
{1}Wikipedia%2520is,to%2520pursue%2520a%2520solo%2520career.&ved=2ahUKEwiVr_jhg-2FAxU7hv0HHfYeBn0QFnoECBkQBQ&usg=AOvVaw3MTM1q1udw1OS-Ztc9FM_n)
Index

Previous posts
Introduction/Methodology
236-250
221-235
206-220
191-205
176-190
164-175
155-163
140-154
131-139
121-130
111-120
110-101
100-91
90-81
80-71
70-61
60-51
Master List
All stats and info through the 2023 season.
Top 50 time! We're into the real heavy hitters now. You should know everyone listed beyond this point, and if you don't, you should rectify that. Also, reddit has been doing this weird thing with my last couple posts where I'll write "#3 retired by the 76ers" or whatever and it's showing up in giant bold font. If anyone knows how I fix that, please let me know, otherwise, please ignore it. It's some weird markdown thing that I haven't figured out how to correct yet.
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• 50. Allen Iverson - 289.3
  • Career - 234.7
    • 1997-2010
    • PHI, DEN, DET, MEM, PHI
    • 99.0 Win Shares
    • 1.566 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes, 1 win: 1999 - 4th, 2001 - 1st, 2005 - 5th)
    • 3x All-NBA First Team Selection (1999, 2001, 2005)
    • 3x All-NBA Second Team Selection (2000, 2002, 2003)
    • 1x All-NBA Third Team Selection (2006)
    • 11x All-Star Selection (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
    • 2.7 Finals Win Shares (2001 PHI)
  • Peak - 343.8
    • 1999-2003
  • Other achievements
    • Rookie of the Year (1997)
    • 2x All-Star Game MVP (2001, 2005)
    • 1x Olympic Bronze Medalist (2004)
    • 20,000 Point Club (24,368; 28th all-time)
    • 5,000 Assist Club (5,624; 52nd all-time)
    • #3 retired by the Philadelphia 76ers
  • It's difficult to overstate the impact Iverson had on basketball in the late 1990s/early 2000s. He certainly wasn't the first player to have great ball-handling skills, but he was the first one in quite a while to make it look so cool. He was also the first player that I can personally remember where the goal wasn't just to score, but to make the defender look stupidly incompetent and demoralize him in the process. Every crossover was basically a diss track. (Larry Bird did this, too, but it was less clear Bird was doing this because his game wasn't about breaking ankles and putting guys on the floor, so it was less obvious to people watching.)
  • To clarify, I don't know if making defenders look dumb was Iverson's personal goal/mindset about how he played the game, or if it was just a byproduct of how he played. But for people watching, it definitely seemed intentional.

​

• 49. Paul Arizin - 290.2
  • Career - 225.4
    • 1951-1952, 1955-1962
    • PHW
    • 108.8 Win Shares
    • 1.144 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes: 1956 - 2nd, 1957 - 3rd, 1959 - 5th)
    • 3x All-NBA First Team Selection (1952, 1956, 1957)
    • 1x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1959)
    • 10x All-Star Selection (1951, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962)
    • 2.2 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1956 PHW)
    • 4.0 Conference Finals Win Shares (3 Conf. Finals losses - 1958 PHW, 1960 PHW, 1962 PHW)
  • Peak - 355.0
    • 1956-1960
  • Other achievements
    • 1x Consensus College Player of the Year (1950)
    • 1x All-Star Game MVP (1952)
    • Eastern Basketball Association MVP (1963)
    • Eastern Basketball Association champion (1964)
    • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2006)
  • Most of the time I'll preface my grandiose statements about a player's ability with things like "probabaly" or "there's a case to made that" or "you could certainly argue..." Well, not this time. Paul Arizin was, definitively the best small forward of the 1950s. Elgin Baylor was the 1960s. Rick Barry was (most of) the 1970s, and then it gets tricky after that. But up until 1960, Arizin was the model for how a small forward should play the game.
  • Interesting fact about Arizin - the man was a Philadelphia lifer. Born there, went to college at La Salle, got drafted as a territorial pick by the Warriors and played there until 1962 (10 seasons, but 12 if you count the two years he missed for military service early in his career), then when the Warriors decided to move to San Francisco after the 1962 season, Arizin retired and immediately began playing for the Camden Bullets of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (which would later become the Continental Basketball Association), where he won an MVP and a title in three seasons there.
  • I have a strong suspicion, though no actual confirmation, that Arizin's unwillingness to move with the team to San Francisco is why his #11 jersey was never retired. Maybe they can rectify it someday and do a double retirement once Klay Thompson retires, but it's still a little weird it was available for Klay in the first place.

​

• 48. Sam Jones - 292.1
  • Career - 232.1
    • 1958-1969
    • BOS
    • 92.3 Win Shares
    • 0.169 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (2 top five finishes: 1965 - 4th, 1966 - 5th)
    • 3x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1965, 1966, 1967)
    • 5x All-Star Selection (1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968)
    • 12.9 Championship Win Shares (10 titles - 1959 BOS, 1960 BOS, 1961 BOS, 1962 BOS, 1963 BOS, 1964 BOS, 1965 BOS, 1966 BOS, 1968 BOS, 1969 BOS)
    • 0.4 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1958 BOS)
    • 1.2 Conference Finals Win Shares (1 Conf. Finals loss - 1967 BOS)
  • Peak - 352.0
    • 1962-1966
  • Other achievements
    • #24 retired by the Boston Celtics
    • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2006)
  • Here's an anology - Sam Jones:1960s Celtics offense::Bill Russell:1960s Celtics defense.
  • Also, while researching Sam Jones, I found out he'd been inducted into the "American Basketball Hall of Fame," which led me to discover that the "American Basketball Hall of Fame" existed. This, of course, begs the question: can anyone start a Hall of Fame? Can I make my own Hall of Fame? The NBA pretty famously doesn't have its own, so can I just, like, do it?

​

• 47. Patrick Ewing - 295.7
  • Career - 258.4
    • 1986-2002
    • NYK, SEA, ORL
    • 1.423 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (6 top five finishes: 1989 - 4th, 1990 - 5th, 1992 - 5th, 1993 - 4th, 1994 - 5th, 1995 - 4th)
    • 1x All-NBA First Team Selection (1990)
    • 6x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997)
    • 11x All-Star Selection (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997)
    • 4.2 Finals Win Shares (2 Finals losses - 1994 NYK, 1999 NYK)
    • 2.9 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1993 NYK, 2000 NYK)
  • Peak - 333.0
    • 1990-1994
  • Other achievements
    • NCAA champion (1984)
    • NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1984)
    • 2x Big East Player of the Year (1984, 1985)
    • 1x College Player of the Year (1985)
    • Rookie of the Year (1986)
    • 3x All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1988, 1989, 1990)
    • 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (1984, 1992)
    • 20,000 Point Club (24,815; 24th all-time)
    • 10,000 Rebound Club (11,607; 25th all-time)
    • #33 retired by the New York Knicks
    • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2012)
  • Ewing put up 1.0 playoff win shares over 11 playoff games for the 1999 Knicks, so despite not playing in the Finals (he was hurt in the Eastern Conference Finals that year), he gets credit for being a contributor on a Finals team.
  • Here's some wild information about Ewing's citizenship: he was born in Jamaica in August 5, 1962, and in 1975, his family moved to Massachusetts, where he eventually gained United States' citizenship. That all seems fairly straightforward, however, Jamaica was a colony of the British Empire on August 5, 1962. It was granted its independence the day after Ewing was born, August 6, 1962. This is fascinating, but also somewhat confusing to follow because of British citizenship rules and laws and revisions, and I'm not sure I've fully figured it all out. But I believe Ewing was, for a single day, a British national, which was called a "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies," or a "CUKC" (yes, it was actually called that). He then automatically became Jamaican when he was one day old, when the country gained independence. (Someone please correct me if any of this is wrong.) All of which is to say, I really want a biography of Ewing's childhood/upbringing and the transition to independence for Jamaica titled "Patrick Ewing: CUKC for a Day."

​

• 46. Artis Gilmore - 301.1
  • Career - 253.3
    • 1972-1976 (ABA), 1977-1988
    • KEN, CHI, SAS, CHI, BOS
    • 107.4 Win Shares
    • 0.092 Adjusted MVP Award Shares
    • 6x All-Star Selection (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986)
    • 1.4 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1983 SAS, 1988 BOS)
    • 82.3 ABA Win Shares
    • 2.260 Adjusted ABA MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes, 1 win: 1972 - 1st, 1973 - 4th, 1974 - 2nd)
    • 5x All-ABA First Team Selection (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
    • 5x ABA All-Star Selection (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
    • 4x ABA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
    • 3.0 ABA Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1975 KEN)
    • 3.4 ABA Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1973 KEN)
    • 3.1 ABA Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1974 KEN, 1976 KEN)
    • 1x ABA Playoff MVP (1975)
  • Peak - 349.0
    • 1972-1976
  • Other achievements
    • ABA Rookie of the Year (1972)
    • 1x ABA All-Star Game MVP (1974)
    • 1x NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1978)
  • Now, I'll admit two things here: this is too high for Gilmore. In order to make the ABA numbers make sense for the vast majority of the ABA players, the players at the fringes get stretched a little more than they should. Consequently, the all-time great ABA guys, who spent more than a couple years in the ABA, really benefit from this. I may work on a fix for it, but it really only affects Julius Erving and Gilmore (and to a much lesser extent, George Gervin, Rick Barry, Billy Cunningham, and George McGinnis), so I'm inclined to just leave it with a disclaimer that Gilmore is probably 10-15 spots too high.
  • That said, the second thing is this: Artis Gilmore is vastly underrated. He started his career in the ABA right as the league was starting to peak, winning MVP as a rookie. He averaged 22.3/17.1 with 3.4 blocks per game during his ABA tenure (five seasons), winning one title, going to the Finals another time, and making the Conference Finals twice more.
  • He didn't really slow down in the NBA either until injuries took their toll. Through his first seven NBA seasons he averaged 19.8/11.6 with 2.2 blocks. He never made All-NBA, but as we've noted before, making All-NBA from the 1970s forward was notoriously difficult with Kareem perennially taking up one of the two slots, and then battling half a dozen other Hall of Fame players for the other one.
  • Anyway, Gilmore was one of those players, like Dr. J, who could've played in either league and been highly successful. Are his ABA numbers slightly inflated due to playing against some not-quite-NBA caliber competition, sure. But that doesn't really take anything away from the guy's actual skill levels.

​

• 45. Russell Westbrook - 307.7
  • Career - 247.8
    • 2009-2023
    • OKC, HOU, WAS, LAL, LAC
    • 108.4 Win Shares
    • 1.619 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (4 top five finishes, 1 win: 2015 - 4th, 2016 - 4th, 2017 - 1st, 2018 - 5th)
    • 2x All-NBA First Team Selection (2016, 2017)
    • 5x All-NBA Second Team Selection (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018)
    • 2x All-NBA Third Team Selection (2019, 2020)
    • 9x All-Star Selection (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
    • 2.1 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 2012 OKC)
    • 6.5 Conference Finals Win Shares (3 Conf. Finals losses - 2011 OKC, 2014 OKC, 2016 OKC)
  • Peak - 367.6
    • 2015-2019
  • Other achievements
    • 2x All-Star Game MVP (2015, 2016)
    • 1x World Cup Gold Medalist (2010)
    • 1x Olympic Gold Medalist (2012)
    • 20,000 Point Club (24,457; 27th all-time)
    • 5,000 Assist Club (9,162; 9th all-time)
  • There should be a name for the phenomena (there probably is one and I just don't know it) where someone does something seemingly impossible, and everyone is amazed, but then they keep doing it, and everyone says, "oh, huh, I guess it wasn't actually that special."
  • This is exactly what happened to Westbrook, where he averaged a triple double for the first time since Oscar Robertson and everyone went "oh my god that's amazing!" and gave him the MVP. And then he did it three more times and everyone just went "eh."
  • Would this happen in other sports? If (and I don't know that many baseball players, so forgive me if this is a bad analogy) Shohei Ohtani hit .400 for a season for the first time since Ted Williams, everyone would rightfully lose their minds, but if he did it three more times, would everyone be over it, or would we all just agree that he was the greatest baseball player of all time and be done with it?
  • (Note: I am not arguing that Russell Westbrook is the greatest basketball player of all-time. That was just the best cross-sports analogy I could think of.)

​

• 44. Jason Kidd - 308.1
  • Career - 267.7
    • 1995-2013
    • DAL, PHO, NJN, DAL, NYK
    • 138.6 Win Shares
    • 0.934 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (2 top five finishes: 1999 - 5th, 2002 - 2nd)
    • 5x All-NBA First Team Selection (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004)
    • 1x All-NBA Second Team Selection (2003)
    • 10x All-Star Selection (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010)
    • 4x All-Defensive First Team Selection (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006)
    • 1.9 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 2011 DAL)
    • 4.9 Finals Win Shares (2 Finals losses - 2002 NJN, 2003 NJN)
  • Peak - 348.6
    • 1999-2003
  • Other achievements
    • 1x Pac-10 Player of the Year (1994)
    • Rookie of the Year (1995)
    • 5x All-Defensive Second Team Selection (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007)
    • 2x Sportsmanship Award (2012, 2013)
    • 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (2000, 2008)
    • 5,000 Assist Club (12,091; 2nd all-time)
    • #5 retired by the Brooklyn Nets
  • It seems strange to say, because their careers overlapped almost perfectly, and they were even teammates for two seasons, but it feels like Jason Kidd was something of a precursor to Steve Nash. It was like they were trying to figure out the exact right components of a flashy yet competent point guard, and didn't quite get there with Kidd, but got really close. Then they got it exactly right with Nash a couple years later. I realize this analogy falls apart when you take into consideration Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson existing, but let's just say point guard play was in a bit of a lull in the early-to-mid 1990s.
  • As a side note: it's somehow fascinating that the All-NBA Teams, from 1956-2023 were position-based, yet not specifically position based. For example, there needed to be two guards, two forwards, and a center on the First Team and the same on the Second Team, but there was no requirement that the two guards be one point guard and one shooting guard. So, some years there were one of each, and some years there were two of the same position. (It's positionless now, so it doesn't matter, and even though I liked the position-based teams, I've thought the NBA should change its designations for these type of things to "one point, two wings, two bigs" for some time now.)
  • Anyway, after Magic Johnson retired before the start of the 1992 season, here are the point guards named to the first team for the rest of the 1990s: None (two shooting guards) 2x, John Stockton 2x, Mark Price, Tim Hardaway, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd. It's not bad, but it's not exactly a murderer's row. If you had to face some combination of those names on your way to winning the title, I think you'd feel more or less okay about your chances. Anyway, then in 2000, both Kidd and Payton made the First Team, marking the first time two point guards had made the First Team since 1986 when Magic and Isiah Thomas were both on the First Team for the third straight year. Then it didn't happen again until 2014 when Chris Paul and James Harden were both on the First Team (and that's assuming you count Harden as a point guard, which he isn't always, but I think we can say he definitely was that season.) It's happened a lot more frequently since, but again, there's some more amorphous definitions of "point guard" in today's game than there used to be.
  • Back to Kidd, I literally always, always forget he has a ring. Any time anyone mentions him, even in his role as the Dallas Mavericks coach, the team he won an NBA title with in 2011, I'm always like "oh, yeah, he got so close with the Nets in the early 2000s, but just couldn't do anything against the Lakers and Spurs dynasties."

​

• 43. Willis Reed - 314.8
  • Career - 215.3
    • 1965-1974
    • NYK
    • 74.9 Win Shares
    • 1.565 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes, 1 win: 1969 - 2nd, 1970 - 1st, 1971 - 4th)
    • 1x All-NBA First Team Selection (1970)
    • 4x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1967, 1968, 1969, 1971)
    • 7x All-Star Selection (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)
    • 1x All-Defensive First Team Selection (1970)
    • 3.6 Championship Win Shares (2 titles - 1970 NYK, 1973 NYK)
    • 2.7 Conference Finals Win Shares (3 Conf. Finals losses - 1969 NYK, 1971 NYK, 1974 NYK)
    • 2x Finals MVP (1970, 1973)
  • Peak - 414.3
    • 1967-1971
  • Other achievements
    • Rookie of the Year (1965)
    • 1x All-Star Game MVP (1970)
    • #19 retired by the New York Knicks
    • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2006)
  • Reed became the first player to hit the MVP trifecta (All-Star Game, regular season, Finals) when he did it in 1970. Granted it was only the second year that was possible to do, since the Finals MVP was created in 1969, but still, it's a fairly rare feat. Michael Jordan did it in 1996 and 1998, and Shaquille O'Neal did it in 2000, but that's been it.

​

• 42. Elvin Hayes - 322.0
  • Career - 266.1
    • 1969-1984
    • SDHOU, BAL/CAP/WSB, HOU
    • 120.8 Win Shares
    • 1.016 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes: 1974 - 5th, 1975 - 3rd, 1979 - 3rd)
    • 3x All-NBA First Team Selection (1975, 1977, 1979)
    • 3x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1973, 1974, 1976)
    • 12x All-Star Selection (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
    • 3.1 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1978 WSB)
    • 4.2 Finals Win Shares (2 Finals losses - 1975 WSB, 1979 WSB)
  • Peak - 377.9
    • 1975-1979
  • Other achievements
    • 1x College Player of the Year (1968)
    • 2x All-Defensive Second Team Selection (1974, 1975)
    • 20,000 Point Club (27,313; 11th all-time)
    • 10,000 Rebound Club (16,279; 4th all-time)
    • #11 retired by the Washington Wizards
    • #44 retired by the Houston Rockets
    • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee (2006)
  • If not for the next guy on the list, Elvin Hayes would probably be known as the most legendary dick in all of basketball history. Actually, I don't know if that's quite fair, as he typically just gets pegged as a guy who was problematic to coach. I think it had more to do with Hayes' general philosophy of "get ball, put ball in basket" more than any sort of "passing" or "running plays" that earned him that reputation.
  • But he did go to the Finals three times, winning one title (though I'd argue that probably had more to do with Wes Unseld and Bob Dandridge, but regardless), and had his number retired by two teams, so it's not like teams are out here holding grudges or anything. (Note: the Rockets didn't retire his number until 2022, so there may have been a bit of a grudge.)

​

• 41. Rick Barry - 323.1
  • Career - 268.7
    • 1966-1967, 1969-1972 (ABA), 1973-1980
    • SFW, OAK/WSA, NYA, GSW, HOU
    • 93.4 Win Shares
    • 0.874 Adjusted MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes: 1967 - 5th, 1975 - 4th, 1976 - 4th)
    • 5x All-NBA First Team Selection (1966, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1976)
    • 1x All-NBA Second Team Selection (1973)
    • 8x All-Star Selection (1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978)
    • 3.1 Championship Win Shares (1 title - 1975 GSW)
    • 1.6 Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1967 GSW)
    • 2.2 Conference Finals Win Shares (2 Conf. Finals losses - 1973 GSW, 1976 GSW)
    • 1x Finals MVP (1975)
    • 35.5 ABA Win Shares
    • 0.954 Adjusted ABA MVP Award Shares (3 top five finishes: 1969 - 5th, 1970 - 2nd, 1971 - 5th)
    • 4x All-ABA First Team Selection (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972)
    • 4x ABA All-Star (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972)
    • 2.7 ABA Finals Win Shares (1 Finals loss - 1972 NYA)
  • Peak - 377.6
    • 1972-1976
  • Other achievements
    • Rookie of the Year (1966)
    • 1x All-Star Game MVP (1967)
    • #24 retired by the Golden State Warriors
  • Barry, the most legendary dick in all of basketball, is probably ranked a little bit low compared to his skill level here, because he didn't get the MVP votes one would typically associate a player of his level getting. Why? Because he played at a time when other players voted for the MVP and, as noted, people hated Rick Barry. I've heard it theorized that he's (partly) the reason the media votes on the MVP now and not the players, but I haven't been able to definitively confirm that anywhere.
  • Barry was also super attached to his number, #24, and wore it at every stop except for his final two years in Houston. Moses Malone was already wearing #24 at the time so it wasn't available. So what did Barry do? He decided he'd wear #2 for home games and #4 for road games. (The NBA also would not allow this today, but it was from 1979-1980, so we were still in the Wild West a bit as far as what sports leagues would allow to happen.)

From Supertramp, 1970
Listen to it here
If there's one thing the first Supertramp album is very good at, that's setting a mood. Reflecting on the fact that it was recorded late at night, often the music paints these kind of "romantic period" pictures, similiar to lots of prog of that era. Take I Am Not Like Other Birds Of Prey for example, a beautiful, beautiful song. As such I actually really like this album.
However, to my ears, Shadow Song is somewhat of a lesser piece compared to the others. The wind instruments and the bassline really do help to set the mood here, and RogePalmer's (Davies's?) harmonizing ends up being quite effective as well, but I feel that the song just misses some sort of "oomph" factor that Birds Of Prey, Try Again or Beggar have, and as such I sometimes find myself skipping it. When it works however, it works really well. It's just that apart from the first Surely, I think it's the first record's weakest link.
Of course, since I mentioned him, we've got to talk about Richard Palmer. {1}

All the album's lyrics were written by Richard Palmer, since none of the other members of Supertramp were willing to write any. Palmer himself later said that he considered writing lyrics "like having to do school work" at the time. The music to the songs were all composed jointly by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

We're going to discuss him more in depth in later entries, but we are sure that he sang on Maybe I'm A Beggar. Shadow song's singer, however, remains a mistery to me: several sites report that the singer is Davies, but I just don't hear it: it sounds almost like Richard at the beginning, while Roger joins him later. I admit I haven't delved too deep into the question; if any one of you has any info on the matter, I invite you to comment down below.
{1}Wikipedia&ved=2ahUKEwiThKq-ouqFAxVrgP0HHYwCAg4QFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2huPPqdQ8VXtUW2DtTHE2C)
Index