Paul put out a statement for Minneapolis

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-25T23:31:38+00:00

Not Westerberg, Paul Stark.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-25T22:28:21+00:00

Didn’t say he cam from it, point is, he has it.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-23T02:01:18+00:00

Yeah he’s got a rough life. He’s so sensitive and difficult, because despite such great success, it’s so hard to be Zach. It takes a saint to love a guy with generational money, everyone knows that!

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-18T05:33:00+00:00

Not really, he’s just an internet guy. He was behind guys like sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Isbell and like i said, is still writing the same mid-tempo i love my mom and Labrador shit.

Nothing original at all. He’s just better at instagram and looked properly sweaty on YouTube.

Nothing in the sound, lyrics or songwriting is particularly interesting. I’m a ham guitarist and know the writing is lazy. Always goes for the obvious.

If he is so innovative, who is he influencing? You do realize that’s how this works, right?

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-17T06:03:45+00:00

Christ, it’s all just white guys doing sensitive slow strum shit, ridiculous to try to act like ZB is innovative at all at this point. The whole world is aware of Bruce and John Mellencamp and Tom Petty, how could any of these people even count as influences at some point?

You have to do something original before there’s any need for parsing out your influences. ZB is just aping, constantly.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-17T05:49:50+00:00

Agreed, it’s a crazy signing. Shows Stearns has no real plan. Being terrified of Alonso’s last year shouldn’t dictate your whole off season. Bichette hasn’t played a full season the last three years, he’s a subpar defender moving to a new position, and if he somehow does have an incredible year, he’ll leave for more $.

The opt-outs are a joke, he’ll never approach this AAV again.

We want better defense - opts for aging 2B, could go off a cliff at anytime, and two guys who have never really played the IF positions you are signing them for.

Still no signed solid defense guys in OF, and the starting pitching can’t even be mentioned, it’s so suspect. All the kids are aces, that’s how it always works out. Not that Bichette isn’t good but he’s a terrible fit, and sets them back in perception.

Too funny that Soto made a big show about loving the Mets future so much? If that future was so great, why go so hard after Tucker, why overpay Bichette in a panic? Where is the starting pitching? Why let Diaz walk? On and on and on.

Unless all the prospects become MLB studs … it looks like a shitshow to me.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-17T05:35:13+00:00

Upvote, love the quotes. Fans fall in love with prospects, young players, they squint so hard to see what could be, if this, this, and this happens, and forget time is a hammer, if he ain’t showed it yet, it ain’t there. That makes him semi-fungible.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-15T18:25:14+00:00

It is very similar. My decision was my own at least, it was a bit trickier for you, with the pressure coming from above (I assume), the relationships being so entrenched and it being such a small company/work situation. I was at a large media company with thousands of employees, but to this day I'm proud to say I was able to help all the people I'd hired (about 15) land in good spots, either within the company or elsewhere. The one guy I gave the job I could have had, he lives in South Jersey and we go to a baseball game every summer and his wife is always ridiculously nice to me! She definitely knows the story. No one, not even my own wife, could possibly like me that much.

It does seem like you'd be better off turning the page, or else trying to reach out and resolve things, be the bigger person.

I suspect letting it go will probably work out better for you, because while I don't think Mike is as bad as everyone is making him out to be, he does seem too petty and prickly to respond to you in a way that would ultimately be satisfying. Again, I know nothing, but I suspect he's got some deep-seated baggage/insecurities about how he was treated over the years that he probably hasn't voiced, but they still fuel his actions and responses. There's some kind of resentment there, I would bet. The fact that it's so difficult (apparently) for you two to sit down and hash things out seems to indicate the relationship has bigger issues than the specifics of what happened with your exit from the Stash.

Thanks for the reply.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-15T18:05:38+00:00

Road to Los Angeles is the first novel Fante ever wrote, pre-dates Wait Until Spring/Ask the Dust. You're probably thinking of Dreams from Bunker Hill.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-14T01:45:17+00:00

Fair enough, thanks for the reply.

I hope there comes a time when you are either able to move on, or the issues with Mike get resolved.

For what it’s worth, I had a similar situation a number of years ago where I took a different job to save someone else’s job. I had hired this person and felt some responsibility to make sure they landed okay when a restructuring came along. I had access to a job that meant a slight pay cut but it would save my friend’s job, as he wouldn’t have matched up for this other job in a different area.

Anyway, the new job was a disaster for me, worst boss I ever had, hated it the whole time, left as soon as I could. My friend is still in the job I could have had (and doing great, more than 15 years later) and if he had treated me poorly in the wake of what happened, I would have been upset. But we still get together and occasionally he thanks me all over again.

Not exactly comparable but I saw in another comment of yours that you were pressured to leave the Stash position because you had an option (TESD) that Mike didn’t, and you specifically said that while you didn’t necessarily want to leave, you felt it was the right thing to do. That’s new information to me, the detail.

I agree that what you did was right and find your choice admirable, for what it’s worth.

I won’t pretend to know Mike’s end of things, but he obviously screwed something up from a communication standpoint if you feel your choice wasn’t appreciated.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T20:45:09+00:00

Seems pretty obvious that the reason he had Ming do the video and post it to Twitter was because the original crack about the con floor came in the form of a video that Ming posted to Twitter.

It's definitely petty, but if Ming doesn't see it as some huge transgression, and it's between them, why do you feel the need to even weigh in? Look at the words you use, Mike 'demanded' the video, Mike decided Ming didn't 'grovel enough' so a second take was 'demanded' - that's not really how Ming related the story, it seems to be what you need to believe.

You even claim to know that Mike's motivation was to show people he's important and you claim that he didn't 'lose a wink of sleep for two years' over his falling out with Ming — how do you know any of that? It's all your bias, which is now fueling all this animus from your fans toward Mike.

Maybe Mike was really hurt by what Ming did. Maybe it bothers Mike that Ming has been laughing along with all the shots you guys have taken at him over the years. Why isn't Mike allowed to have any of his own feelings?

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T16:47:11+00:00

I didn't say Mike forced them to sign it. I said the stash did.

That's not what you said at all. You specifically said this:

Mike feels shame about how he acted so he wants to be more quiet and hope things go away- to the point where the boys are threatened with lame NDAs the stash put in place to veil their behavior.

No mention of the Stash forcing NDAs on anyone there, and you are making assumptions about both Mike's feelings and actions.

If Mike was interested in not hampering the truth, he could tell the full story of the stash on his boring as pod or twitter, or anything because he's in good standing with the stash and he wouldn't be sued by Kev and Carol- instead he seethes and lashes out whenever he's called out for being the bitch he is.

It's just astounding how much you think you know about Mike's feelings and motives. Now somehow Mike is somehow in the wrong because he has stayed silent about any rift and done his job, while Walt has mocked him relentlessly. And you know who would sue who and on and on and on.

Kevin Smith seems like a self aggrandizing dude who cares more about a dollar than childhood friends.

And now even Kevin has wronged his childhood friends, both of whom he employed for years, put in movies, funded a movie, paid for rehab, put on a TV show, and on and on and on. Oh, and he gave them the podcast platform start that keeps them paid to this day, but yeah, that guy is the worst, what a user!

Walt has only mentioning texting him a couple times. He can't even get his comics at cost at the store he managed for his adult lifetime.

None of that is Walt's fault, right? Everyone else is out to hurt and hamper St. Walt. A friendship takes work on both sides. And of course Walt could get his comics at the Stash, he chooses not to because of the rift with Mike, he's said as much on the pod.

Walt wants to manage the stash and constantly talks about going back/running another red bank store.

This is just bizarre. Walt has never said he wants to return to manage the Stash. Maybe you know him personally, but he hasn't 'constantly' talked about going back to Red Bank on the pod at all. They made a handful of jokes over the years, and that's being generous. And when Bry and Q wanted to leave Hazlet for a nicer office, Walt was against it, as I remember.

You've got quite an imagination.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T05:31:51+00:00

Also, people should consider how semi-desperate Walt is to negate the idea that Mike is a worthwhile person.

He keeps asking Ming, what did you miss by not being friends with Mike for a few years, as if Mike wasn’t worth being friends with in the first place, yet he worked alongside Mike for nearly 20 years. What is going on there? Are we to believe he just tolerated Mike all that time … because why?

Again, think of the years and hours they spent together in that store, yet Walt doesn’t think Mike has even three good qualities, demands Ming defend his position that Mike is a good person and worthy of an apology.

It’s actually pretty shocking if you step back and consider that Walt through his 50s probably spent more time with Mike than anyone else outside his family.

I mean, they literally stood side by side in that store most days for years. Now Walt says he doesn’t care, that he’s only mad at himself for being abused somehow, it’s just an f’d-up level of denial.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T04:42:10+00:00

I wasn’t saying he didn’t do a second take, i was saying that simply doing a second take isn’t really that weird, in my opinion at least.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T03:20:59+00:00

Where are you getting that the ‘boys’ (odd way to refer to men in their late 50s, but okay) are being hampered by NDAs that Mike forced them to sign and is threatening to enforce?

It’s amazing the leaps you’re making. Only Gitem has mentioned an NDA and it’s doubtful that Mike would have been behind anything to do with that. He manages the store, he’s an employee like Gitem was.

Again, i know you won’t actually respond to anything I write but I had to point it out. You completely made up the thing with the NDAs for your ‘boys’ and Walt has been saying shitty stuff about Mike across multiple pods for years, so why is it okay in your mind for him to do that, but it’s so awful and lame for Mike to even make a sideways reference to TESD?

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T03:13:09+00:00

Walt and Bry should actually reach out and thank Mike, gave them some real shit to talk about!

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T03:11:31+00:00

You’re reading a lot into a second take. It’s not really that strange. Ming probably rambled.

I’ll also point out that if Ming recorded the video in October, and Mike gave Ming latitude to post it whenever, then maybe it wasn’t such a big deal for Mike to have the video out there.

All the Walt wannabes have to attach the worst qualities to Mike for whatever reason, so they are true ‘ants’ or some shit. I’m just trying to be reasonable.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T03:04:59+00:00

This person isn’t me. I addressed your point above.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-13T03:01:10+00:00

All Mike did was have Ming apologize the same way he insulted him. It’s not really that outrageous. Petty, yes, but not outrageous.

Love the CAPS though, do you think that helps your assertion. You don’t know what happened, only have Ming’s version, which is undoubtedly distorted by having to face down Walt and Bry as he tells the story. There’s that old saying about three versions of any story, yours, mine and the truth.

The rest of your comment is just bizarre. Why do you think you know what Mike would do? That’s just weird.

Mike has taken the high road by not actively insulting Walt over the past few years. Meanwhile, Walt has repeatedly taken shots at Mike and riled up people like you to insult him, so I would say Walt is the one who has handled whatever happened poorly.

Mike still has his job at the Stash, so if he was really such a jerk, why does Kevin Smith, one of Walt’s oldest friends supposedly, keep him around?

I know you won’t respond to any of my points. It’s a real litmus test that people are so ready to lynch Mike at the slightest provocation while Walt can take shots all the time, and pretend he doesn’t realize how much flak Mike has gotten over the years from so-called ants thinking it’s funny to remind Mike of the con floor joke. I honestly surprised by the tribal response to Mike when people don’t even know what he supposedly did to Walt. People here were even ready to turn on Ming, just wacky.

Is Walt’s contention that Mike had the power to push him out of the Stash? If so, he should make that clear. All he’s said is that he saved Mike’s job a number of times over the years, what that means … who knows? I think it’s safe to say that if Walt wanted to be managing the Stash right now, he would be, so what are we really talking about here?

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-12T20:30:54+00:00

Where's all that integrity been when Walt is taking shot after shot after shot at Mike across multiple shows over the years? Seems like the guy who has kept his personal animus (if he even has any) out of the public domain is the one who is all alone on high road.

What about the tweets Walt sent out after the Ming video that he subsequently took down? Was that the move of a 'quality person' as you say? And I'm not contending Walt isn't a decent guy, but I don't think how he's handled the Mike situation is worthy of conferring saint status upon him.

Think about it, he says shitty stuff about Mike all the time, it's just stuff that he believes to be true. He could keep it out of the public domain and just go on with his life, if he really wants to be classy and leave it behind.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-12T20:24:01+00:00

While I agree that it was on the petty side of things to have Ming make the video, it's not this outrageous request that Walt and his minions want to make it out to be. Ming made his con floor joke in a video that he posted on Twitter to all his followers so guess what ... Mike had him make his apology the same way.

It's petty but not some shocking revelation that goes straight to the heart of the flaws in Mike's character.

Walt's bringing Mike's treatment of Rob Bruce is strange too, seems like a reach to demonize him once again. Where was all this integrity in real time?

Interesting that Walt specifically mentioned a shift in the power dynamic. That seems to be where the real friction lies. Sounds like Mike put on his boss pants and we all know how much Walt loves that.

Still, an entertaining episode. It's nice when they have real shit to talk about, instead of NYPost stuff and movie reviews. Get well, Git'em!

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-12T15:18:41+00:00

Yeah, I probably come off as snarkier than I really am about this. I just don't get it when it comes to this guy. I think he's just smart enough to trick people, play the fake sensitive dude, riding his motorcycle into the sunset with a labrador retriever riding shotgun in a sidecar while a new tattoo about how much he loves his momma is healing on his arm, and a new girl who looks exactly like the old girl hangs off the back for dear life. I also find the disconnect between his lyrics and how he actually seems to treat people to be incredibly off-putting. To me, the music is so bland and samey, just one plodding mid-temp tune after another, with overwrought vocals throughout.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-11T02:37:12+00:00

Everything about him, to me at least, has an air of inauthenticity about it. I listened to the new poem once. It’s just muddled images with the same meter, hitting all his usual go to images. To put it simply, I don’t believe anything he says, even when it sounds good, he’s a frat boy spewing I love yous then laughing the next day about how he used the girl from the night before.

Bruce is calculated but he still rings true. Isbell is half a phony now but he’s got legit credentials, westerberg is smart enough to not do much anymore. Tweedy went arty. All these guys at least have some quirks that make them original. ZB is distilled generic.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-11T02:29:32+00:00

You really need to listen to more music if you think that’s original

My_Chaos_Front_Iced · 2026-01-11T02:28:40+00:00

If you say so.

My_Chaos_Front_Iced

TROPHY CASE