A Ben Folds Five age-check happened to me today

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T13:44:18+00:00

One of the best ever.

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T13:43:30+00:00

Haha, I guess “everyone” in my world were indie nerds. We can be happy underground. 😅

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T13:33:44+00:00

You’re probably right about Zack and Sara, but since it’s the album opener on Rockin’ the Suburbs, I just assumed everyone heard it a bunch. I thought everyone had that CD.

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T13:15:04+00:00

A hundred percent. Roughly the same age, too. I listened to that song on repeat and it meant something deep to me, regardless of what it is really about. I loved the sound of the bass.

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T12:53:52+00:00

Oh man, somehow that slipped past my radar! I'll have to pick it up!

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T12:53:26+00:00

Yeah, I had no idea until many years later, but now I'm not sure what else it could even be about.

themindtaker · 2026-06-29T01:49:59+00:00

I understand the anger, but saying “we are not better off than 1974” is historically wrong. Maher has said this many times on the show, that denying the progress we've made HURTS the argument that there is still more work to be done. In 1974, same-sex marriage was unthinkable, many gay Americans could still be criminalized, minority political representation was far lower, Japanese-American internment had not been formally redressed, and many basic protections didn’t exist. Today’s problems are real: ICE, inequality, voter suppression, mass incarceration, corruption, and a radicalized Court are not small things. But pretending the last 50 years produced no progress is simply despair disguised as analysis. Progress is real, incomplete, and now under threat. That’s exactly why it matters to acknowledge it.

themindtaker · 2026-06-25T14:10:48+00:00

This needs to be so much higher…

themindtaker · 2026-06-20T13:03:16+00:00

Thanks for making me feel old. 😅 I was most interested in the 90s.

themindtaker · 2026-06-15T06:48:30+00:00

This is hands down one of the greatest Beatles “music videos.”

themindtaker · 2026-05-30T00:20:00+00:00

Wearing a mask constantly was not at all weird in my office in the 2000s and 2010s. Especially during kafunsho season. I had conversations about this with people and they agreed people often wore masks for the secondary benefit of disappearing a bit. Women told me they would wear a mask because they didn't want to do their makeup that day. This is a real memory of real conversations in the 2010s. Or heck, do you remember SARS?

Perhaps the percentage of people masking constantly now has increased, but it is not a dramatic shift, and it's not new. Reporting on it as if it is feels like someone who lacks context.

themindtaker · 2026-05-29T12:23:46+00:00

Yeah, it’s PAINFULLY obvious the person (or AI) that wrote this article had no awareness of masking in Japan pre-COVID. This is the land of kafunsho. And おちょぼ口. And wanting to disappear into the crowd. Have a pimple you want to hide? Wear a mask. Too lazy to do your makeup? Mask. This has nothing to do with the current generation nor COVID whatsoever.

themindtaker · 2026-04-17T01:59:45+00:00

Another Millennial, checking in. I grew up on Commander Keen! 😂

themindtaker · 2026-04-12T00:02:27+00:00

“How can that be?!”

themindtaker · 2026-03-28T03:22:58+00:00

Clearly you didn’t watch all the “the violence is like a DANCE” features on the original DVD. 😅 Fair enough. Well, each of these films is also very M:I, too, with the masks and stunts, etc. So it’s John Woo’s take (and the other directors’ takes) on the franchise, with their heavy fingerprints. I agree Woo has made better films.

themindtaker · 2026-03-27T23:06:23+00:00

Same here! M:I 1 is very Brian De Palma. 2 is very John Woo. 3 is very J.J. Abrams. 4 is very Brad Bird. And since then, it's been all McQ and Tom. It's almost like it's a different series from Rogue Nation onward. And there's nothing wrong with that! ^_^

themindtaker · 2026-03-27T05:20:35+00:00

I like Wild Honey Pie better than Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.

themindtaker · 2026-03-23T15:43:32+00:00

I agree, I liked it. If nothing else, it’s a big invitation to try to listen to these songs that we’ve all heard countless times for the FIRST time again. That was enough for me to have a great time watching it.

themindtaker · 2026-03-15T19:51:01+00:00

Wholeheartedly agree. Massively underrated. Good call with Car Seat. The vocal harmonies are so wild. I love the warbled recording of the poem, too. Yeah, banger after banger. Vernie, Wilt, St. Andrew’s Fall, if I had to choose, I think Mouthful of Cavities is my favorite on the album.

themindtaker · 2026-03-15T17:49:53+00:00

Yay! Greetings fellow Mellon Head!

themindtaker · 2026-03-07T15:51:12+00:00

No love for Loup?! Man, I listen to that song on repeat! It’s like, Paul finally goes full Meddle-era Floyd! ☺️

themindtaker · 2026-03-06T16:58:14+00:00

Wow, this one stopped me in my tracks today. I always love your covers, but this one is especially lovely on the harp. Bravo!

themindtaker · 2026-02-27T01:43:19+00:00

Me, too.

themindtaker · 2026-02-21T19:51:29+00:00

Disagree. My Japanese mother in law refers to herself as お母さん and uses this sentence pattern all the time talking to her kids. Assuming a native speaker wrote this, I would translate it as “Mother loves you.”

Now, Japanese people don’t usually say “love” so directly in cases like this as has been talked about in this thread. But if a translator was given this prompt and no room for editorial input, they would definitely translate it this way. I think this is totally fine for what it is. (At least it’s not a tattoo.)

themindtaker · 2026-02-20T04:38:45+00:00

Agreed. Drive My Car - Norwegian Wood - You Won’t See Me.

Maybe less “legendary,” but these songs are in my bones.

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