Thaddeus Wert

@GlassHammerProg Great news, my friend!

Six songs with finished arrangements so far - about fifty minutes of new Glass Hammer - with more songs in the works! I'm not ready for the "official" announcement yet (with album title and release date). Just wanted to give you the update and let you know I'm working hard on this. :::steve:::

Bradley Birzer's and my tribute to one of the finest prog artists ever!

@carleolson "Saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac" is a terrific line.

Funny thing: I'm rather neutral about The Eagles, although the band was obviously talented. But Don Henley's three 1980's albums are, to me, close to 10/10. Found a nice copy of this recently, and once again was able to appreciate Henley's rather unique mixture of cynicism, vulnerability, melancholy, and hopeful defiance. Great songs. Fun fact: While many know that Bruce Hornsby played the piano on the title track, few (including myself, until recently) know that jazz giant (a favorite of mine) Wayne Shorter played sax on the same cut. Guests on other songs include Axl Rose, Take 6, Edie Brickell, Melissa Etheridge, and Sheryl Crow.

@NashSevereWx Freezing rain just started in Belle Meade. #tspotter

We could use reports for the onset of freezing rain. Right now all we're looking for is a glaze of clear ice on surfaces. If you see it, let us know using #tspotter. These reports help NWS Nashville make decisions about warning and forecasting. Thanks!

A great biography of a great man. I can't believe it's been 10 years since I read it!

@NashSevereWx Once I came across you years ago, you have been my go-to source for accurate weather info. I really, really appreciate all you and your team do for middle TN.

Let me clear the air on something that has come up more than once in the past hour. It has been suggested by some that we're stringing you along on lack of forecast details and/or clearly concerned about ad revenue/clicks on the website. To have to address this implies a clear misunderstanding of how this organization works, and maybe you'r new here. Welcome! Never once in my 11 years have I or anyone else at NSW left out details to string you along. Ever. And we never will. We will tell you what we know and what we don't, full stop. Secondly, we are 100% supported by donations, using two methods Patreon and Paypal. The website costs us money every single month and has never generated a penny. Now that that's behind us, back to regularly scheduled programming. And, thanks for being here. Really.

@joeljmiller, The awesome @bradleybirzer does your latest book justice.

My favorite Rush live album!

Really good episode; I discovered some new and nice music!

Thank you, Dr. Birzer!

@IVMiles @bradleybirzer I'm like you, but this is a really fun read.

@bradleybirzer @Fractad I never read politicians’ books but I’ve thought about getting this one for a while.

@GlassHammerProg Merry Christmas to you too!

Merry Christmas!

@CynicalPublius You've described the time from when my future wife and I started dating (1983) to the births of our daughters ('90 and '94). A wonderful time. And so true about the music! Radio was amazing, because of the variety.

RE: A Golden Age Mrs. Dr. Publius and I were just discussing how awesome the mid-to-late ‘80s and early '90s were, in general, as the best time in recent years to be alive (full disclosure, for each of us this was our favorite time to be alive), and we were wondering if: "Are we over-romanticizing that time period?” Are we? Many people decide that the “best times” of their lives were when they were in their early to mid ‘20s. Are my wife and I failing prey to that logical fallacy? (We are acutely aware of “Golden Age Syndrome.") We spent a great deal of time discussing this issue and thought long and hard about it, and we finally decided: “No, we are not over-romanticizing.” We believe we can prove this assessment empirically, as explained below: 1. American Success. In that time period, America was at the height of its historical world dominance. The Cold War was over, and we had won. Bigly. Then, after that, we faced down the feared Iraqi military of Saddam Hussein, and destroyed it. No one could question our global, political, economic and military dominance, and we were on the path to doing it in such a way as to bring our cherished Constitutional values to the world. We were at the zenith of our power. 2. Economy & Jobs. Our economy was without limits. The tech/dot com revolution was just beginning, we all felt at least middle class, good jobs were plentiful, and we knew that we could achieve riches if we wanted to, with enough hard work. The sky was the limit for each of us, despite the crazy interest rates. 3. Tech. Tech was changing our lives. Many generations feel this way, but the early ‘90s were a time when that feeling was so overwhelming and promising. Whether your first computer was a Mac 512k Enhanced (that was mine—I took out a loan as an Army second lieutenant), or whether you were just playing Doom until you fell asleep, or whether you were doing your taxes on Lotus 1-2-3, or whether you had a modem and were slowly careening around the WWW on Netscape 1.0, you knew the possibilities were limitless. You knew the world was changing in a positive way. 4. Society and Racism. Our society seemed to have evolved. More than ever, we were willing to judge individuals based solely on their character and skills. Racism was at its low ebb, only to rear its ugly head again with Barack Obama taking office in 2009. We felt that we had solved America’s original sin. 5. Love and Marriage. American men and women had reached a point of societal equality that did not eradicate their unique and important differences. Romance was with your equal, and you did not need to guess the sex of your girlfriend or boyfriend. Love was easy with those who thought like you, and marriage was feasible, as were kids, because the economy said so. It was a perfect time to fall in love. 6. TV. If you were not there, you don’t know. On any given particular weeknight at home that special supercool show you loved was coming on. Dinner rotated around it. Popcorn for all and the house phone was taken off the hook. Seinfeld; Miami Vice; Friends; NYPD Blue; Twin Peaks; The X Files; LA Law; The Wonder Years; Thirtysomething; Beverly Hills 90210; Frasier etc. etc. And late night TV? It was fun and easy to watch and was not a bunch of leftoid propagandizing lectures masquerading as comedy. 7. Cinema. And movies? We all waited in line, sat down out front with a large Coke and a giant bucket of buttered popcorn, and watched the products of a golden age of cinema: -Pulp Fiction -Top Gun -Schindler’s List -Back to the Future -Die Hard -The Breakfast Club -Ferris Bueller -Princess Bride -Field of Dreams -Bill & Ted -Dances With Wolves -Silence of the Lambs -etc. -etc. It was all so good. Saturday night was movie night. 8. Music. Oh my gosh, the music. Classic rock was still classic and still putting out new music: The Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, etc. Punk was still evolving out of its late ‘70s CBGB roots: The Ramones, The Clash, Blondie, Black Flag, Social Distortion, etc. “New Wave” was at its height: The Cure, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, New Order, Eurythmics, U2, etc. And pop? Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston. And in a class all its own: R.E.M. No auto-tune. Few bands sounded alike. New music was genuinely “new,” and no one was afraid to write songs with powerful messages. Those were the days. Now I fully acknowledge that many of the things we thought were happening were actually dreams that turned sour, but at the time they felt real. Over-romanticizing? Perhaps. But maybe there was a reason we were not all on SSRIs.

@bradleybirzer @DanHugger @TheRightsWriter @heymiller @ScotBertram @ISI @ToryAnarchist @ActonInstitute @ubookman @KirkCenter One of your best essays, Brad. Like you, I devoured TLOR, but for me it was to the detriment of my engineering courses! I don't regret it, though.

I have all of her Songbook albums. They are truly timeless; definitive performances of some of the greatest songs ever written.

I'm listening to the latest episode of the Commentary Magazine podcast. They may not "counsel despair", but crushing morosity is another matter entirely. :) @AbeGreenwald , @jpodhoretz

Nice review of Lawhead's work. I've read his Byzantium, which is about St. Columba and the Book of Kells, and I thought it was very good.

@Fractad and I review the new Gazpacho, Magic Eight Ball. Stunning stuff. @burningshednews @theprogreport @kscopemusic spiritofcecilia.com/2025/11/10/gaz…

@ProgSquatch I was just telling a colleague about this album yesterday!

#TodaysClassic was released #OnThisDay in 1971! #ProgressiveRock #ProgRock

Here it comes to Belle Meade. @NashSevereWx