www.richrichmond.com

My personal mental health is a mess. I've got lots of childhood and generational trauma to address, a head full of bad wiring, and some chemical imbalance.

I suffer from anxiety, crippling depression, and unbelievable stress from my job and the state of the world we live in right now.

BUT I'm here and here to stay. I take my meds, I see my therapist, I use the @calm app, I meditate. I try to take care of my brain. It's hard work.

And I know so many that have it so much worse. I'm fortunate to have a support structure of family, friends, and medical care.

Recently, I know of several people whom have expressed suicidal ideation or attempted suicide.

The trilogy of movies that make up the Tron universe is all pretty weird. And that may certainly be part of the appeal. The films exist on the same server, so to speak, but they all have different vibes. The central conceit of the Tron universe is that since the advent of the computer age, there exists a parallel digital universe to our reality where programs representing data and their real-world user counterparts. Steve Jobs-esque tech CEO, certified guru-hippie Kevin Flynn, has found a way to connect to that parallel universe with haughty hopes of a digital utopia that could also inform a similar experience in reality. In general, there are defined boundaries between worlds, but each movie breaks those boundaries in specific ways to establish the central tension of the films.

Tron: Ares begins with exposition, bringing viewers up to speed on the events of the last 40 years, making direct connections to Flynn and the original story, and providing an off-ramp to largely ignore, for now, the events of the tremendously underrated Tron: Legacy. After the events of Legacy, Sam and Quorra are “off grid”. Encom is now run by the Kim sisters and rival Dillinger Enterprises is run by the grandson of Dillinger from Tron. Both companies are searching for the film macguffin, the “permanence code” which could have important consequences for earths future.

We quickly learn not much has changed from the 80s, Encom is looking for something to change the world for good, and Dillinger has far more nefarious plans, which begin and end with Ares, a security program that can exist in the real world…for 29 minutes.

Our characters begin moving between worlds with the very existence of both at stake. The movie moves at an extraordinarily brisk pace, dispensing with things like deep character development. We’re unfortunately not given much to care about. But we are given extraordinary visuals, cool ass weapons, interesting chase and fight sequences, and a throbbing, infectious soundtrack.

There’s also fun throwback sequences featuring reproductions of the original film’s then-groundbreaking computer-generated graphics.

The film also reaches for but never quite achieves its lofty, more existential aspirations - something its predecessors did a much better job at. Why are we here? Why are we? Why? and all that. Ares' awakening seems far less consequential than Quorra’s, but the film strongly hints that it is something they’d like to explore.

Tron has always been a mirror of our modern reality. Asking big questions about existence and the impact of technology on our world. Ares does an interesting job in reflecting how technology, oligarchy, and impermanence are changing our world, and has cool light cycle chases.

The movie is a mess and could have been so much more, done so much more. I walked out smiling, mostly from having Nine Inch Nails music on the loudspeakers for two hours. As a Tron movie, it’s pretty ok. As a nine inch nails delivery mechanism, it’s perfect.

Oh, and Tron isn’t even in the movie—a big miss IMHO. I’d have loved for this movie to follow up on Legacy more directly. I fear the promise of this movie to connect these two streams may not happen. And that’s a shame. Because while it’s never been perfect, Tron has always been a unique and original IP with so much promise, even if it fails to answer the big questions it asks fully.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/25/economy-election-harris-trump-polls/

Fact: The economy always does better under Democrats. https://www.epi.org/press/new-report-finds-that-the-economy-performs-better-under-democratic-presidential-administrations/

My tenth Foo Fighters show in 30 years took place almost in the exact same spot as I saw them the first time - just in a wildly different, and much larger, venue. Caddy’s garage is long gone as are the opportunities to see Foo Fighters with 500 people for $12. 

Dave Grohl and his motley assortment of long time musical cohorts smashed into Great American Ballpark last week like an out of control meteor bringing with it the last remaining vestiges of arena/stadium rock and roll. All of the expected Foo Fighters tropes were present and accounted for. Loud, crunchy guitars. Screaming vocals. Crowd wide sing alongs. Laughter and some tears. 

The set list pulled from the Foos entire catalogue featuring moments as Dave put it for “OGs, newbies, and everyone”. It’s a hit parade of rock tunes reaching back through time to the debut album “This is a Call” to the latest “Rescued” “Under You” “The Teacher”. In between the hits, solos and scream alongs the band played tributes to classic rock with hat tips to Metallica, Van Halen, the Ramones and AC⚡️DC. 

The band were tight, the songs were excellent, and the vibes were good. I should mention the elephant in the room the absence of the late Taylor Hawkins. This was my first time seeing the band without Taylor and his absence was obvious. Josh Freese is an incredible drummer but he plays like he's still in Nine Inch Nails. It gave the songs a heavier sound and vibe and culminated with an excellent cover of March of the Pigs the aforementioned NIN. But what was missing was the groove and spontaneity Taylor brought to the proceedings. Gone were those mini moments between songs where Dave and Taylor would share a joke, smile, laugh or beer. Gone also were Taylors vocals and his solo moment were Dave would play drums and Taylor would sing Queen. It added a heaviness to the proceedings that maybe only long time fans noticed but it made the event bittersweet. 

Overall though it was a rock show for the ages. Mammoth opened and Wolf Van Halen demonstrated why he is the best guitar player in the business. The Pretenders stole the show with a punk heavy set that even entirely dispensed with Brass in Pocket. 

Rock and Roll is very much alive. I wish Taylor Hawkins still was. 

1994 was a pivotal year for music, my favorite year for music full stop.

This year I plan to explore the music of 1994 as these songs and albums turn 30 fucking years old. ‘94 saw the end of the “glam” rock era, we were in the early stages of the “grunge” and alt-rock emergence, and hip hop was popping off. Movie soundtracks were still a HUGE thing and the mighty compact disc still reigned supreme. We were still years away from the Napster era, the iPod release and the current vinyl resurgence. It was a time to be immersed in music. You bought albums and listened to the whole damn thing. Sometimes you got burned by one or two great songs and a lot of filler. Used CDs were cheap, concert tickets were also. I saw Weezer a few times in a club for like $20. Radio was still relevant and MTV still played videos. What a time to be alive.

I’ll use this wiki page for my list and dates, but I will try verifying release dates and other information using various sources. I’ll try to write about, Thread, Insta, Tumbl, and maybe even talk (!) about these albums as close to their release dates as possible.

So, what are YOUR favorite albums from 1994? I cannot wait to hear them.

For my 90’s bona fides here is a photo of myself and Jason Mewes. Let’s rock.