News Of The Week Roundup: Week 6, 2021

Happy Valentine's Day! Back in grade school, we had classroom parties where you would take a shoebox and decorate for the holiday. Then everyone passed around little cards. Always a fond memory of childhood.

❤️1989 California Raisins #ValentinesDay Cards: pic.twitter.com/l3aCPC1cEx

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) February 14, 2021

I have a goal of not buying myself any new clothing this year, period. The one exception I'm willing to make here revolves around running: I will likely need new shoes and socks because I want to do a half marathon in September. I have two pair of basically new running shoes I currently alternate, but once the mileage ramps, they will likely be hosed. Same for the socks - Balega for the win in that realm!

This article is nuts: why do people keep buying so many articles of clothing? Good grief, I have not had a need to get dressed up in a year now. This includes when I was interviewing for a new job: I wore a suit jacket during my Zoom interviews and had on yoga pants, just like every other day of the past year. On an average workday I wear a T-shirt, yoga pants and slippers. If I have to run an errand, I wear shoes and a coat, plus the T-shirt and yoga pants. 

My favorite COVID-19 story of the past week is about how the Kingdom of Bhutan effectively stopped the pandemic from taking root in the tiny, very poor, country.

The quickie impeachment trial of Donald Trump came and went. It was basically pre-ordained that Trump would be acquitted, and he was. Honestly, I was surprised seven Republican senators voted to convict him. I didn't think they had it in them, except for Mitt Romney. Of course, the acquittal was all based on a technicality. The Washington Post has a nice analysis.

And I leave you with this to chew on:

Well, This Is Something

Talk about a statement: is Jake E. Lee a better guitarist than Randy Rhoads? I don't agree - do you?

JAKE E. LEE Is A 'Much Better' Guitarist Than RANDY RHOADS, Says NECROPHOBIC's SEBASTIAN RAMSTEDT https://t.co/7AI9vbgB96 pic.twitter.com/XDeikAc23l

— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) February 13, 2021

About Wolfie's TV Performance

Wolfgang Van Halen and his band Mammoth made their TV debut last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He admitted his anxiety today on Twitter but seems proud of his accomplishment. I thought this was a nice post from someone genuinely excited to have a career that is taking off - not that his last name hasn't helped at least a little!

Just wanted to thank everyone for tuning in last night. It certainly wasn’t easy for me, but the response has been crazy. Thank you 🙏

Thanks so much to @jimmykimmellive for having us and a million thanks to our incredible team for helping make this happen.#MammothWVH pic.twitter.com/FaFybZp6Rg

— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) February 12, 2021

'You're To Blame' - Mammoth WVH Single

Wolfgang Van Halen is sharing his second single. It is called "You're To Blame" and it will be on the debut release from Mammoth WVH. Wolf will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight to perform one of his songs. This will be his band's first television performance.

I do quite like "You're To Blame" - it reminds me of something but I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps Our Lady Peace during the debut Naveed era? Coincidentally, Our Lady Peace opened for Van Halen during the Balance tour. At any rate, there is definitely a throwback alternative vibe to Wolf's music. His debut comes out in July and I am excited for it.

2021 Rock Hall Nominees Announced

The slate of 2021 Rock Hall nominees is out. I honestly don't have much to say about this, except that Iron Maiden and Rage Against The Machine must absolutely get in and I think Foo Fighters are a lock. Your thoughts?

Congratulations to the #RockHall2021 Nominees! Read more about this list and the 2021 Induction at https://t.co/iL9HlcGbDd pic.twitter.com/HWaQzuPsS3

— Rock Hall (@rockhall) February 10, 2021

'Lido Shuffle'

I really enjoy listening to Boz Scaggs from time to time. The classic "Lido Shuffle" came on Sirius XM Classic Vinyl earlier today and I found myself bopping along. Of course I had to pop over to YouTube after that and look up some concert takes of the tunes. I stumbled on a video I had never seen before - it sort of looks like an official video for the song, but the audio quality is terrible and the lighting sucks too. But there is some power behind the clip and it is fun to watch a young Scagg go at it with his backing band that would later become known as Toto. Watching the clip was a fun little diversion during this very snowy day in my part of the world. I hope you enjoy it too.

About That Metallica Super Bowl Show

Metallica performed a Super Bowl "after party" on Stephen Colbert last night. They did "Enter Sandman" and it was way better than The Weeknd during the official half time show. Honestly, that Weeknd set was not bad, it was just totally odd. Opt for bed over watching live last night? Here's that video of Metallica on Colbert (check out all the different speaker cabinets, used on previous tours):