today i talked for an hour with a very good man

as we chatted i walked to target, then up to hollywood blvd

then through los feliz

then through the grocery store

then thru yr heart

got home and cooked

didnt clean

didnt work

played with the cats which is something i try to do more of because

i have no idea how much amber played with them

but for years she was around and

now shes not

so i dont want them to feel alone

i dont want them to be unloved just bc its cold.

somewhere i read that if kids dont get a lot of love they’ll turn psycho and probably surround themselves with guns when they get older

i dont want any gloomy emo cats googling ways to get ar-15s when im on my walk

whats weird about them is they dont like to be pet at the same time

life is all about normal things on paper

that in reality doesnt happen.

only if i get a fire going in the fireplace do the cats allow me to pet them at the same time

but whos got time for that

i had television to watch

and importing things to avoid.

thirty one years ago i had dinner with the B-52s

i remember very little of it

im starting to think thats good

maybe i want to be the person that someone says oh yeah i met him and i remember nothing

because if you are that person that means i wasnt rude to you

i didnt do anything outrageous

i just showed up, shook hands, gave you an autograph

hugged you without groping

and went on with my day.

i literally have nothing to prove any more.

my only goals are to make my momma happy and the Lord not want to cross me off the Good List.

the only thing i really remember from that day was the food was good.

it was right there in the Thunderdome where they would play later that night. Biggest tour theyd ever have. and i thought this: when they planned out their tour they probably thought oh we’re gonna play LA then SF, lets see if we can play at the college in between in Santa Barbara.

and they probably thought oh we can go shopping eat at a great restaurant, go to the beach

but im not sure they did any of that.

im pretty sure they just stayed near the arena the whole day or in their tour busses.

they were adults. there was no food fights. there wasnt even any weed aroma.

i remember a different band that asked us to find cocaine for them. this band did not.

this band ate the food and smiled and chit chatted about god knows what.

i want to be like that so much.

because i am

so

not

that

at

all.

look ma, i’m on Medium now

the busblog is nearly 20 years old.

however there are some things that really shouldnt be on here.

super true things, for starters,

and also things that could find a bigger audience elsewhere… like on Medium

my secret blog over there is busblog.medium.com

things i want to put over there are

exclusive interviews

various bits about hollywood and the surrounding area

workout tips

cryptocurrency insights

van halen lyrics

breaking news

detailed details about my personal life

and links to my onlyfans content

today i wrote about my favorite corporate Twitter account, Wendy’s.

on Facebook i do this thing called

today in corporate twitter

where i critique when brands make fools of themselves

or in this case, where they really shine.

so since Wendy’s carved out a day where they could make fun of people and brands, it seemed like the perfect day to launch this new blog.

i hope you liked it, but even if you don’t when you go there follow me and click the hand claps and comment and print it out and make a paper airplane of it and put that in a bottle and toss it into the sea.

and i hope i get it.

did a great interview today for my new blog

the guy is a hugely successful television producer and long time reader of this very blog.

he had some advice for me about my forthcoming podcast which i wanted to disagree with, but did i mention he’s hugely successful?

meanwhile im working the pole at Gold Diggers at 2-6pm

what was weird is usually i begin the interviews by buttering the guest up, but he beat me to the punch, complimenting me and this and saying that i always had the most interesting cast of characters here

he even gave me props for nothing in here is true which sorta blew my mind.

i drove around hollywood as i talked to him because my phone connection is always great when im not doing anything, but any time im conducting a serious interview it cuts off on me.

once i was interviewing now-councilperson Nithya Raman from my living room and the phone dropped like 5 times. so embarrassing.

so now i just drive while i interview, pulling over every now and then to look at my notes.

howard stern had it right: if two people are having a great conversation one hour is about right. i think today we did about an hour ten.

we agreed on many things, disagreed on a few, but the whole time he was so upbeat and friendly and real. only a few questions did he not want to answer, which is good, you want to keep pushing as a reporter to see where the boundaries are. usually they’re where you think they would be, some people surprise you.

anyways it was very nice to be a journalist again. especially nice knowing that this is going to go into my own publication. and if it takes off, i alone will reap the rewards.

it is funny though, i still get nervous before it goes down. it doesnt matter who i interview. ever since Black Francis was a dead fish conversation way back in 1991, i am terrified that i will be unprepared for the worst, and fortunately that day has never revisited itself. but still i get scared.

Then i get freaked out that the recording didnt take. i forget who, but once at the Academy i interviewed someone and the recording didnt work but thank God I took notes and was able to make it work. oh it was the great John August. fortunately we also had a follow-up interview scheduled so i was able to get a few more questions in there. still it was embarrassing because i really loved working for my boss Josh Spector and i could see how disappointed he was.

but shit happens with tech and he knows that as well as anyone. in the long run i think i have been far luckier with it than not. one thing i do is i usually call my mom and record her first to see if everything works. she played along by reeling off a list of curse words. LOL JK.

tomorrow i transcribe it and work on another project im doing for someone else.

it’s nice to be busy. it’s nice to talk to nice people. it’s nice to be alive.

tomorrow theyre going after trump one last time

it’s the trial of his second impeachment. the sequel.

but unlike the first one, this one is going to be in a senate where the dems are the majority.

they say trump isnt going to show up and thats too bad because under oath it would be fascinating to watch him do his best to tell the truth.

i dont know why they didnt ask me to help him get on the stand because i could do it easily.

macho men HATE being called out, especially by women.

if i was the dems i would have all the female members of congress who he has insulted and disrespected, and i would have them make a little video.

it would be called Dear MAGA.

it would go like this.

Dear MAGA,

for four years your president talked a good game. he promised you a wall, great jobs, better healthcare than obamacare… he even promised to release his taxes.

all lies.

he talks a lot for a guy who golfs a lot and doesnt work.

he called us names and tried to insult us, but look at us: we’re still here in Washington DC and not only is he gone but so is the Republican majority in the Senate.

behind closed doors we always said to ourselves, “trump is weak. he’s gutless. he’s a coward.”

and look at him now. hiding in his bunker. like a baby.

MAGA, your guy is too afraid of his own shadow to come back to the scene of the crime and tell us how innocent he is. he’s too chicken shhh to get on the stand, put his hand on the Bible he pretends to love, and tell us what really happened the day that his supporters busted down the doors and climbed into the windows and desecrated democracy.

he knows he’s guilty and he’s too afraid to look you in the eye and admit it, or look us in the eye and defend himself.

he is old, he’s fat, he’s balding, and he’s guilty.

and he knows this is something that your money can’t change.

donald trump is afraid of the truth.

and that’s why he is too cowardly to take the stand.

ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

i have been receiving the best work advice lately

someone said to me,

tony pierce, you are 54 years old. for such a smart person you can be so dumb.

you put on these clothes that aren’t you, you try so hard to fit in, but you never will.

and you set your sites soooo low. why?

it’s like you’re David Bowie and you want to be in a fucking barbershop quartet

so you wear the bow tie and the straw hat but you know that wont fool em

so you put on a fake handlebar mustache

but it looks so phony – something you despise btw

and you’re still David Fucking Bowie

no amount of faux facade can change that!

so be David Bowie.

be that spaceman from mars that we want!

people can see who you are from a mile away and if they are afraid and don’t want you in their space that’s ok, leave them alone.

but there are millions who do want you.

we want you because we are David Bowies too.

and we hate our fake mustaches

and stupid barber shop harmonies.

we want to rock.

lead the way.

 

today i learned the guy who covers the cubs likes the DH

can you imagine working for a big newspaper in Chicago,

sorta big, it’s the sun-times

and you get to go to the most beautiful park 100 times a year

and you are fundamentally against what makes the National League the National League?

to me that would be like being a bartender but not appreciating booze.

it’d be like saying you love women but would rather they be completely odorless

it’d be like being a librarian but you prefer the film adaptations.

we battled a little on twitter and he took offense when i told him that i was unfollowing him and then all of his fans piled on

and one by one i picked them off.

it was astounding how few of them really understood the nuance and truths about not just baseball

but strategy, pace, and how to score a run.

scoring runs, of course being the prime objective of baseball.

one guy told me that he liked the AL style that included the designated hitter because it sped up the games and created more runs.

i told him to find me the proof that the games were shorter in the AL than the NL

he conceded he was wrong.

so to reward him i showed him that the amount of runs scored in each league were virtually identical.

i even showed him a chart

 

more people defended the sun times reporter.

one guy asked me a ridiculous scenario where it was the first inning and the pitcher was due up, would i pinch hit? he said he would i said, “why? your team had batted around in the first. you’re doing great, why take out your pitcher for the hope of another hit even though the odds of a pinch hitter being successful is low?”

he was all, “well he has a better chance of a hit than a dumb pitcher!”

which is true but still inane. so i asked him about another scenario.

i said what would happen if its the bottom of the 7th, scoreless game, two no hitters until the Cubs #8 hitter smacks a double into the ivy.

one out, man on second, do you let your pitcher bat or do you yank him because now you have the best chance youve had all game to score… but if you yank him you are also pulling out a pitcher who is mesmerizing the opposite team?

he said, oh id let him bunt. its an obvious sacrifice bunt scenario.

i said is it? and i pulled out this Runs Expectancy chart like the nerd that i am that shows you have a .66 chance of scoring if you have a man on second with 1 out. but you only have a .35 chance of scoring if you have a runner on third with 2 outs.

so by bunting you are actually halving your chances, so you may as well let Kyle swing away and/or try to draw a walk… and make the pitcher waste valuable pitches.

all he could say was that the stats i provided were 5 years old (as if that matters) and any time he sees pitchers they stand there for three pitches and then walk to the bench.

it was then that i realized who i was talking with. and who this writer attracts. and that i was wasting my time with both of them and i should get back to actual work.

which i did

which i am nearly finished with.

which makes me very happy.

and tomorrow i will sell my OJ helmet.

to a very nice man who once used it in an art show.

and i will throw in an OJ football card.

everything must go.

im selling everything i own,

new year new you.