Ramen Junkie

Link List

Sunday 2025-04-13 – Link List

Ramen Junkie April 13, 2025 No Comments

Blogging Intensifies Link List for Sunday 2025-04-13

12-Apr-2025 – Florida’s Legislature Advances a Ludicrous ‘Chemtrails’ Bill

Brief Summary: ”

Republishe”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Why do conservatives waste so much Government time on outrage porn?”

11-Apr-2025 – It’s the Racism, Stupid

Brief Summary: ”

Republishe”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Always Has Been Astronauts.gif”

10-Apr-2025 – Garbage return with new single ‘There’s No Future In Optimism’ ahead of new album ‘Let All That We Imagine Be The Light’ out 30 May

Brief Summary: ”

Image: Joseph CulticePublished: 10 April 2025Pop-rock legends Garbage, headed by the icon that”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

09-Apr-2025 – New Trump EO Would Punish States for Combating Climate Change

Brief Summary: ”

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at “protecting” American ener”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “So much for States Rights… again….”

09-Apr-2025 – OK Go – And the Adjacent Possible

Brief Summary: “Label:Released: 11th April 2025

A decade’s quite the gap between albums, especially for a band wh”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Here it goes again…”

07-Apr-2025 – Trump orders NIH to study gender transition ‘regret.’ Here’s what we already know about it

Brief Summary: “The Trump Administration has directed the National Institutes of Health to study “regret” among peop”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, it’s basiclly already been studied and shown to not really be a huge problem, but maybe we should let the pseudoscientists take a look at it.”

07-Apr-2025 – Yes, and…: Learning the different ways the world says “yes”

Brief Summary: “Yes—a word that can mean so much in so few letters. It’s a simple word that we say all the time, to “

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

Ramen Junkie

Josh Miller aka “Ramen Junkie”. I write about my various hobbies here. Mostly coding, photography, and music. Sometimes I just write about life in general. I also post sometimes about toy collecting and video games at Lameazoid.com.

www.bloggingintensifies.com

Music

Record Store Day 2025

Ramen Junkie April 12, 2025 1 Comment

Another year, another Record Store Day. Though for my part it was Record Stores Day. This is only the second time I went to one of these, last year I don’t think there was anything I wanted. This year there was, this super cool 10th anniversary release of CHVRCHES Every Open Eye.

It’s getting a regular release later, but it won’t be the pretty “Clearest Blue” color. Like the song, on the album, possibly the best song in their catalog.

I am there in the middle in the green jacket. The store is around the corner and half a block down.

I went slightly better prepared this year. Instead of getting up early and driving over to Springfield, the nearest place hosting the RSD releases, I stayed over at my parents’ house and woke up early, and got in line. Last time I arrived at 8:30, a half hour after opening. This year was 6:30, one and a half hours before opening.

And like last time I just, chatted with others in line near me.

Eventually, I made it in and… Did not get my CHVRCHES album sadly. None left. I think there was probably only one at this location, because a lot of places only got two copies, and Dumb Records, where I went, has a second location that they split the albums across.

I know they had more than one, because Dumb Records posted a list of any albums only at a particular location.

I found a few others that seemed interesting but I also didn’t want to buy randomly.

It wasn’t a total loss of effort though, I had a second album I had wanted, which I did get. The Gorillaz Demon Days, Live at the Apollo Theater. Demon Days is a really great album, and love shows in general tend to be better than album versions.

I also got this sweet Dumb Records tote bag as a bonus, and I bought a Dumb Records Sticker, though I am not sure where I want to stick it. Maybe laptop, maybe I will slap it on my turn table, the plastic top is a little scuffed anyway.

One thing I did not get, because I forgot in my dismay over missing out on Every Open Eye, was some Dumb Records Coffee. I mean, it was basically just some other coffee from the local Arrowroot Coffee, branded for Dumb Records, but I asked the price, I said, “I will come get some after I look around” and then … I forgot.

Anyway, I left the Dumb Records and decided, I had time, I would take my chances and try Dumber Records across town for my CHVRCHES album. The Dumber Records is in the mall, which is not normally open at 9 o’clock in the morning. And there was no obvious entrance to use, so after circling the mall, a few times and trying one locked door, I found the right entrance. Unfortunately, no luck on the album I wanted there either.

I’m still good with the adventure.

Ramen Junkie

www.bloggingintensifies.com

Journal

A Brick of Coffee

Ramen Junkie April 8, 2025 1 Comment

Let’s do a “boring post”.

I bought a coffee brick. It’s not fancy, it came from Aldi. Hell, it’s possible this is the “least fancy” way to make coffee. Most of the time these days I buy beans and hand grind them, but I like to keep alternatives in case I am feeling lazy.

So I decided to try the “brick coffee”.

I was not sure what to expect here at all. Would I need to cut slices off and grind them up? Would I need some sort of other thing I didn’t have, how do I store it between uses?

So, as my kettle was warming, I set about opening it up. The packaging was a bit stubborn, and I ended up having to cut it open with some scissors and…

It’s… Basically just… Ground coffee… Shaped like a brick?

Kind of disappointing honestly. I wanted special tools to be involved.

There was a very satisfying “hisssss” when the package pressure was released, so it had that going for it.

The packaging suggested 1 tbsp per 6oz, and my French Press is roughly 32oz. I did some math and came up with “about 2/3rds cup of coffee. Which is more than I normally use, but I went for it anyway

Once the water was boiling, I poured some in and finished up with some other things around the kitchen while waiting the 5 minutes for it to steep.

For storage of the rest of the grounds, there was enough give in the package now to just use a regular bag clip.

The end result was, fairly strong, taste wise. Probably more because of how much coffee I had used. It was powerful enough to overpower my normal creamer flavor.

Overall though, I think I will stick to my coffee beans.

Ramen Junkie

www.bloggingintensifies.com

Link List

Sunday 2025-04-06 – Link List

Ramen Junkie April 6, 2025 1 Comment

Blogging Intensifies Link List for Sunday 2025-04-06

06-Apr-2025 – Celebrating 30 Years of Windows 95 at VCF

Brief Summary: “It’s been 30 years since Windows 95 launched. [Ms-Dos5] and [Commodore Z] are celebrating with an ep”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Windows 95 wasn’t my favorite or the best Windows, but it was definitely the start of when Windows started to get really interesting. I think it may be the first I ever bought, my college sold copies for like $5.”

05-Apr-2025 – Anti-Trump Protesters All Over the World Are Flooding the Streets

Brief Summary: ”

As protesters gathered in hundreds of cities and towns across America on Saturday, “Hands Off” r”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “People are angry, deservidly so.”

04-Apr-2025 – All the Democrats are moving to Bluesky

Brief Summary: “Premium ContentThis content is reserved for premium subscribers of Premium Membership. To Access thi”

Personal Notes and Commentary: ” like Twitter is a shithole full of shitty people. Frankly everyone should move to Bluesky.”

04-Apr-2025 – 3D Print (and Play!) The Super Mario Tune as a Fidget Toy

Brief Summary: “[kida] has a highly innovative set of 3D-printable, musical fidget toys that play classic video game”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “These are neat. Maybe one day I will have a 3D printer to use them with. Until them, they can go int he pile of things to 3D print one day.”

04-Apr-2025 – HAIM have dropped another fab new song, ‘Everybody’s trying to figure me out’

Brief Summary: “HAIM have released a new track titled ‘Everybody’s trying to figure me out’, taken from their forthc”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “I enjoy HAIM, but somehow everytime I hear a HAIM song, I think, I know this, but I can’t remeber who does it.”

04-Apr-2025 – Trump voters got exactly what they wanted — so why are people complaining?

Brief Summary: “This week, Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that the Associated Press called “a historic “

Personal Notes and Commentary: “It’s hard to have sympathy for people who were told repeatedly for ten plus years about how the conman asshole is a conman asshole.”

04-Apr-2025 – ‘We’ve made a mistake’: Trump’s policies send Republicans into a tailspin

Brief Summary: “WASHINGTON — Fear, trepidation and loathing are now, seemingly, America’s top exports. Just ask Sena”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Womp womp.”

02-Apr-2025 – What you should think about before sharing your next meme

Brief Summary: ““I am become meme,” declared Elon Musk at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, just af”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Reminder that many memes are just exaggerated misinformation. “

01-Apr-2025 – Cory Booker wipes away a racist’s record, fires up lost Democrats, and eyes a presidential run in 2028

Brief Summary: “A few years back, I spent some time speaking with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on a train ride from Washing”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “I don’t know if it did any good for support, but at the bery least the ‘black dude’ wiping out the racist Strom Thurman’s record is some nice pottery.”

30-Mar-2025 – Trump wants to ‘eliminate’ FEMA. Could the states fill the gap?

Brief Summary: “President Donald Trump appears to be serious about getting the federal government out of disaster re”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “X – Doubt”

30-Mar-2025 – The $20 billion question hanging over America’s struggling farmers

Brief Summary: “As Earth heats up, the growing frequency and intensity of disasters like catastrophic storms and hea”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Once again, womp womp.”

30-Mar-2025 – Trump’s tariffs won’t just hit your wallet

Brief Summary: “Spring has sprung, and you can tell by looking at Dig’s online menu. The fast-casual chain known for”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

30-Mar-2025 – Too Bad the Pro-Life Right Is So Violently Anti-Life

Brief Summary: ”

Republishe”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Save the babies but fuck everyone else after birth ammiright?”

30-Mar-2025 – What the past week also reveals about the Trump team’s utter incompetence

Brief Summary: “The past week has been another horror show, and I share your anxiety and sleeplessness. But the past”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Nothing was revealed to anyone paying any attention.”

30-Mar-2025 – Do Billionaires Think They Can Dodge the Effects of Climate Change?

Brief Summary: ”

Republishe”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, it’s funny how rich assholes think being rich will mean anything when money becomes worthless after society collapses.”

29-Mar-2025 – The Normalization of Autocracy

Brief Summary: “The White House Correspondents Association has just capitulated to pressure from the Trump administr”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

29-Mar-2025 – Here’s why Trump is really targeting big DC law firms

Brief Summary: “Two months into his second presidency, Donald Trump is aggressively attacking both judges and law fi”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

Ramen Junkie

www.bloggingintensifies.com

Link List

Saturday 2025-03-29 – Link List

Ramen Junkie March 29, 2025 1 Comment

Blogging Intensifies Link List for Saturday 2025-03-29

26-Jan-2025 – MAGA Christianity is Anti-Jesus. Just ask Jesus.

Brief Summary: “Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s compassionate sermon at the National Prayer Service in DC perfectly expos”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, even as someone who is no particularly religeous, I can tell you that whatever the hell these MAGA “Christians” think they are doing, it’s definitely not something that would be cool with Jesus.”

29-Mar-2025 – Why the new Trump leak is so much worse than what Clinton did

Brief Summary: “Even in a political environment marked by daily scandal and outrage, the revelation of a reckless an”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Let’s see, destroying records because Signal does that, an unauthorized outside comms channel, a consumer tier app, and, oh right, actually leaking data.”

29-Mar-2025 – Disney faces US investigation over DEI practices

Brief Summary: “The probe is part of a wider crackdown on diversity and inclusion practices by the Trump administrat”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “The anti-Diversity folks are REALLY REALLY mad that Snow White isn’t pure white porceline, I guess.”

29-Mar-2025 – How Far-Right Manfluencers Are Grooming Lost Boys

Brief Summary: “Photo by Rebecca Lai, Modern-Day Debate, Anything Goes With James English. Design by Sam Donndelinge”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, this is a huge problem and has been for a while. I’m not sure how to solve it other than, maybe these kids ju controls over what is being put out there? Or instead, our “leaders” can negotiate freedom for these fuckheads.”

29-Mar-2025 – Why Trump wants to ban barcodes on ballots — and why it’s an urgent threat

Brief Summary: “President Donald Trump’s new executive order on regulating elections is striking for the way it asse”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “As they said, “You will never have to have aother election again.””

29-Mar-2025 – Lock. Him. Up. Here’s what the Espionage Act has to say about disappearing information

Brief Summary: “In the past month, Trump has threatened to imprison peaceful protest organizers, falsely declared a “

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

28-Mar-2025 – Walmart fires 6’4″ cisgender woman threatened by man who thought she was trans

Brief Summary: “A cisgender woman Walmart employee who says she was verbally assaulted in the female restroom by a m”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “While the hate pushed against Trans is a problem, this sort of collateral damage, is also a huge problem with all this anti-trans push.”

28-Mar-2025 – Pluralistic: Big Tech and “captive audience venues” (28 Mar 2025)

Brief Summary: ”

Today’s links

Big Tech and “captive audience venues”: The digital equivalent of baseball stadiums”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

28-Mar-2025 – Fighting a Global Problem Through a Local Lens

Brief Summary: “When I think of the gravest dangers facing our nation, disinformation is high on my list—second only”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “I voted in my local elections recently, have you?”

27-Mar-2025 – Trump Official Dragged After Suggesting ‘Atlantic’ Editor ‘Hacked’ Into Signal Group Chat

Brief Summary: ”
Speaking to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, national security adviser Michael Waltz suggested”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Anything but to accept personal responsibility fo fucking up. ANYTHING.”

27-Mar-2025 – Florida Wants Your Teen To Work Weekday Night Shifts, Because ‘Parental Rights’

Brief Summary: “Good news, Florida parents! Republicans in your state Legislature are here to fight for your rights!”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

27-Mar-2025 – Pikachu Spotted Fleeing Police Crackdowns During Turkey Protests

Brief Summary: ”

In a video that fills me with wonder at being alive in 2025, someone in an inflatable Pikachu cost”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Truely the best Dystopian world we live in. First Luigi, now Pikachu, Nintendo apparetnly knows how to churn out revolutionry icons.”

26-Mar-2025 – “Can You Sing It A bit More Like This…?”

Brief Summary: ”

Time for the next episode in our thrilling story! So far it’s been all
set-up and no action. W”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “An interesting article about using Suno to make music.”

25-Mar-2025 – Bernie Sanders Has Been Warning About Oligarchy for Years. People Are Finally Listening.

Brief Summary: ”

As he waited in the shadow of a parking garage in Tempe, Arizona, to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders an”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yep.”

25-Mar-2025 – What the Fuck Are We Doing Here, America?

Brief Summary: “We’ve reached a point where a senior national security official can accidentally include a journalis”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

24-Mar-2025 – DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as CEO steps down

Brief Summary: “Co-founder Anne Wojcicki to pursue independent bid as California attorney general tells users to del”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “Oh boy, data privacy lost through bankruptcy for people using these services.”

23-Mar-2025 – How to delete for 23andMe data & Test Sample

Brief Summary: “23andMe is imploding, and you should do whatever you can to protect your genetic data. At the very l”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

05-Mar-2025 – Lauren Mayberry’s solo tour makes it to Texas at Scoot Inn

Brief Summary: “Written and Photos by Bang Ho

Feb. 26th, 2025Austin, Texas – Scoot Inn

When a consummate artis”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

21-Feb-2025 – Lauren Mayberry – Live @ The Masquerade

Brief Summary: “The stage was set at Hell @ The Masquerade in Atlanta, a venue pulsating with anticipation, as the c”

Personal Notes and Commentary: “”

Ramen Junkie