Leon Ferri

My Heart will Race All Night Tonight

A typical Friday or Saturday night for me, 2002-05. In our too-connected world, what do we do when we manage to find a missing link? I recently cleaned out my old bedroom at my parents’ house. Along with the circa-2001 Pentium III, its 16″ CRT monitor, and the third-row seat from an ’88 Suburban (complete…

You’ve been Reading my Blog?

Sometimes people ask me what’s with the image of the guy in blue greeting visitors to my blog. I don’t know who it is, but I’m moved to share its provenance: In the first Youtube video I ever watched. 17 years later, this clip is just as funny as it was the first time. It’s…

KYHT-FM T-Shirt

Post-Hardcore Mea Culpa: Top 10 Albums

I want to apologize for this photo. I was jokingly putting post-hardcore ahead of hardcore, in the spirit of some kid butting in line at the water fountain after recess. Looking back, I’m aghast at thinking that it was posted on my band’s Myspace. I just plain old didn’t know what Hardcore was at that…

Squabble is Dead (Long Live Squabble)

In the five years since I started the international mixtape exchange known as Squabble, 186 tapes have been assigned between a couple dozen Squabblers, with 63% of them (117) having been ripped to mp3 for sharing within the club. To celebrate the last assigned tape due December 31st of 2023, I put together a collage…

Car Cassette Receiver Buyer’s Guide

After 12 years of listening to a whole lot of tapes, something broke on my factory car stereo and it started sounding like garbage. I don’t fault Ford for this, because, 12 years. I poked an alcohol-soaked Q-tip on the play head but it didn’t work so I gave up. I got on Ebay and…

1984 Pontiac Parisienne Dealer Promo: An Exercise in Dramatic Screenwriting

I recently came across this remarkable long-form commercial for the Pontiac Parisienne. It has all the substance of a daytime soap opera on mute, and the star of the show is basically a rebadged Caprice. Pontiac discovered plastic in the 70s (GTO nose) and pioneered it in the 80s with things like the Formula’s body…

Technics RS-676US Idler Tires

My post on attempting to hook up a remote to my Technics 676 (here) is by far the most popular post on my blog; it seems I have stumbled on a niche, and there is a general lack of fan material on maintaining this flagship product. Maybe it’s because it was developed before Metal /…

More Twitter Posts

chocolate milk > milk chocolate Cooking > baking Bars should offer shots of wine lever + wheel = gear All paint companies should have a gentleman’s agreement over the color of “ceiling white” Most wedding DJs are R. Kelly apologists Slipknot should have a “Lick It Up” moment NYC ≠ NYS A healthy Blue Jay’s…

Squabble III

After 2019’s Squabble and 2021’s Squabble II, I’m left with a treasure trove of great mixtapes that have been a go-to for train rides and traffic jams. The two editions produced 125 tapes with about 65% of them ripped to mp3 and shared in the community. Now, I’m bringing Squabble back for a third installment…