Empty Checking with Derek Brink

In this (very special?) episode I officially announce that I'm going to be adopting two cats (aka THE BEST BOYS!) and I spend an hour telling you about that journey. Then I also pay tribute to our recently departed musical genius, Mark Lanegan. Dig in. This is a good one! (I also spend a lot of time singing the praises of my friend Kim, who's been fostering my future babies.)

Please check out https://www.tenthlifecats.org/, particularly if you're in the St. Louis area and looking to adopt. They presently have a little sweetheart named Special Agent Gumdrop. TELL ME YOU DON'T WANT TO ADOPT SPECIAL AGENT GUMDROP!!! 

Remember that you can e-mail me your questions and comments, if you [email protected] also there's a companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com.

Time index:

0:00 - Intro, and yelling about cats for pretty much an hour.

55:28 - Music Break - Danielle

55:58 - Rest in Peace, Mark Lanegan

1:10:56 - Music Break - Lonely

1:11:26 - Outro, including yelling at you about Ukraine. There's a lot of yelling in this one.

This episode is all over the place, and those are usually my favorites. I talk about Bob Saget, The French Dispatch, Brain Candy, Eddie Vedder, The Violent Femmes, Sara Bareilles, and a bunch of other stuff...and at one point a mouse dies in this episode! In the interest of full disclosure, it was recorded prior to this past weekend and a LOT has happened since then! But here it is...better late than never!

Remember to check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com and/or e-mail me at [email protected]!

Here's the time break-down:

0:00 - Intro

14:52 - Sometimes You Say Goodbye

15:23 - Derek talks about Bob Saget and head injuries for a long time.

36:48 - Beautiful Disaster

37:18 - Movies

The French Dispatch - 37:51

53:01 - A MOUSE DIES!!!

Brain Candy - 1:00:00

1:06:17 - Born in this Town

1:06:47 - Music

Eddie Vedder - Earthling - 1:07:22

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes - 1:12:11

Sara Bareilles - Amidst the Chaos: Live at from the Hollywood Bowl - 1:17:10

1:22:11 - Being There

1:22:41 - Outro

This episode took way too long to get uploaded due to a variety of errors and issues on my end...sorry! It's a little longer to try to make up for it and I might do an upload over the weekend as well. But in the meantime, in this one we're reading some listener-mail ("Checkmail," if you will!) then talking about old TV shows and new music from Elvis Costello, Punch Brothers, Billy Talent, and David Bowie! Plus other stuff! It's a good one. 

Remember to check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com and if you'd like to email me with any questions, etc please feel free to do so at [email protected]. I always reply!

Here's the time breakdown:

0:00 - Intro including some thoughts on the weather, my health, and the Olympics.

9:12 - Musical Break - Hindsight

9:42 - Checkmail!

Harrison Gurl asks about John Lennon - 12:10

Thom asks about Jason Isbell's "Georgia Blue" - 21:41

An anonymous writer asks about banned books - 34:20

49:09 - Music Break - Give It Up

49:39 - Talking about old TV shows like The Simpsons, Night Court, Mama's Family, and the Golden Girls

1:07:18 - Music Break - Church Girls

1:07:48 - New Music

Elvis Costello - The Boy Named If - 1:08:41

Billy Talent - Crisis of Faith - 1:11:18

Punch Brothers - Hell on Church Street - 1:13:51

David Bowie - Toy (aka "Toy: Box") - 1:19:10

1:23:19 - Music Break - Please

1:23:49 - Outro including talking about stuff I want to talk about, cats, and more.

Just a quick explanation of why an already late episode is about to be even later. Sorry! I'm trying my best!

Just a quick note. I hit an unexpected time crunch and it's pushing back an upload of a full episode. So this is me saying sorry about that. It's barely worth your time.

After almost a month, we're BACK! This episode is mostly a tribute to my friend Jon (aka Jonco) who passed away at the end of last year. He was a great guy with a big Internet presence and I needed to talk about him and pay tribute to him. So in this episode I spend the entire time talking about stuff I'd posted on my social media that made it onto his well-known blog www.bitsandpieces.us and some related memories. I cover a TON of ground in this one...but it's all mostly about Jon.

After some debate I've decided not to post a time breakdown, because I'd really like everyone to listen to everything and get the full context. (And also because it's difficult to know where and why I'm dividing the episode.) But in brief, here are the songs that were used...and I'd also like to encourage you to check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for more stuff. And of course you're free to e-mail me at [email protected] with questions and comments.

Thanks so much for joining me in this episode, which is very near to my heart.

-Uncle Derek

Songs:

Outdoor Summer ConcertsLive Your LifeMan in the MirrorSimple Things

A quick COVID update. Primarily that I definitely have it. And it's still messing up my voice and leaving me winded. So there's once again not a full episode this week. Thanks for your patience. I hope to be back next week.

I probably have COVID. I'm sick. With a fever. And there are no tests in a drivable radius. So I'll either be better or dead by the time I find out. So...y'know...no episode this week. Sorry. Wish me luck.

In this episode I talk about my album "Happy Now" which came out in May of 2021 and all of the influences and other stuff surrounding it, mostly while the album distractingly plays in the background! Enjoy!

Also visit the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and more stuff! And email me at [email protected] with your questions, comments, objections, rebuttals, and spam!

Thanks for your support!

(No time index since it's all just one topic, but there will be plenty of photos at the blog!)

This episode starts with a brief tribute to a personal friend and is dedicated to Jon (aka Jonco). The episode was fully recorded prior to the tribute, so you don't have to be bummed out for long.

The other hour of it is a breakdown of 2021 in music (through my eyes) and I give you my top ten favorite albums of the year and about 40 runners up! It's a fun, high energy episode after the sad part. So dig it!No time index this week since it's just one topic. But be sure to visit http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and more and e-mail me at [email protected] with anything your heart desires!