Joe Fray
LightNews LightNews
banner
josephfray.bsky.social
Joe Fray
@josephfray.bsky.social
630 followers 620 following 5.6K posts
mail lawyer, food haver, dog owner
ALX
Posts Replies Media Videos
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Horses by Patti Smith, released on this date in 1975
The cover photograph for Horses was taken by Robert Mapplethorpe at the Greenwich Village penthouse apartment of his partner Sam Wagstaff. Smith, shrouded in natural light, is seen wearing a plain white shirt, which she had purchased at a Salvation Army shop on the Bowery, and slinging a black jacket over her shoulder and her favorite black ribbon around her collar. Embedded on the jacket is a horse pin that Allen Lanier had given her. Smith described her appearance as recalling those of French poet Charles Baudelaire and, in the slinging of the jacket, American singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She recounted that Mapplethorpe "took, like, twelve pictures, and at about the eighth one, he said, 'I have it.' I said, 'How do you know?' and he said, 'I just know,' and I said, 'Okay.' And that was it." The black-and-white treatment and androgynous pose were a departure from the typical promotional images of female singers of the time. Arista executives wanted to make various changes to the photograph, but Smith overruled their suggestions. Clive Davis wrote in 2013 that he was initially conflicted about the image, recognizing its "power" but feeling that it would confuse audiences unfamiliar with Smith and her style of music. He put aside his reservations and approved the cover after realizing that he needed "to trust her artistic instincts thoroughly". Feminist writer Camille Paglia later referred to the Horses cover photograph as "one of the greatest pictures ever taken of a woman." In 2017, World Cafe presenter Talia Schlanger wrote that "Smith's unapologetic androgyny predates a time when that was an en vogue or even available option for women, and represents a seminal moment in the reversal of the female gaze. Smith is looking at you, and could care less [sic] what you think about looking at her. That was radical for a woman in 1975. It is still radical today."
November 11, 2025 at 1:05 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan, released on this date in 1993
The album's front cover image was photographed by Daniel Hastings. It features only six members of the Wu-Tang Clan: RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon; member U-God was in jail for a parole violation at the time, while Method Man had been arrested earlier that day for marijuana possession. As not every member of the group was present for the shoot, the six members who were donned stocking masks to conceal their faces. The album cover photo was shot inside Angel Orensanz Center, then an abandoned and ruined synagogue. The group was photographed in front of a large foamcore rendering of the Wu-Tang Clan logo, on a set lit with tungsten lights, strobe lights, and candles.
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Me when the Spaceship Earth narrator says "Spaceship Earth"
Leo pointing meme
November 9, 2025 at 7:03 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
10,000 spiders for Georg
November 9, 2025 at 2:53 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
I'd waffle it
scalzi.com John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 2d
WHICH ONE OF YOU DID THIS
picture of five boxes of some pie Mac and cheese with my wife texting me "WTF"
November 8, 2025 at 2:28 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin, released on this date in 1971
The picture on the front of the album of an old man carrying a bundle of sticks on his back was bought in an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire by Plant. The picture was then affixed to the internal, papered wall of a partly demolished suburban house for the cover photograph to be taken. Research in 2023 suggests that the image, which had previously been described as an oil painting, is a black and white photograph dating to 1892 which had been hand-coloured. The original photograph was taken by Ernest Howard Farmer (1856 – 1944), the first head of the school of photography at Regent Street Polytechnic. The research also suggests that the stooped figure is Lot Long (or Lot Longyear, 1823–1893), a thatcher from Mere, Wiltshire.
November 8, 2025 at 1:48 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Confirmed my new metal arm does not set off metal detectors
November 8, 2025 at 12:46 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Fun fact I just learned: Bruce Hornsby stated that he beat Allen Iverson in one-on-one basketball three games in a row after helping him get out of jail
November 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Hell yeah, held 'em under 150
josephfray.bsky.social Joe Fray @josephfray.bsky.social · 3d
It's fine. Now time to take a big sip a beer and check the Wizards score
November 8, 2025 at 2:24 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Got some new stickers that really speak to me
A sad waffle saying "I've done things. Waffle things." and a Mothman saying "Mothman believes in you"
November 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
In one action, @martaschantz.bsky.social delivers both happiness (Malört card) and sadness (delivering it in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1725)
A card with a hand painted bottle of malört
November 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Here's the actual sign at that interstate exit
Highway sign showing Whitestown one way, and Brownsburg the other
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Liquid Swords by GZA, released on this date in 1995
The album's cover was designed by Milestone Media Founder/Creative Director and chief artist Denys Cowan, according to the album's liner notes. Cowan's black and white line art was inked by Inker Prentis Rollins. Milestone's Color Editor, Jason Scott Jones created the cover color art digitally at a time when digital coloring was emerging in comic art eventually becoming the standard. GZA's personal manager Geoffrey L. Garfield, commissioned Cowan. Garfield, an avid comic book fan, said the cover art was supervised under the auspices of GZA GrafX, a subsidiary company of GZA Entertainment owned by GZA and Garfield. The concept of the chessboard with its sword-wielding warriors was conceived by GZA, an avid chess player. The GZA version of the Wu-Tang Clan logo, the "G" using the logo iconography, was rendered by Wu-Tang Clan DJ Mathematics who was also an accomplished graphic artist.
November 7, 2025 at 2:21 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Someone to Drive You Home by The Long Blondes, released on this date in 2006
The album's artwork is a painting by lead singer Kate Jackson; it is an image of Faye Dunaway in the film Bonnie and Clyde, with a Mark 3 Ford Cortina as her getaway car.
November 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
If anyone is craving good BBQ, this is the whole hog sandwich from 2Fifty on K St., and it's wonderful
A sandwich pulled high with pork
November 5, 2025 at 11:04 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash, released on this date in 2002
The word "Cash" in large white block letters over a dim black-and-white profile picture of the artist
November 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Come on Over by Shania Twain, released on this date in 1997
George Holz designed the red and white cover artwork. It depicted Twain in a "come-hither pose," wearing a red shirt and holding her hands over her head.
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is 400 Degreez by Juvenile, released on this date in 1998
The album cover for Juvenile's 400 Degree. There's fire, multiple Juveniles, scantily clad ladies, some other stuff
November 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Congrats, @jcsalterego.bsky.social
Newspaper headline reading "Jury acquits Bluesky poster"
November 3, 2025 at 12:28 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine, released on this date in 1999
The album's cover art was an original piece spraypainted by Joey Krebs (also known as "The Street Phantom", "The Phantom Street Artist", or Joel Jaramillo), a well-known Los Angeles graffiti artist who has exhibited at numerous galleries in Los Angeles, New York City, and throughout the United States. Phantom's graffiti work regularly uses an outline profile of a human with text overlaid.
November 2, 2025 at 3:15 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
If I had a nickel for every time there was a force out at home in the ninth inning or later in game 7 of the World Series, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice
November 2, 2025 at 3:54 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Remember when the Raptors played in the SkyDome?
An NBA basketball game played in a baseball stadium with bleachers on three sides of the court
November 2, 2025 at 2:51 AM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Autobahn by Kraftwerk, released on this date in 1974
A cartoony image of the autobahn through a windshield
November 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Stankonia by Outkast, released on this date in 2000
Big Boi looking tough and André 3000 looking fabulous in front of a black and white American flag
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
josephfray.bsky.social
Today's album of the day is Faith by George Michael, released on this date in 1987
A picture of George Michael smelling his armpit in a leather jacket, taken by Russell Young
October 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM