Noel Murray
@noelmu.bsky.social
Freelancer for hire. You know me from: The A.V. Club, The Dissolve. Posts about food, TV, movies, the Braves, pretty scenery. Husband of @donnadb.bsky.social .
Fun piece about Timothée Chalomet's youth soccer years. Sounds like he's always been the kind of person who enjoys himself and makes friends easily. www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...
Timothee Chalamet – the soccer years: ‘I’m sure his dream was to become a professional’ (Gift Article)
Timothee Chalamet has been nominated for this year's Academy Award for Best Actor - but before all that, there were his years on the pitch
www.nytimes.com
February 16, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Fun piece about Timothée Chalomet's youth soccer years. Sounds like he's always been the kind of person who enjoys himself and makes friends easily. www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...
Reposted by Noel Murray
When people say “I hate writing but I love having written,” they are not saying “I love that some completed text exists.”
They are saying “I love getting to the end of the process and realizing that all the work was worth it, that this sentence really pops, that I nailed it.”
They are saying “I love getting to the end of the process and realizing that all the work was worth it, that this sentence really pops, that I nailed it.”
February 16, 2026 at 11:48 AM
When people say “I hate writing but I love having written,” they are not saying “I love that some completed text exists.”
They are saying “I love getting to the end of the process and realizing that all the work was worth it, that this sentence really pops, that I nailed it.”
They are saying “I love getting to the end of the process and realizing that all the work was worth it, that this sentence really pops, that I nailed it.”
Reposted by Noel Murray
Every once in a while, I read Greil Marcus' review of Bob Dylan's LOVE & THEFT and I just feel so good and so alive. Part of its poignancy is that it doesn't know that 9/11 is just around the corner.
MUSIC; Sometimes He Talks Crazy, Crazy Like a Song (Published 2001)
www.nytimes.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:56 AM
Every once in a while, I read Greil Marcus' review of Bob Dylan's LOVE & THEFT and I just feel so good and so alive. Part of its poignancy is that it doesn't know that 9/11 is just around the corner.
I confess I initially rolled my eyes when I realized that the penultimate episode of this Seven Kingdoms season was going to be be mostly a flashback, in my Vulture review I argue that it serves a purpose, reminding us of all the people Westeros considers disposable. www.vulture.com/article/a-kn...
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Recap: Flea Bottom’s Up
The flashback serves two purposes: an origin story for Duncan and to underscore the growing instability of the Seven Kingdoms under the Targaryens.
www.vulture.com
February 16, 2026 at 3:52 AM
I confess I initially rolled my eyes when I realized that the penultimate episode of this Seven Kingdoms season was going to be be mostly a flashback, in my Vulture review I argue that it serves a purpose, reminding us of all the people Westeros considers disposable. www.vulture.com/article/a-kn...
Reposted by Noel Murray
I can confirm
Top right corner. Can't help but wonder if The Simpsons paid subtle tribute to Dan McQuade in tonight's set-in-Philadelphia 800th episode.
February 16, 2026 at 1:52 AM
I can confirm
I've begun a new playlist project I'm calling The Canon: just my favorite songs of all time, some from my favorite artists, some from musicians who really only have one song I love. But here's the catch: No matter whether they're beloved or not, each artist only gets one song. A challenge!
February 16, 2026 at 12:32 AM
I've begun a new playlist project I'm calling The Canon: just my favorite songs of all time, some from my favorite artists, some from musicians who really only have one song I love. But here's the catch: No matter whether they're beloved or not, each artist only gets one song. A challenge!
Reposted by Noel Murray
What a record: a "Girl from the North Country" to rival Dylan, a "Jemima Surrender" that beats the Band. & the opener "She's a Burglar" has lines like "while she sweet-talked me, she vandalized my brain." It bombed upon release, but it's held up well for 50+ years
![Howard Tate s/t [1972]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vtqkh4q3vlh7rltd4tnaweh2/bafkreifahbrjiyylawmzo5pbyzoo3claebdkfftupebmd5tehe2c3z4djy@jpeg)
February 15, 2026 at 9:39 PM
What a record: a "Girl from the North Country" to rival Dylan, a "Jemima Surrender" that beats the Band. & the opener "She's a Burglar" has lines like "while she sweet-talked me, she vandalized my brain." It bombed upon release, but it's held up well for 50+ years
Reposted by Noel Murray
Reposted by Noel Murray
yeah but those are ads for things you aren't consuming at that point whereas starting every sporting event with some dimly lit undressed studio and an actor standing outside of the key light mumbling about something or other and YOU ARE ALREADY WATCHING THE EVENT, THEY DON'T NEED TO SELL YOU ON IT
Same reason every single car, candy bar, and drug does, now
February 15, 2026 at 6:40 PM
yeah but those are ads for things you aren't consuming at that point whereas starting every sporting event with some dimly lit undressed studio and an actor standing outside of the key light mumbling about something or other and YOU ARE ALREADY WATCHING THE EVENT, THEY DON'T NEED TO SELL YOU ON IT
Reposted by Noel Murray
It's one of my favorite columns of the year...
So I'm making it free for all to read with this gift link!
Most improved/least improved teams
Best/worst free agents
Best trades
Spring story lines
And of course we play the popular game, "Name 6 Rockies!"
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
So I'm making it free for all to read with this gift link!
Most improved/least improved teams
Best/worst free agents
Best trades
Spring story lines
And of course we play the popular game, "Name 6 Rockies!"
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
February 14, 2026 at 2:07 PM
It's one of my favorite columns of the year...
So I'm making it free for all to read with this gift link!
Most improved/least improved teams
Best/worst free agents
Best trades
Spring story lines
And of course we play the popular game, "Name 6 Rockies!"
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
So I'm making it free for all to read with this gift link!
Most improved/least improved teams
Best/worst free agents
Best trades
Spring story lines
And of course we play the popular game, "Name 6 Rockies!"
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
Reposted by Noel Murray
A good hard rain got a pond we walk by every day up from “dry” to “about a quarter-full.” Made the frogs happy; they were ribbiting like crazy this morning.
February 15, 2026 at 3:07 PM
A good hard rain got a pond we walk by every day up from “dry” to “about a quarter-full.” Made the frogs happy; they were ribbiting like crazy this morning.
Reposted by Noel Murray
Ticket to ride the Bonspiel highway/ tell all your vice-skips they can go my way
February 14, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Ticket to ride the Bonspiel highway/ tell all your vice-skips they can go my way
All the mentions of ‘freeze' and ‘rock' in curling mean that I spend much of the Olympics quietly rapping 'White Lines' to myself.
February 14, 2026 at 10:47 PM
All the mentions of ‘freeze' and ‘rock' in curling mean that I spend much of the Olympics quietly rapping 'White Lines' to myself.
Reposted by Noel Murray
If nothing else, he’s upgrading his beer choices.
Breaking: Nick Castellanos close to Padres deal
February 14, 2026 at 6:24 PM
If nothing else, he’s upgrading his beer choices.
Reposted by Noel Murray
it’s Love Week at the A.V. Club so I wrote about how every theme park dark ride today has its roots in the basic human need to make out
Underneath all of its technical wizardry and mouthdropping complexity lies a basic ride concept born in the 19th century, rooted in romance and our eternal, desperate need for intimacy.
Romance is at the heart of the modern theme park dark ride
The genesis of the multi-million dollar immersive theme park extravaganzas of today lies in the basic human need to snuggle.
www.avclub.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:06 PM
it’s Love Week at the A.V. Club so I wrote about how every theme park dark ride today has its roots in the basic human need to make out
Reposted by Noel Murray
New Wingspan expansion: The Americas, which adds tiny hummingbirds, with their own uses and scoring properties. Complicates the usual strategies in fun, fascinating ways.
February 14, 2026 at 8:44 PM
New Wingspan expansion: The Americas, which adds tiny hummingbirds, with their own uses and scoring properties. Complicates the usual strategies in fun, fascinating ways.
Reposted by Noel Murray
Saw this going around and I hope Ken added that the next day Brian got offed by the very same bikers.
February 14, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Saw this going around and I hope Ken added that the next day Brian got offed by the very same bikers.
Reposted by Noel Murray
Gasoline Alley by Frank King from February 14, 1921. The direction of the strip changes forever when baby Skeezix arrives on Walt Wallet's doorstep.
February 14, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Gasoline Alley by Frank King from February 14, 1921. The direction of the strip changes forever when baby Skeezix arrives on Walt Wallet's doorstep.
Reposted by Noel Murray
I have a friend who said, of Starfleet Academy, that this took them out of it - that seeing a person in a wheelchair in the 32nd century seemed unrealistic, since medicine in Star Trek "should be able to cure whatever was wrong with them."
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
February 12, 2026 at 9:52 PM
I have a friend who said, of Starfleet Academy, that this took them out of it - that seeing a person in a wheelchair in the 32nd century seemed unrealistic, since medicine in Star Trek "should be able to cure whatever was wrong with them."
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
Reposted by Noel Murray
sports equinox is when all major U.S. pro leagues have at least one game. sports solstice is when none of them do. we get them in the summer sometimes but in the winter only when the NHL goes on break and the NBA has its all-star-weekend during that break
Wait, what's a sports Winter Solstice?
February 14, 2026 at 5:35 AM
sports equinox is when all major U.S. pro leagues have at least one game. sports solstice is when none of them do. we get them in the summer sometimes but in the winter only when the NHL goes on break and the NBA has its all-star-weekend during that break
Reposted by Noel Murray
A Bill Evans biopic debuted at Berlin. David Rooney's review in THR is v. positive and my friend Bilge Ebiri reported back to me "Good Movie." The opening is set at the Vanguard during the '61 performances.
In 2005 every note from there was released in one spot.
open.spotify.com/album/0rdlBk...
In 2005 every note from there was released in one spot.
open.spotify.com/album/0rdlBk...
The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961
open.spotify.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:11 PM
A Bill Evans biopic debuted at Berlin. David Rooney's review in THR is v. positive and my friend Bilge Ebiri reported back to me "Good Movie." The opening is set at the Vanguard during the '61 performances.
In 2005 every note from there was released in one spot.
open.spotify.com/album/0rdlBk...
In 2005 every note from there was released in one spot.
open.spotify.com/album/0rdlBk...
