I wrote a novel! "The Freakin' Destination," a fictional account of a thru-hike of Wisconsin's wondrous Ice Age National Scenic Trail. Get yours! http://thebumblepoint.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mtonq5iokc2lI can recommend BPPV to writers struggling to put words on pages. In the week since my vertigo diagnosis, I can't drive, bike, mow the lawn, or do my day job. But I can sleep and I can write. Knocked out 2 chapters on my next novel! #writersky22 Aug 2026 16:05 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtonq5iokc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mtk5jlh5ds2j#50FavoriteSongs 1. Bodhisattva - Steely Dan My favorite song for my whole adult life. Sorry it's not hipper, more nuanced, more obscure, more profound. That's what this was about: ID'ing the 50 songs that make me happiest, & IDGAF what no one thinks. Peace.☮️☯️🎶 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyABbwsYQCA20 Aug 2026 21:04 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtk5jlh5ds2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mthmxqypo225#50FavoriteSongs 2: Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters I always projected gravitas onto this song that Dave insists isn't there. I heard poignancy, regret, determination, triumph. When I saw the official video I was horrified. Best moment: 3:01, Hawkins murders his drums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOQV__Z55eE19 Aug 2026 21:03 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthmxqypo225https://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mtf4fbovk22g#50FavoriteSongs 3. How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths London, May 1985. Don't know if this song was blasting out from every shop on King's Road, but it felt like it: edgy, lonely, grey. Best moment: 5:02, when the soaring slide guitar cuts out, leaving only bzzz. Evil! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uXH7ZSlNG018 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtf4fbovk22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mtcmdhkcfk2u#50FavoriteSongs 4. Map Ref. 41°N 93°W - Wire A hooky song about cartography. It's like they wrote this song for me personally, someone whose favorite book is the DeLorme Wisconsin Atlas & Gazetteer. Best moment: 1:35, "Chorus!" Wire, my second favorite band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ2RvSHK_B817 Aug 2026 21:08 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtcmdhkcfk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mtckmpemvs2oMy latest blog post, about a day that started out bad and got worse. And if anyone was wondering what happened to yesterday's #50FavoriteSongs post, this explains why. https://thebumblepoint.com/bumbleblog/f/sick17 Aug 2026 20:37 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtckmpemvs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mt5kwqsce22v#50FavoriteSongs 5. Roadrunner - Modern Lovers Another of the top 3 songs that changed my life.* I thought lyrics had to be obscure & dense to matter. Roadrunner just lays it out there, with humor & panache. Plus, it totally rocks. And, I'm a native Masshole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZWoJ8_75Mo15 Aug 2026 21:00 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt5kwqsce22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mt32zwxscc2iIntroduce yourself as what almost killed you. Hi, I'm a Fiat zipping down the avenue around St. Peter's Square.14 Aug 2026 21:10 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt32zwxscc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mt32rmqcbk2i#50FavoriteSongs 6. Little Green - Joni Mitchell The Blue album socked my teenaged gut. Every melody so crisp, every lyric so distraught. This sad, pretty song, with its crocuses & northern lights, was a stealth favorite. Then 20 years on, I learned what it was about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTxUrDtoPP014 Aug 2026 21:05 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt32rmqcbk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msyk4txkns2b#50FavoriteSongs 7. Surface Envy - Sleater Kinney Music hasn't hit me as viscerally as an older adult. Thus the glut of 70s & 80s songs in my top 50. This 2015 banger was the exception. Sludgy guitar, dissonant angry counterpoint, thonking drums. Mind-blowing song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdNgHnLJWgw13 Aug 2026 21:02 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msyk4txkns2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msvzlunpvk23#50FavoriteSongs 8. Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder Quite simply, the most joyous noise I've ever heard. Been making me smile and tear up for 50 years. And I don't even have kids. I don't even like kids. So fortunate that we got to share this orb with Stevie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-n3Ydy7ras12 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvzlunpvk23https://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mstjvnbhws2v#50FavoriteSongs 9. Editions of You - Roxy Music One of the top 3 songs that changed my life. Eno's synth solo totally floored me. I never knew music was allowed to be so sloppy, funny & whacked out. I got off the floor and left the Church of Rick Wakeman for good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykDr32qvmLg11 Aug 2026 21:15 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mstjvnbhws2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msqynxklf22i#50FavoriteSongs 10. When the World Is Running Down... - The Police I was never a nutzo Police fan. Notable exception is this one song that I've adored for years and years. Can't put my finger on why. The propulsive beat? Chiming guitar? Always lifts my spirits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3ESquLw6Q10 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msqynxklf22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msoicmx3rs2c#50FavoriteSongs 11. Public Image - Public Image Ltd First heard this in a Milwaukee record store in '81. Clerk was a pretty young woman with black bangs and cherry lipstick. She smiled seeing the Modern Lovers debut I was buying. Also: this song totally kicks arse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Of9Y6pmyc09 Aug 2026 21:03 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msoicmx3rs2chttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mslxv66l7k2t#50FavoriteSongs 12. The True Wheel - Eno Best song off a remarkable album. Everything about this song is precious: Row Row Row! Ding Ding! The Modern Lovers. A Certain Ratio. And then the Philip Glassy repetition near the end. My mom: "Your record is skipping!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4atQSktICE08 Aug 2026 21:04 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mslxv66l7k2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msjhi7jrl227#50FavoriteSongs 13. Ex Lion Tamer - Wire I wasn't sure "punk" was for me in '79, but Pink Flag won me over. Especially this song, the album's hookiest, with cryptic lyrics that reference Batman and food. Must always be preceded by 3 Girl Rhumba. Mike Watt gets it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydz4yF9Ny0M07 Aug 2026 21:05 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msjhi7jrl227https://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msgxlrdxcc2t#50FavoriteSongs 14. Caves of Altamira - Steely Dan A staple of the album-rock stations of my youth, the "woolly man without a face & a beast without a name" have been with us for 40 years. Uncharacteristically wistful, even nostalgic. Big, luxurious sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEiYg67qgVs06 Aug 2026 21:15 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msgxlrdxcc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msegd6pfnk2m#50FavoriteSongs 15. She's Lost Control - Joy Division Totally sick. Diabolically so. Cowbell? Grungy-ass guitar? Simple, spare, repetitive. It's Joy Division defined. Best moment: what sounds like an electronic glitch at 2:49. Lost control, indeed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4prQ11orEM05 Aug 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msegd6pfnk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3msbw4v65ls22#50FavoriteSongs 16. 7 Chinese Brothers - R.E.M. After years of loving this superb album, this song emerged as the most satisfying. The cascading guitar in the chorus, & counterplay between guitar & bass in the verse mesmerize. Great tension. Their best song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hGe2ao0yms04 Aug 2026 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3msbw4v65ls22https://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3ms7gdki2a22r#50FavoriteSongs 17. Sex Machine - James Brown First heard this song on that magical day, 1989. It's a jam about music that uses sex as a metaphor, instead of vice versa as usual. The magic is its insistent beat & the back & forth between Brown & the JBs. Hit it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOD-M7WZkZQ03 Aug 2026 21:18 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms7gdki2a22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3ms4veyxhn22h#50FavoriteSongs 18. Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones I love the Stones. Weird that they're not all over this list. Probably 5 songs in the next 50. But this is their best track cuz it's peak Keith, the filthiest guitar anyone's ever imagined. Virtuosity? No, genius. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bar7SzNLnY002 Aug 2026 21:09 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms4veyxhn22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3ms2fmldtns2t#50FavoriteSongs 19. The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes - Elvis Costello I may have misunderstood, but I've always heard this as an argument for joy over cynicism. It led me to wear red Chuck Taylors to make the angels all jelly. This song always makes me smile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS8oaMFsBEk01 Aug 2026 21:21 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms2fmldtns2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrxujwcq7k2u#50FavoriteSongs 20. Free Man in Paris - Joni Mitchell Post-pandemic, I was burned out at my job stoking the money-making machinery behind targeted direct mail. This song provided hope that someday I might be a free man wandering down the Champs-Élysées. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW_IS-DPZ1E31 Jul 2026 21:10 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrxujwcq7k2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrvdjp2eg22h#50FavoriteSongs 21. Lust for Life - Iggy Pop Second greatest intro all-time (after the Stones' Monkey Man). They should crank this tune before every 5K and marathon to pump up the runners (and send Eye of the Tiger to the landfill for eternity). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IZaQLfcAQQ30 Jul 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrvdjp2eg22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrstfqrjp224#50FavoriteSongs 22. Takin' It to the Streets - Doobie Brothers Car I learned to drive in was my mom's '73 Monte Carlo. Kelly Green, white vinyl roof. Hood a mile long. Our first car with FM stereo. This song sounded so utterly boss. Still does! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh6BfGdffQw29 Jul 2026 21:07 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrstfqrjp224https://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrqcvuoy6k2s#50FavoriteSongs 23. Southern Cross - Crosby Stills & Nash Great song? Maybe not. But it takes me back to working in a Lake Michigan nautical bar in the 90s, joint filled with rich FIBs* & we're all recent college grads looking for fun. Best years of my life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpLEW0MW4E28 Jul 2026 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrqcvuoy6k2shttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrnsq6j4gs2u#50FavoriteSongs 24. Doctor Wu - Steely Dan I don't get music. Chords, keys, whatever. Way over my head. I do know that this chorus shifts in weird ways to make it unhummable. Just realized it's the elegant piano that makes this song ethereal. And it's about drugs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImtdntJQfSs27 Jul 2026 21:11 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrnsq6j4gs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrnog3rq622gwww.maptap.gg July 27 99🎯 98🎯 98🎯 98🎯 100🎯 Final score: 987 A new PR. Last one was a complete guess. To quote Willie Mosley, "I got lucky." https://www.maptap.gg27 Jul 2026 19:54 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrnog3rq622ghttps://bsky.app/profile/rick-bie.bsky.social/post/3mrlroh3tuk2lPost a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains. [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Jul 2026 01:47 +0000at://did:plc:judyo43gwpsyuintwbst4adu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrlroh3tuk2l