paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)
@danlehner.bsky.social
Opened at gunpoint in a Lady Footlocker. Trombonist, composer, bandleader (The Great Long Meadow Fire, True East, Store Hours). Bluesky’s resident Fun Tsar. Brooklyn, NY. he/him.
https://linktr.ee/Danlehner
https://linktr.ee/Danlehner
as of now we’re looking at a typical Basie but officials are not ruling out an Ellington later in the evening
January 24, 2026 at 3:48 PM
as of now we’re looking at a typical Basie but officials are not ruling out an Ellington later in the evening
not to get into a Clintonesque definition of “is” but: “the internet is not real life” is certainly becoming LESS true over time, right?
January 24, 2026 at 3:34 AM
not to get into a Clintonesque definition of “is” but: “the internet is not real life” is certainly becoming LESS true over time, right?
Reposted by paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)
Aphex Twin: not even once
January 23, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Aphex Twin: not even once
as a musician I can’t tell you how resonant the scene in Sinners was when Delta Slim is like “you’re *maybe* paying me $20 *tonight* but I’m not gonna renege on my $10 a night gig that I’ve had forever for your new place that might be gone next week”
January 23, 2026 at 9:17 PM
as a musician I can’t tell you how resonant the scene in Sinners was when Delta Slim is like “you’re *maybe* paying me $20 *tonight* but I’m not gonna renege on my $10 a night gig that I’ve had forever for your new place that might be gone next week”
Reposted by paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
January 23, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
last year I watched Anora as the Oscars were actually happening, I said “nice, I really enjoyed that” and then I looked at my phone and saw it won the big prize and a bunch of others. had literally no time to engage in discourse. quite nice, actually.
January 23, 2026 at 5:16 AM
last year I watched Anora as the Oscars were actually happening, I said “nice, I really enjoyed that” and then I looked at my phone and saw it won the big prize and a bunch of others. had literally no time to engage in discourse. quite nice, actually.
okay, here goes — see how well you can guess which one is the official name and which one erroneously has “The”:
The Misfits
The Eagles
The Talking Heads
The Beastie Boys
The Ramones
The Mars Volta
The Black Keys
The Velvet Undeground
The Grateful Dead
The Carpenters
The Notorious BIG
The Misfits
The Eagles
The Talking Heads
The Beastie Boys
The Ramones
The Mars Volta
The Black Keys
The Velvet Undeground
The Grateful Dead
The Carpenters
The Notorious BIG
that’s a whole other category (I’d love to do a Mandela Effect test on who actually has a “the” and who doesn’t)
January 22, 2026 at 10:05 PM
okay, here goes — see how well you can guess which one is the official name and which one erroneously has “The”:
The Misfits
The Eagles
The Talking Heads
The Beastie Boys
The Ramones
The Mars Volta
The Black Keys
The Velvet Undeground
The Grateful Dead
The Carpenters
The Notorious BIG
The Misfits
The Eagles
The Talking Heads
The Beastie Boys
The Ramones
The Mars Volta
The Black Keys
The Velvet Undeground
The Grateful Dead
The Carpenters
The Notorious BIG
is Biggie Smalls the artist who is most vastly associated with a stage name other than the one that appears on his albums?
January 22, 2026 at 9:37 PM
is Biggie Smalls the artist who is most vastly associated with a stage name other than the one that appears on his albums?
to contrast, Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" is a social commentary musical crime comedy-drama Aristophanes adaptation and it...does not pull it off
like "original, period piece, ensemble cast, quasi-musical supernatural horror film", if it reasonably pulls it off, makes it eligible in a lot of categories, but it doesn't necessarily make it BETTER than, say, a very well made straight drama
January 22, 2026 at 5:27 PM
to contrast, Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" is a social commentary musical crime comedy-drama Aristophanes adaptation and it...does not pull it off
this may sound weird but I don't think "Sinners being a very good but not absolutely outstanding movie" and "justifiably having a record-breaking amount of nominations" are mutually exclusive. it's at least reasonably good at a wide range of things but maybe not the BEST at them.
January 22, 2026 at 4:35 PM
this may sound weird but I don't think "Sinners being a very good but not absolutely outstanding movie" and "justifiably having a record-breaking amount of nominations" are mutually exclusive. it's at least reasonably good at a wide range of things but maybe not the BEST at them.
there's a lot of figures throughout history, particularly in the 20th century, who believed that the promise of America was both good and either incomplete or wholly reneged upon; if you see, for example, the CRA as a correction to that, then you could reasonably call the assault on it "un-American"
I fear my tipping point into madness is "Thus is un-American" posts in response to ICE terrorizing immigrants. I beg you to open Wikipedia (I would say a book but let's start small) and read up on The Trail of Tears, Fugitive Slave Catchers, Japanese internment, Indian Boarding schools & Jim Crow
January 22, 2026 at 3:09 PM
there's a lot of figures throughout history, particularly in the 20th century, who believed that the promise of America was both good and either incomplete or wholly reneged upon; if you see, for example, the CRA as a correction to that, then you could reasonably call the assault on it "un-American"
Reposted by paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)
Deleted my comment on the Jung Hoo Lee situation because it seems like the kind of thing that happens not infrequently to foreign born baseball players around this time of year and not an overreach by CBP. Visa stuff does happen around spring training.
January 22, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Deleted my comment on the Jung Hoo Lee situation because it seems like the kind of thing that happens not infrequently to foreign born baseball players around this time of year and not an overreach by CBP. Visa stuff does happen around spring training.
two problems with this:
1. in 2024, *every* incumbent party that was up for reelection lost vote share (the first time that's ever happened) which is, I would say, an aberration
2. the back-to-back "I want you in office -> I hate you" cycles suggest something more complex than "people's will"
1. in 2024, *every* incumbent party that was up for reelection lost vote share (the first time that's ever happened) which is, I would say, an aberration
2. the back-to-back "I want you in office -> I hate you" cycles suggest something more complex than "people's will"
January 21, 2026 at 8:02 PM
two problems with this:
1. in 2024, *every* incumbent party that was up for reelection lost vote share (the first time that's ever happened) which is, I would say, an aberration
2. the back-to-back "I want you in office -> I hate you" cycles suggest something more complex than "people's will"
1. in 2024, *every* incumbent party that was up for reelection lost vote share (the first time that's ever happened) which is, I would say, an aberration
2. the back-to-back "I want you in office -> I hate you" cycles suggest something more complex than "people's will"
license plate "soyjak" (affectionately)
January 21, 2026 at 7:10 PM
license plate "soyjak" (affectionately)
[looking at my phone at 2:30am without my glasses on from a canted angle laying down]
iOS Face ID: "oh hey what's up, come on in"
[looking at my phone dead on in full light]
Microsoft Authenticator: "sorry, your face has a touch of ennui, try again"
iOS Face ID: "oh hey what's up, come on in"
[looking at my phone dead on in full light]
Microsoft Authenticator: "sorry, your face has a touch of ennui, try again"
January 21, 2026 at 6:54 PM
[looking at my phone at 2:30am without my glasses on from a canted angle laying down]
iOS Face ID: "oh hey what's up, come on in"
[looking at my phone dead on in full light]
Microsoft Authenticator: "sorry, your face has a touch of ennui, try again"
iOS Face ID: "oh hey what's up, come on in"
[looking at my phone dead on in full light]
Microsoft Authenticator: "sorry, your face has a touch of ennui, try again"
they made a movie called Casablanca about WWII while WWII was happening. we would be poorer as a culture had they not made that movie because the act of moviemaking seemed absurd.
January 21, 2026 at 4:20 PM
they made a movie called Casablanca about WWII while WWII was happening. we would be poorer as a culture had they not made that movie because the act of moviemaking seemed absurd.
once in a recording session we were in a giggle fit over this sound we needed to record over and my friend Dave said “someone tell me something terrible about the world” and our German friend, in a sincere attempt to help, said “there are apps that show you the location of the latest drone strike”
January 21, 2026 at 3:47 PM
once in a recording session we were in a giggle fit over this sound we needed to record over and my friend Dave said “someone tell me something terrible about the world” and our German friend, in a sincere attempt to help, said “there are apps that show you the location of the latest drone strike”
there’s an old joke my neighbor told me that’s like: a man and a woman are going to an open house and before they can walk in a plane crashes through the roof, and the guy says “we’ll take it!” and in response to his bewildered wife he’s like “the odds of that happening again are SO much lower now!”
Ok, but what are the odds it happens twice?
January 20, 2026 at 7:57 PM
there’s an old joke my neighbor told me that’s like: a man and a woman are going to an open house and before they can walk in a plane crashes through the roof, and the guy says “we’ll take it!” and in response to his bewildered wife he’s like “the odds of that happening again are SO much lower now!”
Reposted by paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)
I learned recently that Mikie Sherrill was born in Virginia and Abigail Spanberger was born in New Jersey
January 20, 2026 at 7:42 PM
I learned recently that Mikie Sherrill was born in Virginia and Abigail Spanberger was born in New Jersey
“I’m speaking now to the bus driver that’s holding my Musicology Duck. You have the power to let them go, unharmed. They’re very gentle and kind — talk to them, you’ll see. Their name is Musicology Duck. You have a chance to show the whole world that you can be merciful, as well as strong.”
January 20, 2026 at 2:38 PM
“I’m speaking now to the bus driver that’s holding my Musicology Duck. You have the power to let them go, unharmed. They’re very gentle and kind — talk to them, you’ll see. Their name is Musicology Duck. You have a chance to show the whole world that you can be merciful, as well as strong.”
very exciting that, to the best of my knowledge, this is our first true Bluesky Tale, landmark week for all of us
I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place
January 20, 2026 at 2:01 PM
very exciting that, to the best of my knowledge, this is our first true Bluesky Tale, landmark week for all of us
politely but firmly disagreeing with this general sentiment — Threads is growing and I don’t think X is gonna die unless it actually, technologically bricks out. the choice isn’t really “Bluesky lives or microblogging dies”, it’s “Bluesky lives or the worse ones live longer”
the perennial "is this a good replacement for twitter / can it become as big as twitter" discussion is so confused. hominids became bipedal about 7 million years ago. for most of the time since we did not have microblogging. it's not a necessity it's a habit, if it all goes away that's fine
January 20, 2026 at 3:15 AM
politely but firmly disagreeing with this general sentiment — Threads is growing and I don’t think X is gonna die unless it actually, technologically bricks out. the choice isn’t really “Bluesky lives or microblogging dies”, it’s “Bluesky lives or the worse ones live longer”