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Like a lot of people, I let my moods dictate my playlists. On Wednesday, as news of Tuesday’s midterm elections continued to break, I found myself walking into Gazetteer HQ listening to James Brown.
Of course, I felt that old prickle when Brown screamed his way through “I Got You (I Feel Good),” a song that’s barely lost a bubble of its effervescence despite being used in commercials and countless movie soundtracks for decades. If you need a mood elevator, this song is for you.
But on that day, as state after state went Democrat and politicians representing groups marginalized and maligned by the current administration stepped into their power, the song that really got me going was “The Payback” a tune that bristles with resentment and insists on action.
“You had me down, and that’s a fact,” Brown sings. “And now you punk, you gotta get ready for the big payback.”
“The Payback” is for anyone who’s down, but knows they’re not out. That’s probably why Spike Lee saw fit to slow the action in Highest 2 Lowest (2025) to let the song unspool as Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright sought their revenge, Washington shadowboxing in time with every horn bleat.
Record midterm turnouts; states that went big for Trump going bigly for blue; the world’s richest man learning that money can’t buy everything.
As Brown sang, “I need those hits!”
This week, we got our payback. The big payback.
ONLY ON GAZETTEER SF
- WORLD CHAMPIONS: Megan Rose Dickey on the Valkyries big win.
- LUCKY LURIE: Joel Rosenblatt watched the election night returns with a jubilant Daniel Lurie.
- INSIDE MAN: Eddie Kim went to Scott Wiener and Connie Chan’s watch parties.
- DOGGED: Cydney Hayes on what it’s like to work at Corgi Cafe.
- THE MOURNING AFTER: Trump-loving tech folks are going through it.
- GHOST CANDIDATE: Why did some D8 voters go for Manny?
- WE LOVE A PARADE: Scenes from the Valks’ victory parade.
- VALKYRIES INK: A tattoo artist is honoring the hometown heroes.
- TRICK OR TWEET: Manic Monday looks at tech’s silliest costumes.
DISPATCHES FROM THE FOG
- UNFRIENDLY SKIES: A Berkeley student was detained by ICE at SFO. (The Daily Californian)
- DATA VISUALIZATION: A beautiful look at America’s data centers. (The Verge)
- BULLY: Google plays hard ball with schools that don’t want AI. (New York Times)
- MURDER MOST FOWL: Who stole these chickens and left them to die in Berkeley? (Berkeleyside)
- TO COMBINE THEM INTO ONE UNIT: A company amasses nearly 1,000 apartments in SF. (San Francisco Business Times)
