u/producedbyantonoff

I know it’s very difficult to map modern notions of “right and wrong” onto the behavior of power players in medieval history, but I’m curious to get your opinion on whether Henry IV was ultimately justified in his actions? Do you view his actions favorably? His showdowns with Alexander II and Gregory VII are endlessly fascinating to me, although my perspective is slightly clouded by modern era notions of nationalism as well as the knowledge of what happens to the church in the centuries following the Investiture Controversy.

I discovered Clairo in 2021 or 2022 when a friend played Blouse for me. I instantly loved it and went to go listen to her two albums (at that point). I’ve played her three albums to death at this point and I would put Charm up there in my top 10 albums of the decade so far.

For some reason, I totally missed her pre-2019 singles like Pretty Girl, Flaming Hot Cheetos, etc. Maybe it’s because I’m a very album-oriented listener and I wasn’t listening to her at the time they were released.

I found these songs in 2024 or 2025 but I must admit I’m not super into them, except for 4Ever (synth base line is killer).

I hope I don’t get downvoted for this opinion but I don’t think the lyrics are close to the level of her best material from the three albums. Musically, I just don’t find the instrumental parts on these songs as interesting as most of the songs that made me fall in love with her music. I am still finding new interesting parts of Amoeba, for example, and I’ve heard that song dozens and dozens of times at this point.

Is this opinion super uncommon in this fanbase? If you are also a fan who discovered Clairo somewhat later, how do you feel about the 2017-era singles?

A French friend of mine recently told me that France “does not actually have a strong football culture”. This sounds crazy to me because of the success of the national team and the very famous footballers hailing from France in recent decades. But, he made some interesting points about how there is a strong interest in the national team during major tournaments but not a strong weekly football culture like you see in neighboring countries. He says following a specific football club is less universal in France than you would expect. Specifically, he said that Paris produces many great footballers (obviously) but that much of the enthusiasm for the sport (watching and playing) in the city comes from immigrant communities and it doesn’t define Parisian culture like it does in London, Madrid, etc.

Anecdotally, I’ve been in pubs in the UK and small cafes in Italy where old men sit for hours talking about football. In my experience, this is fairly universal across the regions in these countries but maybe in France this only happens in cities with major clubs? Is there an equivalent of the “old guys talking about football in pubs/cafes/betting shops” in France?