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Getting Down, 2022
www.downthepipes.co

Getting Down, 2022

The Very Best of The Pipes

James Del
Jan 7
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Getting Down, 2022
www.downthepipes.co

Hello, hi. Welcome. You’ve made it Down the Pipes, your soon-to-be Top 5 favorite blog that appears weekly in your inbox. Most posts here are only available to the loyal subscribers who got here first and/or agreed to pay; this post is one of the rare exceptions, immediately available to anyone and everyone who happens to find it.

That’s because I wrote some pretty great shit last year (if I do say so myself, which I just did, obviously), and I figured if you’re a first timer to this corner of the internet (or perhaps you’re a regular reader who is simply nostalgic, like me), you might want an easy way to find the good stuff and sample the wares. So this post, and all the posts listed below, are now free and available to anyone with or without a paid subscription.

Yes, it’s a greatest hits compilation post. Already! I know. I’m not thrilled either and would much rather tell you about my current experience at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, or what I call “the greatest worst way to start your year.” But more on that next week.

For now, I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts from the last year, with color commentary for those of you who crave original content.

Until next time!

Not a subscriber yet? Welp I can’t force you but it would be awesome if you were.


Back to Blogging

My first attempt at brushing the dust off after almost 2 decades of not writing anything publicly. For those of you who didn’t know me in 2003, I was a fairly prolific high school blogger who basically ran the equivalent of a Gossip Girl blog for my mid-sized suburban High School. This post retreads some past while expounding on some future, a fairly consistent theme around these parts.

Down the Pipes
Back to Blogging
Welcome on Down The Pipes, please don’t unsubscribe yet you literally just got here and we’re all just trying to figure this out again. I say “again” because—for some of you—this is a bit of a return to form. “Back to blogging” as Nick Denton would say…
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10 months ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · James Del

Curiosity Kills in the Catskills

I live in the mountains just north of New York City, and calling that place home over the last 2 years has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I will occasionally get sappy and/or worked up about life up there, and when I do it turns into posts like this.

Down the Pipes
Curiosity Kills in the Catskills
New subscribers (technically everyone, I guess): Hello! Welcome! There are more of you than I thought there would be by now and that’s a fun surprise! You’ve made it Down the Pipes, a weekly weblog in your inbox. Like it? Share it…
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10 months ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · James Del

Regarding Spectra

Unbeknownst to me before I started this blog, I have a lot of thoughts on the metaphysical that I want to share. Most of those thoughts are complicated, and complication is hard to work through in binaries.

Down the Pipes
Regarding Spectra
Next week we’ll be going Down the Pipes in Miami for Bitcoin 2022, a massive gathering of the world’s crypto magnates in a city that has managed to thrive while the rest of us were trying to simply survive. I’m actually here now literally getting sploshed around the pipes as we speak, ask me about dinner last night at Putin’s pal’s place…
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10 months ago · 6 likes · James Del

The Helping, Friendly Phish of Vermont

They built a kingdom out of lies, now I blindly fan the fire. This whole site is littered with obvious and not-so-obvious Phish references, and you’ll be getting a lot more Phish content from me in 2023 as the band celebrates 40 years (and I spend 100% of the proceeds of your subscriptions on Phish tickets and hotel rooms).

Down the Pipes
The Helping, Friendly Phish From Vermont
Did you know Down the Pipes was a Phish blog when you first clicked on it? Well it is and it was, and it will be, love. For those of you who are new, all weekly posts are published privately to keep the feds out. Just kidding, feds! I know at least two of my readers already have top secret security clearances, so all are welcome…
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9 months ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · James Del

The Great American Wasteland, Chapter 1

In 2015, I left Gawker Media after 7+ years to travel, write, and explore corners of the continent in search of a pulse. I think I found it, but it was so dark and depressing that I shelved this whole project around the time Trump got elected. I’ll slowly be trickling out additional chapters as the general trauma of that period continues to fade.

Down the Pipes
The Great American Wasteland, Chapter 1
Another week, another swirly adventure Down the Pipes. We have a bunch of new readers from my guest post on Liz Plank’s Airplane Mode (welcome!), one of my favorite Substacks by a favorite human who has done more for my understanding of the masculine psyche than 30+ years in this meatsack of a testosterone factory. Her book…
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9 months ago · 2 likes · 1 comment · James Del

Finding Yugoslavia

To the above point, I’m a sucker for travel writing. Not reading it—I find it terribly tedious and self-important—but as someone who can be both tedious and self-important in my own writing, well…it’s pretty much my favorite form.

Down the Pipes
Finding Yugoslavia
It’s time to go back Down the Pipes, a semi-private, mostly-public weekly blog for good people who know good people. Welcome to it! This week I’m starting this post from a ferry be…
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8 months ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · James Del

It Just Takes Some Time

I may only listen to Phish bootlegs these days, but I was raised on a steady diet of emo and alternative rock. For those of you who always catch the clock at 11:11 and want to talk, this is my praise chorus.

Down the Pipes
It Just Takes Some Time
Hey! You know you’re doing better Down the Pipes, (so don’t buy in). This semi-private, weekly newsletter is available to subscribers only, but a handful of posts (including this one) will periodically be made free. If you enjoy it, share it with a friend or consider subscribing…
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7 months ago · 8 likes · 6 comments · James Del

Regarding Theism

Another metaphysical deep dive on religion and our silly human brains trying to make sense of our place in a mostly empty universe that happens to be filled with everything we know and love.

Down the Pipes
Regarding Theism
Did you miss me?! After the summer slump and a week off for Labor Day, Down the Pipes is back to spice up your inbox. This semi-private, weekly weblog is written for subscribers only, though certain posts (like this one) will occasionally be made free. If you dig it, sign up now and tell a friend…
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4 months ago · 4 likes · 5 comments · James Del

Dispatch From Deep Red New York

All politics are local, and when New York State went as red as it’s been in a generation, I happened to be living in one of the reddest counties in the state. What I learned knocking on doors, texting neighbors, and trying to actually make rural New York great again.

Down the Pipes
Dispatch From Deep Red New York
It’s the first Thursday after the first Monday in November, which means it’s time for a very special post-election edition of Down the Pipes. Most of these posts sit behind a paywall, some (like this one) will be made public after publication. Tell your friends and get down here, your support is so appreciated…
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3 months ago · 6 likes · 4 comments · James Del

The Funniest Co-Workers on Broadway

New York’s finest temple of comedy was arguably Caroline’s, and I was lucky enough to spend my freshman and sophomore years of college working there. Come for the Attell clip, stay for the 100% true story of the time I bombed with Chelsea Handler (and I’m not talking about on stage).

Down the Pipes
The Funniest Co-Workers on Broadway
Happy Holidaze, the best week of the winter! No school! No bosses at work! No new television shows! A handful of award contender films! Every day is like a frigid summer Friday! Solstice feasts and minor religious obligations! Family! Year end listicles! In Memoriams! Phish at MSG…
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a month ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · James Del

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www.downthepipes.co
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