D's Notebook

Friday Playlist

August 8, 2025 /

Several repeats of artists I’ve played recently who have more solid, new music out.

“Sleep All Summer” – Crooked Fingers
Hey, our freshman-to-be’s theme song!

“Angelus” – The Berries
Before we get to the repeats, here’s a new song from a new artist that is crazy good.

“Call You Back” – TTSSFU
Even if you don’t listen to the words, just from the tone you can tell this song is about desperate, late night interactions when a relationship is doomed but one person hasn’t gotten the message yet.

“All Day All Night” – Big Thief
This makes it two songs from the next album that I’ve really dug.

“Dancing With The Europeans” – The London Suede
This band’s sound never changes. I have no issues with that.

“Love To See You Shine” – Opal Mag
So much of the Nineties influenced music I’ve shared recently has modern shoegaze. There is a touch of that here, but more big, crunchy riffs that recall the days when modern rock ruled the airwaves…

“Wide Awake” – Rocket
…similar territory to where all this band’s songs live.

“Dog” – Daisy The Great
One of several terrific tracks I’ve picked up on The Bridge lately. Like many public stations, they recently lost all their Federal funding. Find a public station near you and do something to help them stay on the air.

“Be A Bitch” – Maren Morris
When in doubt…

“America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” – The Menzingers
A daily lament. This song and video are five years old. The Menzingers knew where we were headed.

Reader’s Notebook, 8/7/25

August 7, 2025 /

The Happy Isles of Oceania – Paul Theroux
The latest re-read – for the fifth, sixth time? – of my all time favorite, non-fiction book. I actually meant to take it when we traveled to Hawaii four years ago but couldn’t find it. It turned up a year or two later and has been sitting on my shelf, waiting for the right moment. I decided I will continue to read it once every ten years or so as long as I am able.

As with each return to it, I’m fascinated by the changes in the world from when Theroux paddled through the Pacific in the very early 1990s. Shortwave radio is dead, so that could no longer be his lifeline to the world. Surely if he repeated the trip today, he would have a device of some kind that had a satellite connection on it, even if just for emergency purposes. I wonder how much his various destinations have changed, and in what ways they have not. How many of the people he talked with are still alive.

I used to dream of making a similar adventure. That was always an extreme stretch, but at my age it seems even more unlikely. I finally made it to Hawaii in 2021. Maybe I’ll find my way to a few of the other islands Theroux visited at some point.

The Unfortunate Englishman – John Lawton
Book two in Lawton’s Joe Wilderness series. This one mostly takes place right around the time the Soviets are putting up the Berlin Wall and involves more back-and-forth between East and West by agents of both sides. To be honest, I read the next book in my list too quickly after this one and they kind of ran together. Another failure on my part to take the proper notes while reading.

Gabriel’s Moon – William Boyd
As with The Unfortunate Englishman, this takes place in the early 1960s. In this case, Gabriel Dax is an English travel writer who stumbles into one of the biggest moments of the Cold War and, as a result, gets sucked into the world of espionage. His minor role ends up becoming extremely important on two different fronts of the Cold War.

What I liked most about this was that Boyd wrote it in a style that very much fit its age. It felt a little like one of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels, although perhaps not as glamorous nor violent. Like Bond, Dax is a bachelor. He also enjoys fine foods, drink, cigarettes, and ladies. But as he’s not officially on Her Majesty’s payroll, everything is stepped down a few levels from what 007 experienced. I’m not sure how close it came to how an Englishman would actually live in the Sixties, but it seemed right to my brain.

Apple In China – Patrick McGee
A fascinating book that got a lot of attention in the tech world when released earlier this year. It traces Apple’s history, focusing most on the second Steve Jobs era, when the iMac, iPod, and iPhone brought the company from the verge of bankruptcy to the most valuable in the world. Along the way Apple became more and more reliant upon China for manufacturing those products. When Xi Jingping assumed power, and turned the country into an autocracy, Apple was suddenly beholden to him if they hoped to remain as the leader in their space.[1]

This is an important read because Apple is not the only company in such a position. If China somehow crippled Apple tomorrow, it would suck, but we could all go buy phones and laptops made in Korea or other non-Chinese markets and carry on. But if China ever takes out Taiwan, or cuts off their own chip manufacturing complex, it would have much more dramatic effects on the world economy. And the book is a good explainer/reminder that it is wildly unrealistic and unserious to insist that we need to make iPhones, etc in the US and think it will happen. But we live in unserious times…

  1. And now also beholden to another autocrat here in the US.  ↩

Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 114

August 6, 2025 /

Chart Week: August 5, 1978
Song: “Love Will Find A Way” – Pablo Cruise
Chart Position: #9, 10th week on the chart. Peaked at #6 the week of August 26.

There are many factors that go into determining my favorite musical years. Clearly the songs are the biggest factor. It is a huge bonus if most of the best tracks of a given year were hits during the summer months. And then there is the personal side: if a lot of important things happened during a calendar year, odds are its music will stand out a little more.

1978 is one of my favorite music years. I have several, distinct musical memories from those 12 months. It is heavily rooted in the personal, though.

The biggest event in my life that year was my parents separating for the first time. When they split, my mom and I moved from Cape Girardeau, MO to Jackson, MO, about 30 minutes away. I don’t recall their disengagement being all that traumatic to me. However, with our move came a change in schools that March, which did distress me. I had a solid crew at Nell Holcomb Elementary who talked about Star Wars and CHiPs at every recess and lunch period. Starting over again, two-thirds of the way through the school year, was tough. I remember spending a lot of time in the nurse’s office because I was stressed and sad.

In retrospect I realize it was absolutely the uncertainty of my family life that created that angst, not just having to make new friends. By May, when I beat the alleged fastest kid in first grade in a gym class race – a contest that is still talked about in reverent tones in that part of the state, by the way – I had begun to build a new support system of dorks and doofuses.

Music memory one:
Initially my mom and I moved in with a neighbor of one of her co-workers, a woman who had just gotten divorced and kept the house in the settlement. We occupied a corner of her basement, with two beds set up on opposite walls, and shared the most basic of bathrooms. The shower was a concrete slab with a drain and a plastic curtain. The other side of the basement was a large family room. We did not have much privacy.

Upstairs was a piano. I had no idea how to play, but I remember sitting at it with American Top 40 playing in the background and attempting to match the notes of songs. Every so often I would get lucky and nail a few correctly. I was super impressed with myself. Never had one lesson!

Music memory two:
My mom still worked at the TV station in Cape. That summer she signed me up for a day camp that was near her office, so each day I rode with her. The radio was always on, usually tuned to KJAS.[1] I know my mom was thrilled the day I shared the joke I had picked up from older kids based on a popular song of the moment:

Q: What did Kenny Rogers say when his tire came off?
A: You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel!

Music memory three:
In August my mom drove me out to her parents’ home in central Kansas, a nine-hour trip. I spent several weeks visiting with them and my dad’s folks before he came to bring me home. On the way back we spent a couple days in Kansas City staying at his sister’s. When we returned to southeast Missouri he dropped me off at the new apartment my mom had moved into while I was away. Again, the radio was always on during these drives. When I hear any song from the Grease soundtrack, I think of the wind blowing in the open windows (no air conditioning) and my sweaty legs sticking to the vinyl seats.

As I listened to this countdown last weekend, I had clear recollections of so many of these songs from that chapter in my life: our months as basement renters, the trips to-and-from day camp, and the long hours on I–55 and I–70 for my summer vacation. Pablo Cruise’s “Love Will Find A Way” wasn’t the best song of that period, but for some reason it stood out from the others.

The proto-yacht rock record was a perfect song for the time. David Jenkins has a nice voice, he sounds like a less soulful, poor man’s Daryl Hall. The chorus and gorgeous backing harmonies (“Find your love again!”) were tailor-made for the tail end of the AM Radio Gold era. That was mostly how I heard the song, on AM radio through the tiny speakers in my parents’ respective Toyota Corollas. But the bottom end, that lovely bass line, and the mellow guitar licks were ideal for the FM dial, where album-oriented rock was drawing listeners over to the better-sounding side of the radio spectrum. There is a hint of Fleetwood Mac in there, too, if you try to hear it.

Pablo Cruise was part of another summer trip to central Kansas.

When I made my annual visit in the summer of 1981, my dad’s youngest brother was home from KU. Uncle D played in a local softball league with some buddies. One night my grandmother took me to watch the game. Rather than sit in the bleachers with her, I volunteered to be the team’s bat boy. It was a pretty awesome gig! I got to sit on the bench with a bunch of 20-year-old guys who were drinking beer, spitting, swearing, and playing softball. I tossed the ball with them as they warmed up before the game. I raced out and grabbed their bats after they made contact. My presence made them look like a much more professional operation than their opponents.[2]

The highlight of the night was when a player got hit in the head by an errant throw and began bleeding profusely. I grabbed a towel and leapt off the bench to assist. I got a few “Atta boys” from an umpire and a couple players as I shuffled back to the dugout. That might have been the proudest moment of my life to that point.

What does any of this have to do with Pablo Cruise? Well, my uncle had an awesome Pablo Cruise trucker hat in his closet. I thought its palm tree motif was super cool. Rather than wear my battered YMCA team hat, or a Royals cap, I donned it while I performed my batboy duties.

Any time I recall that moment, I start laughing. A skinny, 10-year old kid with tube socks pulled up to his knobby knees, who was also wearing two batting gloves and a Pablo Cruise trucker hat, running out to grab loose bats in a mediocre beer league game in Great Bend, KS. Absurd!33

Pablo Cruise gets shit on a lot because of their laid back sound and the era they came from. There was nothing dynamic or very interesting about them. They were just there, filling space between Bob Seger and Foreigner. “Love Will Find A Way” is a pretty standard take on the “Hey, I know your heart got broken, but if you keep your chin up, you’ll meet someone new” song. That said, it was pleasant enough, reminds me of some good summers, and is a track that I will usually stop and listen to when it pops up. Plus they made cool hats. Keep your heart open, it’s a 7/10

  1. Coincidentally, Casey shouted out KJAS on this countdown. That callsign is now assigned to an FM station in Jasper, TX.  ↩
  2. I have ZERO memory of whether they won any of the games I attended. Which is a shame. If I was a better writer I conjure a dramatic scene in which I stood behind home plate holding a bat while the winning run slid home safely just under the catcher’s tag and was the first person to jump on the runner in celebration. Captured for posterity by a photographer from the local paper who just happened to be strolling by. A fuzzy photo that remained on my grandmother’s refrigerator for years. But I’m not that good of a writer.  ↩

July Media

August 5, 2025 /

Movies, Shows, etc

Arrested Development, season one
I figured “Why not watch this again?” the week of July 4th. Never disappoints.

A

Long Way Home
This is Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s fourth series about riding motorcycles long distances. I watched the first, 20 years ago, and then didn’t realize the others existed. Luckily this one landed on Apple TV+ and the visuals are fabulous, although the actual travel insights are often rather banal.

A-

Tour de France – Unchained, season three
This is the final season of this show, which made sense through the opening episodes. It seemed pretty similar to the first two seasons. But then they got into Jonas Vingegaard’s physical and emotional rehab from a horrific accident in April of 2024 and got much more interesting. What if you were one of the very best to ever do your craft, but suddenly had a fear of part of the job. In Vingegaard’s case, should he be pushing his body to the limits to took to compete, and was it reasonable to rocket down mountain roads at ridiculous speeds again?

B+

Tour de France
I wrote about this a couple times. Not the most interesting race this year, but still a July, morning tradition for me.

B+

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Weird film. It came out in 2007, but was structured like a ‘90s movie yet felt like something made back in the ‘70s. Lots of long pauses where nothing happens attached to very cinematic visuals. And it keeps getting darker every minute. The whole pacing thing threw me, and then since every character is a terrible person I wasn’t invested in any of them. I wonder if I would have liked this more if I saw it when it was first released. Marisa Tomei was very naked in two scenes, which I’ll admit I did not mind.

B

The Studio
One of the funniest yet also most uneven shows of the year. When it is good, it is laugh-until-you-cry good. When it doesn’t hit, though, it can descend into meaningless silliness pretty quickly. Bryan Cranston is a national treasure.

B+

You Hurt My Feelings
This is one of those movies about middle aged people that will hit different viewers in different ways. I laughed a lot, as I found most of the scenes hilarious. S thought a lot of it was very cringey and uncomfortable. Another film that had some weird pacing issues, which given it was just over 90 minutes long, meant the story might have been a bit thin.

B

Nonnas
You generally can’t go wrong when you make a movie that centers on Italian food. Like most Netflix projects, this shaves off little pieces of other movies (Maybe it was just me, but I felt a lot of Chevy Chase’s nostalgia in Christmas Vacation in Vince Vaughn’s performance) and follows a familiar format. In this case it’s a sweet story with a really good cast, so it worked. Enjoyable but not one that will necessarily stick with me very long.

B

A Real Pain
This got decent buzz as a very good comedy. I did laugh some, but I would not categorize it as a comedy. Two Jewish cousins from New York travel to Poland to tour their grandmother’s homeland. They both have issues but one of them has ISSUES. It gets awkward often. And, let’s face it, exploring the remnants of the Holocaust will never not be deeply moving, which takes away from the funny bits.

B-

The American
I watched this a few years back and found it to be too slow. I’m now tracking a list of Best Movies On Every Streaming Service list on Vulture, and this was on June’s entry. So I gave it another watch. Still slow. This time S watched with me. When it was over she said, “That was interesting…” I don’t think she meant that she was entertained.

B

Shorts, YouTubes, etc

What if the moon turned into a black hole?
Science!

Using YouTube to plant a forest
Some cool Beau Miles bullshit.

29,000 Feet Up Mount Everest with DJI Mavic 4 Pro
Not the first time I’ve seen a video along these lines. I will always watch them.

This Sahara Railway Is One of the Most Extreme in the World
A staggeringly long train.

60 Miles Across Scotland | Photography, Camping & Kayaking
I watched this while I was reading a book about kayaking in the Pacific. This seems the easier of the two, although I’m not sure I could do it.

I Took America’s Most Remote Mail Flight. It Was WILD.
Alaska is a weird place.

7 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Office Space
Trivia about a classic movie? Sign me up.

24 Hours in One of California’s Best Kept Secrets | San Luis Obispo
I visited a 5,000 cow dairy farm | Exploring Hidden Gems in Fresno
I like this guy’s travel vids.

Embracing the Unknown | Our Last Days in Canada
These kids are podcasting about Japan now, so I guess their next series will be about that country?

Norm MacDonald Eviscerates ESPN Awards Show (1998)
The ESPYs may be our dumbest award show, but they did give us this legendary performance.

Norm Macdonald’s MTV Beach House Story
I couldn’t watch just one Norm clip.

Inside NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Set | Set Tour | Architectural Digest
Very cool. Remember that our president is doing all he can to get rid of wonderful shows like this.

The Most Adventurous Outdoor Competition We Could Dream Up | 72-Hour Challenge Colorado
Part 2
Good, clean, Huckberry fun.

Overnight in the Highest Hut of the Alps | CAPANNA MARGHERITA 4556m
This is truly amazing. HOW THE HELL DID THEY BUILD THIS? TWICE?!?!

Weird Things You Didn’t Know About The TDF
Pidcock’s Infamous Descent Seen From my Chest Cam
Crash and Burn on Vall d’Ebo
Cycling content.

Leaving Rome – Bikepacking ITALY – EP.1
I watched four episodes of this very cool journey. But the dude is just too weird for me to continue.

How Curb Succeeded Where Seinfeld Failed
Not sure I agree with all the conclusions but all us Curb/Seinfeld fans have thought through some of these.

The Beastie Boys Flop That Became a Cult Classic | Paul’s Boutique
I will never tire of reminding people that I loved Paul’s Boutique from first listen.

Field Notes Founder Aaron Draplin Doesn’t Bullshit
I’d like someone to make a video about me with this description.

1976: BIG JIM’s Big BOOZY Bike Trip to Braemar
Maybe the most amazing thing I’ve found on YouTube this year.

Photography

A Week of Film Photography on Maui
Two lenses i love & two gathering dust.

Podcasts

Wild Ones
My daily Tour de France summary of choice. I’m linking to their YouTube page, which I used more often than their podcast feed this year.

Weekend Notes

August 4, 2025 /

A very busy weekend, at least the front half.

A Wedding

Friday evening we all went to the wedding of O, the oldest daughter of our neighbors at our old house. M was a bridesmaid, her first of many I’m sure, so it was an extra big deal for her. It was a very nice ceremony and reception; the bride and groom seemed to be having an awesome time which is most important.

The most fun part of the event was the mix of cultures. O’s husband is Hispanic; he was born and raised here but his parents and most of their generation came from Mexico at some point. So there was a lot of Spanish in the air. There was a mariachi band that played before dinner. The food was Mexican. The DJ’s were Hispanic. We laughed at some of the culture clashes in how the DJ’s ran their part of the night. Lots of talking over the various moments like the cutting of the cake, father-daughter dance, etc., encouraging people to applaud throughout rather than after. Most of the white people music was stuff like “The Electric Slide,” etc that was some form of coordinated dance. Then it was almost all Mexican tunes, which was when the part really lit up.[1] At one point the groom’s stepmother danced through the entire hall, handing out whispy glowsticks and forcing everyone to get out on the floor and wave them in time to the music. There were no words, she’d just hand you the stick and move on. I had to assume this is something that is normal at Mexican weddings?

Anyway, a very fun night. M’s boyfriend came up and hung out for the rest of the weekend, too.

Weather

Man, did we get perfect weather for the wedding! That was key as the reception, while inside, was in a room that had garage doors that could open to an outdoor area. It was in the upper 70s and clear to begin, pleasantly cool when we left at 10:30.

This has been a deceptively hot summer. We haven’t come close to hitting 100° on the thermometer, and in fact are behind normal in days over 90°. However, it seemed like for six straight weeks every day was 87–89° with ridiculous humidity, so the heat index was always deep into the 90s. A few days early last week it was over 110°.

We had heavy rains come through Thursday morning and that both cooled it off and took the humidity with it. You could not have asked for a better weekend in early August. We have one, maybe two more days of that left before the heat returns.

A Trip Back

Saturday afternoon S and I drove up to some farmland that her dad owns that is about 30 minutes north of the city. It had been eight or nine years since she had been up there and she wanted to take a look at it again.

There is an old, unoccupied house on the land that looks super creepy. We just looked at it from afar. You never know who or what might be in these abandoned homes. There was a hole that seemed perfect for raccoons and other critters to access one of the upstairs bedrooms.

I enjoyed S recognizing parts of the area as we drove through it. Her family lived about a mile from this land until she was in seventh grade, but she still remembered the names of a lot of families that had lived around there in the ‘70s and ‘80s. She showed me how far she and her siblings were allowed to ride bikes on a gravel road. I’ve been out there a couple times in our 22 years here and development keeps getting a little closer. It was really interesting to imagine how remote it was when they lived out there. Famously she and her brother got plopped onto snowmobiles and were carried on them to the nearest open road to catch the school bus after the great blizzard of 1978.

I like to pull up Google Maps and look at the places I lived growing up. For all the places I lived before we moved to Kansas City, which would have been the same age when S lived in the country, I can barely remember anything about those areas. Impressive that she could recall so much. Of course we moved a lot where she lived in the same home for the first 12 years of her life, so it’s a little different.

We also drove around the luxury neighborhood that is not too far away. Its golf course is hosting a LIV Golf tournament next weekend, and preparations were already in place. It was pretty impressive to see the TV towers already built, a new, temporary club constructed near the first hole, and other signs that a pro golf event will be held there. It’s also indicative of LIV that this event is being held on a random, neighborhood course in the Indianapolis suburbs.

We looked in this neighborhood eight years ago, more to get ideas than anything else. It was WAAAAY out of our price range.[2] The two homes we looked at backed up to a fairway on the front nine. It would have been fun to heckle the guys who have taken the Saudi blood money from the comfort of my back porch.

Royals

Hey, the Royals had a good trade deadline! At least according to the experts. They brought in a couple halfway decent bats to platoon in right field. They added some arms. They didn’t give up much. They also re-signed Seth Lugo rather than trading him. Then they won two of three in Toronto.

However, it seems like every time they get a little warm, a matching cold streak is soon to follow. They are without shouting distance of the Wild Card, but with so many teams in the mix it will take a truly scorching stretch of baseball to nab a postseason spot.

I’m not sure if any of the deadline moves are needle movers for this year, but the return of Lugo and the additional arms should keep pitching a strength next year. Now if they can just find a real bat or two for the outfield in the offseason…

Fever

The Fever have won five straight, the longest current winning streak in the WNBA and the franchise’s longest run in a decade. And Caitlin Clark hasn’t played a single one of those games. Hmmm…

I mean, at some point, some talking head is going to jump on that point, right?

It’s not really a fair argument, since when she has played this year, she’s never been 100% healthy. It’s been a series of lower body injuries that have hampered her. I think you can chalk up some her increase in turnovers and lower shooting percentage to her bottom half never being right.

What I notice, too, is that when she’s not on the court, the ball really moves. There is a lot of motion in the Fever’s base offense, but when she’s on the court, the ball is almost always in her hands. With her out, it zips just as much as the people without the ball move.

I’m no coaching expert – my middle school experience is clear evidence of that – but I wonder if the key to unlocking the Fever’s full potential is, once Clark is healthy again, taking the ball out of her hands a little. I don’t think you turn her into a 2-guard; she’s too good of a passer to not want her running the offense. But maybe less of her dribbling, probing, and looking for either a cutter or shot for 24 seconds and more early actions and then getting it to back to her late in the shot clock and then letting her operate?

Again, it’s hard to evaluate her and the team when she hasn’t been healthy. As she keeps breaking down, there are questions of whether it makes sense to bring her back this year. If the Fever keep winning without her, and remain in the upper half of the playoff hunt, I think you sit her as long as you can and try to bring her back in September to work back into shape and be ready for the playoffs, and hope she re-integrates quickly.

  1. As we left L said, “Man, those Hispanics can throw down!” The groom said many of his relatives were complimentary of her: “That white girl can dance!” As always, she was the bridge across differences!  ↩
  2. Our constant question is “What do these people do?” Most of the homes cost millions. Plural. And this is a large neighborhood. I guess some people are just mortgaged to the gills?  ↩

Friday Playlist

August 1, 2025 /

Another big, eclectic mix of music this week.

“Summer Drive” – Dragon Turtle
For those moody, nighttime drives when summer’s hold begins to slip.

“mangetout” – Wet Leg
It took a minute, but a song from the new WL album finally jumped out at me. This track has all the cheek of their first album – so many sly lyrics! – with a slight edge that, to my ear, recalls the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

“Alright Alright Alright” – Westside Cowboy
My records indicate that I’ve not shared this song before. My brain keep telling me that I have, though. Oh well, it’s a fun enough song that it’s worth including again if my records are suspect. I’m not sure I believe this group is from Manchester, either. They sound very West Coast to me.

“Willow” – she’s green
This sounds a lot like Hatchie, both in vocals and music. The group is from Minneapolis, which is about as opposite of Hatchie’s native Australia as you can get.

“Punch Drunk” – Broken Fires
BF’s “East London Hotel” is one of my favorite songs of the summer. I finally checked and they indeed have an album coming out in November and this is another pre-release from it.

“Pay Per View” – Georgia Maq
The wonderful Camp Cope officially broke up two years ago. Maq had already released music on her own before, so this is not really her solo debut. The music takes a different path, but her voice remains magnificent.

“Quiet Life” – shame
Man, I’m not sure how to categorize this song. At first it seems like it’s taking a run at the Lord Huron sound. Then it picks up the pace and its Britishness presents itself, falling closer to bands like Fontaines D.C. or The Clockworks, with just a hint of rockabilly in there. I think it slaps.

“Ain’t Quite Right” – Still Blank
Stereogum described this band as “folk-grunge.” That’s a new one on me. I guess it fits.

“Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man!” – Public Enemy
My brother-in-law, Mahk in Bahston, shared a wonderful blurb with me a few weeks back. Responding to the notion that the United States would deport immigrants from nations like Venezuela to Nigeria, the Nigerian foreign minister said, honest to God, “…you’ll remember a line from Flavor Flav, ‘Flavor Flav has problems of his own, I can’t do nothing for you, man.’” Nigeria is my new favorite country.

“Huddle Formation” – The Go! Team
I heard this one night this week while making dinner. Let me tell you, that dinner tasted a little better than normal thanks to my bopping around to this jam!

“Boys on the Radio” – Hole
Maybe a stretch to call this a summer song, although the word summer is in it. And, hell, it is a perfect song for cranking up while driving around with the windows down at night. Which, honestly, I haven’t done in about 30 years, but it is one of those core summer experiences I can never shake and can’t help but reference often.

“Hey Ladies” – Beastie Boys
Over the weekend I came across a great YouTube vid breaking down Paul’s Boutique. All the excuse I needed to listen to that classic album and then share this amazing video with you. Free James Brown.

Thursday Links

July 31, 2025 /

Too late to implement this idea for the summer of ’25, but something for parents to keep in mind for next year.

Just like the 1890s and the 2020s, they’ll play with the unvaccinated kids down the street and drink raw milk until dark. Then at daybreak, I’ll hand my children their metal lunch pails, button their fifty-button shoes, and they’ll shuffle off to their factory jobs, because in the Gilded Age, and southern states in the 2020s, no snowflake child labor laws exist.

I’m Giving My Kids a ’90s Summer—the 1890s

A good look at how and why today’s Tour de France riders are somehow faster than 20 years ago, yet also (as far as we know) cleaner than they were in the Armstrong era.

…at his blood-doped peak, two decades ago, ~Armstrong was averaging an estimated 6 watts per kilo~. In 2004, on that same climb in the Pyrenees, ~he took nearly six minutes longer~ than Pogačar did last year. In other words, Armstrong on dope then would be an also-ran next to Pogačar today.

Science Is Winning the Tour de France

Is there a more frustrating, maddening, tantalizing player in the NBA than Joel Embiid? When he’s healthy and at his best, he might be the most unstoppable offensive force in the game. But that has happened all too rarely in his career, and it seems more likely he’ll have a bizarre injury that knocks him out for weeks or months than show any kind of consistency. Then there are the personality traits that drive people around him crazy.

I love Jo, since he’s a Jayhawk. Had he not had multiple bizarre injuries his one year in Lawrence, KU may well have another Final Four banner. Those moments when he was locked in? There were the hints of how good he would be when he won the NBA MVP three years ago.

I also understand why there are a lot of basketball fans who despise him.

This very, very long piece gets into why he is the person he is. My biggest takeaway is that as smart as he is, he was not prepared in any way for his meteoric rise when he arrived in the US. He went from coming off the bench as a high school junior to the player who would have been picked first in the draft if not for an injury three years later. And so much of his aloofness goes back to the Sixers not believing him when he told them his foot wasn’t healing after his first surgery.

I doubt it will change the public view of Embiid. But it is probably the best look we’ll ever get into one of the strangest careers of any modern athlete.

Joel Embiid sees you

Steven Hyden’s most timely list ever.

The Best Songs About Summer, Ranked

Jayhawk Talk: Can’t Take The Heat?

July 30, 2025 /

I probably should have included this in my Weekend Notes post, but was also debating how deep to go on the latest health scare for KU coach Bill Self. Without knowing much about what actually happened, I didn’t want to turn it into 3000 words about the future of the program. That’s always a possibility when I start writing about KU hoops, though.

What we know for sure is that Self suffered “concerning symptoms” while playing golf last week, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Lawrence, and received two stents. I’m no cardiologist but that seems super serious. Also, if you’re in your 60s and had a heart attack two years ago, I’m not sure it’s smart to play golf in the midst of a heat wave. But that’s just me.[1]

We also know Self was released quickly and feeling fine. And apparently had lunch with a recruit who was on campus Monday. Or at least that was the message KU put out.

This was crazy timing as the same afternoon of this latest cardiac event, I was watching his recent interview with Andy Katz. They began with some health talk and Self mentioned that he didn’t really feel right for a year after his 2023 heart attack.[2]

There have been strong rumors around the program for six months or so that Self has privately told people this will be his final year. While he has never addressed this publicly, there has been some pushback from others on this timeline.

My first thought after this latest episode was that if he gets cleared to coach this year, by both his doctors and his wife, this is definitely his last year. And the arrival of Jacque Vaughn both made more sense and seemed super timely. No offense to any of Self’s long time assistants, but if he is told that he can’t coach this year, I’ll take Vaughn over any of them, even if JV has never coached a single college game.

Now, inserting stents is a pretty normal procedure, with recovery measured in days rather than weeks. Had this episode been more serious, I doubt he would have been sent home so quickly.

So, yes, very concerning. But perhaps as life/career altering as it seemed at first. And hopefully this kept something bigger/more serious from happening to Self down the road.

This is just another massive warning light that the Self era is coming to an end soon(-ish). At this point I just hope he is able to go out on his terms rather than because his body, medical team, and/or family tell him he can’t coach another game.

The message board chatter about summer workouts was that Vaughn was taking a strong role in what the team was doing. All rumors here, but his main task was shifting the offense to a slightly more NBA style that allows Darryn Peterson and other athletic wings clear paths to the basket. I want to see this in games, because while the build up may be a little different, Self’s best offenses were always when motion on the perimeter got Jalen Wilson, Ochai Agbaji, Devon Dotson, Josh Jackson, Frank Mason, etc. clear paths to the rim. Based on that I think these changes will be less dramatic than some are suggesting, and perhaps more about personal differences between the current roster and those of the past two years than anything Vaughn has put in.

Another summer rumor is that the team has been working more on full court pressure, leveraging its athletic length to make up for some half court deficiencies. Suggesting that any team will press more in the upcoming season is an evergreen college hoops summer rumor. And then when the team gives up three straight layups in their first team the coaches scrap it. So we’ll see about that one.

To wrap up, it was a pretty dicey day or two for KU fans. Knock on wood Self is now healthy and can devote his full energies to this team, and then make a decision about his future next April with a clear head and relatively clean bill of health.

  1. Our heat index was 114° that day. Not sure if it was as high 500 miles west.  ↩

  2. Self also told Katz that in addition to Vaughn, he called Nick Collison about the open assistant coaching position. Fascinating. KU fans have this dream scenario where if Vaughn eventually becomes the head coach, he will surround himself by other former KU players. Aaron Miles, who was actually my top choice to fill the opening Vaughn filled, Keith Langford, and Wayne Simien have all been mentioned. Collison is currently an assistant VP/GM in Oklahoma City. I don’t know if he has coaching aspirations, but with all the changes in college sports, maybe someone with administrative, roster construction, salary cap knowledge like that is as needed as someone who has sat on a bench. And other than Danny Manning, there would be no better former KU player at teaching bigs how to operate in the low post.  ↩

Weekend Notes

July 28, 2025 /

The clock is starting to run out on academic summer. There are actually a couple public districts around here that started last week. The one we live in starts this Thursday. L returns on August 7. It goes by fast. Some notes from one of the last weekends before we start worrying about school schedules again.

A Big Birthday

M turned 21 on Friday. She’s all growns up!

She had a bash with friends in Cincinnati that night. She survived the night, which is the key. She told us she never planned on getting super crazy and her focus was on having a good time. Not sure how many drinks she had but she said she told people she had no interest in doing anything close to 21 shots.

It sounds like a fun mix of people. A bunch of sorority girls were there. A group of high school friends drove down for the night. The crossing of streams went well. One of her best childhood friends – who is actually getting married this week – attended, too.

We went down Saturday to take her and her boyfriend out to lunch. Originally I wanted to make this kind of a big weekend, as we didn’t have a chance for a proper family trip this summer. For a variety of reasons we decided to just go down for a brief visit. Part of my original plan was going to a Reds game either Saturday or Sunday. It ended up being a fine decision to skip that, as it was brutally hot all weekend and I believe there were scattered thunderstorms down that way Sunday. There would have been a lot of complaining from everyone but me had I forced the fam to sit out in that. And, honestly, I’m not sure I would have liked it all that much either.

We went to Pepp & Dolores, a very hip Italian place in the Over The Rhine area of Cincy. Between the six of us we got four different pastas, all freshly made, and all were fantastic. Although we let M drink with us in Italy, it was fun to have a legal drink with her in the states. I acted mock offended at our waiter for not IDing her.

We also got to see the house she’s living in this summer. As she was going through the stack of gifts her friends had given her I noticed something was off about the house. Finally I asked, “Is this building tilted or am I having a stroke?” Indeed the building did have a significant lean to one side. M told us you can’t put round things on the floor or they will roll. Her bed is against the wall that she will roll into if she gets to the edge. Cincy is very hilly, but I’m not convinced the house was leaning in the direction of the hill it is built on. A little concerning, but hopefully it stays safe for two more weeks until we move her three blocks to the place she will live in the next two years.

She is in her friend’s wedding Friday so will be back here on Wednesday.

Tour de France

A rather uneventful final week for the Tour. I watched most days. The challenges to Tadej Pogacar never developed, despite him seeming a little under the weather in the last days of the race. I think all his challengers blew themselves out trying to tire him over the first two weeks and had nothing left when he showed the slightest of cracks.

We did get some rain in the mountains last week, which is always the best cycling to watch.

Pogacar beat Jonas Vingegaard by just over four minutes. Vingegaard was nearly seven minutes ahead of the third place finisher. Yawns from a competitive standpoint. As I’ve said before, I’m not a huge Pogacar fan, mostly because he seems a little robotic and uninteresting. With four wins, though, he’s entered the pantheon as one of the greatest ever. He seemed a little surly and uninterested over the past week. Maybe that was because of the relative ease of his win. I don’t know that there’s another rider who can challenge him if he’s healthy. Is there enough there to motivate him to go for a record tying fifth Tour win next year?

As a side note, of course Lance Armstrong “won” seven Tours. He’s largely viewed as a psychopathic liar these days, and any efforts at acting like a normal human being generally come off as pathetic attempts to make people forget not that he cheated, but that he actively destroyed the lives of people who tried to hold him accountable.

So I was shocked that Peacock had a daily post-race show featuring Armstrong and his former lieutenant George Hincapie, who also blood doped back in the day. I always turned Peacock off as soon as each stage was over so I never watched the program.

That seems particularly tone deaf by NBC. Even if you accept the argument that everyone else was doping when Armstrong was riding (I lean this way) I can’t find a justification for giving him a platform. The number of people who are interested enough in him to tune into a show he hosts on a streaming platform can’t be big enough to move the ratings/revenue needles for Peacock. And far more are probably like me and actively turned off by his presence. I think the most likely people to devote time to a program like this are the hard-core cycle-heads, and these people generally loathe Armstrong.

I guess if you view the Tour through the lens that everyone is cheating somehow and it doesn’t really matter, then you can justify his presence.

Home Tech Follow Up

Some of you may recall that when we moved into our new house seven years ago it took nearly four weeks for Xfinity to show up to run the line to our house and get us online. And then it was three more months before they sent someone out to bury our line. In the interim our lawn guys had to carefully avoid it since it laid on top of the ground. Oh, and the guy who showed up to bury it did it all by hand with a spade. We have at least 150 feet of cable running from our house to the main line. It took him over an hour. Throw in poor, post-construction soil, and this guy did a terrible job, putting the line barely under the surface. In the years since it has been cut at least five times by contractors.

Fast forward to our new service with Metronet. Their line was run to our house on a Thursday. The following Tuesday a crew showed up to bury it. They brought one of the big cable-burying machines and had it under ground in less than five minutes. Amazing.

Wednesday I got an email from Metronet saying they were merging with T-Mobile Fiber. Not sure how I feel about this. Metronet was based in Indiana, which was a bonus. We’ve never used T-Mobile for anything and their fiber business is new so I have no idea what Metronet rolling under their umbrella will mean for our service, for customer service, etc. Fingers crossed it just means eventually our bill will go to a different office and everything else stays the same.

Thursday we got our final bill from Xfinity in the mail. Also in the box was a separate mailer from them saying they missed us and offering us some deal or another. I didn’t really read the details, it went straight into the recycling. Their promotions department is on top of things. I guess we’ll be getting these weekly for the rest of time.

We also got two Metronet promotions in the mail last week, so their marketing people haven’t got the message that we’re onboard with them yet.

Friday Playlist

July 25, 2025 /

Back to extra-stuffed this week. So stuffed that I’ll only include one summer song. And apologies to Chuck Mangione, but there’s no room to honor his passing with more than these words.

“Summer Nights” – Van Halen
Perfect late July song.

“Touch Myself” – The Beaches
Not a remake of that song, but definitely about the same subject. And a strong Song of the Summer contender.

“Cowbella” – bar italia
I’m not sure if they were going for this, but every time I hear this song I think of Elastica. Or maybe druggier Elastica?

“The Scene” – Hotline TNT
Some poor DJing here. I’ve only been sitting on it since the summer began. It deserved to be shared much sooner.

“Adored” – Been Stellar
Not quite as good as the songs they released a year ago. It’s a little more contemplative and less straight rock. It reminds me a bit of Silversun Pickups.

“Paint By Number” – Coral Grief
I’ve been kicking a few of this band’s songs around for several weeks. I finally broke down and picked this one to share with you. I hope you like it.

“Reticence” – Girls Names
This song is a decade old, so from before I started doing Friday playlists. I 1000% would have included it had FPL’s existed then. I love this band’s blend of dark post punk and jangly indie rock.

“Let It Happen” – Tame Impala
Currents was released 10 years ago last week. Its highlight is this stone-cold classic. Five stars all around.

“Twilight Zone” – Golden Earring
George Kooymans, guitarist and vocalist of Golden Earring, died this week. His passing got lost in the wave of other, more notable deaths this remarkable week. Shame. One of the obits I read suggested that if the term Two-Hit Wonder was a thing, Golden Earring might be the best example. “Radar Love,” from 1973, is a Classic Rock radio staple. This track went to #10 in 1982 and has never dropped out of rotation on Eighties stations. Eleven-year-old me thought it was the coolest song on the radio.

“War Pigs” – Black Sabbath
You didn’t have to be a fan of Ozzy Osbourne to know a shitload of his songs. That’s certainly the case with me. I never owned one of his albums or singles, never taped a song of his off the radio, never downloaded any of his songs. I was never deep enough into metal to be interested in his music. But I can sing along to the choruses of at least half a dozen of them because Ozzy was always in the air.

A few years ago I learned that Ozzy was actually a big hippie in the Sixties. That helps to explain this song, one of the most incandescent, ferocious anti-war songs ever made. It kicks all kinds of ass. He may have loved darkness and the occult, but deep down he just wanted everyone to love each other and have a good time.

It’s amazing he made it to 76. One obituary this week stated that researchers had studied him and determined that he was a genetic freak, able to tolerate drugs and alcohol in quantities far beyond the normal human being. That explains a lot.

“Killing in the Name of a Terrible Holy Lie” – Nine Inch Nails and Various Artists
I miss good mashups like this. I know things got a little out of hand in that moment, about 20 years ago, when mashups blew up. But when done well, how can you not like them?

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