I’ve stuck to a pretty brisk reading pace lately. Several of my latest batch of books have some common themes, so I’m going to pair them up to attempt to get through them quicker.
Suburban Dicks - Fabian Nicieza The Damage - Caitlin Wahrer Two mysteries from first-time authors that were both very good. In Suburban Dicks a disgraced reporter and a one-time phenom profiler who had her career derailed by normal life stuff team up to not only solve a murder the local police don’t seem to want to solve, but also uncover a deeper conspiracy that has plagued their town for over half a century.
The first full football weekend of the year. I have some notes.
Friday We had the big 6A #3 Cathedral at 3A #1 Bishop Chatard game Friday. Or the girls did. S and I knew it was going to be an absolute shit show; BC has a tiny stadium in the middle of a packed neighborhood and it seemed like every Indianpolis Northside Catholic was going to go. So we went to dinner with friends while the girls enjoyed the game.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“The Queen Is Dead” - The Smiths I’m sorry, but if you think I’m not playing this song today you don’t know me very well. I’m not here to dance on graves but rather shout to the heavens, for the thousandth time, about the genius of Johnny Marr. “Has the world changed or have I changed?”
“Be Careful With Yourself” - Julia Jacklin As usual Jacklin’s new album, to my ears, is filled with slow, precious songs that are a little too slow and precious.
Well, it’s over.
L’s team went out with a whimper in their final two kickball games, losing 21–7 on Tuesday then getting run-ruled 42–13 on Wednesday, ending the season at 2–5. I believe that was the first time they had a losing record.[1] These two games were more of the same. We couldn’t kick or field, and it killed us. In the Tuesday game, against the team we beat to start the season, we were up 4–0 after one then gave up eight runs in the second and were dead after that.
Chart Week: August 30, 1986 Song: “Heaven In Your Eyes” - Loverboy Chart Position: #33, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #12 for two weeks in October.
A quick entry this time, based on a cultural nugget that shows how much the world has changed since 1986.
Casey shared that Loverboy keyboard player Doug Johnson refused to appear in the video for “Heaven In Your Eyes.” Why? Because the song was on the soundtrack for Top Gun, and Johnson was a pacifist.
I’m guessing this was our last ever four-day Labor Day weekend, at least on the academic side of things. St P’s generally (but not always) gives the kids Friday and Monday off, while CHS just takes the actual Monday holiday off. Who knows what M’s schedule will be this time next year, but she won’t be here, so that means the remaining girls will be on the same schedule for the final holiday weekend of summer in 2023.
Movies, Series, Shows Better Call Saul, season six I wrote about this here. A for the season, A+ for the series.
The Queen’s Gambit It took me awhile, but I finally got to this. Not sure if it was better or worse to watch it well after its initial buzz had faded. While I enjoyed the story, I felt it had some big holes and ended a little too cutesy. But Anya Taylor-Joy was dazzling and delightful in the lead role.
The new music faucet finally seems to have been turned down a notch. My Latest Songs playlist is as light as it has been in months. Hopefully just a brief respite before things pick back up again for the fall.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Paradise” - Briston Maroney One of my favorite artists of 2020 is back with his next phase of music. Not sure this matches those ‘20 highs, but this isn’t anything to complain about, either.
This season was supposed to be L and her team’s final run to kickball glory. Even with a tough schedule we figured they would be battling in every game and, because of the strength of their division, remain in the mix for a City championship berth right up until the end of the season.
Instead it’s been a bit of a mess.
Things started well; they won their first two games.
Kind of a weird weekend, or at least it got off to a weird start.
L threw up all night Thursday and into Friday morning. I heard her throwing up again around 6:45 and went running into her room only to discover it was M across the hall throwing up in her bathroom. Just like old times! At least they are old enough now not to puke in their beds.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Easy On Your Own?” - Alvvays Alvvays went eight years between albums number one and two. So a five-year wait for album number three doesn’t seem so bad!
“Desert Snow” - Local Natives With the heat coming back after to Indiana after two very pleasant weeks, thoughts of snow are welcome.
“Burning” - Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yeah!!!
“River Mountain Love” - Truck Stop Love A couple weeks back Spotify spit out an alternate version of this terrific mid-90s track by the best thing to ever come out of Manhattan, KS.
After finishing nine books in July I didn’t finish my first August book until the 15th. And then I finished two more books in just over a week. I think I’m doing just fine.
After the Fall - Ben Rhodes The latest book by former Obama staffer Rhodes, this one is about the current state of the world, how we got here, and where we could be headed. It’s not an uplifting book, nor one that will give you reason to be hopeful that things are going to get better.
A few things for you to read.
The already messed-up world of professional golf got even crazier last week when Patrick Reed filed a bizarre lawsuit against the Golf Channel and GC personality Brandel Chamblee. Attorney (and golfer) Will Bardwell had this terrific, and hilarious, breakdown of the case’s merits.
Patrick Reed’s Libel Case Is A House Built On Sand
This is straight-up weird. Thank goodness this bug didn’t crash planes or send nuclear power plants into meltdowns.
Kid Hoops After a few weeks off, it’s back to the hoops grind for L. Saturday her travel team kicked off a Back to School league that will play on Saturdays for the next two months. I think this is the first time her coach has put his team into the league, and he’s doing his best to keep it light. They won’t practice. He’s going to rotate starters every game.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“You” - Julianna Riolino Should a Canadian with a name like this play music like this? I guess that’s a dumb question, because clearly she does. I’ve shot some songs back and forth with my brother-in-music E$ lately that have fallen on the far side, for me, of the line between country and alt-country. This one lands one the near side of that line, with just enough pop to balance the early era, Dolly Parton vibes that carry it.
Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould faced a huge challenge as they brought their series Better Call Saul to an end. Not just because of the normal pressures that come with wrapping a critically acclaimed and beloved (by those who watched it) show. But also because of how they ended Breaking Bad, one of the best series endings of recent memory.
After thinking about Monday’s series finale for a few days, I am comfortable saying they absolutely met that challenge.
Some catchup from the last few days.
Shots Fired…Literally Friday night we had our old neighbors from Carmel over for dinner. They like to rib us about moving from Carmel, which has little violent crime, to Indianapolis, which like most big cities has some issues. I joked that we hadn’t heard any gunfire from our home in over a year.
Later that night I was in bed, asleep, when I heard one of the girls talking to S.
Another week with a jam-packed list. The new music continues to roll in. I still have a couple tracks leftover from my podcast review. We just passed a significant music anniversary. There was a massive death in the music world this week. And an amazing YouTube find will cap things off. Strap yourselves in and enjoy.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Girls Make Me Wanna Die” - The Aces This band shares a lot of DNA with MUNA, both in making fun, poppy jams and being up-front with being Queer.
L went back to school yesterday. M and C started classes today. Thus our academic summer has ended. Which makes this the perfect day for a post I’ve wanted to share for quite awhile. It will be extra navel-gazey, so feel free to skip if you prefer my writings about music, sports, books, etc. to those about being a middle-aged man.
When Covid began and our gym shut down, I was still able to use our modest home equipment to workout.
A very good weekend trip to Kansas City. Other than the heat, of course.
Travel It was probably our easiest drive between Indy and KC we’ve ever had without driving at night. A few slowdowns, a few standard trucks passing each other or slow people in the fast lane issues. But otherwise it was kind of smooth sailing.
One side effect of me switching to a smaller car without a third row is that trips like this can be problematic.
July was one of my better reading months in recent memory. Nine books finished, and all were legit books. No graphic novels, manuals, photography collections, etc. mixed in. Here are some brief synopses.
Phil - Alan Shipnuck The book that shook up the golf world when an excerpt was released earlier this year detailing Phil Mickleson’s thoughts about the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour, a tour he is now getting paid somewhere in the range of $200 million to play shitty golf on.
A busy week for M. Two college visits and senior pictures have all been checked off her To Do list.
We went to Purdue last Wednesday and then IU on Monday. Both trips went well.
She liked Purdue more than she expected, and when we left she felt like it had pulled even with Cincinnati as her co-favorite. Or at least a school that would definitely be on her list for a second visit and more research.
M and I are off to Bloomington for campus visit number five today, so it is a perfect day to drop this list on you.
Movies, Series, Shows Somebody Feed Phil, season one Crap, I forgot to include this in my June entry. After watching the Anthony Bourdain film, I tried to find something similar to his classic shows to scratch my food/travel/culture show itch. This came pretty close. The show is far funnier than any of Bourdain’s and never tries to be as arty.
Just a little more cleanup from my podcast archives research, a whole heck of a lot of new music, and no playlist next week due to travel means (at least) one more mega playlist for your listening pleasure.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“In the Right” - The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness Some jim-dandy power pop here, my friends.
“Overcome” - Young Guv Let’s keep it on the power pop tip for one more track.
M and I are off to visit Purdue so it seems like a great day to share some more interesting reads.
I don’t know a thing about cricket, and I’m guessing most of you don’t, either. That doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the ridiculousness of this story.
“I have never seen a scam like this. These guys just cleared a patch of land deep inside a village and began playing a match and beaming it on YouTube to make money through gambling.
Chart Week: July 22, 1978 Song: “Baker Street” - Gerry Rafferty Chart Position: #2, 14th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for six weeks.
I’ve been wanting to write about this song for ages, and everything finally lined up thanks to an AT40 I caught last week.
“Baker Street” is one of the greatest songs of its time. Or any time for that matter. It is an unforgettable, undeniable, unassailable piece of rock ’n’ roll art.
It has been a lazy few days around our house.
M spent last week in Michigan with one of her best friend’s families. She seemed to have a great time. Boy was the house quiet without the most talkative sister around. Kind of a preview of what awaits us next fall.
I had big plans to do something fun with her sisters while she was away, but every day one of them had something pop up that prevented that from happening.
I continue to clean out the holding pen of music that is overflowing with both new tracks and classics I rediscovered while trolling the archives of my old music podcast.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Alright” - Sam Fender The life cycle of albums can be strange. These days many bands will drop multiple singles well before releasing the full album. Streaming messes up how singles are handled once the public has their hands on the LP so you might as well trickle them out slowly when you have the chance.