Monday, April 12, 2021
I received my second Pfizer vaccine shot on Friday. WHOOOO-HOOOOO!!!!! No issues, other than a sore arm. I’ve heard wildly varying stories from others who have already been through both shots. S and several other friends got wiped out by shot #2. In her case, she felt achy and sore and lethargic for about 24 hours. Another friend was out for two days with similar symptoms. However several other folks have reported no issues.
Friday, April 9, 2021
Let us continue our adventure through the flood of (mostly) new music that has arrived with spring. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Understand” - The Cry The Cry are one of those un-searchable bands. There are albums named The Cry. A TV show. A movie. Books. Enough noise that search engines find it very difficult to spit out information about the actual band, which is kind of obscure to begin with. From what I was finally able to dig up they were apparently big with skaters around 1990 then went away.
Thursday, April 8, 2021
Can’t Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year - Michaelangelo Matos My spring break read seems like it was written directly for me. Matos takes a deep look at all of the music of 1984. It begins with Thriller dominating the music world in late 1983 and carried through to mid–1985 and Live Aid. Along the way he spends nearly equal time digging into the biggest artists of the year - Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, and Tina Tuner - along with many, many other artists who cracked the Top 40 that year.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Well, we now live in a world where Scott Drew has a national championship and Kansas is facing probation. Just fucking great. If I could, I would light college basketball on fire and let it burn a slow, painful death. OK, that’s a little harsh. And, honestly, I can deal with whatever is going to happen to KU. It’s the Scott Drew shit that really pisses me off. Phony, shady m-fer.
Monday, April 5, 2021
Welcome to a new series here on Ye Olde Blog. It will focus on my process to pick my next vehicle. I know, exciting, right?!?! Feel free to skip if you’d rather read my normal bullshit about sports, music, and books. For about five months I’ve been spending A TON of time researching what I should get when the lease on my Chevy Tahoe expires in July. As you may recall we did a little car shopping in November, but that ended up being for S rather than me.
Friday, April 2, 2021
After a week away, and a week before with no playlist before that, it might take a few extra large playlists to dig through the pile of new(ish) music I have. You, my loyal readers/listeners benefit! So let’s get after it. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “A Rat Without a Tail” - Daniel Romano A pretty dope song that recalls numerous influences, most notably scuzzy 1970s rock. “Not Dead Yet” - Lord Huron It’s been over three years since we’ve heard new music from Lord Huron.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Wow, in a shocker that is apparently not an April Fool’s Day joke, Roy Williams is retiring after 33 years as a head coach. I am equally surprised and unsurprised. Both because of his age and his demeanor in recent years, it has been fashionable to wonder if each season would be Roy’s last. But I am honestly floored this is the year he pulled the plug. I did not think he would want to go out the way he did this season, with a mediocre (for Carolina) team filled with young guys that had the potential to get better over time.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Don’t think I’m going to add anything new in the next 24 hours, so I’ll go ahead and drop this and knock one item off my new month checklist. Shows and Movies Spring Baking Championship It’s been awhile, but I finally decided to watch one of these shows that didn’t wasn’t focused on Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Easter. I’m not sure why I enjoy these so much. I’m not a huge baker.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Chart Week: March 26, 1983 Song: “I Know There’s Something Going On” - Frida Chart Position: #13, 21st week on the chart. Peaked there for three weeks. One great thing about The Number Ones series is how it has forced me to re-evaluate artists I soured on over the years. Phil Collins is a perfect example. I forgot how many massive hits he had. Dude had seven number ones and six other top tens as a solo artist.
Monday, March 29, 2021
Another spring break has come and gone. We spent the week on Anna Maria Island, Florida, just outside of Tampa. Although we planned our trip independently, it turns out AMI and the surrounding communities are one of the most popular destinations for families from Indy area Catholic schools. Our girls were very excited to learn how many of their friends would be staying nearby. Easy access to folks we know changed the entire week for us.
Friday, March 19, 2021
Gonzaga, Texas, Baylor, Illinois. Zags over Illini in title game. KU loses to USC Monday. Unless they play Drake. Then they sweep the Iowa schools and lose by 12 (again) to the Zags in the Elite 8.
Friday, March 19, 2021
I have a busy day of spring break travel prep ahead of me, so just a video for this week. We shall reconvene for our weekly listening party on Good Friday. youtu.be/RJv2-_–E… “A Quick One (While He’s Away)” - The Who I’ve heard about this performance before, but had never watched it. Two different people referenced it over the past week which got me searching to find it. The hype was legit.
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Well, shit. It appears that I’ve lost what was supposed to be my most recent Reader’s Notebook entry. I remember writing it and swore I posted it. (The books included were N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became and John Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.) Since this entry references one of those books, I was looking back for the post to link to and could not find it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
One shot down, one to go. That’s right, I am 50% of the way to being fully vaccinated against Covid 19! Indiana dropped the age limit to 45 yesterday. A friend, who also turns 50 this June, told me Monday night he heard rumors the state would be dropping the requirement below 50 Tuesday morning. He got up early, checked the state health department’s website, and just before 8:00 it updated to say Hoosiers 45 and up were now eligible.
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
This was a delightful read. Since it happened in 1977, seems legit. If you could even try to pull it off today - and seems like there’s too much technology to make it possible - I don’t think anyone would believe you. Also, 17 beers a day does not seem ideal. The bizarre tale of the world's last lost tourist, who thought Maine was San Francisco
Monday, March 15, 2021
Some week for KU sports, huh? Let’s review! Monday: fired a football coach for the fifth time in 11 years, this time for lying/covering up allegations of allegedly/likely putting female student staff members in uncomfortable situations at his previous job. Gross. Tuesday: Idiot athletic director gives press conference to show that he’s in control and deserves the chance to hire the next football coach. It does not go well. Well, not for him, at least.
Friday, March 12, 2021
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Alex Trebek” - The Fleshtones I wouldn’t say this is a novelty song, but it comes close. Regardless of how serious it is or is not, it is absolutely delightful. “Bottom Feeders” - Tim Cohen A nutty song for nutty times. Something about this makes me think of my early college years. I’m not sure exactly what elicits that feeling, though. “Underneath the Roses” - Paul Jacobs Another song that doesn’t necessarily fit into the normal fare of these playlists.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Speaking of Ted Lasso, I ran across this column the other day. We have Apple TV+ free because of device purchases, and although it isn’t always super easy to find shows on the TV app, I didn’t struggle as much as this writer did. However, it has sucked that so many friends who I think would absolutely love the show haven’t watched it, either because they don’t want to add another streaming platform to their monthly bills (Totally understandable; I wouldn’t have paid for it.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Me, just over two years ago: Kansas football always finds a way to disappoint. I’d love to be surprised this time. And, My basic philosophy for KU football these days is that it can’t get any worse. Never stop being you, KU football! Since Les Miles arrived in Lawrence there have been rumors. Rumors about his health, his emotional investment to the program, his cognitive abilities. There was the curiously frequent turnover of offensive coordinators.
Monday, March 8, 2021
Compared to other recent weekends, this past one was pretty laid back for us. It helped that there was no KU game.[1] The biggest factor in the lazy weekend was that my latest round of balance therapy really triggers my vertigo, and Sunday I spent almost the entire day on the couch giving my body a break. My therapist said making the vertigo kick in is the best way to speed the re-training of my brain, so I’m going to trust it was a good thing that I was worthless yesterday.
Friday, March 5, 2021
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Change Kills” - The Pack a.d. I swear I shared a track from these ass-kickin' Canadians last week, but I guess not. I just discovered them last week, which is a pity since they are apparently on a (permanent?) hiatus. Last year they released it was fun while it lasted, and announced that they were done touring and, likely, recording. I have to say, the album is a pretty amazing way to say goodbye.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
If you’ve had more than one roommate in your life, you’ve likely had at least one bad roommate experience. Sometimes they were just minor annoyances that added up over time. I had a couple roommates who went through a “refuse to do dishes” phase. I reached the point where I had a plate, bowl, cup, and set of silverware that I would wash and hide so I could always have something to eat on.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
A couple weeks back I alluded to a health procedure I was about to go through and promised to share details down the road. I just wrapped up my seventh visit to a health care professional over the past two months, have an idea what is going on, and can finally give you an update on what’s going on with my body. Sometime last fall I started feeling “different.” I was having frequent headaches, my vision was often funky, I was always tired, I had weakness in my legs, and had occasional spells of vertigo.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
College basketball and lots of reading slowed down the visual media I consumed last month. Or at least compared to the past two months. Still some solid recommendations if you’re looking to add to your watch lists. ZeroZeroZero Another entry in the gritty series revolving around the drug trade and its ramifications on society genre. This might be the bleakest damn show I’ve ever watched. Lots of wicked violence - including one of the most gruesome deaths I’ve ever seen (out of the corners of my eyes) - lots of good people getting sucked into horrible situations, intra-family murder, and a truly psychopathic character that I won’t soon forget.
Monday, March 1, 2021
It’s March! That means Daylight Saving Time and brighter evenings are two weeks away, astronomical spring is three weeks away, and Madness in right around the corner. We had snow on the ground 27 of 28 days in February. There are still piles in parking lots and other areas that were packed up following our big storm two weeks ago. But the last of the snow on most lawns melted Saturday afternoon as we had back-to-back days in the 60s.
Monday, March 1, 2021
February 2021 Wild Pink - 40 Julien Baker - 35 Crowded House - 27 The Hold Steady - 25 Pillow Queens - 24 Complete stats available at my Last.fm page.
Friday, February 26, 2021
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Strangers” - ACTORS Ooooh, this is some good shit! Just expert dark, post-punk that sounds straight out of the transition from the ’80s to the ’90s. Sounds a little like… “Cuts You Up” - Peter Murphy …ACTORS definitely took a page out of the Peter Murphy/Bauhaus book. Since that book was written 30-35 years ago, it comes off as homage rather than ripoff. This song is a jam. If I made a mix tape of my favorite songs from my freshman year of college, this would be on it.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Chart Week: February 16, 1980 Song: “Coward of the County” - Kenny Rogers Chart Position: #3, 14th week on the chart. This was the song’s chart peak. One of my complaints about the old American Top 40s that I listen to is that only a small selection of the total library of shows gets played. If you listen often enough, you’ll quickly hear repeats of the same shows. With something like 18 or 19 years of programs to choose from, that seems hard to do.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
I’ve spent a lot of time messing with this little tool, which shows you how any shape you draw would float if it were an iceberg. Iceberger Go head, fuck around with it for a bit. It’s fun to discover shapes that flip over to find their most buoyant position.