Wednesday, July 23, 2014
The first of two nostalgia-laden posts. My apologies; I’m a writer in my 40s. I can’t help myself. This morning I finally wrapped up my review of the old posts here on the site. I won’t promise everything is completely cleaned up. But the number of posts with unreadable HTML segments smack in the middle of a sentence should be fairly low. I didn’t read the posts closely while going through this exercise.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
I suppose I owe you a few notes from Monday’s trip to the 4H fair. That’s why we’re here, after all, right? I looked back and, unfortunately, our last trip to the fair two years ago fell in that missing gap in the site’s history. So I’ll apologize if I’m repeating details. If I can’t remember them, I doubt any of you will, either. Luckily it was about 20 degrees cooler than two years ago.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Three-and-a-half weeks of summer left. What an odd week this past one was. Monday and Tuesday it barely reached 70, with the lows at night touching the upper 40s. When it did warm up, it stayed below 80 until Saturday. Needless to say, there was no pool time last week. It looks like it’s going to be more normal this week. We may even have our first 90 degree day of the year tomorrow!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Back for another week of links. I’m digging deeper into the Instapaper archives to pull out some articles I wanted to share earlier in the summer but never got around to doing. Do you like The Smiths? How about a list of their 30 best songs with notes about each from other artists and celebrities? The Smiths’ 30 greatest songs – as chosen by the band and their famous fans
Friday, July 18, 2014
youtu.be/m3a4OTh2Y… “New Moon On Monday” - Duran Duran You know, when you take a look at Duran Duran’s list of singles, it’s pretty solid. It was easy to hate on them, because they wore makeup and dressed fancy and made use of synthesizers as much as guitars. But you have to admit, they had a terrific run of songs from 1982-1986 (In the US) with a nice mini-comeback in 1993.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
As has become custom, I settled down just a few minutes after first pitch to watch Tuesday’s MLB All Star Game. I was pretty sure it was on Fox and first pitch was in the 8:30 EDT range. Our program guide even said that the ASG was to air at that time. Instead, though, the MLB Tribute To Derek Jeter Starring New York Yankees Captain And World Champion Derek Jeter (with the 2014 National League And American League All Stars) was on.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Yeah, yeah, the site looks different. Normally when this happens I share a long, detailed accounting of the hows and whys that went into it. Not this time. A variety of user errors piled up over recent months and had things not working the way I wanted. After a week of tinkering I decided to scrap the system I’ve used for the last 11 months and go back to something less fiddley.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Back for part two. LeBron I figured there was a good chance that LeBron would flee Miami for Cleveland when he opted out of his contract. That didn’t mean it still wasn’t a shock when the news officially broke that he was heading home for the next phase of his career. I hated the first Decision and the premature celebration in Miami that came with it. I rooted against the Heat every step of the way the last four seasons.
Monday, July 14, 2014
A few topics of importance that must be addressed. Turns out I wrote more about the World Cup that I expected, so I’ll split it into two posts. The World Cup As tends to happen, the final was a bit frustrating for those of us who enjoy soccer. Another game that went deep into extra time before a brilliant goal saved it from being decided on penalty kicks. It was frustrating because, as the natural conservatism of most coaches/teams took over in the knockout rounds, the beauty of the group-stage of this Cup got sucked away.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
OK, time to start something new. I’ve been having trouble sharing all the interesting things I come across each week. I’ll stash them somewhere, in Instapaper or Evernote mostly, then forget about them. So instead, following the lead of a couple other sites I read, I’m going to offer up a post most Fridays full of the interesting things I’ve gathered. As always, we’ll see how long this lasts. Onto the links!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Man, talk about going out with a bang. The girls wrapped up their swimming season Thursday at the annual invitational meet, which featured all six swimming teams that make up the conference they compete in. Fortunately, rather than being held in a four-lane, neighborhood pool, it was at a 10 lane high school pool. Still, we arrived at 9:00 in the morning and walked out right at 4:00 pm. Believe it or not, everyone at the meet who were not first timers like us raved about how well run the meet was this year and how quickly it moved along.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
This is utterly astounding. Brother in music and lover of all things Prince Mike A. sent me the link below. If you were ever into Prince, I highly suggest clicking on it and chalking up the next 15 minutes to enjoying pure awesomeness. What will you see if you click? The 1983 performance of “Purple Rain,” from which most of the album version of the song was pulled. I always knew that the song was mostly live, but I had no idea that there was video of the actual performance.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Season Ticket: A Baseball Companion - Roger Angell Perhaps the greatest ever writer on matters related to baseball in the decade I grew up with the sport? Damn right I’m reading this! It only seems like Angell has been writing about baseball forever1. A significant chunk of his writings have come for The New Yorker, where he’s been an editor nearly forever as well. The collections of his New Yorker writings, organized by decade, are some of the finest baseball books around.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Good lord that was a long week. Long because there was much fun involved. Long because there was much effort involved. Long because there was much beer involved. Long because many hours were spent in the sun and water, both sucking the energy from our bodies. Long because, as tends to happen, sleep came at a premium. Long because I married into a big family and when we get almost the entire clan together in one house for a couple days, it’s a production.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Man, where did June go? Are we really over a third of the way through summer? This week is our annual family get together at the LVS. Folks began arriving yesterday and Thursday we’ll all head down to spend a few days in the water. In the meantime, the kids are taking trips to local water parks and pools, we’re having cookouts, and generally waiting for this wet weather pattern we’ve been stuck in to clear away.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
I’m not sure there’s any conversation that is more difficult to have with your children than one about death. It’s hard enough for us adults to grasp the concept, let alone put it into words. I’m not sure it’s fair to expect the kids to get it. Our girls have lost a couple great-grandmothers in their lifetimes, although neither woman was someone they saw on a regular basis. They all pay attention now when they hear on the news that some celebrity has died.
Monday, June 23, 2014
I’ve stated my case, many times, for 1984 being one of the best pop culture years ever. Over the weekend, there was another effort at laying down ’84’s case. I’m sure this crossed your Twitter/Facebook/Blogosphere streams, but I couldn’t let it go without sharing again. Thirty years ago last weekend, here’s what you could see at a movie theater: Ghostbusters Gremlins Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom The Karate Kid Star Trek III: The Search For Spock Top Secret!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
That title is how I think L., the most hip-hop of my girls, might describe the past week’s worth of sports for me. There have been a few bummers. Let’s break it down, in reverse order. I’ve watched five minutes of the World Cup.1 Those five minutes were the last five minutes of the US - Portugal game. We were at my in-laws’ house, I was following the game on my phone, and saw the US had gone up 2-1 late.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
interminable |inˈtərmənəbəl| adjective endless (often used hyperbolically): we got bogged down in interminable discussions. The girls have begun their competitive swimming careers. Their first meet was last Thursday, they swam again Tuesday night, and we have another meet scheduled for tonight. (Edit: Well, we were supposed to swim tonight. But just before warm ups were set to begin a huge line of storms rolled in and the meet was cancelled. It’s been three hours since they pulled the plug and it’s still pouring and lightning.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
What a week. Late last week, former MLB pitcher Bob Welch died. He wasn’t an icon of his era, nor one of my heroes. But for kids who grew up watching baseball in the late 70s through the 80s, his passing was noted. Then Casey Kasem. And just as I was posting my thoughts about Casey on Monday came word that San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn had died. Such a terrible run of days for our generation.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
We knew this was coming, based on recent, terrible, news reports. But it still hurts. Casey Kasem, 1932-2014. It is not hyperbole to say no pop culture figure influenced my life more than Casey. I began listening to “American Top 40” way back in its earliest days. My parents listened to “AT40”. Their friends listened to “AT40”. My uncles listened to “AT40”.1 My grandmother listened to “AT40.” Some of my earliest radio memories are of Casey’s voice in the background during car trips or just lazy weekend days when I was playing outside and my parents were lounging or doing yard work with the radio on.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
I’m not the soccer fan I once was. That’s not because I like soccer any less, but rather because I just have a harder time squeezing it into my schedule. Which is kind of a shame because this is the glory age for American soccer fans. When I first began following European soccer after the 1994 World Cup, viewing options were extremely limited. ESPN would show a few Champions League games each year, sometimes just the final.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
It’s funny how things always come back on the Internet. I guess it’s a function of there being thousands of websites seeking page views that makes every trend, fad, or other pop culture moment/icon get a second or third look. For example, I’ve read three long article in recent weeks about Don Johnson, who is apparently a thing again. If you were a fan of him in his Miami Vice days, I suggest hunting down some of the articles.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Our first full week of summer kicked off today. I was looking at the calendar last night and it sunk in how short summers are for kids these days. I remember getting out of school the week of Memorial Day most years and not going back until the day after Labor Day. A full three months to waste in swimming pools, on dusty Little League fields, in the backs on un-air conditioned cars, and watching bad reruns on TV.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Three quick hours this morning, apparently to satisfy the state of Indiana, and now M. and C. are finally done with school.1 It’s been a long few days, as the district we live in wrapped up their school year last Thursday. So while the neighbors have been swimming and going to parks, we’ve still been on a normal school schedule. Not anymore, though. As with the stomach bug hitting the house over Memorial Day, I hope the weather today isn’t an omen for the rest of the summer.
Monday, June 2, 2014
34-Ton Bat - Steve Rushin Here we have a book that is perfect for summer and browsing through while a baseball game buzzes in the background. Rushin tells a story of the history of baseball not through on the field actions, but rather through all the ephemera that is attached to the game. The development of uniforms, where nachos came from, how the modern bat industry came about, the man who kicked off the game day giveaway craze (and in the process made the Dodgers a Southern California institution), and on and on.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
When we jumped into this owning a pleasure craft thing, we knew there would be a significant learning curve involved. Neither of us had spent more than a few seconds steering a powered craft on water. Neither of us is mechanically minded, meaning we can’t quickly diagnose and then fix problems. Then there’s the matter of educating ourselves while making sure everyone on board stays safe. Kind of takes the pleasure out of pleasure craft if you dwell on it.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
As a young lad, my summers were split into two, roughly even, segments. The first half consisted of baseball and day camp at the YMCA. Once baseball season ended, usually in mid-July, my mom would ship me off to spend a month or so with my grandparents in central Kansas. Her parents were farmers. They could pick up three TV stations (on a good day). Their home was small and few items from my uncles’ childhoods remained.
Monday, May 26, 2014
How did your summer 2014 start off? Ours had highs and lows. Breakdown? You betcha! I’m hoping the way our weekend began was not an omen for the rest of the summer. L. and M. both woke up with stomach aches Friday. It was L.’s last day of school, with her big bike parade on the agenda, so I did not want to be stuck at home with one or two sick kids.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
There are many good aspects to being in your 40s. In a lot of other ways, though, it bites the big one. I could write for pages and pages about the downsides to being 40+. Rather than bore you with stories about how my back always hurts, my crappy eyesight, my deteriorating hearing, etc. I thought I would share this less personal observation. I’m beginning to question how I dress. Only mildly, mind you.