I was all prepared to write about the key to Saturday’s KU-MU game being the MU offensive line. On their two scoring drives, they looked like monsters, pushing the much smaller KU d-line around at will. Not sure if it was adjustments by KU, or failure to stick to what worked by MU, but that dominance wasn’t evident the rest of the game. Bill Whittemore was more able than Brad Smith to adjust to what the defense was giving him, and that pretty much was the game. I wonder if Kevin Kietzman will finally start giving Mark Mangino a little credit. That Northwestern game is really looking ugly now.
Dante Hall is playing like he’s in a video game.
I like it when Randy Moss is playing like he’s from another planet.
I walk off my plane in San Francisco last night, look at the TV, and see the Colts lead the Saints something like 40-12. Fifteen minutes later, when I’m pulling my Sunfire out of the rental garage at SFO, it’s 55-12. Then I hear Edgerrin James never played. Amazing. Did Tony Dungy miss the game too? Surely he wasn’t actually on the sideline for an offensive outburst like this.
Speaking of rental cars, since my company tries to keep expenses in check, we have to take the cheapest cars (unless you’re a high flying, board member assisting, revenue generator like Mike A.). In the old days, I’d walk up to the counter, they’d offer me a mid-sized car for an extra buck, and I jumped at it. Then I got upgraded to “preferred” status. For the pleasure of skipping the counter and walking directly to my car, I’ve now been driving nothing but Sunfires and Cavaliers for the past eight months. Luckily, I’ve yet to drive a red Cavalier.
Read three-quarters of Jonathan Franzen’s collection of essays How to Be Alone on the plane. I don’t care if he dissed Oprah, the dude can write.
I meant to comment on this back during the summer, but for some reason kept skipping over it. Do DJs at weddings not listen to the lyrics of the music they play? At one of our weddings this summer, during the dinner hour the DJ played “Every Breath You Take” and that Sheryl Crow – Kid Rock song in succession. First off, “EBYT” isn’t about romantic love. It’s about stalking someone who has pushed you away. Second, should a song that includes the lyric “I can’t think about you when I’m lying next to her” (or whatever it is) ever be played at anything that has to do with marriage? There is an endless supply of music to play at a wedding. If you’re going to play a song about infidelity or being a sick bastard, at least make it a dance song where the meaning gets lost behind the beat. (This is when you can chime in and tell me about inappropriate songs played at my wedding that I didn’t hear because I was too preoccupied.)
I watched about five minutes of Real Genius a week ago. Classic, brilliant mid-80s movie. Val Kilmer’s first big role. The inspired use of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” over the closing credits. Laslow Hollyfeld. Everything about this movie is good. I got sad while watching it, though. I remembered the time when each weekend meant watching an endless supply of Real Genius, Vacation, and Fletch. As you grow older, you get busier, sleep becomes more important, and perhaps you acquire a spouse along the way who isn’t into watching the same movies endlessly. I miss about 75% of the current movies, so I don’t even have time to think about watching Fletch once a month like I used to. Swingers is probably the last grown-up film I’ll watch 50+ times in my life. Of course, I’ll probably get to watch countless unnamed Disney films that many times in the next ten years.
Speaking of growing up, I was driving around last week and heard “Keep on Lovin’ You” by REO Speedwagon. Immediately made me think of a night in 1981 when my mom got me a sitter, and went out for the night. I spent the entire night in front of the stereo, with headphones on, flipping back and forth between KY-102 and Q-104 in Kansas City, trying to hear that song. I seriously spent five hours, not saying a word to the babysitter, staring at the dial as I flipped it back and forth. I don’t know if I ever heard the song, but I sure as hell tried. Fast-forward four years. I stayed up until 4:00 AM one Saturday night trying to hear “Axel F” from Beverly Hills Cop so I could tape it. Finally, when I was about to give up, I heard it, got my copy, and crashed. I think these two stories may explain some of my music obsessive behavior to those of you who don’t quite get it when I go on-and-on about some song or group I like.
Speaking of driving around, I have bought three tanks of gas for my truck since moving to Indianapolis. Another beauty of working at home. If you never drive it, I guess you can’t feel guilty about driving a gas-guzzling SUV.
Speaking of SUVs, why do environmentalists just whine about the lack of efficiency in them and not in sports cars? I hear over-and-over about how horrible for the environment SUVs are. I get at least five miles-per-gallon more in my SUV than my step-dad does in his Corvette. What about heavy Cadillacs that have V-8 engines? I have a mid-sized SUV with a V-6, get roughly 22 MPG. It’s not a great number, and I really wish it did better. If I had it to do over, I would get a smaller SUV that was in the upper 20s. But until you start calling out the cars that get equally poor or worse mileage, get off my back.