Month: July 2014 (Page 2 of 3)

⦿ Friday Links

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


Last year, each night I went into C’s room to tell her goodnight, either “Blurred Lines” or “Get Lucky” seemed to be playing on her bedside radio. She’s not listening to the radio at night anymore, but I imagine I would be hearing “Fancy” or “Problem” if she was. The AV Club discusses whether the concept of a song of the summer is out-dated.

Can anything truly be called “song of the summer” anymore?


An article about KU basketball that even non-KU fans might want to read. It’s about an interesting study measuring the stress and hormone levels of KU players during the 2012-13 season. The folks behind the survey believe that, eventually, they may be able to unlock more tools for keeping players at their peak levels of performance from the data studies like this are generating.

Could KU basketball study lead to a change in the way the game is played?


From the Chronicle of Higher Education, of all places, a fascinating article about the recruitment of Marvin Clark, a Kansas City native. Like every article about recruiting, it makes you feel a little dirty about being a fan of college sports. Although, for now, Clark seems to be headed in a good direction in his life.

The Courting Of Marvin Clark


Finally, an absolutely wonderful feature on LA Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully. If you love baseball, you kind of have to love Vin. Which means you’ll love this article.

‘We’ve Been Friends Long Enough You’ll Understand’

Friday Vid

“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.

I’ve said before, to some other lovers of 80s music, that this might be the most underrated of DD songs. You don’t think of it as quickly as you do “Hungry Like The Wolf” or “Rio.” It wasn’t as big of a hit as “The Reflex.” But I think it’s just as good as any of those songs.

All Star Game, 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.

I crack myself up.

But seeeeeeeriously. That was a bit much. I know, I know, great player, great guy, sure-fire Hall of Famer, the face of baseball since 1998 or so. Played for the game’s iconic franchise his entire career. Involved in two of the most memorable plays of the last 20 years. Blah blah blah. I don’t know if every aspect of the game had to be somehow connected to Jeter.

That slobber job was much of the reason I on half-watched after about the fourth inning. I’ve been hearing about Jeter for nearly 20 years. I didn’t need to pay close attention if that’s all the broadcast was going to be about.

He did handle it well, though, trying to speed things along. He’s always seemed like a decent guy. Still don’t like him.

But I did scribble down some notes during the game. Let’s take a look at what caught my attention.

  • OK, for all my Jeter hate, the Jordan Brand commercial for him was pretty great. The Red Sox fans in the middle were a fun addition.
  • Loved, LOVED, the guy who was screaming “OVERRATED” at Jeter and then he rips the double down the line. That’s why so many of us dislike Jeter: he always has an answer! He’s not human!
  • Aramis Ramirez has 2119 career hits? Shows how little attention I pay to National League ball. I had no idea he had racked that many up. That’s a pretty solid career.
  • I was disappointed that, during the interview with commissioner Bud Selig, when he was asked about it being his final All Star Game as commissioner, he didn’t offer an evil laugh and say, “Wellllllll, don’t be so sure about that…”
  • I about came unglued when Tom Verducci insisted that Jeter has inspired more future ballplayers than any player ever. There’s no doubt he has influenced tons of kids. But what about Mickey Fucking Mantle? Didn’t every play for like 30 years say that he was their favorite player growing up? Or that he was their dad’s favorite player and that inspired their dad to coach them up as kids? Didn’t baby boomers make sappy homages to the Mick when they hit middle age? But then Harold Reynolds, amazingly, made a fine point. He mentioned Mantle but gave Jeter the nod because of the age he played in, where every game is on TV, where the Yankees are constantly on national TV, and when he played in the World Series a ton. Kids heard about Mickey. They got to see Jeter in high definition for most of his career. A pretty fine and fair point. I was swayed.
  • It was excellent that the Oakland Athletics got a little love during the night. I really should try to watch some of their games in the second half. They seem like a fun team to see play. And it’s great that they’re mirroring the classic 1970s A’s teams that were full of personalities and wacky appearances.
  • I could not help but compare/contrast the interviewing techniques of the two Fox on-field reporters. Ken Rosenthal’s first question sequence is always the same. Two quick observations followed but a brief question. “You’ve won two World Series titles. An MVP. award How did tonight compare?” Erin Andrews, on the other hand, always seems like a mess. She’ll ramble on for a bit then realize she has to ask a question. “…I mean, what’s up with all that?”1 Sad thing is because her style is so prevalent these days, it’s not like it gets poorer responses than Rosenthal’s.
  • I always wonder about the troops overseas they show during sporting events. Are they allowed to move during the game? If they sneak off to the bathroom does someone yell at them, “Hey! Sit down! Fox could show us any minute!” And, as with all patriotic moments like that, I wonder what the really point is. In the midst of a three-hour tribute to an incredibly rich athlete interrupted by constant reminders to buy more beer and high tech gadgets, don’t these 2-3 shots of troops kind of lose their impact?
  • Minnesota has a rich and varied music history. So naturally MLB picked a Broadway singer from Queens and a country singer from Arkansas to sing the National Anthem and “God Bless America,” respectively. Which is exactly what I think of when I think of Minnesota music, Broadway and country. Sigh. I know, you probably don’t want Bob Dylan or Prince singing either song. And Craig Finn, Bob Mould, and Paul Westerberg are probably too nichey to include. I bet Morris Day could have pulled it off, though.
  • Fox missed a golden opportunity to throw some local music in when the Adam Wainwright “controversy” broke. After Andrews interviewed Wainwright to clarify his comments about grooving one to Jeter in the first inning, Fox really should have used Prince’s “Controversy” as the bumper music into the next commercial. I would have nodded and given my full approval.
  • Dumb controversy. So what if Wainwright threw a cookie to Jeter? The old man still had to hit it. I don’t think there was really a controversy. It was just something to talk about. And Andrews’ dismissive “Don’t you just love social media?” comment was stupid. Especially coming from a social media phenomenon. When in doubt, blame the bloggers and the tweeters.
  • Target looks like a nice ballpark. Joe Buck certainly praised it all night, but that’s kind of his job. It got me thinking about how many “bad” ballparks are left compared to 25 years ago, when Skydome opened up the new ballpark era. Back then there was still an abundance of cookie cutter, multi-purpose, AstroTurfed parks that looked alike and were kind of terrible. There were still plenty of other stadiums that weren’t built solely for baseball. And there were several stadiums that were actively falling apart. Today, you have the Coliseum in Oakland, which was old in 1989 and an absolute dump today, Tropicana in Tampa which is an embarrassment, and maybe U.S. Cellular in Chicago which isn’t that old but wasn’t built to be beautiful like the parks that came along shortly after it. Skydome, ironically, seems kind of plain today. Every other team either plays in a relatively new or renovated stadium that is in solid shape and seems like a decent place to go watch a game.
  • Oh, and good job American League!

  1. To be clear, I’m not bashing her. She used to be better. She hasn’t seemed as prepared in recent years, though. 

Yes, I Did It Again

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. Or at least something that if I fiddle with it, I can back up and fix things easier than in the past.

A couple things that might be better for my readers:

1- Archived posts are now much easier to get to. I’m not done importing but in a few days you’ll be able to go all the way back to June 2003 rather easily.1 I’ll still need to go back and do some code clean up in many of those posts, but they’re still readable.
2 – I’ve long wanted to implement the bigfoot.js footnotes feature. Now I can! Easier, prettier footnote access for my readers!

So hopefully it’s all good for you and a couple weeks annoyance for me until everything is locked in again.

As always, thanks for reading.


  1. With that six-month gap in 2011 when I was messing with things and somehow lost all the posts from that period. 

Hot Sports Takes, Part 2

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. But I never hated LeBron.

One day, maybe soon, we’ll learn of the flaws in the man that every other celebrity has. But, for the most part, he is the ideal modern star. He plays hard every game. He’s a good teammate. He handles himself well off the court. His biggest fault may be whining about calls on the court, but show me an NBA superstar in the modern era who hasn’t done the same thing.

So it’s kind of fun to be able to officially like LeBron again. Anyone who chooses Cleveland over the other options he had deserves props, local native or not.

My immediate fear was that the Cavaliers might use Andrew Wiggins as the center of a trade to get Minnesota’s Kevin Love. That may still happen, but for now the Cleveland front office claims they have no plans to move Wiggs. Of course, what else are they going to say?

Still, it’s going to be crazy fun watching Wiggins apprentice at the foot of LBJ. When was the last time there was a pairing of the top player in the game with perhaps the best young talent in the game? I’m not sure Shaq and Kobe count as Jordan was still playing at the time. Jordan and Pippen don’t count because no one expected Pipped to become an all-time player. Kareem and Magic in LA, I guess? As many have pointed out, keeping Wiggins is a winning move for both players. He is more likely to become an elite defensive player before he becomes an elite scorer. That takes pressure off of LeBron to guard the best wing each night. And LeBron’s scoring takes the pressure off of Wiggins to immediately score 22 a night. He can ease into the pros, score in the low teens while he develops his shot, gets some moves, gets stronger and smarter all while grabbing 6-7 boards a night, getting a few steals, and shutting down guys on defense.

I may have to go see the Cavaliers when they come to Indy this season.

I didn’t even think of that angle until Sunday. “Oh yeah,” I realized, “the Cavaliers are in the same division as the Pacers.” That complicates the Pacers mini-rebuild a bit, doesn’t it?

Larry Bird was again aggressive early in the NBA free agency period, working to rebuild the Pacers bench. Which is fine, but I don’t think the bench in their problem. They need a point guard. They need a scorer who can compliment Paul George. They need another big body with David West aging and not knowing which Roy Hibbert will show up next year. I don’t think new bench parts will do the trick, especially when a couple of Bird’s big signings a year ago barely played.

Miami is out of the way, but Cleveland and Chicago should be much better next year. The Pacers might finish third in their division rather than roll through with the #1 seed again.


Royals

Well, the All Star Break has arrived and the Royals are in second place. Of course, they’re 6.5 games back in the division and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card race. Three weeks after owning a 1.5 game lead in the division. Their best pitcher is out for another two weeks. Other than that glorious 10-game winning streak, they can’t hit consistently through the entire lineup.

Since they dropped five of seven immediately after the winning streak that vaulted them into first place, I’ve had a feeling of dread about the team. They may get hot again, but I fear that will just do what their August run of last year did: give the appearance of competitiveness without actually contending for a playoff spot. They may stay within a few games of the second Wild Card spot. But I have no faith in them being able to make a charge ahead of the pack and claim one of those spots.

Another wasted summer for Kansas City baseball fans.

Hot Sports Takes, Part 1

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. At least to those who only look at the final score.

This game, though, was a fine one all around. Neither team sat back and waited for mistakes. Both teams pushed forward when they had the chance. Argentina missed two terrific chances to score in regular time. Germany missed one. Both defenses were aggressive and stout rather than playing the “park the bus” defense that has appeared in these games in the past.

But the fact is no one could convert until very late, and for the soccer haters it’s more evidence that “soccer is boring.”

Oh well. To each their own. If you didn’t enjoy this game, I’m not going to try to convince you of why you should have.

Some bullet points scribbled down during the game:
* I love the singing of the national anthems before World Cup games. Especially when the stands are full of fans of each team. The shots of spectators singing along gloriously are fantastic. Argentina may have the greatest national anthem ever, based on what I saw Sunday. Apparently there are no words, but that didn’t stop the fans from jumping up and down and “singing” along with the music. That was a gorgeous site. Also, props to the Argentinian section that had a huge banner of the Pope. That made me laugh out loud.
* I loved ESPN’s Ian Darke saying German coach Joachim Loew looked like a “Bond movie villain.”
* Speaking of Darke, he and analyst Steve McManaman were terrific. They both understand the game well, have all those lovely British phrases that make soccer sound better than when Americans broadcast it, have tremendous rapport, and are often quite funny. McManaman isn’t afraid to call out players, coaches, or referees either. More former players who sit in the broadcast booth need his candor.
* I loved how they both uttered a long “OOOOOHHH!” when Lionel Messi had a wonderful move early in the game. It wasn’t a sound of hype. It was a sound of genuine awe. To the casual fan Messi had the ball in the box and lost it before he could shoot. They saw, though, him making a couple phenomenal moves that few other players in the world could make.
* Props to FIFA for getting these games started quickly. They bring the teams out and play the national anthems before the top of the hour. The players run around for two minutes and the game starts. None of this 8:37 kickoff bullshit you get in the Super Bowl.
* Perhaps it was just how the crowd microphones were placed/processed, but both sets of fans sounded very loud. A far cry from the often sterile crowds that you get at US events like the Super Bowl and Final Four that are played at neutral sites. I’m sure a significant portion of the crowd was given over to corporate sponsors and celebrities in Rio. But it sure sounded like the majority of seats were filled with Germans and Argentinians.
* I laughed out loud at how German Michael Ballack and the Argentinian (I forget his name) who worked in the ESPN studios both used “We” to describe their home teams. We give all the Dukies that ESPN employs in their college basketball coverage a lot of grief. But they never say “We,” when discussing how the Blue Devils can play better in the second half.
* There were 75,000 and change at Sunday’s game. If you watched, you know that the old stadium on the same site held 200,000 people for the 1950 final game. Can you imagine that many people watching a game in one spot? That’s two Rose Bowls. Two Michigan Stadiums. Nearly three Texas Stadiums. That’s nuts.
* Mario Göetze’s1 game winning goal was an astounding piece of work. Collecting a beautiful cross on the run, getting a perfect first touch, and then immediately shooting to past the goalie. That’s how you win a damn World Cup! He’s drinking for free forever.
* Enough with the pictures of crying children when their teams are about to lose. The camera folks (not sure who was in control of them, ESPN or someone else) seemed more concerned with finding distraught Argentinians than showing the action after Göetz’s goal.

Good on Germany for winning their fourth title. Had they lost, their epic, astounding, unreal destruction of Brazil in the semifinals would be a footnote to history. Winning the final confirms that they were the best team over the last month. They beat the three of the four other best teams along the way. Given how Holland played against Argentina in their semifinal, I don’t know that the Dutch would have had the answers for their arch-rivals.

I was neutral for this, not really having any strong rooting interest either way. I was kind of hoping Lionel Messi would play well and take his place among the game’s historical elite. But I enjoyed how the Germans played as a team. That said, pity how people are piling on Messi already. So he’s not in Maradonna and Pele’s class. He’s still one of the three best players in the world now. And based on what he’s done for the past decade, one of the all time greats. It’s possible to say he’s not quite at the top without ripping the dude apart.

I remember thinking, when the Germans won their last cup in 1990, that with reunification coming, Germany would turn into an unstoppable soccer force for decades to come. They won the 1996 European title, but had consistently failed in the semifinals in tournament-after-tournament since. They were regularly very good, but never great. It’s taken longer than I thought, but with a vibrant, diverse young crop of players, might Germany be on the verge of becoming the world soccer power? I guess we’ll find out in two years when the next European championships roll around, and then two years later when the World Cup goes to Russia.

Finally, looking back on my pre-tournament predictions, I was right about 50% at each stage. I picked 9 of the Round of 16 teams correctly. Then picked half of the next stages correctly; four of eight quarterfinalists, two of the semifinalists, and one final participant. Alas, I had Argentina beating Brazil 3-1.


  1. I’ve seen it spelled Göetze and Götze across different sites. Is it really that hard? 

⦿ Friday Links

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!


The Dissolve shared their top 50 summer blockbusters of all-time recently. Hard to argue with the movies that make up the top 10, although I might move a few around.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


The first of two map-related links, Smarty Pins is a Google Maps based trivia game. A fine way for my office-bound friends to waste some time before the weekend!

Smarty Pins


Next, for my less mature friends, Gary Gale has put together a map with locations with naughty sounding names highlighted. Perfect pick-up after a crappy meeting!

Vaguely Rude Place Names Of The World


We’re in the midst of the nostalgia crush that is the 25th anniversary of Seinfeld’s premier. Rolling Stone talks to 10 actors who had bit parts on the show.

And They’re Spectacular! 10 Actors on Their Memorable ‘Seinfeld’ Roles


More pop culture. The eight longest cast tenures in Saturday Night Live history.


The always unstable music industry appears to be on the verge of another major upheaval as streaming music services begin to slice into the margins of the iTunes Music Store and Amazon Music Store. I think it’s practically impossible to predict where the industry is headed – we never know what new technology or service will come along in 18 months to destroy all our current assumptions – but this is an interesting take on where we could be headed.

Spotify Rules


Finally, a far more sobering link. The Atlantic has had a wonderful photo series over the past few months marking the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. The final entry, photos taken in the modern age of the old battlefields, memorials, and the many items that are still found in the soil of Europe each year, is fascinating. The images of the piles of shells and grenades dug from battle sites are astounding. Be warned, there are some photos that are difficult to view.

World War I in Photos: A Century Later

Last Meet

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. I hate to think what time we would have left had it not been well and quickly managed.

The girls all did well. C. had a couple times in the top half of her group of 40-50 swimmers, but didn’t crack the top ten. All the rest of the girls’ swims were in the lower quarter of total times. I didn’t share that with them, though. I just told them how they did in their heat. “You were third!” or “You were fifth but you passed two girls right at the end!” That was good enough for them.

I was a timekeeper in the 6 and under session. Those kids are fun to watch because they’re all kind of clueless. Some kids would stand there and stare at the crowd after the starting tone sounded. Others would jump in and then look around to see what direction they were supposed to go and what stroke they were supposed to use to get there. There were a few cryers who refused to get in this strange, new, giant pool. I’m going to miss seeing toothless L. in her swimming cap and goggles. Made me laugh every time I saw it at practice or a meet.

When each kid was done, we helped them out of the pool, pointed them in the right direction for the holding area, and told them they had done well. One girl looked at me and said, “Thanks. I’ve been practicing for years!” Cracked me up. She had no idea who I was but wanted to tell me all about it. I told the woman who was working my lane with me and she said, “Years? Was she swimming in the womb or something?”

Timing helped the first 45 minutes pass quickly. But once I was done it was another long day at the pool. It was a lovely day here in Indy, but I was thankful we were at an indoor pool and not dealing with the sun at all. Despite taking a bag of food for each girl, they ran out well before the end of the meet. Fortunately they were so distracted they weren’t whining about being hungry. Plus I promised them an early dinner at Dairy Queen on the way home.

One other funny thing from the day. There was this little kid, I’m pretty sure he was in the 6 and unders, who was rocking a Speedo. Despite being 6 at the oldest, he was already all muscular. I didn’t see him swim but I did see him in the gym where the kids were staged. There he had found a basketball and was dribbling around, going behind his back, crossing over between his legs, and then drilling high school 3-pointers. Again, he was 6. And wearing a Speedo. Safe to say this kid has some athletic ability and confidence already.

So now we’re done with swimming. It was a solid first year. The girls learned a lot and got better. We certainly learned a lot as parents, going through six weeks of practices and meets. It’s kind of a pain at times, but I think it was ultimately a positive experience for us all.

And now we can just go to the pool and hang out for the next month.

The Original “Purple Rain”

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.

That alone would be amazing. But whoever posted the video has all kinds of insights into the performance which they helpfully, and unobtrusively, share during the song.

Seriously, go watch it.

Purple Rain Live

Appropriate that it surfaces now, as we’re right in the middle of the 30th anniversary of both the movie and the album1. Last night, while drifting off to sleep, I listed to the Sound Opinions podcast on which they discussed the album and invited former Revolution members Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin to share their memories of how they joined the band and how the album came together. Bits of most of the songs on the albums are played during the show. I couldn’t help but think that exactly 30 years ago, I was likely lying in my bed, trying to fall asleep while listening to ZZ99 or Q-104 and no doubt heard “When Doves Cry” at some point. Crazy.


  1. The album came out June 25, 1984. The movie opened a month later on July 27. 

June Books

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.

In his 1980s edition, he has the standard spring training explorations, where he picks a subject that interests him – how do second basemen field their positions, how do catchers hone their skill, what are the secrets of hitting – and hops around Florida and Arizona asking players and managers for their insights. There are the year-end summaries, which touch on the highlights of the entire season and then go in-depth on the post-season. Finally, there are his lengthy mid-season pieces, often focused on a single team or player. In 1982, he took a deep look at the Oakland A’s to learn how that organization’s new ownership group was thinking outside the box to compete. A subject another fine writer attacked with another Oakland ownership group 20 years later. And his 1985 feature on Royals closer Dan Quisenberry is just a fantastic piece of writing, forget about the baseball angle.

I ripped through this in my standard 7-10 days. But Angell’s books can just as easily be set on the table next to your remote and worked through slowly during the commercial breaks and rain delays of the long baseball season. In fact, I bet Angell would prefer his books be digested in exactly that manner.

The Master Of Disguise – Antonio J. Mendez
Here we have another book that has been on my reading list for ages. So long that I could not recall why I put it on there. But I finally tackled it and, roughly halfway through, remembered why.

This is the brief, fast-paced memoir of Mendez, who spent a career working for the CIA in all the hottest spots of the world. Shortly after joining the service, he spent time in Southeast Asia during the tail-end of the Vietnam war. In the midst of the 1970s, he went to the heart of the Cold War during several trips to Moscow. And then the mission that has made him famous (well after the fact) was his effort to get some of the American hostages out of Iran in 1979. That mission was the basis for the movie Argo, with Ben Affleck playing the part of Mendez.2

So that’s why it was on my list!

Anyway, this is a fun little book. Mendez zips through his improbable career. He began as a graphic artist and eventually became the head of the CIA’s disguise efforts. He set up the most successful US espionage effort in the Soviet Union. And he helped six Americans escape Iran during the hostage crisis. He makes it all seem like just another desk job, just with occasional encounters with enemy agents.

A Simple Plan – Scott Smith
Several years back I read Smith’s The Ruins and kind of loved it. It was the kind of spooky horror novel that I can get into. I never saw the movie based on this, his first novel, but still wanted to get back and read it.

As the title suggests, the book revolves around a simple plan. In this case, three men discover a crashed plane on New Year’s Eve in northern Ohio. Next to the dead pilot is a bag containing over $4 million. They whip up a simple plan to ride out the winter, after which they can divide up the money, travel their separate ways, and no one will ever know.

Ahhh, but it’s not so simple, it turns out. One thing after another goes wrong. Each new challenge requires a new plan, which in isolation seems completely logical, and yes simple. The participants, though, can never look at the bigger picture and see how deep a hole they’ve dug for themselves.

Shit gets pretty damn deep. Lots and lots of blood is spilt. The ending isn’t terribly satisfying in that part of the original plan works out. Despite the heavy weight over those who are left at the end, it still feels like they get off easy after the wave of destruction they unleashed.

The whole book became a little much about two-thirds of the way through. That final third had a lot of “Oh come on!” moments, at least for me. One in particular near the end had me contemplating skipping the final 30 pages or so.

But I finished. And I much preferred The Ruins to it.

The Confessor – Daniel Silva
Actually a July book, but since I finished it over the Fourth of July holiday, I’ll throw it in here, too. This is the third entry in the Gabriel Allon series. This time the Israeli super spy / art restorer is asked to investigate the murder of a former colleague who was working as a professor in Munich. The trail soon leads to Venice and Rome and an effort by the new Pope to reveal the Catholic Church’s true role during the Holocaust. But, not so fast, there are dark forces within the Vatican that do not want the past to be revisited! The Pope and Allon both become targets. And everything gets worked out.

All the standard stuff. Still good enough to keep me interested and to add the next book in the series to the reading queue.


  1. He turns 94 in September. He published his first baseball story in 1962. 
  2. Worth noting that while the film is excellent, the drama is ramped up significantly. There are many elements of the film that were hacked together by writers and never actually happened. Hollywood… 
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