• Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 14

    Chart Week: September 27, 1986 Song: “Heartbeat” – Don Johnson Chart Position: #14, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in October. The history of pop music is riddled with vanity projects by actors, comedians, athletes, and others in the public eye who decided to leverage their fame in other mediums in an attempt to get…

  • Weekend Kid Sports

    This was a weekend of sports endings and beginnings. And waitings, too, I guess. C wrapped up her cross country season with the annual City championship meet. Once again it was hot and humid for the biggest meet of the year, which is always an afternoon meet to avoid high school sectionals. I will give her this: she might fuss…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/50k3Wo5Lf0TGYxAlX7wPDp?si=bEkNmpE-QzW-z0rVIqcElQ “Heaven” – Late Bloomer. I’ve been meaning to share this song since July. It’s a big, crunchy, aggressive song that would have fit right into alternative rock radio in 1996. “Apocalypse Now (& Later)” – Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers. LJG’s announcement that she was transgendered and would be transitioning tore her previous band, Against Me!, apart.…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 10/2/18

    Righteous – Joe Ide I was a big fan of Ide’s debut novel, IQ, which I read earlier this year. I was very pleased to read an interview with Ide in which he confirmed he would continue writing about the lead character, Isaiah Quintabe, aka IQ, the Sherlock Holmes of south central Los Angeles. I did not know he had…

  • Weekend Notes

    To get the week rolling, I’ll knock out a variety of subjects in one post. First, apologies for the lack of a playlist or video last Friday. We added one, final task to phase one of our home improvement process and that was getting wrapped up on Friday. I have to say, our house looks pretty fantastic now. A week…