Month: April 2023 (Page 2 of 2)

Friday Playlist

“Anti-Curse” – boygenius
The supergroup released their first full-length album last week. It’s very good, or at least the high points are. I love how it’s a combination of songs where each singer takes the lead and songs that are collaborations with all three taking turns. Here Julien Baker is up front. Critic Steven Hyden liked this song so much he said Baker should put out an album filled entirely with songs influenced by the grunge era. Expect a boygenius song on my year-end list.

“Swooning” – JW Francis
Is there a better time to swoon over someone new than the spring? Asking rhetorically since I’m a 51-year-old married man.

“Taking Time to Tell You” – Chime School
Has there ever been a better named band? Bright, 1960s jangle pop updated for the modern age.

“Driving to Texas” – Tom Morello featuring Phantogram
I don’t listen to Morello’s music that much, although I do run into his shows on SiriusXM quite often. A few weeks back he played this, a collaboration from a couple years back I’m not sure I either knew about or had heard before.

“Catholic” – Elanor Moss
“Good Friday” – The Black Crowes
A very good Friday to everyone, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

“Out of Control” – U2
They played music pretty much everywhere at the Hard Rock Resort. Which makes sense, right? It’s all part of the brand. You’d walk from area-to-area and one song would blend into another. I’m not sure if it was random or because whoever programs their algorithm really likes it, but I heard this song three times during our week in the Dominican. Which reminded me that it is one of U2’s better early songs. Luckily they played it at their legendary 1983 Red Rocks concert.

College Hoops Notes

Let’s wrap up the college basketball season.


Jayhawk Talk

Bill Self finally appeared before the media on Wednesday, his first interaction with the press since before his heart episode nearly a month ago.

He looked and sounded great.

In his recorded interviews with Greg Gurley during the NCAA tournament he always seemed half a step slow, either verbally, mentally, or both. Naturally this led to rumors that he had suffered a stroke.

Maybe he did have a stroke; that didn’t come up at the press conference. I think more likely that was just the meds in his system and some general weariness from what he was going through.

Anyway, he seemed like the same old Bill Self Wednesday. He confirmed he will be coaching next year. It should be no surprise that there were rumors as soon as the press conference was announced on Monday that he would be announcing his retirement. I don’t think that’s a modern age thing at all. Those rumors would have popped up if this was 1973. They just spread faster now.

Self has always been great with the press and he certainly was that Wednesday. KU fans should be excited that he said the time away from the court made him realize he doesn’t want to not coach. My assumption is that means he’ll coach as long as he has the hunger for it and his body allows him to do it.

He alluded to lifestyle changes he needed to make to stay healthy. That need has been obvious for a few years. I think he really enjoyed last summer especially, coming off a national championship. That may be the real reason he stuck with the casual wear last year, as the quarter zips hide an expansive midsection better than a suit can.[1] Wednesday he looked like he’s already lost a few pounds, which is a good start.

Hopefully he is completely healthy and recovered, or at least well on that path. And hopefully his body is ready to handle the stresses of the season again when November rolls around. For the time being I think KU fans can rest easier that we’re not going to have to find a new coach right away.

As for the team, I hadn’t really thought about it until Self said this, but there are only four returning players with playing experience. While the four incoming freshmen are all highly rated, he pointed out that there are a lot of holes to fill.

There’s a chance Kevin McCullar could return. That would probably be the smartest move for him, but it seems like he’s ready to take whatever the pro game has to offer him.

I’ve been monitoring the players in the transfer portal and have been amused/bemused by how many of the best players are bad matches for KU. There are a bunch of little guys who can score. I’m not sure Self would be thrilled to throw a guy smaller than DaJuan Harris next to him in the backcourt, no matter how well that kid can shoot it. And especially if that kid can’t play solid D. A couple of the most talented players are either terrible shooters or highly inefficient shooters, also not what KU needs. Inside, do you take an established big and limit Ernest Udeh’s minutes/development?

I know Self always wants to win in the moment. Next year’s schedule is the usual monster, though.[2] I would suggest this might be a transfer season where he should look to add depth rather than plug-in starters. Roll with the returning players and freshmen while finding one or two depth guys who have experience and can fill holes capably but won’t demand 30 minutes a game of PT.

Once the roster shakes out, I’ll probably have a final Jayhawk Talk entry for the season.


Women’s Final Four

This was awesome, way better than the men’s final weekend. L and I both got swept up in Caitlin Clark fever. Unless you rooted for a team Iowa was playing, how could you not? This might have been the first time I’ve ever wanted Iowa to win at anything. Not sure why, but I’ve always had a strong, irrational dislike of the school’s teams.

Shame the Hawkeyes ran out of steam in the championship game. All props to LSU for a ridiculous performance to grab the title. That reminded me of 2018 Villanova, at least in the title game. The Tigers refused to miss.

When I watch women’s hoops I’m always noting the differences between it and the men’s game. I think one thing that made Clark so popular was how she plays with a flair, edge, and abandon that we expect more from men than women. I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more girls pull up from 10 feet behind the 3-point line this travel season.

Which brings us to Clark’s interactions with LSU’s Angel Reese at the end of the title game. Reese was IN CLARK’S FACE for the final 20 seconds or so, flashing all the signs that Clark has flashed all year and pointing at her ring finger. It was a little much, so I was not surprised that people went way over the top in reacting.

Clark brought that on herself. She didn’t seem super upset about it afterward, so props to her for being able to take it after dishing it. I think Reese played the disrespect card a little too hard, but don’t have much of a problem for throwing something Clark did back at her.

I just wish it had been a little so direct. Flat out, if that happened in a mens game there would have been a fight. Do it with your teammates, to your fans, to the cameras. You never need to get in someone’s face the way Reese did with Clark, though.

Did LSU just run over and grab the trophy? That’s kind of awesome. I’m used to the men’s game where there’s a whole 10–15 minutes of celebration before the formal presentation of the trophy. I swear LSU had the trophy 8.5 seconds after the final horn sounded.

Hey, here’s a hot take: those referees in the championship game sucked big time. Just a disastrous performance. The technical on Clark was the capper on a very, very bad day. Yes, let’s put the player more people have tuned in to watch than any other game in the history of women’s basketball on the bench because she was a little petulant during a dead ball. Meanwhile ignore the opposing coach acting like a complete lunatic the entire game and her best player violating every rule of taunting in the books without getting T’d up.

Pretty much every other call in the game sucked, too.

I know America was obsessed with Kim Malkey’s outrageous wardrobe. I have a friend who covered Malkey during her Baylor days. That friend’s assessment: Malkey is not a good person. After doing some reading, I am inclined to agree.


Men’s Tourney

Didn’t watch a second of the Final Four. UConn winning was the easiest bet in the history of the game. It is just ridiculous that program, which for a long stretch of the ‘90s was maybe the most hard-luck program in the sport, is now 5–0 in championship games over a 25 year span. I read that they’ve won 20% of the titles since 1998, and also missed 30% of the tournaments over the same span. That is a weird-ass quarter century.

Yes, I am a little bitter than UConn took just one year to jump past KU again in all time NCAA titles. Especially bitter one of those titles came in a year when the entire tournament opened up for KU and we couldn’t get past VC-fucking-U. KU would have killed UConn in the 2011 title game… We still have those mythical Helms titles, though!

In better news I won one of my pools, tied for first in my other. Turns out if you do really well in the opening weekend and everyone gets wiped out in the Sweet 16/Elite 8, you can win. I should write a book about my strategy. Not sure of my payouts yet but I’m already looking at dumb ways to blow the dough.

I finished fourth of six in my fantasy league. Dylan Disu’s injury killed my team as much as any upset did. If he doesn’t get hurt, I likely finish second. Just another way Texas has somehow screwed me in March.


  1. Like most KU fans I’m still angry that Adidas refuses to sell the gear the coaches have worn the past two years. As the kids say, they are straight 🔥🔥🔥. I guess Adidas hates making money.  ↩
  2. Later in the day it was announced that UConn will visit Lawrence next season. That is in addition to a game against Kentucky to begin the season; a visit to Bloomington, IN; Mizzou in Kansas City; and a Maui Classic that features Gonzaga, Purdue, Marquette, UCLA, Tennessee, and Syracuse. I can understand Self not wanting to play a bunch of freshmen against that schedule.  ↩

Ranking Shit: Alternate Hoops Programs

As mentioned awhile back, I have a few of these in various stages of development. With the college basketball season complete, seems like a good day to dust off this one.

This idea comes from a KU-centric podcast I listen to regularly. During the holidays they had a segment where they selected an elite program they would choose to be a fan of if KU was not an option. This came on the heels of Indiana’s visit to Lawrence in December. All of the hosts were at the game and mentioned how great the IU fans were: very respectful and interested in the history of KU hoops and Allen Fieldhouse while being passionate about their own team.

So today I’ll rank three big time programs that I could support, and three I would never cheer for, if I had not been #blessed to be born in the Jayhawk state.

Programs I Could Follow

3 – Arizona. The Wildcats have been good for the better part of 40 years. They tend to dominate the Pac-Whatever the way KU has dominated the Big 12. They have a fun, loud home court environment. They generally have really good players, many of whom go on to play in the NBA. Good weather if I were to visit for a game. Usually have solid uniforms but they’ve also had some missteps in recent years.

2 – UCLA. My dream school as a kid. One of the absolute coolest athletic programs in all of sports. Tons of history. Peaks and valleys in the modern era, but they really should be decent most of the time. A typically bandwagon LA fanbase so it seems like if I went all-in I could get pretty good season tickets easily. Cool uniforms, which is always a bonus.

1 – Indiana. Kind of a cheat since I live in the Hoosier state, my wife went to IU, and I have a graduate degree from the school. I’ve not liked IU at any point of my 20 years here, so it would take some work. Still, the Hoosiers are in many ways the most similar program to KU. A top five history. Midwest fans who are knowledgable and intense but have an appreciation for good ball no matter who plays it. KU and IU fans are arrogant in very similar ways, too. Assembly Hall is ugly and strange, but is a real monster when the Hoosiers are playing well. Plus odds are at least one of my kids will go there.

HM: Villanova
Pre-Jay Wright retirement they had a cool combination of small, local school with big time national success. Cool uniforms. Not sure if that will be sustained with him gone.

Programs I Could Never Follow

3 – Baylor. I’m not sure there are many actual Baylor hoops fans. Sure, a lot of Baylor alums enjoy the success of their team. But it’s Texas: all they really care about is football. I’ve seen way too many big games in their arena between two ranked teams with a ton of empty seats. For a religious institution, they sure have had a lot of really, really bad scandals, ones that go way beyond paying a power forward to enroll. The school has always shirked any responsibility for the issues inside their athletic programs. Which makes Scott Drew the perfect coach for them. Just like the institution, Drew is, and always has been, a giant phony. He’s as dirty a recruiter as there is but camouflages it behind the shield of Baylor, the Baptist church, and the Bible. He co-opted the success of the Baylor women’s program until he won a title of his own. He has a lot of “Look At Me” to his personality. The shade of green they use is a terrible color for uniforms. Don’t get me started on their neon yellow ones. Chip and Joanna need to go away.

2 – Kentucky. UK fans are a true mixed bag. I’ve met some incredibly nice ones who are a delight to talk hoops with. I’ve met others who are embarrassments to the concept of fandom. You can say that about every fanbase, whether the program is good or bad. But it feels like more Kentucky fans than any others will go out of their way to tell you how good they are and diminish anything your school has done. There are a ton of UK fans in Indianapolis, which is super annoying. More of an NBA than a college feel about every aspect of the program. The Rupp Arena crowd is a weird combo of rich, horse people and Kentucky rednecks, neither group being one I would hang out in. Rupp is loud but it has no charm. Cal is an ass who has been wasting great recruiting classes for nearly a decade.

1 – Duke. Even with Coach K gone, the air of superiority and entitlement around this program is unmatched. I don’t think Jon Scheyer, or any future Duke coach, will ever have any interest in removing the sanctimonious stink of the K era. Most of their “fans” had no chance to be admitted to the school. They use Duke’s academic reputation to hide that the program is exactly the same Nike-fueled basketball factory that Kentucky is. They defended Greyson Allen. Paid Zion’s dad but KU will get punished for it. K colored his hair for years.

Spring Break 2023

A long week in the Dominican Republic to celebrate M’s senior class spring break. Not only did we take the whole family, one of C’s best friends came along with us. There was some drama, a few travel difficulties, but overall it was a pretty good seven days.


Location

We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort in Punta Cana. I never got an official headcount but around 70 kids from M’s class were there.[1] It is a huge complex, something like 120 acres, so we always had plenty of space and could get away from CHS people if we wanted to. There were students from at least three other Indy area high schools there, along with kids from Wisconsin and Michigan.

The draw for going to the DR was the drinking age being 18. As it is in Mexico, among other places, but for some reason the DR has been the “cool” place to go for CHS families for a few years. Which meant longer flights, fewer flight options, and greater expense. Joyous. We warned M and her sisters months ago that this was going to be about as much as we will ever spend on a vacation, so they needed to keep their shit in order while we were there.

Anyway, the Hard Rock was your typical all-inclusive resort. The food was decent; never great but never terrible. The drinks were watered down but plentiful. The service was a B/B+. We later learned from a friend in the travel industry that the DR has a reputation for not being as customer-focused as Mexico. We found that to be true. Most folks spoke English but some of them not very well. Most employees were very friendly but never in a hurry to complete your requests.

The biggest pain was trying to get change for tips. In Mexico we’ve never had a problem handing over a twenty and getting twenty ones in return. Or at least ten ones and a couple fives or a ten. That was extremely difficult in Punta Cana. Although the hotel website said the front desk could make change, we were often turned down. When we could get a bartender or waitstaff to bring change, they usually brought fives and tens. So we overtipped a lot. My biggest recommendation for others wanting to visit the DR is to take enough small bills to cover tips for your entire stay.

The complex had a ton of pools. Saturday was an awesome day as only a few of us were in town; most of the CHS crew was arriving in that day. We claimed a good spot at a pool with a swim-up bar, the seniors rotated in-and-out, and all was fine. Sunday almost the entire group had arrived and the kids kind of took over our pool. It was a little uncomfortable at times, between seeing them drink, them mobbing the bar so we couldn’t get drinks, watching kids who apparently didn’t pack sunscreen slowly turn red, and then some inappropriate behavior.

By Wednesday our core group of four families found a different pool were able to enjoy the day with the seniors only occasionally checking in.

The beach was ok, although we didn’t spend much time there. It wasn’t raked/plowed daily so you had to be careful where you walked. The water was beautiful, but once you stepped into it it was very rocky. And the surf was heavy all week – red flags more often than yellow – so even if I was a float-in-the-ocean person, I wouldn’t have spent much time in the water.

We never checked out the casino or any shows. We were usually coming in for the night about the time the seniors where heading to the club for their late night antics. M said the club was fun but what does she know?


Travel

Getting to Punta Cana was about as easy as we could have hoped for. We left our house at 3:00 AM for our 5:50 flight, thinking the airport would be a madhouse. I had been watching the parking lot numbers all week and was worried about finding spaces. But we found two next to each other in the covered area and were able to avoid the rain Friday morning. We had to wait maybe five minutes to check bags and enter passport information at the Southwest desk. There was one family in front of us in the TSA Pre line. Our flight was on time, we had a three-hour layover in Baltimore that allowed us a leisurely breakfast, then arrived in the DR as scheduled around 2:30. An hour in the immigration line then we pulled into the Hard Rock exactly 14 hours after leaving our house.

The trip home was a little dicier. We knew strong storms were forecast in the Indy area right around the time we were supposed to land. As we sat in the very warm Punta Cana airport Friday, we were taking collective bets on whether we would make it home or not. We got out of the DR fine, but since our plane didn’t have wifi we couldn’t track the Midwest storms or the status of our second flight.

As soon as we landed in Baltimore we learned the Indy flight had already been delayed from 10:45 until 11:30. That left us four hours to navigate immigration and customs – which was dead easy since we were the only plane that landed at that time – get dinner, and watch the weather. L and I also watched much of the Iowa-South Carolina women’s Final Four game.

We seemed to be boarding on time, albeit slowly, just before 11:00. We got on at the front of the B group, grabbed seats, and began to get settled. Then we noticed when the C group folks should have been getting on, the flow of people stopped. Soon the captain informed us that Indy was closing its airspace because of tornados and severe storms. Rather than have us sit on the plane, they were asking us to go back into the airport.

This seemed bad. There was lots of grumbling. Everyone was tired, sunburned, hungry, and ready to get home. For about 45 minutes we sat as the only people in the terminal, nervously flipping between Indy weather feeds and trying to figure out a plan B if our flight was cancelled. Our plan was easy: since there were no seats on flights out of Baltimore until Monday, we would rent a car and drive home. Problem was the rental car facility at BWI was closed for the night. And I was having a hard time finding a vehicle that could carry our six-person party. We joked about calling our friends who picked us up last year when our flight out of Sarasota was cancelled.

Luckily just after midnight they hustled us onto the plane again and we took off. Rather than fly the direct route and go through the storms, we flew almost to Detroit before hooking back around the front. We landed just after 2:30 then waited an hour for bags. We saw a number of people sleeping at IND. We are guessing their flights out were cancelled because of the storms. We pulled into our driveway at 4:10 AM. We made it!

Man were people assholes getting on the plane that second time! I was position B1, so could watch it all. The first time we boarded there were maybe 10 people in the family boarding line. The second time? At least 25, many with kids well above the age limit. The poor guy running the gate didn’t have the energy to deal with them. I can’t fault him, he was working late so we could get home. My girls were like five spots behind me and somehow at least 15 people squeezed in between us. We had rows 16 and 17 on first boarding. On second we were back in the high 20s.

Again, assholes.

Also, that Baltimore airport is dirty. Just like when L and I were flying out of there in October, the restaurants were running out of food in the evening. Fortunately we all got food or else things could have been even worse as we sat and stressed.

So so glad we didn’t get stuck there for the night.

Oh, and the storms here were legit bad. At least seven tornados in Indiana (as I write this) and several deaths. People were dealing with way worse than sitting in a dirty airport longer than we wanted to.


Nonsense

There was some nonsense of all levels over the course of the week. There was a parent-kid booze cruise that S and M went on. They behaved themselves, but S had to take care of a kid who was in bad shape after. He is a really good kid, just too much booze and sun and not enough lunch. He made sure he got a message to S later that night that he was thankful and loved her, which made us all laugh. Then the next day he found her and gave her a big hug.

Apparently some boys were pissing out the window of the buses on their way back to the resort after the cruise. Delightful.

S also had to take a look at a senior’s hand when we were waiting in Baltimore. He had it wrapped up and said it hurt. He wouldn’t admit it to S, but later we heard he had punched some dumbass sophomore several times.

A parent couple got in a huge argument during dinner one night. Like screaming and yelling and making the people around them super uncomfortable. Their kid was not around at the time (nor were we) but a lot of other CHS folks heard every word. Some friends of ours had the husband ejected from the restaurant. He also had some other serious issues over the course of the week. I’m really surprised he didn’t get his ass kicked by someone. I don’t know him, am glad he’s a stranger to me, and am thrilled our kids run in different crowds.

I know there was some kid drama, but it was fairly low key. M had one kind of rough night where it seemed like something was up with her and her friends. They next day they were fine, though. Teens gonna teen.

There was some other stuff. Like bad stuff. None of our kids were involved but they all heard about it. I think that’s all I should say about that subject.

We are lucky that our kids are mature, tend to follow the rules, and made sure they were always around friends. Still it was a stressful week. Mixing that many kids and alcohol in a foreign country has high odds of blowing up. Throw in a bunch of drunk adults and those odds go even higher. We are glad we survived our first senior spring break with our family all safe. I’m sure it can happen anywhere, but we were lobbying C and L for less exotic locations for their senior years.


Misc.

It may have been a blessing that KU lost before we left. It was very difficult to find a place that had NCAA games on. We hung in a bar Friday night that had six TVs with only one showing the games. The others had recorded soccer and NFL games from a year ago. I never turned on our TV but figure I could have found a game there or just streamed it had KU still been playing.

I met a mom who was in the same pledge class as a girl I sat next to in fourth and fifth grades. Random and crazy!

I was able to impress our friends with my music knowledge several times. I wowed people by knowing that Philip Bailey was Phil Collins’ partner on “Easy Lover.” I knew that Susannah Hoffs sang lead on “Eternal Flame,” not Suzanne Vega. Duh. And one day at the pool we heard a string of early ’90s songs that I knew artist, song, album, and year for each. The capper to that run was knowing that “Ice Ice Baby” came from the album To The Extreme. Frankly I don’t understand why more people don’t know this stuff.

If only I could somehow monetize this useless knowledge.

I learned that Michigan State people wear their gear pretty much all the time. I swear there was a lady who we flew down and back with and every time I saw her she was rocking Sparty gear of one kind or another.

C’s buddy who came with us has celiac disease. We had confirmed ahead of time that the Hard Rock had lots of gluten-free options. We found out that wasn’t necessarily true. It was hard work to find her food each day. It really made us sympathize what she, and others with true celiac, go through.

M burned her back pretty good the first day. So did her prom date. We laughed that you could pick them out in the pool based on their sunburns.[2]

While the week wasn’t a complete, 100% success, we did avoid any incidents within our travel group. I think M had fun, which was the important part. She was completely wiped out and very cranky on the way home. I think C and her friend had a good time. They kind of ignored us unless we forced them to spend time with us. Poor L got the shaft. When we originally booked, we expected a couple of her friends’ families to be on the trip, too. However, they all chose other destinations. The families we hung with had either kids a year or two younger than her or sophomores, leaving her stuck in the middle. She brought a stack of books and read them all. There was a gym and an outdoor basketball court, but she realized on our second day she didn’t bring any shoes suitable for working out. I’m not sure if you asked her she would say this was her favorite trip of ours.

As for S and I, we enjoyed getting away, especially the time we spent with our little group. We knew three of those families well but one was new to us, and we all got along great, reserving chairs together at the pool each day and eating together most nights. That said, I don’t think this trip would rank as our best spring break ever. Nothing bad, just enough to keep it from being an A or even A-.


Last summer I mentioned that we had four big trips booked. The first was our family trip to Kansas City and Lawrence. Then was L’s eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. Thanksgiving brought our Italian adventure. And finally there was M’s senior spring break.

It’s been a fun and busy eight months. When we got home, S and I agreed if we are able to squeeze in one more trip between summer basketball and M’s departure for college, it needs to be a little more laid back. Not that all travel isn’t stressful, but we’d be fine with a long weekend someplace that is a car trip away.


  1. Out of a class of about 250.  ↩
  2. Not sure I’ve mentioned it but she broke up with her boyfriend awhile back. So this year’s prom date is a new kid and just a friend.  ↩

March Media

Slow month between lots of basketball early in March, watching one show exclusively for a week, and then spring break.


Movies, Shows, etc

From Paseo To Pembroke: Kansas City’s Golden Era
I had heard of this but didn’t realize it was on YouTube until KC buddy Newman sent it my way. A great look at the golden age of Kansas City high school basketball, from 1988 to 1998. I was at a few of the games featured. Terry Nooner was robbed by that ref in 1995.

A

Luther, seasons 1–5
Luther: The Fallen Sun
I saw some buzz about the Luther movie in early March but didn’t know a thing about the show. So I looked it up. When I saw that it starred Idris Elba as a bad ass detective who takes down the sickest killers in London, I figured it was worth checking out.

Boy was it!

It was suspenseful, well-written, creepy, and filled with great performances. Elba is terrific. But Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan has to be one of the greatest characters ever in British TV. I say that having watched maybe 3–4 British TV shows. Still feel confident in my assessment.

The movie wasn’t quite as good, feeling more like an excuse to bring Luther back to the public. Which was just fine. I watched it on our flight home from Punta Cana and it was perfect for that setting.

A, B

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Too long, too slow. Some fine acting and a few good scenes but they were counter-balanced by the drudgery it was to get through this. I had to break it up into two sittings to finish it.

B-

Extraction
How did I spend my post-KU tourney exit evening? Watching Chris Hemsworth shoot, stab, and fight people to death for just under two hours. It helped a little.

B+

No Time To Die
Watched this for the third time on our flight to the Dominican. Still great.

A


Shorts, YouTubes, etc

The War on Drugs – full live acoustic 2017 Studio Brussel
Good as always.

This Secret Dealer Sells White Toyotas That Save The World
McLaren Speedtail vs F35 Fighter Jet
I’ve never watched Top Gear, but listen to several podcasts hosted by people who love it. I caught each of these shorts, which were great. Not sure I’m ready to dive into the full-length pieces, but I’ll keep an eye out for more of these bite-sized features.

Destination Berlin
This is incredible. It is a highly detailed guide on the procedures British troops were expected to follow when traveling from West Germany to West Berlin in the 1980s.

The High Route
I have periodic spells of interest in adventure stuff like this. While in the midst of them I generally have three thoughts. 1) These adventures and the people who do them are amazing. 2) Even at my fittest I could never come close to doing anything like this. 3) How long would it take me to snap a leg or ankle if I did the easiest parts of a trek like this?

Tragedy of a Landmark Album: 3 Feet High and Rising
There was tons of De La Soul content last month. Which was a very good thing.

10 Things Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein Can’t Live Without
I’ve watched a few of these and they generally suck. Rich, old, white actors talking about their fancy, hand-made, leather slippers and whatnot. But Brett Goldstein? Of course this is the fucking best.

Frightened Rabbit… In Session
A very good session from their early days.

F–22 Raptor | The Most Lethal Fighter Jet Ever Built
Thanks to the good people at Raytheon for helping to produce this high quality propaganda.

(people) of water
A cool video to begin with. Then they ended up on the Na Pali coast of Kauai and I was all in.

HISTORY OF ROCK – 1 Riff per Year from 1965 to 2022
This is pretty awesome. I love the variety of songs he picks from.

The 12 Days of Newness
YES!!!! After disappearing for awhile – apparently it was a planned absence he didn’t publicize beforehand – Beau Miles returned to wrap up his 12 days of doing new shit. Not as much of a riff on the 12 days of Christmas anymore, but still enjoyable. Especially the tennis one.

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