• Friday Playlist

    A juicy list this week with a bunch of good, new tracks; a throwback; a re-imagined classic; and another by a classic artist that is new to me. “New Distraction” – fanclubwallet Perfect, late summer song. Our three weeks of False Fall have passed and it is going to be in the 90s much of the coming week, so the…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 9/11/25

    The Magdalen Martyrs, The Dramatist, Priest – Ken BruenBooks three, four, and five of Bruen’s Jack Taylor series. I read them in five or six days. They are that good. Like many series there are multiple repeating themes and plot devices. Bur Bruen was a good enough writer that he made each book completely compelling and just different enough where…

  • US Open Notebook

    As promised, a few more thoughts from the US Open I scribbled down over the past two weeks. In general ESPN’s coverage was quite good, as usual. They mix in enough back court matches during the afternoons to give you an idea of that environment. They also do a great job in those pre-prime time hours switching to different matches…

  • Weekend Notes

    A very busy weekend, at least when it came to me sitting on my ass in front of the TV. High School Football A week after being shut out by the best team in Indiana, Cathedral was barely better against one of the best teams from Ohio. The Irish managed just two field goals in a 24–6 loss to St.…

  • NFL Predictions

    It’s that time of year again: the moment for some extremely half-assed NFL predictions. To begin, let’s spend a few minutes discussing my local team, the Indianapolis Colts. This week The Athletic ran a feature about what franchises were the most optimistic about the upcoming season. This was based on reader input, so highly unscientific. The Colts were dead last.…

  • Friday Playlist

    Not to ruin your expectations before you work your way through this week’s songs, but I’m not sure about a few of these. Feels like we’ve reached a lull in the new music where I have a lot of B songs. Don’t get me wrong, there are some decent ones in here, especially in the front half of this list.…

  • Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 117

    Chart Week: August 30, 1986 Song: “Dreamtime” – Daryl Hall Chart Position: #23, 5th week on the chart. Would peak at #5 the week of October 4. Through the history of pop music, there has been a natural career progression for lead singers of successful bands: once your group peaks, hit the eject button and record a solo album. Sometimes…

  • Wednesday Links

    Short week. I’m sure none of you working stiffs want to do anything productive. Here are some links to help get you a little closer to the coming weekend. Here is the oral history that led to my re-watching The 40 Year Old Virgin a couple weeks ago. I loved this tidbit. Apatow: Steve talked about chest waxing like he had…

  • Weekend Notes

    A laid-back, restful holiday weekend is in the books. Friday was the highlight in terms of number of things going on, so that will be the focus of my notes this week. Friday As happens this time of year, my attentions were pulled multiple directions Friday evening. The Cathedral game started at 7:00 on the radio. They were taking on…

  • August Media

    Movies, Shows, etc Dept. Q Lots of chatter about this in July, all saying it was basically Slow Horses but in Scotland and with cops. Which was very accurate. But this was much, much darker than any of the Slow Horses seasons I’ve watched. And broader. In some ways funnier. And definitely more moving. Episode eight was a little flat,…