Friday Playlist
Several repeats of artists I’ve played recently who have more solid, new music out. “Sleep All Summer” – Crooked Fingers Hey, our freshman-to-be’s theme song! “Angelus” – The Berries Before we get to the repeats, here’s a new song from a new artist that is crazy good. “Call You Back” – TTSSFU Even if you don’t listen to the words, just from the tone you can tell this song is about desperate, late night interactions when a relationship is doomed but one person hasn’t gotten the message yet. “All Day All Night” – Big Thief This makes it two songs…
Reader’s Notebook, 8/7/25
The Happy Isles of Oceania – Paul Theroux The latest re-read – for the fifth, sixth time? – of my all time favorite, non-fiction book. I actually meant to take it when we traveled to Hawaii four years ago but couldn’t find it. It turned up a year or two later and has been sitting on my shelf, waiting for the right moment. I decided I will continue to read it once every ten years or so as long as I am able. As with each return to it, I’m fascinated by the changes in the world from when Theroux…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 114
Chart Week: August 5, 1978 Song: “Love Will Find A Way” – Pablo Cruise Chart Position: #9, 10th week on the chart. Peaked at #6 the week of August 26. There are many factors that go into determining my favorite musical years. Clearly the songs are the biggest factor. It is a huge bonus if most of the best tracks of a given year were hits during the summer months. And then there is the personal side: if a lot of important things happened during a calendar year, odds are its music will stand out a little more. 1978 is…
July Media
Movies, Shows, etc Arrested Development, season one I figured “Why not watch this again?” the week of July 4th. Never disappoints. A Long Way Home This is Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s fourth series about riding motorcycles long distances. I watched the first, 20 years ago, and then didn’t realize the others existed. Luckily this one landed on Apple TV+ and the visuals are fabulous, although the actual travel insights are often rather banal. A- Tour de France – Unchained, season three This is the final season of this show, which made sense through the opening episodes. It seemed pretty…
Weekend Notes
A very busy weekend, at least the front half. A Wedding Friday evening we all went to the wedding of O, the oldest daughter of our neighbors at our old house. M was a bridesmaid, her first of many I’m sure, so it was an extra big deal for her. It was a very nice ceremony and reception; the bride and groom seemed to be having an awesome time which is most important. The most fun part of the event was the mix of cultures. O’s husband is Hispanic; he was born and raised here but his parents and most…
Friday Playlist
Another big, eclectic mix of music this week. “Summer Drive” – Dragon Turtle For those moody, nighttime drives when summer’s hold begins to slip. “mangetout” – Wet Leg It took a minute, but a song from the new WL album finally jumped out at me. This track has all the cheek of their first album – so many sly lyrics! – with a slight edge that, to my ear, recalls the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “Alright Alright Alright” – Westside Cowboy My records indicate that I’ve not shared this song before. My brain keep telling me that I have, though. Oh…
Thursday Links
Too late to implement this idea for the summer of ’25, but something for parents to keep in mind for next year. Just like the 1890s and the 2020s, they’ll play with the unvaccinated kids down the street and drink raw milk until dark. Then at daybreak, I’ll hand my children their metal lunch pails, button their fifty-button shoes, and they’ll shuffle off to their factory jobs, because in the Gilded Age, and southern states in the 2020s, no snowflake child labor laws exist. I’m Giving My Kids a ’90s Summer—the 1890s A good look at how and why today’s…
Jayhawk Talk: Can’t Take The Heat?
I probably should have included this in my Weekend Notes post, but was also debating how deep to go on the latest health scare for KU coach Bill Self. Without knowing much about what actually happened, I didn’t want to turn it into 3000 words about the future of the program. That’s always a possibility when I start writing about KU hoops, though. What we know for sure is that Self suffered “concerning symptoms” while playing golf last week, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Lawrence, and received two stents. I’m no cardiologist but that seems super serious.…
Weekend Notes
The clock is starting to run out on academic summer. There are actually a couple public districts around here that started last week. The one we live in starts this Thursday. L returns on August 7. It goes by fast. Some notes from one of the last weekends before we start worrying about school schedules again. A Big Birthday M turned 21 on Friday. She’s all growns up! She had a bash with friends in Cincinnati that night. She survived the night, which is the key. She told us she never planned on getting super crazy and her focus was…
Friday Playlist
Back to extra-stuffed this week. So stuffed that I’ll only include one summer song. And apologies to Chuck Mangione, but there’s no room to honor his passing with more than these words. “Summer Nights” – Van Halen Perfect late July song. “Touch Myself” – The Beaches Not a remake of that song, but definitely about the same subject. And a strong Song of the Summer contender. “Cowbella” – bar italia I’m not sure if they were going for this, but every time I hear this song I think of Elastica. Or maybe druggier Elastica? “The Scene” – Hotline TNT Some…