High School Hoops Chronicles, S1V10
As we had a pretty quiet weekend and KU plays tonight, I’m going to flip my normal routine and cover high school hoops today. Two more games last week – both wins for JV and varsity – but L was a little off. In Tuesday’s practice she rolled her troublesome ankle when she landed on a teammate’s foot. She complained…
Friday Playlist
“Blue Tuesday” – Francis of Delirium Spotify has been spitting a lot of FoD tracks at me lately. I’ve yet to hear one I did not like. I don’t think I realized, when I’ve shared songs from them in the past, that they are based in Luxembourg. That might be a new pin on our musical map. “Mother Mary” –…
Reader’s Notebook, 1/18/24
Julia – Sandra Newman My first book of the year was a real uplifter! Officially sanctioned by the estate of George Orwell, it is labeled as a re-telling of his classic 1984. Newman flips the script, and instead of focusing on Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith, she uses Smith’s lover, Julia, to explore Oceania. It’s been a decade or so since…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 96
Chart Week: January 5, 1985 Song: “Centipede” – Rebbie Jackson Chart Position: #24, 14th week on the chart. This was its peak. This is at least the third entry in the RFTS series that is as much about the massive cultural impact of Michael Jackson as the highlighted song or artist.[1] This time we will see how Michael helped pull…
High School Hoops Chronicles, S1V9
A super busy week with a very exciting ending as L and her teammates played in the Indianapolis City tournament. Tournament rules allowed for three swing players who were eligible for both JV and varsity games. These players had to be named before the tournament and could not change from game-to-game. L was one of Cathedral’s, which was cool, but…
Weekend Notes
Kind of a strange weekend, mostly due to the weather, which kept us cooped up inside. I spent roughly 87.2% of Saturday and Sunday on the couch, under a blanket, either watching sports on TV, watching shows on my laptop, or reading one of two books. Jayhawk Talk: Hoops It took awhile to get going, but a very nice bounce…
NFL Playoff Picks
I should register some NFL picks before it is too late. After a wild, uncertain regular season, I don’t feel great confidence in any teams or matchups. No upset would surprise me. The NFL is League Chaos, which makes it extremely fun. NFC Dallas over Green Bay. People are getting too excited about the Packers recent good play. And the…
Friday Playlist
“Grace” – IDLES Even though this is band is always surprising, this is miles from anything I’ve ever heard from them before. It veers dramatically from their normal, caustic sound towards gentle, Radiohead territory. I like it. “Sage” – Sun June I had a few weird, intense dreams last night. This song was inspired by a recurring dream the singer…
Sports Notes Emergency Entry
Events demanded an emergency sports notes post. I’ll try to keep these relatively brief. Jayhawk Talk: Disaster Well that fucking sucked. Arguably the worst Big 12 loss of Bill Self’s career, the first time his team lost when they led by 16 or more points. Having that big lead is what made it worse than the TCU loss in 2013.…
Wednesday Links
Tuesday we learned that Sinéad O’Connor died of natural causes. As so often happens in these situations, that initially came as a relief but then was even more heartbreaking. I’ve been sitting on this very good remembrance of her by people who knew and admired her for a bit. Seems like the right time to finally share it. Yes, she…