November Media
Another pretty light month. Movies, Shows, etc Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland An amazing five-part documentary about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It is a balance of archival footage and interviews with people who lived through the worst years of the conflict. One of the most moving aspects of the series was seeing these people interviewed in the…
Friday Playlist
We’ve reached December, the month when these playlists can get a little squirrelly. There’s less new music to begin with. I’m listening to holiday music much of the day. I’m also focused on my Favorite Songs of the Year playlist. This year has the added element of me just reading a book about Eighties music, and being neck-deep in a…
High School Hoops Chronicles, S1V2
Time to catch up with L’s exploits on the hardwood. Two Fridays ago we traveled to North Vernon, IN, about 90 minutes south, nearly all the way to Louisville. The varsity team was playing the #14 team in the state, which features a senior who signed with Michigan State earlier this month. She averaged 22 & 12 as a junior…
Holiday Weekend Notes
For the first time in three years we were home for Thanksgiving week. We packed a lot in, and it deserves a wide-ranging, extra-long breakdown. College Visitor I picked M up Tuesday around noon after her last scheduled class of the week. We grabbed lunch at Hangover Easy, a place just off campus I’ve wanted to try just because of…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 94
Chart Week: November 14, 1981 Song: “Never Too Much” – Luther Vandross Chart Position: #37, 6th week on the chart, first week in the Top 40. Peaked at #33 for two weeks. Happy Thanksgiving week to you all! A quick entry based on a Casey anecdote about how a pop artist paid the bills before he started making hits of…
Weekend Notes
Kind of a chill weekend, with the holiday ahead of us. M does not come home until Tuesday so it was the usual crew around the house. L had a game Friday, more on that later. The weather was nice, so S and I did some yard work at a sister’s house Sunday. And a fair amount of football, the…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0MPKDxxlLKjK7qdv3S0cJx?si=ddff3358588541bf “Beaming” – The Treasures of Mexico What a glorious piece of jangle pop this is, harkening back to the mid-80s college rock scene. “What Now” – Brittany Howard Howard bringing the funk to her blues. If you don’t like this, stop reading these posts. “Beautiful Sky” – Semisonic featuring Jim James I gave Semisonic’s new album a listen when…
Jayhawk Talk: Champions Classic
Without going back and reading a bunch of them, I’m assuming my Champions Classic posts have a similar theme every year: that wasn’t pretty basketball. Most years it is at least competitive, but despite the big-time matchup, it rarely has the same juice as a March tournament game. Chalk that up for another year, with #1 KU outlasting Kentucky by…
Tuesday Links
As promised, I have a big batch of articles to share. I read most of these while on our trip last weekend, thus on my Kindle, which meant I couldn’t clip pull quotes as I read. With a couple exceptions, you’ll just have to trust me that these are worth your time. Most are pretty lengthy, so if you have…
Weekend Travel Notes
It was Adult Fall Break time for S and me, the first time we’ve done this in a couple years. This was for a medical conference, the first time we’ve done that since before Covid. We spent Thursday through Sunday in Clearwater Beach, FL, staying right on the beach. Like in a hotel, not in a tent or something. The…