July Media
Periodic losses of power, some pool gatherings, and three weeks of travel basketball cut my list a little short last month. Movies, Shows, etc They Shall Not Grow Old I’ve been waiting for this to hit a streaming service for a couple years. Peter Jackson took footage from World War I, colorized it, and overlaid it with interviews given by…
Sports Notes
I’ve stacked up a lot of sports thoughts over the past several weeks. Let’s dive in and see how long it takes to get through them. Tour de France After watching the Netflix show Tour de France: Unchained in June, I was all-in for this year’s tour, even ponying up for Peacock for the month to watch.[1] It was like…
Weekend Notes
No major events from the weekend to share. We were busy, though. The weekend was all about preparing to be social then actually being social around the pool. Saturday night we had L’s basketball team over for a final get together to celebrate the season. Eight of the nine girls came and most of the parents hung out. The girls…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Km163jPEQpJcuOYW5h15b?si=d1e428c9f3444187 “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas We have been very lucky and this has been one of the best spring/summers I can recall, other than the Canadian smoke. Until this week. The heat that has been plaguing the rest of the country finally hit us, although its worst has held off until today…
Sinéad
When Irish women with distinctive voices who were successful in the 90s die, I’m required to write about them. The terrible news came Wednesday of Sinéad O’Connor’s death. It’s an understatement to suggest she did not have an easy life, so while a shock, this is also one of those deaths that can seem like a relief from all the…
Weekend Notes: Living That Buckeye Lifestyle
Three-fifths of our family spent the weekend in Ohio. You want details? I got details! Kid Hoops L and I went to Cincinnati for the final travel tournament of the year. We’ve never done well in these events but were looking forward to one last shot to prove ourselves on the national stage. We had six games, so I’ll keep…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2047Kt9nPGFZzd1EM8QKuD?si=341e83d596374fda “Midnight Sunburn” – Dog Ears Big, crunchy, power pop for mid-summer. “I Need Ya” – Somebody’s Child If the Strokes were from Ireland, they would probably sound like this. “Forgiving Ties” – Deer Tick I had to triple check this wasn’t a lost Tom Petty demo that someone else had finished. “The Spiral” – Body Maintenance This is some…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 87
Chart Week: July 15, 1989 Song: “Buffalo Stance” – Neneh Cherry Chart Position: #20, 16th week on the chart. Peaked at #3 the week of June 24. I have always been fascinated by the details of how songs are made. There’s the initial inspiration. The writing and recording process. How a song is mixed and produced. Whether it goes on…
The Social Media Landscape
A few notes about the state of social media. About three weeks ago I was struck by how Twitter seemed to have settled down. While there were still plenty of minor issues, the major blowups that had been endemic since the Tech Toddler’s arrived had decreased. That’s not to say I was a happy user. The elimination of third party…
Weekend Notes
Kid Hoops A weird weekend for L and her teammates. We were in Bloomington for this week’s games. While that seems close it also involves navigating a shit-ton of construction and means we’re in the car for nearly three hours each day. Saturday we opened with an easy win. In fact, I’m not sure we’ll ever have an easier win.…