• Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5pQfHtV9GNASYz4fcoQk3E?si=65486104c98548dc “The Window” – Ratboys Every time I type this band’s name, my devices autocorrect it to “Batboys.” You would think I’ve typed their name enough over the years that my various Apple OSes understand that, yes, I really mean Ratboys. Given that their up-coming album seems like it is going to be excellent and I will be writing about…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 7/12/23

    Small Mercies – Dennis Lehane According to my master reading list, it’s been eight years since I had read a Lehane novel. Which doesn’t seem possible, until I realized he’s only released one new novel in that span. This story takes place in the summer of 1974, just before the city explodes when forced busing to desegregate Boston’s public schools…

  • Weekend Notes

    It was an extra-long weekend featuring many hours in the car. Hoops in the Lou L and I drove west to St. Louis for her first out-of-town tournament of the year. The hoops were good. We went 3–1, winning the championship game by nine thanks to a 9–2 run in the final minute to put away a game we were…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0kjXEX04LoIbf75aTfp648?si=6a9b1e0b47324656 “Police On My Back” – The Clash I watched like my 60th documentary about The Clash this week and dove into their music for a bit after. I maintain they are the greatest cover band of all time, taking songs by other acts that were already great and elevating them as they made them their own. Here’s a perfect…

  • Thursday Links

    Good news for those of you with video game collections: you will soon be able to buy an actual new game for your Atari 2600! ’Mr. Run and Jump’ will be the first official cartridge for the Atari 2600 since 1990 Not sure I buy this writer’s argument, but it is an interesting counter to the conventional wisdom about season…

  • Weekend Notes

    A lot to get caught up on after a long holiday weekend. July 4th Our standard family pool party for the Fourth of July. Almost all the locals were over for a daytime gathering. I smoked rather than grilled burgers for the first time and they turned out pretty good. All the young ones were well behaved, and it seems…

  • Independence Day Playlist, 2023

    It is my fifth year offering a playlist to celebrate the day in my own, unique, musical way. There are two new songs this year, one of which I can’t believe took me five years to add.

  • June Media

    Movies, Shows, etc Severance OK, this was the strangest, most messed up show I can recall watching. The way the finale ended – SPOILER ALERT – without resolving anything and instead setting up the next season was maddening. As a lover of the color blue, I did enjoy how many different gorgeous shades were integral to the show’s aesthetic. B…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5I6v54HH86WTRauxBA0nL3?si=5b2fea81f6ec449d “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) – Arcade Fire As I write this our power has been out for about 15 hours, our home just one of over 45,000 in Indianapolis that remain powerless after major storms hit us yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately for us, it seems like just one wire affecting 4-5 houses in our neighborhood is causing our outage. So…

  • 2003 NBA Draft Diary Revisited

    As promised, a look back at the very first post I ever published to this site. Perhaps you’ve already gone back and re-read it. I thought it would be fun for me to annotate it with some thoughts. I have edited out sections of the original that did not inspire me to add something new. With apologies to the Sports…