“Archbishop Harold Holmes” – Jack White
What an idiot I am! White dropped his No Name album on streaming services two weeks ago, and I listened to it a ton after we got home from vacation. Then, somehow, I forgot to include a track in last week’s playlist. Again, idiot. This track is soooo White Stripes-y, with his spitfire vocals straddling a line between dark & menacing and hilarious & nonsensical. And, of course, riffs on top of riffs on top of riffs.
“Takes One To Know One” – The Beaches
I’m not sure I believe that a song this marvelously sunny and poppy comes from a band that calls Toronto home. “God, you’re a piece of work. Takes one to know one.” That seems like that could apply to most couples.
“Monster” – Best Bets
There are some serious The Lemonheads vibes in this track. A nearly impossible band to do an internet search on, about all I can find about them is that they are from New Zealand.
“This Room” – Lotte Gallagher
Not a daughter of either Liam or Noel, but rather a very talented young lady from Melbourne.
“Koalas” – Tess Parks
Let’s combine elements from earlier songs. Another artist from Canada singing about one of Australia’s most famous residents.
“Glass” – Glom
And now another band that is impossible to search for, for some reason. Maybe it’s more because search is broken thanks to ads and AI and other nonsense than bands coming up with stupid names that search engines think are related to everything but the actual band.
“Room at the Top” – Eddie Vedder covering Tom Petty
The second EdVed cover of the summer. This one is pretty straight forward, but it really fits Eddie’s voice. It is from the new Apple TV show Bad Monkey. Apparently the entire soundtrack is a Petty tribute album. The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, and many other folks you know will be on it.
“Cruel Summer” – Bananarama
I struggled with what to pick for this week’s 1984 video. There were a couple songs I would love to write about in RFTS at some point, so I skipped them. There was a terrific ballad that had already snuck inside the top 30 in just its third week. Instead I chose this, which seemed to fit since I didn’t include a summer song in my Spotify playlist this week. It first hit in the UK in 1983, then in the US in ’84 after landing on the Karate Kid soundtrack. This week it was #32 in its fifth week in the Hot 100, on its way to a peak of #9 in September. I gotta admit, I was never really into Bananarama. They were just too goofy for me, even at age 13. Especially this video.
Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic – Jason Turbow My brother in books David V handed me a copy of this on my visit to Kansas City in June. It took me some time to work through my stack of virtual books to crack it open, and once I did, I realized I had read it before, back in 2017. Looking back, I loved it so much then that I read it in two days. It’s not like this was Infinite Jest and I would be taking weeks and months away from books I had not read. So I continued, finishing it in three days this time.
Again, it was terrific. It covers the Oakland A’s dynasty of the early 1970s, how they were built, how they won three consecutive World Series, and then how free agency tore them apart. Owner Charles O. Finley, who many adults I grew up around hated because he moved the A’s from Kansas City, was the center of the storm. Turbow never gets into Finley’s politics, but he had a lot of personality traits similar to a certain old man currently running for president.
Other observations: – It was interesting how during the Vietnam War a lot of MLB players would leave their teams in the middle of the season to do their two weeks of military reserve obligations. – The A’s are considered one of the greatest dynasties ever. However, they were far from dominant. They easily could have lost any of the three league championship series they won, same for their three World Series. A few hits here, a few outs made there, and they are closer to the Buffalo Bills of the ‘90s as annual losers on the biggest stage, or even the Royals of the late ‘70s who couldn’t get out of the ALCS. – Oakland couldn’t draw fans in the Seventies when they were the best team in baseball. I wondered what if they had built a better stadium in a better location. Would they have had better crowds and then been more consistently successful? Would they not be about to move to Las Vegas? Would the Giants have fled San Francisco in the 70s for Denver if the A’s were drawing 40,000 fans a night across the Bay/ – Reggie Jackson is one of the most fascinating players of all time. There’s never been anyone quite like him. He also might be one of the most overrated players ever? Maybe? – I miss the days when teams were full of characters that didn’t speak in carefully managed sound bites and fought with each other as often as their opponents.
Then We Take Berlin – John Lawton My vacation book, the first in a series that is generally well received that I’ve been meaning to get to for ages. Those good reviews were deserved.
What better way to start a spy series than by straddling World War II, the beginning of the Cold War, and deep in the heart of the Cold War via two different story tracks? We are introduced to Joe Wilderness, an English teen who learns the art of breaking and entering thanks to his uncle during the darkest days of World War II in London. Eventually he joins the military just as the war is ending, is funneled to intelligence, and sent to Berlin to handle some special missions. In the process he comes into contact with other Brits, Americans, and Russians who are focused not on post-war power, but on supplying goods in demand on the black market. Here’s where Wilderness’ b&e expertise comes in handy, as he discovers ways around the many physical and political impediments to moving product.
Jump to the 1960s and that knowledge becomes useful as Wilderness is recruited to help smuggle a person of importance from East Berlin to the West.
It is never a standard spy novel, as it is focused more on Wilderness’ illegal acts than his official ones. The writing is excellent, though, which made this a fine change of pace to someone like me who reads a lot of espionage novels.
The Neon Rain – James Lee Burke I didn’t know much about Burke until recently, when I read an interview with him in which he discussed the state of our political process and society. I was intrigued when his interviewer asked about how Burke has rolled social issues into his novels, specifically discussions of race and injustice. So I figured I would give his most famous series, based on detective Dave Robicheaux, a shot. The result wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.
This book turned out to be much more of a hardboiled, classic detective novel than that interview suggested. Written and taking place in the Eighties in the south, it had a lot of cringey elements that made me wonder if Burke really was a champion for progressive causes. Then I realized that was 40 years ago, the way we talk about and to people has changed a lot, and he was reflecting the time and place his story was set in.
To be fair, Robicheaux, despite being a Vietnam veteran and a New Orleans detective who is comfortable blowing bad guys away, does seem deeper and more thoughtful than your stereotypical novel detective. My guess is that Burke slowly rolled those broader social critiques into Robicheaux.
All that said, the book was perfectly fine if formulaic. I’ll keep the series in the back of my mind for the next time I have a reading lull, but doubt I’ll rush back into it.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – James McBride McBride wrote the wonderful Deacon King Kong about a particular moment of life in the projects of 1960s New York. This had a very different setting, but was equally as charming.
This time he writes of a Depression-era Pennsylvania town where Jewish immigrants and Black families that have moved from the south form an uneasy alliance against locals that don’t want either of them there. The connecting point between those communities is Chona, a physically impaired Jewish woman who runs the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store frequented mostly by Black folks. She extends credit and doesn’t ask for payment. She slips children treats and presents. She writes strongly worded letters to the local papers demanding equality for all and calling out white residents who march with the Klan. In short, she looks out for all the people of her town that she thinks are getting the shaft.
Chona’s health takes a turn, there is an incident that makes it worse, an innocent Black boy is held accountable rather than the white doctor who was assaulting Chona, and both the Jews and Blacks join forces to avenge her.
That’s not a very good summation, but without going into great detail and ruining the story, it’s hard to share much about it.
Once again McBride has written a charming, hilarious, touching, and at times troubling story. It is filled with characters who have tremendous dignity and resilience in the face of a world that refuses to see them as complete humans worthy of respect and the same rights as their neighbors. And McBride wraps the story’s various threads in a completely satisfactory ending.
Catching up on some family stuff from the past few weeks.
Back to Campus
The biggest event was moving M back to school on Sunday. In every way it was so much easier than moving her into the dorm a year ago.
She’s living in the sorority house this year. She and three other girls share a little quad on the third floor. They have their own rooms with a shared bathroom and little storage hall which has a door to the main hallway. The only downside of that is that her room is on the third floor, so we had to drag everything up two flights of stairs. While it was only in the mid–70s when we moved her in, that still made for sweaty parents.
They had to be back two weeks early for a work week in advance of rush week. So instead of moving in with hundreds of other kids in the dorm, it was just the 30-ish girls that live in the house, and they all staggered arrivals so it was never too crowded. We even found a super rare parking spot right in front of her house for unloading. Her house is directly across the street from campus, so she has a short walk to class.
We completely filled both her car and S’s, but it felt like we had less stuff than last year. It took us less than 30 minutes to load the cars on Saturday night, and about the same amount of time to unload them Sunday. We helped her arrange a few things but basically left the unpacking to her.
We took her out to lunch, hung some drapes, and then got out of her way. It was sooooo much less emotional than last year. Just as I tried to figure out why I was a wreck when dropping her off then, I analyzed why I felt so differently this year. Some of it was obviously having been through it. I think the biggest change, though, is that we were dropping her into the unknown as a freshman, while now she has a support system, has survived a year on campus, etc. Not that she’s totally independent quite yet, but we know she can handle things without us being there to help her.
I’m not sure exactly what work week entails. She tried to explain some of it at lunch Sunday but the music was cranked up so loud at the taco place we went to I couldn’t hear her very well. I guess a lot of planning then figuring out what they can/can’t do during rush. There may be drinking involved since rush week is dry. S laughed on our way home and asked if I noticed one of M’s boxes was “sloshing” around when I carried it up the stairs.
Classes start on August 26th.
20
M also turned 20 two weeks ago. We didn’t do much to celebrate. She didn’t even want anything super special for dinner. For being a round number, 20 doesn’t get much respect. It’s the next birthday that really matters.
On the Dental Tip
I shared last month that our girls all had to get fillings this summer, six total visits to the dentist. Which was fun since we didn’t plan for those extra visits when picking a dental plan for the year. And C also had to get evaluated for a root canal, but luckily avoided it for now.
To top it off, L got her wisdom teeth removed on M’s birthday. Everything went great. She was pretty swollen over vacation but had no lingering pain or issues.
Fortunately/unfortunately she handles anesthesia like I do, and was just sleepy afterward. I was able to take a picture of her when she fell asleep mid-sentence in the recovery room, which was funny. Unlike her sisters she didn’t cry or say anything nonsensical that made me laugh. She was even with it enough that when she tried to talk to me in the car and I couldn’t understand her, she typed something into her phone and used text-to-voice to play it so I could understand her.
Fun With Utilities
I mentioned a while back how our electric company had totally messed up our bill in their system upgrade. Well, I wouldn’t say it’s fixed, but now we’re getting bills that show a credit balance. For two straight months. I honestly have no idea if it is right and don’t really want to print out a year’s worth of bills and crunch the numbers to check their math. We’re just going to roll with it and hope that once we burn through that credit they finally start billing us correctly.
Then yesterday I came home from running errands to find no water pressure. I had run a cleaning cycle on our water softener in the morning, so my first thought was there was some debris in the line. I bypassed the softener with no effect. I checked our water company’s website but it didn’t show any outages. So I called and learned there was, in fact, a large water main break in our part of the city and it would be hours before it was fixed.
Within a couple hours the water began working again, although it took some time to get full pressure again.
It was funny how I immediately felt thirsty when I knew I couldn’t go to the fridge and get cool, filtered water.
We are now under a boil order for up to 48 hours for water we drink and cook with. Which, thankfully, isn’t that big of a deal. Our ice machine and Keurig were already full. I boiled a couple large pots of water that went into pitchers. We had some water bottles in the fridge. And we are free to shower, flush, run the dishwasher, etc.
C and L started school last Thursday. M is back on campus. That leaves me here trying to figure out how to spend my days again. I should probably find a hobby or way of spending my time productively. L wanted to go to the gym and shoot this morning at 5:45, which meant my alarm was set for 5:30. And I woke up at like 4:10 and struggled to get back to sleep after. So I’ll probably just take a nap and be lazy today. If anyone has any ideas for things I can do to stay occupied, I’m all ears.
Strap in for a good, old fashioned, mega post about the Olympics!
In a week filled with amazing events and results, it would be impossible for me to not start with Saturday’s men’s basketball gold medal game. The first quarter was nearly perfect, a breathless, back-and-forth, up-and-down, punch-and-counter punch 10 minutes. The US seized control early in the second quarter and never really lost it, although the French made several valiant runs.
LeBron James was, again, phenomenal. It is ridiculous that a nearly 40-year-old man can dominate a high level game like he does. Kevin Durant hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the Americans’ last two games.
But, come on, the story of the weekend was Steph Curry’s grandest statement of his career. Nine 3’s in the come-from-behind semifinal win over Serbia. Then eight 3-pointers, four in the final two and a half minutes, each more audacious and clutch than the last, in the gold medal game. His final one, the “Golden Dagger” according to Noah Eagle, was a shot that will live in basketball history forever. We’ve seen him do this before. But that shot felt like one he would throw up only in an All-Star game, when the stakes were not super high. He tossed a nearly vertical shot over two defenders that splashed through the hoop in the closing moments of an Olympic Gold Medal game. As Bill Raftery would say, onions!
It was a nearly perfect day here in Indy, so after splashing with the nephews in the pool for a couple hours I watched on our outdoor TV. A little reminiscent of the 2012 Midwest regional final between KU and UNC that I watched outside in Kansas City.
With that we begin to say goodbye to Steph’s generation, at least from international hoops. You never want to fully count out LeBron and KD, but if they come back in 2028 they surely won’t be the featured players. I’m not sure you can expect either Joel Embiid or Anthony Davis to be healthy in four years, and Jo seems like he’s aging in Nintendo time rather than real time anyway. So not only will the Americans have to replace three of the greatest players ever, they will likely have to replace their two best big men. At a moment when Victor Wembanyama will likely be turning into the best player in the world.
Good luck to the next US coach! Guarantee Coach K won’t be volunteering for that gig.
It’s crazy that this was Steph’s first Olympics. A combination of injuries, bad luck, and bad timing conspired to keep him off the 2012, 2016, and 2020(1) teams. I think he made up for those misses over the weekend.
Dwyane Wade was pretty good as the analyst. He was funny and insightful. He was excited in big moments. While a clear homer, he expressed enthusiasm for big plays by the teams the US was playing as well. He had some terrific observations that come with having recently played at the highest level. His delivery could use some polish, and I think if he wants to continue on NBC or another network he needs to tone down some of the fandom that he expressed in Paris. Those are minor quibbles, though.
Pacer Tyrese Haliburton barely played in the games. Which made sense even before USA Basketball announced Sunday that he had a minor knee injury. He was there for emergency depth and to get some first hand understanding of international ball ahead of the next World Cup/Olympics cycle. Ty had a terrific reaction to his PT after the games. (Apparently I can’t embed Tweets at the moment.)
Our house may have made a crack about that applying to a certain Big 10 basketball player who was “present” for some group projects with M in high school.
Can we just stop all the “Why isn’t Player X playing” nonsense during the games? We can’t have it both ways. We can’t have a roster loaded with the best players and complain about PT, or make a true team, with a top 5–7 then complimentary parts around them, and complain when we can’t don’t have a superstar to sub in when LeBron gets three fouls or Steph isn’t hitting shots.
Content machine always gotta crank, though.
We were moving M back to school Sunday so I missed the women’s gold medal game. Which, thank goodness! That seemed super stressful. It would have been to France what the Miracle on Ice was to the US had they pulled off the upset. Can you imagine the content machines spinning it that Caitlin Clark would have prevented the upset had the US lost? Lord have mercy…
Non-basketball highlight of the week: Indianapolis and Cathedral high school’s own Cole Hocker storming back to win the men’s 1500. Hocker is obviously a big deal here, and I’ve been able to follow his pro career pretty closely as the local media always highlights his big races. He often seems to come up just short in the biggest events. Not this time, in the biggest!
Would you be surprised that we got a fundraising email from CHS referencing his win just minutes after the prime time replay of his win? Of course not. Catholic schools gonna Catholic school.
Then a day later Quincy Hall, from KCMO and Raytown South high school, wins gold as well. A friend asked if everyone from Raytown has gold grills. I told him of course we do, along with our RYT tattoos.[1] Hall was one of the most outrageous and delightful interviews of the games.
I had some friends making fun of me for claiming Hall despite going to my rival high school. So then I claimed the women’s 100 meter champ, since she’s from St. Lucia and that’s where we went on our honeymoon. And the women’s hammer throw silver medalist, since she went to UC. And Lewis Johnson, since he went to UC. And all the other medalists with Indiana roots. Two Jayhawks just missed making the podium, in the men’s 800 and women’s marathon, both finishing fourth. If you cast your net wide enough, you can find an angle for just about every sport!
The crowds at any event where the French were doing well were fantastic. The men’s volleyball game might have been the best, as it was probably 95% Frenchies. The men’s basketball gold medal game felt like a great high school playoff game. The French clearly had the most fans, but there was a sizable American contingent to counter them. Shame the Eiffel Tower shooter wasn’t there to snipe Jimmy Fallon and get him off the screen.
Every four years I chuckle that the US focuses on total medals while most of the rest of the world focuses on golds. So the US, the land where individual rights are paramount (well, not always), where if you try to give a kid a free school lunch you’re called an anti-American socialist, concentrates on the comprehensive medal count. And the rest of the world, where individual rights often come second to the needs of the collective, cares most about winning. Wild.
The Gold Medal Bell at the track stadium was a fantastic addition. LA better carry it over to 2028. Although they’ll probably add some cheesy, Hollywood angle that ruins it.
Rowdy Gaines is retiring after the 2028 games?!?! Say it ain’t so, Rowdy! They should just broadcast swimming without an analyst; he is irreplaceable.
Shout out to Chris Marlowe. Like Gaines, he was in the ’84 games as an athlete. And, like Gaines, he began calling Olympic volleyball in 1992. Always one of the best announcers.
Boo for the US not winning a single gold medal in any of the volleyball competitions. A silver for the indoor women, bronze for indoor men, and a giant turd for our collective beach players. Definitely need to fix this for LA. We invented the damn sport.
Another highlight of the games was in the women’s beach gold medal match, when the Canadians and Brazilians were arguing rather heatedly at the net over a misunderstanding. The DJ spun John Lennon’s “Imagine” and the crowd sang along. Three of the four players either cracked smiles or started laughing. That one Brazilian wouldn’t let it go, though, until the match was over. She was fired up!
“Artistic swimming.” Horseshit. It will always be synchronized swimming to me.
Not sure why but it surprises me that Norway has so many excellent runners. I know there is a tremendous culture of sports in that country. To a dumb American it seems like that should be confined to winter sports, though. They sure punch above their weight, per capita-wise.
Man, what a time to be a Spanish soccer fan. The women won the World Cup last year, and reached the semi-finals of the Olympics. The men won the European championship last month then captured the gold in an outrageously entertaining 5–3, extra time added win over France. I remember when the Spanish (and the French) were considered perennial underachievers in soccer.
Stupid Covid. Likely cost Noah Lyles the elusive 100–200 double. And, who knows, maybe the men’s 4×100 relay doesn’t get DQed if Lyles is running. Silly me, of course they would have gotten DQed. That’s what they do, now in five straight Olympics. In 2028 we need a baton pass bootcamp run by Dennis Mitchell and Carl Lewis.
Meanwhile the women’s 4×100 squad was thoroughly delightful, and managed to pass the baton safely three times to win the gold.
I told a few friends that it seems weird that the men’s 100–200 double is actually pretty rare. We came of age watching Carl Lewis do it. Then Usain Bolt did it three times. Even knowing those two runners were the two best ever, it seemed like something that was a stretch but still possible.
I won’t identify him so he doesn’t get into trouble, but one of my Brothers in Olympic Love suggested a buddy comedy that features Gabby Thomas, Anna Hall, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. I would watch! Throw in Sha’carri Richardson as their wacky neighbor and you’re working with comedy gold. Maybe Dutch sprinter Lieke Klaver could play their European nemesis.
McLaughlin-Levrone dominated the 400 hurdles again. There are calls for her to attempt the mega-rare hurdle-sprint double in LA. Which seems like a no brainer. As I get older, though, I appreciate the toll these races take on athletes’ bodies a lot more. If she is running full-tilt basically every day for a week, will her body hold up? I know she trains every day, but she doesn’t run at full Olympic effort every day. I’d love to see her try it as long as it doesn’t endanger her dominance of the hurdles.
McLaughlin-Levrone and Thomas were half of the US’s insanely dominant 4×400 relay. That was like a Katie Ledecky 1500 race they were so far ahead.
Also big props to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo. He became the first African-born athlete to win a sprint gold medal with his win in the 200. He was also 6th in the 100. And he ran a brilliant leg in Botswana’s 4×400 relay. One runner, all four sprint distances. Talk about versatility!
Quincy Wilson running in the Olympics as a 16-year-old seems crazy. Dude almost put the US in too deep of a hole in the 4×400 semis, but you’re going to run a little tight in that situation.
Sadly I was busy Friday afternoon when breaking finally got its moment, and thus missed the outrageous performance by the Aussie breaker. The whole breaking thing made me think of a comment I believe Ice-T made about Eminem when he first got famous. Something along the lines of “He’s a decent rapper, but I could go to a dozen corners in Detroit and find Black rappers just as good as him.” I’m sure all these international breakers were perfectly fine. But I’m pretty sure I could go to a dozen corners in the Bronx and find better breakers. The bracket should have been like the Little League World Series with the international competitors battling to take on the American champion in the gold medal final.
Flag football, for both men and women, in the 2028 games? Interesting.
Makes me laugh that diving commentators are still so harsh. “This is really hard to watch” as an athlete makes a tiny splash that moves him into 4th place.
Some complaints.
My quadrennial local news ad bitch. While we were in Florida there was a freak storm in Indy during rush hour that caused part of a major interstate to flood, stopping traffic. Naturally our NBC station decided to turn that into a commercial touting their weather team. As if no other station in Indy was aware of the storm or the flooding. It was only their crack team that discovered the deluge and let viewers know about it. Local news is so dumb.
OK, Snoop was great. But it was a little disappointing to see that he’s joining The Voice this fall, and have to watch 800 ads for it. It made his appearance in France seem a little less organic and more calculated by NBC.
“Event of the night. With limited commercial interruptions.” Very bold of NBC to show a race that lasts somewhere between 10 seconds and two minutes without inserting any commercials. Lord knows they loved rolling ads in the middle of live action in team sports, so I guess I should be thankful.
That said, I thought NBC did a pretty solid job. They’ve finally discovered that they can show events live in non-prime time hours and then repackage them for the evening show and still get great ratings. After decades of trying to figure out how to leverage multiple channels to show as many sports as possible, they finally got it right. Now increasing the price of Peacock during the games was a dick move. But, honestly, it was to be expected based on how every streaming platform treats its customers.
My European sports summer is now over. It started with Euro ’24, rolled into the Tour de France, and then the Olympics. For two months I’ve had constant sports during the day, sometimes already in progress when I turned on the TV at 7:00 AM. Not sure how I’m going to adjust. The Premier League starts in a week, but that’s just on weekends, so not the same.
I’ve long argued that the Olympics should always be in the western hemisphere. NBC pays more for the games than any other broadcast outlet, Americans watch them in higher numbers than anyone else. Play the sports at times that work best for our TV schedule.
I take that back. Games in Europe, or Europe-equivalent time zones, might be the perfect setting. You can watch sports literally all day, catching important events live during the daytime then catching up or reliving stuff in prime time.
A pretty good Olympics. Some legendary moments. The US dominated the medal count. There wasn’t too much nonsense or controversy. Let’s hope our climate hasn’t collapsed or our country hasn’t devolved into civil war or an asteroid doesn’t hit us and we’re all still around in four years so we can do it again at home.
Waaaaaay back in the day, when I ran a daily 80s trivia email list a few of you were a part of, I joked that all of us from Raytown had tattoos on our shoulders of the letters RYT to represent our hometown. Another member of our list, who was also from Kansas City, thought I was being honest. When we met in person for the first time he asked to see mine. I thought he was kidding but he was dead serious, and disappointed when I laughed and told him I made that up. Still makes me laugh. ↩
A week off means we stick with the extra-stuffed playlists. I don’t hear any complaints.
“Summer In The Park Pt. 1” – East Coast Connection
Early August used to mean you got focused on how to maximize the last few weeks of summer. Not these days, when most of the country goes back to school well before Labor Day. There are still a few folks enjoying summer in the park, though.
“One Last Drag” – Hayley Mary
I’m not sure a song about smoking too much – or doing anything too much, really – should sound this glorious.
“Portrait Show” – Rocket
This song is nearly a year old, but new to me. Or at least I thought so. I had to double-check I hadn’t included it in a FP and forgotten about it. I feel like I would have remembered a song this good, though.
“The Fences of Stonehenge” – Wild Pink
Wild Pink released an EP earlier this year that I didn’t love. Fortunately, that was just a prelude to a full length of completely different songs that is coming this fall. This first single is gorgeous and exactly what I expect from them. They’ve pushed the Heartland Rock slider up a couple more notches, which is never a bad thing.
“Vertigo” – Beach Bunny
Music comes from the strangest places. Lili Trifilio wrote this song on a plane. She tried to go into the bathroom to record a vocal demo but, as you would expect, the result sounded terrible. So she sang the song in her head the remainder of the flight to hang onto it.
“909” – Starflyer 59
I don’t know anything about this band, but Stereogum describes them as “shoegaze heroes” and they go back to the early Nineties. This track seems like it could have fit into alternative radio any time between 1994 and 2001. I hear more Swervedriver-like, shoegaze adjacent rock than pure shoegaze here.
“Superstar” – Hinds
These Spanish indie queens are down to two core members. Their sound does not suffer for the consolidation.
“In A Dream” – Trace Mountains
Dave Benton’s music in Trace Mountains has always had a strong The War on Drugs vibe. Here he pulls in the krautrock influence which was especially notable on Lost In The Dream. Which might explain the title.
“Coming Up Close” – ‘Til Tuesday
Brother in Music E-bro in ATX sent me a message this week with a link to ‘Til Tuesday’s “What About Love,” saying it had popped up in his feed and was a forgotten Eighties jam. “What About Love” hit #26 – meaning TT was not a true, one-hit-wonder band – but I told him I preferred this solemn track that was also off the band’s second album. It didn’t crack the Top 40, which is a damn shame. The chorus is completely beautiful. It signaled where Aimee Mann was headed in her solo career more than either of TT’s two hits. She’s had an amazing, lengthy career yet most people will still just remember the one, classic song.
“Rent I Pay” – Spoon
Album anniversary alert! They Want My Soul came out ten years ago this week. It might be the ultimate Spoon album. There’s not a bad song on it, nor is there a classic? That might not be fair. Let’s say there is nothing lower than a B but no A+’s either. I listened to the whole thing Wednesday and it holds up really well. And it got me thinking about Spoon’s whole career. Keep an eye on this space for more about that. This was my #11 song of 2014.
“Let’s Go Crazy” – Prince & The Revolution
Another Eighty-Four Monster! In just its second week on the Hot 100 it was at #35. As my music memory spins it, you couldn’t go more than an hour without hearing it or seeing its video from mid-July until deep into September. I don’t remember ever getting sick of it then, nor now. It spent two weeks at #1 and was #21 on the year-end countdown. For extra fun, go watch this, the entire opening sequence of Purple Rain, featuring an extended version of “Let’s Go Crazy.” “Ladies and gentlemen: The Revolution.”
City in Ruins – Don Winslow
The final entry in Winslow’s Dan Ryan trilogy. Like the first two, it moves briskly. Also like the first two, that briskness makes it feel only partially formed. It was an interesting writing exercise, especially when compared to his Mexican cartel trilogy, cutting the story to the bone and eliminating anything that didn’t swiftly move the plot forward. It probably took me six or seven combined days to read this trilogy, about the same effort to read one of his cartel books. I think I prefer the cartel books.
Tales of a Vagabond DXer – Don Moore
I’ve mentioned a few times over the years how one of my weird, middle school hobbies was spending many hours listening to radio stations from all over the world on shortwave, an activity called DXing. Don Moore was famous in that sphere for living and traveling extensively in Central and South America in the 1980s and 90s, visiting these little, community radio stations that us weirdos up north would attempt to listen to at strange hours.
This book is a collection of reflections from that era and revised versions of articles he published 30 and 40 years ago. Even if you aren’t into radio at all, the travel aspects of his tales are pretty interesting. He began as a Peace Corp volunteer and kept a similar philosophy about his other travels, preferring hostels and other affordable lodging options to more luxurious locales. There are also good lessons about being a respectful visitor and how to make connections with people who have very different lives than you.
Old King – Maxim Loskutof
A story about people who run to our country’s most remote areas in hopes of escaping the pressures of mainstream life. One man runs to get away from his divorced wife and the memories of their marriage. Another in an effort to try to save animals as humans destroy their habitats. And a third to get as far away from all the modern aspects of society as possible while plotting his battle against modern technology.
That final one may sound a little familiar if you are of a certain age. That’s because it just happens to be Ted Kaczynski. Or at least an extrapolated story of his life in Montana’s wilderness in the 1970s and 80s. The other two main characters are people who run across Ted, and even have uneasy relationships with him while dealing with their own stuff.
Loskutof’s story is well written and engaging, but I’m not exactly sure if all those parts worked together. I found it strange that there wasn’t much of Ted, but a lot of the US Postal Service investigator who was tracking him. It seemed like perhaps this should have been just a novel about that, with the others used as color for what rural Montana was like at the time. Or, if this was to be a novel about people who reject modern, urban society and flee to our deepest interiors, the part about the postal investigator should have been scrapped.
Tradition requires me to share some Olympic thoughts. I debated waiting until the games ended and publishing one, extra-stuffed post. But the games move so fast that things that struck me in week one are bound to get over-written by events of week two. Hell, the notes I’m about to share may already be fuzzy in everyone’s memories.
Guarantee I’ve said this before, but Rugby sevens is awesome. I still have no idea what the rules are, but when a game last less than 30 minutes, do you really need to know the rules?
The US women’s full field (full pitch?) score to win the bronze medal game was insane.
Also incredible was Antoine DuPont of France, AKA The Closer, who is apparently the best regular rugby player in the world (or at least the NBC announcers said so) and moved to sevens just for the Olympics. The French play him only in the second half, with the assignment to wreck people. And wreck people he did in the gold medal game. Two goals? Tries? Touchdowns? Whatever they’re called, plus a huge play to set up another score and fueled a French comeback over Fiji, who had never lost an Olympic game before that final. The Australian announcer was awesome, calling DuPont “A walking, talking, living, breathing rugby super hero!”
3×3 basketball was more fun three years ago when the US teams didn’t suck. Canyon Barry? Seriously? Not sure of the details, but Ice Cube suggested Adam Silver blocked Big 3 players from participating, which seems dumb since the Big 3 doesn’t compete with the NBA, and none of the 3×3 players are NBA guys. Send our best players, Mr. Commish!
I still enjoy watching women’s field hockey.
Suni Lee’s smile when she landed the first pass on her floor routine in the individual events was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Pure joy and relief.
I often complain about how much prime time coverage gymnastics gets. I understand it, but don’t like it. I have to say, though, I watched more this year than I’ve watched in years, and enjoyed it. Simone Biles was always amazing. Lee was fantastic. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was spectacular. I couldn’t look away from the carnage on the beam Monday.
Of all the great images of the first 10 days of the games, this might be my favorite. Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time bowing down to her rival who bested her. The unfiltered happiness on Adrade’s face. Sometimes those hugs between competitors in gymnastics seem hollow. You could tell there was true and total respect between those two all week. And how great is it for someone as good as Biles to handle finishing second with this much class?
Rowdy Gaines remains a national treasure. The difference between him, who is over-the-top in an endearing way and also super informative and prepared, with some of the other announcers who scream for no reason or utterly fail to provide context for big moments, is striking.
NBC made a big deal of the US-Aussie swimming rivalry, which seemed bigger in a year where the US was the dominant team while the Aussies (and French) had the dominant individuals. I found it interesting that unlike some years in the past, when there was clear tension and bad tidings between the Americans and Aussies, it seemed like the swimmers got along well for the most part. Which I think I prefer. I liked the swimmers coming over and hugging after a close race, congratulating each other with smiles on their faces. That’s what the Olympics are supposed to be all about.
Good grief, I’m getting old, aren’t I?
What a week for landing on your junk! First the French pole vaulter, who apparently has a pole in his pants and may have cost himself a medal when said appendage snagged the bar the rest of his body had cleared. Then Suni Lee landed square on the balance beam with her private area. Conversation in our house when Lee fell and I gasped:
C: Dad, it’s different for us than for you.
Me: I know, but that still hurts!
I’m not getting into the discussion of gender fluidity and whatnot. I will say that I find it soooo interesting that all these conservative politicians are bravely standing up for women’s rights in athletics when they trample them in real life.
I also laugh because, let’s face it, there are a lot of very manly women in the Olympics. And some of those ladies are winning medals for the US.
I know there’s a big difference between maybe not looking super feminine and being transgender. Let’s not pretend the politicians who are screaming their outrage about trans folks are super comfortable with the butchy ladies either. There aren’t as many votes in attacking athletes who are just gay as those pols think there are in fear mongering that there are waves of young males, who happen to be world class athletes, in the process of going through years of therapy, painful medical procedures, and uncomfortable hormone treatments not to mention ostracism by family and society, so they can kick the crap out of our innocent girls in sports.
But, again, I’m not getting into it.
I think it’s hard to criticize the TV coverage too much because this is a really damn hard event to pull off. Tons of sports occurring simultaneously across France (and even in Tahiti) that you need to find announcers for. Not all of those announcers are either polished or necessarily enthused about the events they’ve been tasked with (see Kenny Albert, who could not sound less interested during water polo). Some of the production is based on a world feed NBC has no control over. So there are bound to be slip ups and errors.
That said…
Could NBC have screwed up perhaps the greatest track sprint final ever more than they screwed up Sunday’s men’s 100? Leigh Diffey announcing the wrong winner before there was an official announcement, then totally flubbing both Noah Lyles officially being proclaimed as the winner and ignoring that fellow American Fred Kerley won bronze. I get there were a lot of moving parts and much confusion in the moment. But this was one of the greatest moments in Olympic history, a scintillating race won with a huge comeback that required a photo review to determine the winner. NBC nearly ruined the moment. Keep your mouth shut if you’re not sure. The drama of the moment was far more important than anything Diffey had to say.
Diffey does the Indy 500, too. He sucks there as well.
Which gives me the perfect opportunity to again complain that we have a British announcer for one of the headline events of the games. And we get Trinidadian Ato Boldon while British viewers get American legend Michael Johnson. Dumb.
So apparently Louisiana born-and-raised Armand Duplantis pole vaults for Sweden not just because his mom is from there, but because Sweden gave his American father a job as a coach when Duplantis was about to commit to jump for the US. As a graduate of a school that has won two national championships in basketball partially because of hiring the father of a key recruit, I respect this move. As an American, though, I find it abhorrent. Deport them all.
Sadly ironic that Steph Curry finds himself in the worst shooting slump of his career at the same moment he finally gets to play in his first Olympic games.
I tried the Peacock Gold Zone channel. I like the concept on busy days, but if you don’t catch it at the right time, it kind of sucks.
Peyton Manning is quite good at the media thing. The Olympics, though? Stick to football and endorsing half the products available for purchase in your local store, buddy. Maybe this will be the moment where things finally get dialed back and we don’t see him or his brother every three minutes. Nah, they’re shameless and advertising execs lack imagination, so I’m sure there will be a whole new wave of Manning ads and public appearances when football season rolls around.
A key part of my past Olympics posts was highlighting attractive female athletes. Not to objectify, but to glorify the beauty of the human body. Now that I’m 53 I’m guessing any grace for those comments is long gone. Thus I will just say there are some drop-dead gorgeous women in these games. Of all colors, nationalities, and sizes. Especially the track sprints. Imagine being one of the fastest women in the world and also looking like a super model. Some people hit every number in the genetic lottery.
Hey, I talked about the Frenchie’s extra leg above, I’m allowed to say there are pretty ladies in the Games, too.
Have to say I enjoy Olympics without Russians. I feel bad rooting against athletes just because they come from a country run by a mad man who rigs elections, kills his opponents, and invades sovereign nations. It’s good only a handful of Russians made it and have to compete as neutral athletes. I’m a little surprised that Putin hasn’t gone the Peter Thiel route and created his own games, forcing countries that rely on Russians largesse or protection to choose them over the real games.
How shocked would 1990s me have been that Snoop Dog and Flavor Flav have been huge parts of the Olympic coverage? Or even 2000s me? Or 2010s me? What a time to be alive.
Our week in Florida wasn’t perfect, Mother Nature saw to that. But it was pretty good.
For the first time in eight or nine years, we drove for a vacation in the south. It was 11.5 hours, door-to-door, and traffic was not terrible on either trip. A lot of travelers, to be sure, but nothing like spring break volume.
We stayed in Inlet Beach, one of the 30A communities, with our old neighbors. We’ve now been to Mexico, Kauai, Captiva, and Inlet Beach with them. This was likely our last vacation as two families totalling nine: their oldest is getting married next summer. The adults may continue to travel once we navigate the college years.
Our house was nice, two blocks from the beach. That distance was just right on the days we had to pack up quickly because storms were moving in. Our little area was very quiet. We were in a duplex and the other side was empty, as was the duplex next to ours. There was a bachelorette group across the street starting Thursday, but they weren’t too loud, too late. Other than that, we barely saw or heard anyone in our immediate vicinity. Going late in the season, when some schools have already gone back to class, pays off.
I guess that’s my signal to get to the Mother Nature bullshit. On the way down we stopped at Buc-ee’s near Bowling Green, KY, our first ever trip to one. More on that in a bit. While we were grabbing food, C looked outside and said, “Oh, it’s pouring!” She was right. The gray skies were suddenly just dumping. I had to run to move our car closer to the doors so the family members who had straightened their hair before our trip wouldn’t have it ruined before we got to Florida. Not naming any names.
To avoid an accident that had I–65 stalled in Montgomery, AL, we took a side route that involved nearly three hours on state and county roads to the shore. Driving through intermittent downpours. A couple times it rained so hard we could barely see. Fun stuff.
Monday morning it rained just as we were getting ready to go to the beach. Tuesday afternoon it rained and drove us from the beach for over two hours. Same Wednesday, although for a little less time. There were storms Thursday. It stormed, loudly, from 5–8 AM Friday, which didn’t impact our beach time but did make for an early alarm clock no one wanted. Then Saturday, our departure day, those morning storms arrived at 4 AM. We had to drive in rain for about an hour before getting clear.
We’ve been to Florida in the summer before, and are used to the pop ups that come and go quickly. These were all big storms that would blow up and then sit over one spot with lots of lightning so you couldn’t be outside.
This storm sat right over us for three hours. It was the only rain in the entire state of Florida at the time.
It could have been worse, obviously, with Hurricane Storm Debby hitting just down the panhandle as I write this.
We still got several beach hours every day, but were curtailed at least a little by the weather most days. That wasn’t the worst thing, because it was stinking hot, the heat index well over 100 every day. Even with umbrellas and a breeze, you couldn’t sit in direct sun for very long without swimming in your own sweat.
The beach was very nice. Fluffy, white sand. Deep enough that there was plenty of room to find your own spot. Although some big, multi-generational crew decided to set up right next to us on Wednesday. I’m talking like less than three feet between the edge of our stuff and theirs. There were a lot of passive-aggressive dirty looks and music played louder than normal for the next few hours. When you got into the water, could walk way out a couple hundred feet and still both see and touch. It wasn’t quite Cancun, but it was close.
Wednesday I wandered out about as far as I’m comfortable going to enjoy the cooling water. Once I got settled in my chair with a new beer and my Kindle, there was a ruckus. Roughly the same distance I had gone out and a couple hundred feet to our left there was a shark. We could see its fins as it attacked something, fortunately not a person. Folks cleared out pretty quick, although we laughed out loud at a couple meathead dads who only came part of the way back in, then stood there defiantly. As if they had any chance against a shark in waist-deep water. Dumbasses, the whole lot. Meanwhile their wives were herding the kids back to land. Clearly all the brains in those operations reside with the ladies.
Thursday there were lots of small jellyfish around, so I avoided the water early. Once the winds kicked up and produced some waves, they disappeared and I braved the waters again.
We had our own pool, but it was very small. We expected it to be hot, too, but it was surprisingly refreshing. It was perfect for hopping into for a few minutes after dragging all our gear back from the beach.
We had three dinners out, all focused on seafood. M and C both tried snow crab one night, with mixed results. I can share food recommendations if anyone heads that way. We had burger, steak, and taco nights at home. We walked around a little in Rosemary Beach, but otherwise didn’t get out much. One family game night. A lot of recovering from the sun and watching the Olympics at night.
Oh, Buc-ee’s. Never had a chance to stop at one before. Our first stop in Kentucky Sunday morning, at about 8:00 AM, might be the perfect time to go. It was busy, but you could find a gas pump and move around the store easily. I got a breakfast taco that was solid. We stopped at one in Alabama on the way home, at about 1:00 PM on a Saturday, and it was a totally different story. Gas pumps all filled up. Store jam-packed. It’s an amazing operation, because we got gas quickly and I was able to grab a sandwich and pay within about 30 seconds despite the gridlock inside. The people who just left their cars at the pumps while they went into the store don’t understand that we are living in a society. I got a fried chicken sandwich for lunch, which was fantastic. Way better than Chick Fil A. Thumbs up, other than the crowds.
I had to chuckle that the road signs announce Florida as “The Free State of Florida.” 1) Serious Try Hard energy there. 2) As a native of a state that was founded as a Free State, I think the Floridians have a very different idea of what that means that I do. 3) I quickly amassed a list of things you are not free to do, based on my limited knowledge of Florida, that seemed to counter the governor and his lackeys’ assertion.
Worst bumper sticker I saw, just outside Nashville, TN: A confederate flag on one side, on the other “Fighting Terrorists Since 1861.” Oh Lord…
Speaking of Tennessee, what a gorgeous state to drive through. The rolling hills of central/western Tennessee might not be as dramatic as the Smokies of east Tennessee, but are still beautiful.
We also saw lots of Say No To Solar signs. I never realized there was actually an anti-solar lobby.
It boggles the mind why the Florida panhandle is on Central Time. Inlet Beach is literally straight south of Indy, but we’re in different time zones.
Pretty solid trip. I read a good book. The girls got to hang with their friends. S and I spent time with our friends.
And now we’re back to the academic grind. C and L start school Thursday, we will move M back to UC on Sunday.
No playlist next week, so I’ll see if I can cram a few extra songs into this one.
“Florida” – Modest Mouse
We will depart early Sunday for a week in the Florida panhandle. This is the only song overtly about Florida in my collection, thus its inclusion. Thursday was also M’s birthday. Famously, I was listening to “Float On” when S’s water broke, so I always think of Modest Mouse this time of year.
“Dead Plants” – better joy
Not your typical Manchester music. At the risk of being called a dirty old man, in addition to her vocal and lyrical talents, the lead singer is also an attractive human being.
“Wandering Song” – Chime School
One of the most perfectly named bands out there right now. You know exactly what you’re getting from them.
“Triple Seven” – Wishy
This band is from Indy, but I don’t know much about them. They’ve released three singles in recent weeks, all sounding very different and with different lead singers. This is the only one that does much for me.
“Later” – GIFT
A nice melding of shoegaze and synthpop.
“Found a Job” – The Linda Lindas covering Talking Heads
I can’t say I’m familiar with the original, but I do most definitely dig this cover.
“Somebody to Shove” – Soul Asylum
SA released a new song this week. I listened to it once without wanting to hear it again. It did make me pull up their two, awesome, 1992 songs: this and “Black Gold.”
“Not Too Soon” – Throwing Muses
Spotify’s Discover Weekly has been all jacked up recently, spitting out more catalog songs than new ones. I was thrilled to be reminded of this 1991 classic, though. Tanya Donnelly’s best song before leaving to form Belly.
“Overkill” – Colin Hay
Let’s keep it going on Old Songs I Hadn’t Heard In Ages with this one. A brother in music shot it my way with the rather glorious autocorrected typo of “Goats appear and fade away.” That’s how I’ll heard this song from now on. Also a pretty spectacular acoustic take on Hay’s Men at Work original.
“Summer Song” – Joe Satriani
There had to be at least one in here.
No Name – Side B, Track 1 – Jack White
Holy shit, Jack is back! And in perfect Jack White style.
Last Friday he released a new, surprise album. But he didn’t do it like other artists, who might slip an album into Spotify and Apple Music at midnight with a corresponding press release. Nope, there was zero clue this album was coming. Nor did it land on any streaming platform. Rather, if you went to one of White’s Third Man record stores (in Detroit, Nashville, or London), and bought something last Friday, the staff added an extra vinyl LP into your bag. It was stamped with only the moniker No Name. No pictures or mentions of White. No song titles or run times. There are no liner notes. Lucky recipients were encouraged to rip the album and share it with “seven friends.”
I finally got around to listening to a YouTube rip on Tuesday. WHOOOOO MAMA!!!! ROCK AND ROLL WILL NEVER DIE, THANKS TO JACK WHITE!!!!!
It sounds so much like the classic White Stripes sound that there have been plenty of people wondering if these are leftover Stripes tracks, or if Jack and Meg got back together in the studio. I think that’s pretty unlikely. There is no doubting that early 2000s ferocity is present in almost every one of the album’s 13 tracks. If you like Jack’s take on garage rock, you’ll probably love it. This is one of my favorites of the bunch.
There are strong rumors the album will hit record stores around the country sometime in the next three weeks. Hopefully streaming services, too. I doubt I’ll be sick of listening to the ripped MP3s I have by then.
“The Warrior” – Scandal featuring Patty Smyth
Another song that feels like it could have only hit in 1984. It snuck into the Top 40 last week and was still sitting at #37 this week. By September it would peak at #7 for a couple weeks, and become an all-time Eighties classic along the way.
Amazingly, this was the band’s only Top 40 hit, making them genuine One Hit Wonders. The follow up single, “Hands Tied,” is a lovely, lovely song that stalled at #41. As did their 1985 single “Beat of the Heart.” What always blows me away, though, is that 1982’s “Goodbye To You” came no where near Casey Kasem territory, making it only to #65. I would have sworn it was a radio hit.
Posting this early as we head off to Florida for vacation this weekend.
Movies, Shows, etc
Tour de France
A good first two weeks became a rather boring final week as Tadej Pogacar destroyed the field for an easy win. Luckily, that last week was when I barely watched, between travel basketball and the British Open. As always, the Peacock production of the French images was laughably bad at times. My favorite was the day they were convinced a guy that had been leading solo for about an hour had the race won, and literally 15 seconds later five other riders roared past him. But at least we can still watch here in the US.
B+
Shrinking
S pulled this out again when we had visitors over the Fourth, as they had not seen it. We watched two episodes with them, then watched the next eight the next night after they left. As good as the first time.
A
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Sigh. It didn’t make me laugh, there were no Magic Eddie Murphy Moments, some of the cast seemed way too old to have been rolled back out for another entry in the series, the story was pretty much like 8000 other cop movies, the many references to the first three films felt heavy handed, and a lot of the jokes seemed forced and/or straight out of an 80s action film playbook. And what was up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s accent? His character was born in Chicago then moved to Beverly Hills, yet had some weird, quasi-McConaughey Texas thing going?
C
For All Mankind, season four
This show has found a way to always stick the landing through the first three seasons. That wasn’t the case this time. Kind of a silly season all around, with some extreme silliness in the finale. Not nearly as compelling as the first two seasons, for sure, and lacked the pure drama that wrapped up season three. I read that Costa Ronin will join the cast for season five, making him the third? fourth? fifth? cast member of The Americans to make the jump. We need to find a way to tie the shows’ plot lines together, like he’s still the technology expert who was stationed in the US in the 1980s but is the KGB director in the alternative 2012 USSR of season five.
When an actor got dumped…and decided to conquer Hollywood Swingers is one of the five, non-holiday movies I’ve watched the most in my life. It’s been too long since I’ve watched it. Shame it is kind of hard to find to stream for free. Or at least it’s not on any of the platforms we currently pay for. And we pay for a lot of them.
The Day Remco Evenepoel CHEATED DEATH
Holy schnikies! I would not have been able to watch this if I wasn’t aware that he survived and was riding in this year’s Tour.
Romain Bardet & Kevin Vermaerke ripping canyons in California
I assumed this was on a closed road for some reason. So it freaked me out the first time one of the riders was deep into the opposite lane on a curve and, moments later, a car came by in that lane. 40+ MPH down a hill on a bike is not for the faint of heart.
This really aired
Dig around and you’ll find evidence both for this ad airing once and it never airing. Surely it is the later, right? Regardless, it is hilarious.
