Reader’s Notebook, 11/17/21
Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr When you win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, as Doerr did for his wonderful All The Light That We Cannot See, it can be a bitch to follow it up. So why not build a story around five main characters who occupy 700 years of time? If nothing else, the sheer scope of the…
What a Night: KU Football?!?!
Holy shit! There aren’t a lot of big, important, communal memories surrounding Kansas football. For those of us who were in school in the early 90’s, there was the Monte Cozzens game, when KU beat Oklahoma. For the few of us who stuck it out through the cold, there was the Tony Sands game. The Mangino era brought an epic…
Sunday Links
I’m not sure how I had never heard this story before. Nearly a decade before Pearl Harbor, the American military ran a series of war games in which an attacking force wiped out the forces sheltered at Pearl by launching a sneak attack from the north on a Sunday morning. Which is exactly what the Japanese would do nine years…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Gt9kqqRQJtOfDCr56MdrP?si=76d0571ed9c5449a “Luna Moth” – Lola in Slacks Kind of a terrible band name. But this song cooks, so I’ll allow it. “When This Gets Out” – The Persian Leaps Rock ‘n’ roll, bitches! These guys sound like an updated version of The Smithereens… “A Girl Like You” – The Smithereens …this song to be specific. “Oh My God” – Lula…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 64
Chart Week: November 6, 1976 Song: “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot Chart Position: #3, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for two weeks. This entry is cheating a little bit, as I’ve written about this song before. However, I heard not one but two countdowns last weekend that included it, so I take that…
Kid Hoops: Fall Wrap Up
Another CYO basketball season is in the books. Thanks to a big win last week, with a guest coach on the bench, L’s team solidified itself as the solid middle of her league: they lost to each of the top three teams and beat each of the bottom three teams. Fourth place, bitches! Last Wednesday we played St J. This…
Jayhawks Notes: Opening Night
Today I begin a new series. After most KU basketball games, I will do a brief collection of thoughts.[1] My goal is to keep these in the 500-word range, although exceptional performances may require more than that. The season opener went from concerning to a snoozer. KU could not shake Michigan State early, but a 9–1 run to end the…
Let’s Go Hoopin’
KU fans have put in their time suffering through the bulk of another football season. College basketball has finally arrived! The Jayhawks will take on Michigan State at Madison Square Garden tonight to kick off the hoops season. I think this is going to be a very interesting and important year for KU. Like most of the college hoops world,…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 63
Chart Week: November 2, 1985 Song: “And We Danced” – The Hooters Chart Position: #23, 13th week on the chart. Peaked at #21 the week of October 26. (Fear not, music trivia fans! After a long dry spell, I’ve got three, maybe four, of these posts queued up for the next couple weeks.) “Who the fuck are The Hooters?” Those…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7bC3VpZm4TuiuflZZNJ9C0?si=f34a58c4cfb84ca5 “I Don’t Wanna Wait” – The War on Drugs Not that there was much doubt, but pretty sure based on the past week alone The War on Drugs will be my most listened to artist of the year. The new album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, is fantastic. I’ll post a review next week where I will share more…