D's Notebook

Category: Uncategorized (Page 6 of 362)

Friday Playlist

April 11, 2025 /

Yowza! Take a week off and not only does the music pile up, but there are also a couple large events to recognize. So this week’s list is EXTRA large for your listening pleasure. And that’s even with me probably cutting a song or two from my working list as I finalize what I share.

“catch these fists” – Wet Leg
LOOK WHO’S BACK!!! WATCH OUT, FOOLS!!!

“NW1” – Mên An Tol
Whoo, this song cooks! I assumed based on the band name they were somehow Scandinavian, or maybe Icelandic. Turns out they are just some British lads, and took their name from a small stone formation in Cornwall. Call it a JV Stonehenge.

“Rodeo” – Momma
I’ve already shared a couple songs from Momma’s latest album, which officially came out while we were breaking. The album got terrific reviews so I gave it a spin this week and this was the other song that really stuck out to me.

“Holly” – Jolie Laide
It’s been driving me crazy for a couple weeks what other band these folks sound like. There was a song a few years back that had a very similar vibe to this, including a man and woman responding to each other’s lines, the film noir-ish music, etc. It also had a lot of whistling where this does not. Anyone else remember that song?

“The Wolf” – Witch Post
Is it wrong to put two man-woman songs back-to-back?

“Backseat Banton” – Bartees Strange
Not sure how I missed including this over the past two months. It was just about to drop out of my current music playlist, so I’m glad I caught the error in time.

“Stay” – Sea Lemon
Exactly the kind of dream pop I love the most.

“Lowdown (part 1)” – Michael Kiwanuka
If this hasn’t already been used to soundtrack moments in TV shows and movies, it surely will be soon.

“A Man Needs A Vocation” – Craig Finn
Finn’s album Always Been also came out while we were away. I’ve been listening to it all week. The addition of members of The War on Drugs as his backing band refresh his sound wonderfully. Several of the songs sound 100% like TWOD songs everywhere but in his vocals. This is one of the best examples. The opening keyboards. The drums. The chiming acoustic guitars that carry the song, and the little electric guitar flourishes throughout. This easily could have been on the last Drugs album.

“Rain In The River” – Bruce Springsteen
Well now! Like Prince, Springsteen has a large vault of unreleased music. Unlike Prince, he periodically taps into it, brushing up songs that have lain fallow for decades and letting the public hear them. The biggest new music news of the past week was the announcement of The Boss’ Tracks II, a package that will include 83 songs spanning seven full length albums, containing first recorded between 193 and 2018. Most of it comes from the 1990s, a decade when he stepped back from the public eye but was still apparently working quite hard. Also included is his legendary 1983 Garage Sessions work, during which he worked alone on many of the songs that became the hits of Born in the USA after he took them to the E. Street Band.

This song comes a compilation of E. Street Band-styled songs recorded at various points during the quarter century scope of the entire boxed set.

“Dreaming” – Blondie
Ugh. Blondie drummer Clem Burke died this week. He had been sick for some time but hid his cancer diagnosis, so his passing came as a shock even to many close to him.

Blondie was always mostly about Debbie Harry. Burke’s driving beats held the whole operation together, though.

Blondie’s peak was less than four years long. Despite that they had a huge impact on music and culture, one that still influences bands trying to figure out what direction they want to go. You can argue about which Blondie single is the best. They had four number ones, which are good places to start. I’ve long leaned towards “Dreaming” though. I think some of that is because while those chart topping hits went different directions – disco, Euro-disco, Dancehall, and rap – “Dreaming” was a perfect New Wave song, the genre the band helped bring to the mainstream. Harry softened her New York hardness a bit, making it feel more like an updated, Sixties girl band tune.[1] And then there were Burke’s drums, an absolutely jaw-dropping performance. I did not know until this week that the drums you hear were his first take at the track, and he wasn’t taking it all that seriously, thus played busier and with more abandon than he normally would. Harry and Chris Stein loved how they sounded and kept them for the final mix of the song. Amazing. And RIP.

This track is, obviously, a live performance played over the recorded track. But watch Burke just beat the shit out of his kit.

  1. Also, like this week’s RFTS post, it has an AMAZING set of opening lines.  ↩

Reader’s Notebook 4/10/25

April 10, 2025 /

I read two-and-a-half books while on break. I admit I had to go back and read a summary of one of them. That’s what happens when you read most of it in small doses on the beach, I guess.

The Seventh Floor – David McCloskey
The latest entry from the former CIA analyst and host of The Rest Is Classified podcast. This time, operations against a Russian target run into constant obstacles because of a Russian mole deep within the CIA’s leadership. The search for and capture of said agent are both good fun.

Thrilling Cities – Ian Fleming
This is a collection of travel essays that Ian Fleming wrote for London’s The Sunday Times based on trips he took in 1959 and 1960, first published in book form in 1963. Some of it is fascinating, notably how unique it was to travel around the world on a jet plane at the time, and how very different that experience was. Some of it is cringey: Fleming was, infamously, a bit of a racist and could easily judge the people he met on his travels based on the color of their skin, ethnicity, or where they were born. Some of it is very funny. At times he opens with a pretty racist statement, then subverts it and makes himself look silly in the process. He had a sharp eye for what made cities unique, and was not afraid to explore them deep into the night to discover all they had to offer.

These essays are purely entertainment value at this point. Despite the racism and out-of-datedness, it is fun to read about how much the world has changed and how exotic cities that were a day-long plane ride away felt in 1960.

Ballistic – Mark Greaney

Zero Option – W.E.B. Griffin
Last fall I came across Steve Donoghue’s year end lists of favorite books of various genres. I added several of them to my always growing To Read list, especially from his list of best thrillers. Both of these were entries on that list. Given that he focuses on “real” literature, I’m kind of surprised he is so into books where people mostly blow shit (and other people) up.

Ballistic is an entry in Greaney’s Gray Man series, which I started earlier this year. It’s not dissimilar to the opener. The Gray Man faces seeming insurmountable odds as he takes on a Mexican drug cartel nearly singlehandedly, yet somehow wins. I enjoyed it, but have to admit I can only read so many books like this. Especially when by the same author and with the same protagonist, so this will probably be the last Gray Man book I read.

Zero Option is like a modern Bond book, in that Peter Kirsanow picked up Griffin’s “Men At War” series following his death in 2019. In this case, a German plot to kill Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943. The story switches between the Germans, a team of Americans, and a Soviet agent, who are all aimed at the same point in time with very different agendas.

This book seemed like it was written more for teenagers. It was silly and uneven, and spent far too much time building up to the events in Tehran without accomplishing much along the way. A part of me wondered if it had been translated from another language as some of the dialogue pretty dumb. Oh well, this was mostly read on the beach so better to waste time on it rather than something more meaty.

Everybody Knows – Jordan Harper
The second Harper book I’ve read, and this was just about as satisfying as the first (She Rides Shotgun).

In this case, an associate at a PR firm that specializes in sanitizing/killing stories about terrible things famous people do gets pulled into a classic LA Noir murder mystery that winds itself through the richest people in the town. She is assisted by an old flame, a retired cop who works in the same realm, investigating icky stories and finding ways to use them for/against people in the limelight. They dive into the world of childhood stars, controlling agents, and the sick predilections of the wealthy. It is disturbing but very well written and entertaining.

Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 111

April 9, 2025 /

Chart Week: April 4, 1981
Song: “Take It On The Run” – REO Speedwagon
Chart Position: #27, third week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in May/June.

What makes a song great? There are like a million different things we could talk about when breaking that question down. I respect you and don’t want to type up a post that long. So let’s focus on one specific attribute: a powerful set of opening lyrics. Like these, for example:

Heard it from a friend who,
Heard it from a friend who,
Heard it from another you’d been messin’ around

What a fantastic opening stanza! You’ve grabbed the listener’s attention and given them an idea of what’s to come by addressing a universal topic: being cheated on.

I begin with that not to dive into an exploration of songs about stepping out, or to answer the broader societal question of “Why Do People Cheat?” Rather, I start there because “Take It On The Run” is as much about miscommunication, rumors, and the tendency for humans to gossip as the actual (and alleged) cheating Kevin Cronin was singing about.

Those themes can apply to any relationship, not just romantic ones. Friendships. Business partnerships. How you get along with your neighbors. Hell, it can explain why a band that has been making music for nearly 60 years suddenly falls apart. More specifically to our discussion, it is why REO Speedwagon was in the music news last week.

When you think of REO Speedwagon, you probably think of lead singer Kevin Cronin’s voice and Gary Richrath’s guitar first. Richrath, who wrote “Take It On The Run,” left the band in 1989 and died in 2015. His soaring solos were a staple of the REO sound.

Cronin first joined the band in 1972, five years after REO formed, and was fired a year later. He rejoined in 1976 and was the lead singer through their glory days, a stretch that included nine top 20 hits, two of which topped the Billboard pop chart. I wouldn’t call his voice legendary, but it was a great fit for the words he and his bandmates wrote, always conveying the proper emotional timbre.

He remained the face of the band until last year, when he was fired for a second time, in this case because of the dreaded “irreconcilable differences” with bass player Bruce Hall. It seems that they argued about touring; Cronin wanted to keep the band on the road while Hall was done with that part of the business. I’m not sure how Cronin was the one to get fired over that conflict. Seems like you kick out the guy who does not want to continue doing what rock bands are supposed to do. And Cronin, who was in the band longer than Hall, should have had ultimate veto power, right? However, Hall was able to rally the other members of the band to vote out their front man after 48 years.

This conflict resurfaced last week when Cronin posted an angry statement saying he was “deeply disturbed” that he had not been invited to an event this June where most of the other surviving members of REO’s various eras will come together for a show in their hometown of Champaign, IL. Further, he claims that the organizers of the event not only failed to include him, but also specifically picked a date when his new outfit, The Kevin Cronin Band,[1] is scheduled to play a show with Styx in Bend, OR. Jeez.

These squabbles within bands that decide to fall apart in their Medicare years always make me laugh. What else are these jokers going to do at this point other than play music together? I doubt they’re living the high life like in their primes, but it must pay the bills. I know 40, 50, 60 years of baggage can be a lot. You’ve put up with it for this long, though. Get over it, play your tunes for 90 minutes four nights a week, and keep cashing those checks.

Like those broken relationships the band was singing about in 1981, most of this strife is likely based on an inability to communicate directly and relying on the telephone game of words being passed from person to person to person and losing their true meaning along the way. Even guys in their 70s can still act like dumb teenagers sometimes.

I LOVE “Keep On Loving You,” REO Speedwagon’s monster hit that topped American Top 40 two weeks before this show. I’ve written about it many times on this site.[2] You know what? “Take It On The Run” might be a better song. It’s just a little punchier, the guitar work a little more muscular, and a little more traditional in its structure which spools out its drama a little longer. That opening (and closing) sequence is wonderful. Richrath’s guitar work is epic. And even if the protagonist’s anger and accusations are based on misperceptions and half-truths, you can’t deny the bitterness in Cronin’s delivery.

In these two songs, REO, arguably, perfected the massive, power ballad and created a structure pretty much every rock band would follow for the next, what, decade? Two decades? Forever?

REO Speedwagon was one of the biggest bands of their era. Like many acts that fell into their sphere – Journey, Styx, Boston, Kansas, etc. – they often took grief from critics for being too commercial, overly produced, and writing what were basically 20 versions of the same song. That may all be true. When they got everything right, though, they wrote some classics. 8/10

Some of my younger readers might say, “Wow, a band had two big hits in a matter of months with two songs about being unfaithful? That’s kind of wild!” Well, my friends, wait until you hear the name of the album those songs were from: Hi Infidelity. Honest to God. People loved to sing about and listen to songs related to cheating in 1981.

While listening to this countdown, I thought about how I would have reacted if you told me back in 1981 that REO Speedwagon would still be playing music in 2025.[3] Cronin was 30 when “Take It On The Run” was released, which seemed ancient to nine-year-old me. To still be rocking when they were older than my grandparents? Crazy talk!

The Rolling Stones were four months away from releasing their Tattoo You album. That LP and the associated massive tour combined to turn them into rock’s first eternal act. The Stones certainly took a different path from the State Fair/casino circuit so many Seventies and Eighties acts, including REO, eventually landed on. However, until the Stones had that second explosively successful stage in their career while in their 40s, I don’t think anyone, even the artists themselves, viewed playing and recording rock music as something you could do your entire life.

Also, while I was walking to the locker room at the gym Monday, I heard “Take It On The Run” blasting out of the spin studio. I’m not the only one that still likes it!

  1. Imaginative name, Kev!  ↩
  2. Feel free to search the site archives to track those posts down.  ↩
  3. Or 2024 I guess.  ↩

Hoops Chat

April 8, 2025 /

A lot of hoops thoughts to work through as the college season has come to a very entertaining end.

Women’s Tourney

Man, UConn roared through the tournament like they were all mad the program hadn’t won a title in nearly a decade. Their performance in the Final Four was as dominant as I can remember any team, men or women, having over the final two games of the season. They eviscerated UCLA and South Carolina with a gorgeous, flowing, democratic brand of basketball. Try to take away one player and two others were waiting to kill you.

L is a big Paige Bueckers fan. In fact, she wrote her high school entrance essay about Bueckers and how she showed perseverance overcoming her injuries. I’ve shared before how it’s really hard to get L to sit down and watch full basketball games. Well Friday and Sunday, she sat next to me and watched every minute of the two UConn games.[1] I was pleased that she, apparently, watches a lot of highlights, because she knew every player and what they run on offense and defense. I was happy for Paige, I was happy for L since she wanted Paige to win, and I was happy that I was able to sit, watch, and enjoy a couple games with my hoopster daughter.

Bueckers was obviously the headline story, but, man, Huskies freshman Sarah Strong was so impressive. Not quite as flashy as Juju Watkins, but she has just about everything in her game. In the void of Watkins being out part/most/all of next year rehabbing her knee, Strong should become the face of the college game.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw a Fox News headline that Bueckers’ apparent lack of popularity outside hoops-heads (I guess?) is because of her race. So they’re just going to ignore the last two years, or the fact that the most popular WNBA player ever and one of the most popular athletes in the world at the moment is another white, Midwesterner? Now maybe the article was more nuanced, or it went directly political and got into how Bueckers is far more outspoken about things that get the Fox News crowd riled up than Caitlin Clark has ever been. But I didn’t read that shit, so can’t be certain.

Geno Auriemma has always annoyed me. I think it’s just his east coast arrogance. He seems to have mellowed a bit in recent years. I don’t know if it was the (super) relative lack of success for the program over the past decade, age, or something else, but he actually seemed kind of likable this weekend. Although I guess he kind of made an ass of himself in the press conference after the title game. Hopefully Paige yelled at him.

L asked if I thought he would retire now. I think it’s hard to do that when you have a player like Strong returning, along with Azzi Fudd and others. And I’m sure he has another stud freshman or two who will join them. Why quit when the program is still loaded?

The women’s Final Four was in Tampa. Although we flew in and out of the Sarasota airport, it was still filled with UConn folks coming in for the weekend when we left on Friday.

Chomp Chomp

Not much about Monday’s men’s title game was pleasing to the eye. Houston’s defense is remarkable, but it completely sucks the life out of the game. Worse, their offense is kind of terrible, mostly designed to throw the ball off the backboard and grab offensive rebounds while hoping LJ Cryer or Emanuel Sharp hit the occasional 3 between all the bricks. I was trying to remember a team with this combo of attributes making it this far. Virginia and Villanova were both intense defensive minded teams that sometimes struggled to score. But both teams were also focused on playing deliberately on offense, and had a couple guys you did not want to let get open looks. The classic Georgetown teams jumped out at me, but they had a hall of famer in the low post so I’m not sure that’s an exact match for Houston, either. Ironically Georgetown’s one title game win in their three chances was against Houston in 1984.

Florida’s defense was not much worse, creating an absolute slog of a game. Worse, the officials had no idea how to manage the physicality and clearly let it get away from them a couple times. Hell, the entire second half was a mess of too many calls followed by no calls followed by terrible calls to try to quell the near-violence. Slamming the ball on the ground in anger is 100% worthy of a technical, but I’m not sure how J’Wan Roberts throwing his hands in the air and screaming after every single call/no call is not also a “demonstrative act.”

All that made for a disjointed, ill-tempered, uncomfortable game to watch. I was glad I had no strong interest in who won.

Well, that’s not true. The Gators winning made me some money. I won one pool, tied for first in another. Sadly I got those in the wrong order. The pool I won shares the money amongst the top four. The one I tied in gives all the money to the winner, and I lost the tie breaker in that one. That tie breaker was extra annoying because the guy I lost to had KU in the Elite 8. I feel like I should win over him based on that alone.

Oh well. Second time in four years I’ve won a pool. And this year was with me being absolutely terrible on day one. Of course it’s also because I picked four number one seeds to get to the Final Four. But I’m on record as having wanted to pick against one of them, just not finding a team below them I trusted to pull the upset. So at least my cop-out was an informed one.

As some of my readers know, I finished second in my fantasy draft, trailing my buddy Nez in Lee’s Summit by 16 points. If only Clemson hadn’t lost in the first round…

I feel a little bad for Kelvin Sampson. He’s truly a great coach who has been unfairly maligned because he sent too many texts to recruits. Well, he did it twice at two different schools, so he deserves some shit for not learning from his mistakes. But that sure seems quaint in the NIL era. Anyway, he might be the current best example of a “culture” coach. You know what you’re getting from one of his Houston teams. Shame he and his son couldn’t come up with better plays to run on the Cougars’ last two possessions. Four turnovers in the last 2:00 nearly matched KU’s meltdown against Arkansas.

Houston might have the two combined most painful championship game losses ever. Not sure 1983 will ever be topped, especially given the talent on that team. But not even getting a shot off on the last two possessions Monday will smart for years.

Still props to them for one of the greatest comebacks in Final Four history Saturday night against Duke. That was thoroughly enjoyable. It never seemed possible until suddenly it was. That was the second biggest choke by a team from North Carolina in the Final Four this decade.

I had not watched Florida at all until the past couple weeks. When they were rolling, they were incredible. Such a great combination of parts. Waves of athletic bigs. Athletic wings. Shooters everywhere. And although he was largely held in check last night, Walter Clayton Jr. is like a low-rent Steph Curry, never afraid of taking a shot from anywhere on the court and, more often than not, nailing them.

Lots of buzz in the KU community that Todd Golden is the favorite to come to Lawrence when Bill Self retires. Golden has some baggage, to say the least. And now that he’s won a title in Gainesville he may not feel the need to jump to a traditional power. He has proven, though, that he understands modern basketball and how to build a team to compete. As soon as this time next year KU AD Travis Goff could have a big decision to make about whether the allegations against Golden are enough to prevent him from being considered to replace Self. Again, all rumors, but apparently Goff has zero interest in Chris Beard when the time comes because of his legal issues a couple years back. Seems like Golden should be disqualified if Beard is.

Jayhawk Talk

What a wild two weeks for KU.

First they lost almost every player who could return from this year’s team, worst of all Flory Bidunga. There had been rumblings for weeks, and you just kind of expect it these days anyway. I was still super bummed when Flory jumped. There were even rumors that Bryson Tiller, who was on campus this spring and will be a freshman next fall, might not stick around. There was a full-on panic as we realized we barely had enough players to fill out a roster, and worry that Darryn Peterson might decide to take his talents elsewhere.

The tide started to turn over the weekend. Self nabbed a couple transfers from the portal, both athletic wings. Then Bidunga announced he was returning to Lawrence. That news broke Sunday in the middle of a family conversation. Which I interrupted by throwing my hands in the air and yelling “FLORY IS BACK!!!!” My family made fun of me.

Flory’s time in the portal was fascinating, and telling of the state of college ball at the moment. There were immediate rumors that Auburn, his second choice a year ago, was offereing $3 million a year, which seemed insane. If that was true, I would happily let Flory walk. I love him and his potential, but he ain’t worth three million bucks.[2] Then there was word of back-and-forth between KU and Flory’s “team,” with Self even flying to Indiana to meet with them a week ago. Suddenly Saturday night, when all signs pointed towards Flory going to Auburn, the tide seemed to shift and there were strong rumors he would stay a Jayhawk. I guess until the revenue sharing model gets instituted, this is how college hoops will be. Even if you’re happy with where you are and your role, you jump in the portal to basically renegotiate your deal with your current school. I want players to get paid, but I’m pretty sure this is an awful way to do it. It hurts all sides. I haven’t read enough about the upcoming House settlement to understand if it will solve this problem, make it worse, or keep it as it.

Anyway, Flory’s back!

(My winning pool entry was titled Bidungapalooza. I sweated that name for a week but it worked out all around.)

There’s still work to do. I would like another big guard who can start. There has to be another big to play either next to or behind Flory. Even then, I worry that too much is being expected of Peterson, who will be the most talented player to arrive in Lawrence since Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid showed up in 2013. You know what, though? KU will NOT be picked preseason #1, nor picked to win the Big 12. There is always pressure at KU, but it will be dialed back a few notches next year, which should be good for everyone from the coaches to players to fans.

  1. She also plays for the AAU program run by UConn sophomore Ashlynn Shade’s parents.  ↩
  2. Message board rumors Sunday were that he’s getting $1.3M from KU this year, slightly better than Auburn’s final, true offer.  ↩

Spring Break 2025

April 7, 2025 /

Home after a nearly perfect week in Siesta Key, FL for C’s senior spring break. This might have been the easiest spring break we’ve ever had. In nearly every way you can assess it, things went as well, or even better, as we could have hoped for.

We were on one of the B Team breaks for C’s class. The largest group trip was to a resort in Cancun. After doing the huge, overseas, resort trip two years ago with M’s class, C was not interested in all the drama that came with it. Plus she’s less social than M, so did not feel the need to be in the midst of the big gathering.[1]

There were somewhere between 40–50 of her classmates in Siesta, roughly 30 of those in our loose group that stayed in a series of resorts and condos that were all clustered together in the center of the Key. Three of C’s friends stayed with us. Or, rather, we had two rooms at the Sarasota Surf and Racquet Club, one for S, L, and I, and the other for C and her friends. I have to admit this arrangement made me nervous in the weeks leading up to the trip. C’s room was not only separate from ours, but in a completely different building.

C and her roommates did great. As far as we know, there weren’t any incidents, they didn’t annoy any of their neighbors, and no one got arrested. Seems like a success.

There was one bummer for the week, but it wasn’t related to C or her friends. L was all fired up that she would be running around close to normal since she was in a walking boot rather than a cast. Her first night trying to hang with friends quashed those thoughts. Turns out when you don’t put any weight on your foot for five weeks, you aren’t immediately able to walk normally again. Plus strolling around in an aircast is not comfortable at all, at least at first. She was too slow and sore and ended up coming home early upset because she couldn’t keep up with the group. She largely spent the rest of the week with us. I felt sorry for her but she kept insisting she was fine, and told us her perfect break is getting up early, reading all day, and then going to bed early. I think some of that was deflecting, but it is true she’s not really into the party scene yet. Fortunately one of her best friends from middle school who goes to Bishop Chatard was just down the beach and insisted L come out with her a couple nights.

That was an interesting aspect of our week. While there was a decent number of Cathedral families there, Siesta Key is where Chatard’s seniors almost all come each year, staying right in same area we were. There wasn’t a ton of interaction among the seniors that we saw, but the younger kids were definitely crossing lines. And we saw tons of St P’s families.

Speaking of St P’s, early in the week I saw this older dude, shaved head, sitting near us without his shirt on, showing off his impressive tattoos. I pointed him out to L and said “Hey, that looks like Mr. H!” the principal at St P’s the first four or five years we had kids there. There were always rumors that he had a bunch of tattoos from when he lived in Japan, and that he always wore long sleeved shirts so the kids didn’t see them. Making this comparison funnier was that the dude was vaping.

Well, next day we got a text from another St P’s/CHS parent that said “OMG! I just saw Mr. H on the beach and he was vaping!” It was him!

Turned out he was staying in our complex with one of his kids and some grandkids. He walked around all week without a shirt on and we caught him vaping any time the little ones weren’t around. Later someone said he stays there every year. Kind of crazy to pick a spring break spot where you know tons of families from the school you used to run always go. Especially since we didn’t see him interact with a single person outside his family.

The weather was nearly perfect all week. It only rained once, and that was a downpour Saturday night just after we returned from dinner. Otherwise hot, sunny, and breezy every day. Just what you want from spring break.

Most nights we ended up hosting a dinner in our room for C, her roommates, and then any friends who were tagging along. There was a Taco Tuesday dinner on the beach for most of the CHS families at the complex next door.

Our only big outing was Wednesday when most of the CHS crew went on a sunset cruise together. Here’s where there was an obvious difference between C’s trip and M’s. In the Dominican Republic two years ago, kids were getting WASTED on the afternoon booze cruise. The drinking age there is 18, and the kids were openly killing rum punch as soon as the bartender handed it to them. S had to help a couple kids out who were in really bad shape.

But in Florida the kids obviously couldn’t drink openly, and you weren’t allowed to bring anything onto the boat. We did end up buying C and her roommates a round of daiquiris, as did most of the other parents. A bartender told us they hadn’t sold this many daiquiris in weeks, which made all us parents laugh out loud. There was a line of parents buying 4–5 drinks each and no questioning about where they were going. Our kids all behaved. Only a few of them had more than one drink, but several got on the boat with quite a few in them from the beach. But there were no incidents.

Late in the two hour cruise S, L and I were downstairs where it was less crowded. C came down to check in and got a text from a friend upstairs that the bartenders were carding kids. S ran up to check and it turned out they were just taking the drinks from kids who couldn’t produce an ID. Again, hilarious. They sold drinks and made tips for 90 minutes and then in the last half hour made kids dump them out before we got back to the dock. Fair enough.

C had a drink and wasn’t being very careful about hiding it. The downstairs bartender came over and asked for her ID. Again, when C couldn’t show her one, the bartender politely took the drink and that was that. Seems like they were chill because the kids were being chill.

The last time we went to Siesta Key the police were pretty hardcore on the beach. We know a couple Indy kids who got arrested that year. We only saw one group of kids get hassled last week, and those were idiot sophomores from the other Catholic school who had a case of beer sitting in the midst of their circle in broad daylight. The deputies hassled them for a while, then took the beer and told the kids to disperse. As far as we know no kids were arrested in our little area all week.

The travel part of the week was about as easy as you could imagine this time of year. We flew out of Indy in the afternoon and there were no lines. I had to wait less than five minutes to pick up our rental in Sarasota. We also had an afternoon return flight. When I walked by the rental counter after turning in our van, there were lines similar to our visit three years ago, when people were stuck waiting for hours and we eventually bailed and ordered an Uber. There was literally no one in front of us to drop bags or in the TSA Pre line. Our flight was delayed 15 minutes, but we ended up landing right on time. I’m a little nervous that this means our next trip will be plagued with issues.

We missed some big weather at home. Wednesday there were tornado warnings in Indy. After our sunset cruise we had the girls back to our room for an evening snack and many of them were either getting texts or calls from their parents back home, who were all in their basements. That was followed by massive rain, which continued into the weekend. We ended up getting over 6” of rain in our part of town over four days. No issues at our house. The sump pump kept pumping and if the power went off, it was only briefly. Just some limbs down in the yard to throw into the trash dumpster. Everything is super green, though, and trees and plants are starting to bud/flower.

So pretty awesome we are going to have hard freezes the next two nights.

One of the best things about the week is that we got to spend time with the parents of one of M’s best friends, who we hung with in the Dominican two years ago. Their middle daughter and C are casual friends, so we don’t get to see them as much as we did with the older sisters. We tried to avoid what was going on in the world while we were relaxing, but they have the same perspective on things as we do, and also have three daughters, so the dad and I especially spent a lot of time talking about the state of things and what it means for our girls as they become adults. The dad also drives a Rivian, so we talked about cool cars, too. It’s a shame their third daughter is two years younger than L and we won’t get to travel with them again in their senior years.

We always enjoy going to Publix when in Florida. We did make three trips there over the course of the week. That was even with ordering some stuff ahead of time, that we picked up on our way to the resort Friday, and having an Instacart order from Costco get delivered that night as well. That all went fairly well. Some of the fruit and vegetables were crap, a big reason I’m usually fine going to the store on my own. All our bread was also moldy in about a day. We figured they take the stuff off the shelf that’s about to expire and save it for delivery orders.

We didn’t spend a ton of time in the car, but did have to run girls somewhere, pick up food, etc each day. On our drive from the airport we found a cool, old school hip hop and R&B station. It played almost exclusively songs from the ‘90s. We kept it glued to that station and enjoyed it throughout the week. Despite spending just a little time in the car, we managed to hear “Poison,” “Hey Ya!” and “Don’t Walk Away” four times each. Not that I’m complaining.

So we survived the middle kid’s spring break. She and her friends lean to the Good Kid side of the spectrum, but you never know when you go away, there are lots of kids around, and alcohol is involved. We are thankful they all respected us and their parents enough to keep the nonsense to a minimum.

The seniors have just five weeks of classes left, with two shorter weeks in there because of Easter. Prom, National Honor Society, graduation activities, and grad party season are all right around the corner. The next two-plus months are going to be busy, but fly by quickly.

  1. Since Covid our spring breaks have been: Anna Maria, Siesta Key, Punta Caña, Anna Maria, Siesta Key. We are NOT going to the DR again next year, but will likely be out of the country.  ↩

Friday Playlist

March 28, 2025 /

Nothing special about this playlist in advance of our spring break. Although it is chock full of great tunes. No playlist next week, as that is our fly home day. Hope everyone has a great week.

“Bonnet Of Pins” – Matt Berninger
Oh my! Often when lead singers of bands release solo projects, they use them as opportunities to explore new ground different than where their band normally treads. Not so here. This sounds almost exactly like The National. It isn’t just his voice or lyrics, either. The music is right in the pocket of a great National song.

“Something In The Air” – Lauren Mayberry
Along those same lines, this isn’t too far removed from CHVRCHES music.

“Chrome Dipped” – CIVIC
A slight tweak to their sound, but no less enjoyably heavy than their earlier, 70’s Aussie punk influenced songs.

“What Do I Know” – Deep Sea Diver
This was the first song that band leader Jessica Dobson engineered on her own. Rather than go back and fix what didn’t work, she kept many of the first takes of the various instruments. I dig the raw, live feel that gives this track.

“LA Runaway” – The Horrors
How many songs have been written about runaways in (or to) LA? Most by bands who wore spandex and had super teased hair, I bet. The concept works just fine with modern post-punk, too.

“Richardson” – Shura featuring Cassandra Jenkins
A gorgeous song with some lazy, summer day vibes.

“Relationships” – HAIM
Speaking of summer…the Haim sisters have a knack for making tunes that are perfect for the warmest days of the year, which are right around the corner, you know.

“A Few More Years” – Wings of Desire
I’ve been trying to figure out who this band reminds me of for a couple weeks. I keep drifting towards saying it is Ballboy, a Scottish band with a very particular sound. And there are definitely similarities between them, but it feels like some other band I can’t recall is a better match. Let me know if you figure it out.

“Drive That Fast” – Kitchens of Distinction
It’s been nearly four years since I last shared this 1991 classic, which is far too long.

March Media

March 27, 2025 /

A little earlier than normal so it doesn’t sit in the Drafts folder until we return from spring break.

Movies, Shows, etc

The Agency
Tuuuuuurific! I had read/heard raves for this and was waiting until S needed to get her next Taylor Sheridan fix on Paramount+ so I could watch it. It lived up to the hype. Now, there are some issues with the story, which got a little broad at times. But that’s a minor complaint. Tense, generally well written, good acting performances. Most of all, though, it is shot like a movie, more cinematic in visual presentation than most other spy shows out there. And the soundtrack was incredible. This felt like what Michael Mann always wanted to make, but often fell short off on the script side. And the big twist at the end worked in making me look forward to season two.

A

The Neighbors’ Window
I wasn’t sure which section to put this in. I watched it on YouTube, but since it won an Oscar it seemed right to elevate it. A wonderful piece of filmmaking. You can do a lot in 20 minutes if you want to.

A

Exploring New Zealand’s Wild Flavors, Māori Culture & Volcanic Hot Spring Cooking | DIRT
I’m also elevating this in status as they require a true commitment to watch now. New Zealand looks beyond spectacular.

A

The Hunt For Red October
Still holds up.

A

Lioness, season one
I took a chance on this as I had heard very mixed views on it from others. There are some big problems with the season. Midway through I was contemplating bailing as it was veering towards similar dumb territory as the Jack Ryan series. I wouldn’t say it totally saved itself but I did finish and didn’t feel like I wasted my time. Some of the dialogue though, yech. I lost track of how many times I knew exactly what a character would say. Like to the word. Nicole Kidman’s performance was kind of terrible. And her husband? One of the worst characters I can recall in a series like this. Debating whether to watch season two, as it got better reviews, but was also reviewed by a lot fewer critics.

B-

30 Rock, season one
While I’ve not watched them as much lately, reruns of The Office and Seinfeld are staples of my normal, casual TV time. If Parks & Recreation aired more often, I would gobble that up as well. I’ve rewatched Arrested Development, parts of Community and Scrubs. The one classic 21st Century (I know Seinfeld doesn’t fit that timeline) comedy I’ve never rewatched? Tina Fey’s classic. So this is super fun because of all those shows, it’s the one I remember the least well. I’m still in the midst of season one, but so far, so great!

A

Shorts, YouTubes, etc

How Tower Cranes Build Themselves
Obviously this works, but it sure doesn’t seem like it should.

Link Sar: The Last Great Unclimbed Mountain
On one hand, I’m fascinated by these climbs. On the other, when they look down from the tops of 3000 foot drop offs, I have trouble watching.

Robert De Niro Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
Here’s one of the biggest ones of these you can get. And it is surprisingly great. De Niro isn’t always the most forthcoming or comfortable talking about himself, but he was terrific here.

John Cusack Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters
This is whack because there is no section about Sixteen Candles.

Why wasn’t France a part of the Holy Roman Empire?
Why was the Netherlands banned from selling Luxembourg?
Why did Europe obey the Monroe Doctrine?
I love this series. Good content and the subtle humor in the animations is terrific.

Inside This Home Builder’s Desert Hideaway in Far West Texas | Huckberry Homes
These never disappoint.

How an Architect Optimized a 400-Square-Foot Manhattan Apartment | Architectural Digest
My last apartment in Kansas City was about 400 square feet, so it was fun to watch this and imagine what could have been done with that space other than throwing a futon and a computer desk into it.

Up Close with Polar Bears – Sony FX6 Short Film – Churchill Manitoba
Super cool footage of polar bears followed by an interesting description of how it was made.

The Last Observers
Charming piece about another old school occupation that is being replaced by technology.

Cafe hopping in Lisbon, Portugal | best coffee & hidden gems
Living in Lisbon, Portugal | Typical day as digital nomads, life update + coffee, food & fun
M is going to spend the spring ’26 semester in Lisbon, so I started seeking out some Portugal content on YouTube. I think she will enjoy these millennials way more than I did. I stopped watching their stuff, but started a new playlist of other Portugal content I’m sharing with M and will watch on my own next fall.

Not the Typical Golden Route: 10-Day Winter Itinerary with My Family in Japan
Canadians in Japan, eh?

Every “I’ve Made A Huuuge Mistake” – Arrested Development
Can never watch too many AD clips.

The Heatwave Continues, Ireland 1976
Hilarious.

Creating Saturday Night Live: Cue Cards
Quite the process.

Your Spring Wardrobe, Simplified | Answering Your Spring Style Questions For 2025 | Ask Huckberry
Not all this fits my aesthetic, but I always appreciate their seasonal updates.

Alec Baldwin’s Impressions Of “The Godfather” Cast
Shame he’s a total kook, but I do admire the man’s talent.

55 Greatest James Bond One-Liners
Solid.

MUSCAT: OMAN’S ANTI-DUBAI CAPITAL CITY
Funny, I watched this randomly and suddenly I was getting suggestions for other vids about Oman daily. The algorithm is never shy about forcing you down a rabbit hole.

Matthew McConaughey’s Funniest Impressions
How had I never seen Matt Damon do this until now? Uncanny!

Top 20 Songs You Didn’t Know Were Written by Prince
I was prepared to slam this list, but there were actually seven songs on it I had no idea Prince was responsible for. Now, I had never heard any of them before. But I thought it might be 20 obvious ones.

Car Content

I Drive The Hyundai IONIQ 9 For The First Time! Full Tour & Initial Road Test Experience
Hyundai IONIQ 9 EV Road Trip To North Korea!
Ugly car, but glad Hyundai/Kia are pushing their EV offerings forward.

Rivian R2 vs NEW Model Y
I’ve Been Hard On Rivian Recently But Now Is The Best Time To Get One
How Rivian R2 Will DOMINATE
RIVIAN CEO ⚡️ RJ Scaringe on the electric future and unifying vision | Interview @ SXSW
The Rivian R3 Is Getting Closer & Here’s What I Want To See Make It To Production
What We Learned After Testing a Rivian R1T for 40,000 Miles
Only 25 months until I can get an R2. This space may just turn into a Rivian-stan section between now and then.

Photography

5 Tips for Photographers with No Time
Travel Photography on the Oregon Coast in Winter // Fuji X-T5
Travel Photography at Home in Seattle // Fuji X-T5
Travel Photography in Vancouver // Fuji X-T5
OUR LAST DAY ON THE OREGON COAST
5 Photos Show How The Ukraine War Changed
My Minimal Street & Travel Photography Setup for 2025
A Plea to all Camera Brands…
What I Learned Traveling With ONLY The Fujifilm 27mm
50mm Street Photography: Lisbon (POV)

Podcasts

Real Ones
I’ve dialed back my NBA pods, mostly because ESPN fired Zach Lowe last fall ending his twice-weekly show. But I still cycle through as many of The Ringer’s NBA pods as I can each week. This is, by far, the best. Howard Beck is a fantastic NBA writer and surprisingly funny when the other two get him ranting about something. Former NBA player Raja Bell is an AMAZING podcaster. Like outrageously good. Some folks don’t like Logan Murdock’s act, but I do, especially when he and Raja go back and forth. If you only have an hour to listen to folks talk about the NBA each week, this is the one you should pick.

Freedom!

March 27, 2025 /

A quick kid update.

L had her cast taken off this morning. Everything looked great. No swelling, no pain. The doctor said the incision and tendon anchor in her foot all seemed fine. When he had her rotate her foot inward, an action that triggered her pain pre-surgery, she could do so without limitation or pain.

She will be in a boot for the next six weeks and can finally put weight on it again. He wants her to keep the crutches handy for now, but she can transition away from them as she feels comfortable. She can take the boot off and get in the pool next week if she wants.

Biggest of all, she can take normal showers again! For the past five weeks she’s had to put a waterproof covering over her cast, then sit on a stool and be assisted by S to clean up. And, of course, her left leg hasn’t been cleaned since the morning of her surgery. When the cast came off today, she made a face from the odor. Not sure how the nurse kept a straight face. I ignored her invitation to come over and take a whiff.[1]

She’ll begin physical therapy soon after we return from spring break. There will be at least six weeks of that. The doc said that assuming she progresses as he expects, she’ll be able to start non-contact activities in early June.

The kid has been through a lot the last five months. With a few understandable meltdowns excepted, she’s done terrific dealing with it all. Better things are ahead, fingers crossed.

Also, Monday was the CHS basketball banquet. It’s a pretty chill affair. The team and families gather at school and there is cake and cookies, a slide show from the season, and the coaches talk. There were also awards, three selected by coaches, two voted on by players. Last year L won the Rising Irish award as best underclassman, selected by the coaches. Monday she won the Team Choice award for being a great teammate and leader, respecting coaches/referees/opponents, and for upholding Holy Cross values. Basically normal L stuff. Her teammates voted on this one, so I thought it was great that they recognized how she did her best to still be part of the team even when she was unable to play.

I am obviously hoping that she can return to form and be a contributing player next season. But stuff like this, which reflects more who she is as a person than an athlete, makes me prouder than anything she does on the court.

  1. Classes were dismissed early today because of a water main break. First thing she did was get in the tub to thoroughly scrub that leg.  ↩

Wednesday Links

March 26, 2025 /

Steven Hyden has a new megalist out, this one his favorite 100 indie rock albums of the last 25 years. Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop, spending over an hour working through it while building a playlist based upon it to listen to over spring break.

The Best Indie Rock Albums Of The 21st Century, Ranked

I’m not a vinyl-head by any measure, but I try to stay up on music news and trends. Yet I was surprised to read about this business in Kansas that is helping to keep high-end vinyl records a viable product.

“What I’m all about,” he said, “is saving the world from bad sound.”

The Wizard of Vinyl is in Kansas

The Office turned 20 this week. Two pieces that honor that occasion.

‘The Office’ Turns 20: An Oral History of Season 1 From the Writers Who Shaped It
The Office’s 25 Best Cold Opens

Baseball starts for real tomorrow. I enjoyed this essay about keeping score.

…Sims does much of his own tracking, creating his primary reference materials as the events themselves occur. It’s a triangle of action: he watches it, he marks it down, and he talks about it. See, write, talk, see, write, talk. One corner of the triangle informs the other as the space between them gains texture. The past informs the present.

You Gotta Keep Score: Broadcaster Dave Sims on His Scoring Method

Another fantastic story about the legacy of Bob Uecker.

“He made everything better. Whether it was with his knowledge or his wit, his storytelling, just his voice, all of it. That was his gift, and he shared it with the world.

Bob Uecker’s Voice Lives On

I would be lying if I didn’t admit I wish this was a real thing and not a joke.

Steal My Tesla

Speaking of the current state of our country, this is a good site to check often to cut through the bullshit, half-truths, and straight up lies that dominate our news cycle. It calls out fools from all perspectives that spout nonsense. But one camp, for obvious reasons, gets called out far more often.

FactCheck.org

For a less neutral accounting of our descent into tyranny, bookmark this list.

LEST WE FORGET THE HORRORS: AN UNENDING CATALOG OF TRUMP’S CRUELTIES, COLLUSIONS, CORRUPTIONS, AND CRIMES

Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 110

March 25, 2025 /

Chart Week: March 24, 1984
Song: “Eat It” – ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Chart Position: #18, 3rd week on the chart. Peaked at #11 the week of April 14.

It’s been a while, and for that I offer my endless apologies. I still listen to at least part of an AT40 show every weekend. Over the past couple months I’ve started several drafts for new RFTS entries. However, each time I’ve lost enthusiasm while doing research and have let them die on the digital vine.[1] To be honest, today’s selection isn’t one I would have normally been interested in. But I was getting antsy about not updating the series, plus spring break is next week and the site will be on hiatus. It worked out that there is an interesting aspect of this song that relates to the greatest musical rivalry of the Eighties and made it worth writing about.

I never really got ‘Weird Al’. I admired his cleverness and ability to make such coherent parodies of other great songs. There is true craft to that. I also respected his total commitment to the bit that included mimicking the visuals – including clothing, dancing, and videos – of the original artists. His songs were always a little too goofy for me, though. Maybe it was because I never listened to Dr. Demento to develop the part of my musical brain that would connect with them.

Yankovic began making parodies in the late 1970s without any chart success. I remember hearing his 1983 singles “Ricky,” (Toni Basil’s “Mickey”) and “I Love Rocky Road” (Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”), but neither cracked the Top 40.

His break came when he took on Michael Jackson’s mega-smash “Beat It.” I’ve written several times about the power of Jackson’s name in 1983–84. “Eat It” might be the biggest and best example of MJ’s influence. In only its third week in the Hot 100, the record was already at #18, and was the biggest climber in this countdown. Michael’s help could only take this song so far, as it stalled out at #11 a month later.

Although parody is protected under American copyright law, Yankovic always asked artists for their permission before recording his versions of their originals. For the most part he received clearance. That was true in this case; “Eat It” only existed because of Michael’s blessing.

“Michael Jackson wasn’t just cool about my parody of ‘Beat It,’” Yankovic told Billboard magazine, “but he also loved my version of ‘Bad,’ which was ‘Fat.’ He even let me use the actual ‘Bad’ subway set for the ‘Fat’ video. He was very supportive, which was huge with opening the doors with other artists. Because if Michael Jackson signed on, you couldn’t really say no.”

Well, one person said no.

Weird Al asked Prince at least four times for permission to cover one of his songs. Each time the Purple One declined. Al had an idea for “Let’s Go Crazy” based on The Beverly Hillbillies. For “1999,” he wanted to sing about dialing a 1–800 number that ended with the digits 1999. None of his pitches swayed Prince. Or, more likely, Prince just didn’t have a sense of humor about his own music. Maybe Al should have asked to do a straight cover rather than parody, as Prince loved for other people to sing the words he wrote. Or maybe if Al had been an attractive, ethnically ambiguous woman Prince would have signed off.

I’m not sure it sways their battle in any way, but score one for Michael over Prince here.

“Eat It” went to #1 in Australia, which is amazing. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the US. It was Yankovic’s biggest American hit until “White & Nerdy” hit #9 in 2006.

As I said, “Eat It” never did much for me, and still doesn’t. The video is funny, but I’m never going to seek the song out. I know a lot of other people like it a lot more than I do. So I’m genuinely sorry if this grade disappoints you. 5/10

Speaking of Michael Jackson, also on this week’s chart, “Thriller” checked in at #11 on its way down after peaking at #4. And Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which featured Jackson on background vocals, began its three-week stay at #2.

 

  1. Real talk? I’m also verrrrrry satisfied with my most recent entry back in January. That was some good music writing. I’m still waiting for someone from Rolling Stone to give me a call.  ↩
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