Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 15
Chart Week: October 7, 1978 Song: “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend’” – Kenny Loggins (with Stevie Nicks) Chart Position: #10, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in November. Controversy! A countdown from the 1970s?!?!?! SiriusXM rebroadcasts original ‘70s AT40 countdowns on its 70s on 7 channel. Unlike their updated version of 1980s countdowns on 80s…
You Know What Time It Is
IT’S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS
Friday Vid
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – Queen. I haven’t been able to cobble together a playlist this week, so only a video for this Friday. But it’s an epic one. Believe it or not – given it was only 1982 – but this was the final Queen performance in the US. And their only appearance on SNL. Despite losing his…
Reader’s Notebook, 10/16/18
I’ve been on a sports book tear the past couple weeks. Football, futbol, and golf. Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times – Mark Leibovich This book, by The New York Times Magazine’s chief national correspondent, arrived with nearly endless praise about a month ago. Promised as an investigation to the troubles the NFL faces in current times, it delivered…
Weekend Notes
Finally a (fairly) easy and relaxed weekend. No cross country for the first time since August. Coincidentally Saturday morning was the day one of C’s cross country coaches hosted his annual fall get-together. He’s a real estate agent – actually the listing agent on our new home – so he invites lots of clients in addition to friends and St.…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/2sw6W5PYcRfpKOPTgV2TNW?si=T7Hmzd7bSvWp5F3dKSUKLg “Full Disclosure” – Line & Circle. Fall has finally arrived. We were pushing 90 earlier this week – with the heat indices well above 90 – but suddenly this morning it was below 40 and people were scrambling to turn on their furnaces. The next week promises only one day above 60. Mother Nature is a bitch… Perfectly timed…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 14
Chart Week: September 27, 1986 Song: “Heartbeat” – Don Johnson Chart Position: #14, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in October. The history of pop music is riddled with vanity projects by actors, comedians, athletes, and others in the public eye who decided to leverage their fame in other mediums in an attempt to get…
Weekend Kid Sports
This was a weekend of sports endings and beginnings. And waitings, too, I guess. C wrapped up her cross country season with the annual City championship meet. Once again it was hot and humid for the biggest meet of the year, which is always an afternoon meet to avoid high school sectionals. I will give her this: she might fuss…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/50k3Wo5Lf0TGYxAlX7wPDp?si=bEkNmpE-QzW-z0rVIqcElQ “Heaven” – Late Bloomer. I’ve been meaning to share this song since July. It’s a big, crunchy, aggressive song that would have fit right into alternative rock radio in 1996. “Apocalypse Now (& Later)” – Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers. LJG’s announcement that she was transgendered and would be transitioning tore her previous band, Against Me!, apart.…
Reader’s Notebook, 10/2/18
Righteous – Joe Ide I was a big fan of Ide’s debut novel, IQ, which I read earlier this year. I was very pleased to read an interview with Ide in which he confirmed he would continue writing about the lead character, Isaiah Quintabe, aka IQ, the Sherlock Holmes of south central Los Angeles. I did not know he had…