• Holiday Catalog Insanity

    Over the past year or so, Drew Magary has become one of my favorite writers. Whether in his novels and collections of anecdotes about being a parent, his writings for GQ and Deadspin, or just on Twitter, he never fails to amuse me. I might have first discovered him through his holiday-themed posts on Deadspin. You might recall when he…

  • 33 Favorite Songs of 2016

    I usually offer some State of the Music Union thoughts when I share my favorite songs of the year lists. 2016 got off to a great start and then kind of cruised to the finish. Most of my favorite albums of the year came out during its first six months. There were some albums I was greatly looking forward to…

  • Friday Playlist

    A special playlist this week. I think I finally got my Favorite Songs of the Year list hammered out yesterday. I’ll finish my write up over the weekend and share it early next week. When I used to do a semi-private podcast, each year before I shared my favorite songs, I would do a review show counting down the #1…

  • Fifteen Down, One To Go

    My counting may be off – I did make a chart to double-check my numbers – but I’m pretty sure that last night was the 15th, and next-to-last, Christmas program of our girls’ school lives. Every year since 2007 we’ve had at least one school program. 2013 was the sweetest spot in that stretch, with M performing in the St.…

  • Weekend in Chi-town

    We had a nice weekend up in Chicago, the Mrs. and me. The occasion was for her to attend a conference for work, something we did for the first time a year ago when we went to Arizona. Amazingly, this was the first time I’ve been to Chicago in 15 years, since I ran the marathon in 2001. We’re three…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/3XEkU3WfxctbH0M1KK4oRu A few weeks back, we got a new Japandroids single plus a 2017 release date for their next album. Over the past week, two more artists I’ve spent a lot of time listening to in recent years did the same thing. “Radio Kids” – Strand of Oaks. Someone said this sounded like Ryan Adams doing a Dinosaur Jr. song.…

  • Wade, KU, & The Spirit

    A few notes as I wrap up a short week in our home. Wade Davis Trade Wow, it was almost exactly four years ago that the Royals traded Wil Myers and others to Tampa for James Shields and Wade Davis, a trade I HATED. I guess everything worked out ok, didn’t it? It hurt a little when the Royals couldn’t…

  • Back In The Day

    It seems like every day there is another piece of evidence that the Internet is a terrible place, and that far too many humans are loathsome people. And then there are things like this, which reaffirm my faith that the Internet is ultimately a good thing. I discovered it just after last Christmas, so I’ve been sitting on it for…

  • Dunking on Fools

    A couple NBA links this morning. First, another excellent link to a piece on The Ringer, who is NBA-heavy in content. In this one, Shea Serrano breaks down the five most disrespectful dunks of the young NBA season. Even if you don’t like the NBA, this is a fine article to read through. I hope he continues to do these…

  • Friday Playlist

    “Feel Right” – Esmé Patterson. This time of year can be frustrating for me, music-wise. I have the holiday tunes in high rotation. At the same time, I’m paring down the list of my favorite songs I’ve been building all year into its final form. And I’m reading other Best Of lists to make sure there’s nothing I’ve missed, which…