A couple thoughts about the Jayhawks, both guaranteed to drop a deadly jinx onto the team before a key two-game stretch. We’re upon mid-February, which is usually when we begin to get a real feel for what kind of team KU has for the year. Well? They’re better on defense than last year. Much better at the point guard spot. Terrible around the rim on both ends of the court.
Divorce is never easy. In addition to the pain that is focused on the immediate family at the center of a split, there is often collateral damage. Anyone seen as an instigator or taking sides will often be the target of long-term bad feelings even after the direct participants have moved on. That somewhat tortured example sums up how a lot of Kansans felt about Dean Smith, the former North Carolina coach who died late Saturday night.
Friday morning I took a look at my Instapaper queue and didn’t see much to share. A bunch of new stuff popped up Friday afternoon and over the weekend, so now we have some things to read together. I’ve had enough weird hobbies in my life to have spent some time in Radio Shack. So it’s been a little sad to read about the company sliding into oblivion in recent years.
youtu.be/rnliAafBY… “Clampdown” - The Clash Joe Mick Paul Topper The Only Band That Matters Seattle radio station KEXP has declared today International Clash Day. Something I can obviously get on-board with.
youtu.be/DhvXST1Rc… “Shake It Off (The Perfect Drug)” - Taylor Swift vs. Nine Inch Nails The mash-up is not as common as it was 7–8 years ago. But the format still exists, and while the novelty factor has worn off, sometimes they can still be a lot of fun. This one is especially good with the videos of the originals cut together.
The Martian - Andy Weir As I mentioned in my December wrap up, this is the book I began in 2014 but finished on Jan. 1, 2015. I destroyed this book. Once I started it, it was hard to put down. In fact, I started it after midnight on Dec. 30 when I could not sleep. I went downstairs, flipped on the Kindle, and thought I would read 20 minutes or so and then try to sleep again.
I love Pete Carroll. If, through some miracle, I could suddenly play football (and be 20 years younger), there is no coach who I would more want to play for. I LOVED his call to go for a touchdown rather than just kick the field goal at the end of the first half last night. I wouldn’t have done the same thing, but I loved it. But, man, his call to throw on second down with the ball at the one-yard line with 26 seconds to play last night was atrocious.
Part two of the big link catch-up project. First, a profile of Lego. I had no idea the company nearly went under just over a decade ago. Jonathan Ringen explores the history of the company and how it first dig a hole, then made a series of tremendous decisions that have left it one of the strongest brands in the world. How Lego Became The Apple Of Toys Speaking of Apple, you may have read that the company had the most profitable quarter in the history of business to close out 2014.
Terrible. That’s how I would describe my blogging performance over the past week. I not only failed to share links last week, I kept putting it off and putting it off when I had chances to post them. So here I am with at least ten sharable links. Some pruning is clearly in order. But that still leaves quite a collection of quality content. So, prepare yourselves for two links posts today.
youtu.be/WSO4Y9ygP… “The Frug” - Rilo Kiley I’m not a regular viewer of Austin City Limits, but last week, when Ryan Adams and Jenny Lewis split the episode, I definitely set the DVR. Lewis threw in a couple tracks from her first band, Rilo Kiley. This was not one of those selections, but I’ve always loved it and the oh-so-late–90s video makes it a perfect share.
Karma is a bitch. No where is that more true than in sports. Example: In the 2013 Sweet 16 in Arlington, Texas, KU guard Elijah Johnson decided to cheap shot Michigan forward Mitch McGary in the sack early in the game. Anyone watching the game knew the Hoops Gods would exact revenge. They teased us, but then they did so in crushing fashion. Johnson hit a 3-pointer with under seven minutes left to give KU a 14-point lead.
Deserving of a post independent of other links, here is the annual Super Bowl edition of Breaking Madden. As always, it is awesome. Especially the closing video. I OPEN UP MY WALLET AND IT’S FULL OF BLOOD
A combo piece this morning, taking one entry from my up-coming review of January books and combining it with the movie on which it focused. Let’s Go Crazy - Alan Light I shared the excerpt from this a few weeks back, and the book finally hit the library two weeks ago. I snatched it up and raced through it in about a day. It was awesome. It details the creative process surrounding both the movie and album Purple Rain.
youtu.be/EvQVbfLgn… “Purple Rain” - Martin Sexton Earlier this week, I ripped through Alan Light’s Let’s Go Crazy, his book about the making of Purple Rain, both the movie and album. When I returned it to the library, I picked up the DVD of the movie, which I will be watching at some point this weekend. So, I’ve been on a bit of a Purple Rain kick. Which makes this the perfect week to share this wonderful cover of the song by Martin Sexton.
Some kid notes We’ve had a rash of lost teeth lately. L. lost three in just under two weeks, and is currently missing all four corner teeth. And then M. lost a tooth just before bedtime Wednesday. As I’ve related before, my Tooth Fairy game is off its peak of a few years back. One night for L., when I went in her room and began fishing around under her pillow for the baggie with her tooth, she rustled, yawned, and then rolled over toward me.
My usual early morning routine is something like this: Get the girls up, get them breakfast, and then get them on the path to getting ready for school. When I reach the point where they are getting dressed, I start running through Twitter to see if I missed anything overnight. Well, last night I apparently went to bed right before the news broke that the NFL found that 11 of 12 balls used by the New England Patriots in Sunday’s AFC title game were inflated less than required.
Which is the worst way to end a season? In an utterly crushing, heart-breaking manner, losing a game that seemed convincingly won, and in which any of a series of singular, seemingly simple, plays over the final minutes would have been the final nail in the coffin of the eventual winners? Or to be completely outclassed and embarrassed and made to appear to be frauds to have even had designs on advancing to the Super Bowl?
The momentum is gathering for the nostalgia-fest that will be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. It’s crazy to think that my freshman year of college was the 15th anniversary. I, and many like-minded pop culture fiends, recorded the 15th anniversary special and watched it over-and-over.[1] There will, of course, be an official NBC special. But VH1 Classic is getting into the act by airing a 19-day marathon of SNL’s, beginning with the most recent and working back to the original episodes.
youtu.be/TU3-lS_Gr… “Dreaming” - Blondie I was in Dick’s Sporting Goods yesterday, getting Colts shirts for the girls so that they could have an out-of-uniform day today, and this song came on over the piped-in background music. It’s not the first song I think of when I think of Blondie, thus I forget what a great song it is. Interesting to read up on the song and see the band said it was basically a rip-off of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.
Today is school day number six of the new calendar year. Thus far, we have had two normal days. Four times we have had two-hour delays, thanks to a combination of snow (last Tuesday), extreme cold/iced over roads (Wednesday and Thursday), and just ice (yesterday). Today we were back on normal start time, but C. is home with me sick. And even one of those “normal” days has an asterisk next to it since I was out-of-town that day and S.