Somewhat odd timing, but Grantland kicked off SNL At 40 week today.1 There are already a couple solid articles posted, and day one of the bracket to pick the greatest cast member ever is up. I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy the rest of the series. This, along with the passing of Don Pardo earlier this week, had me thinking of SNL this morning. I believe I’ve watched one full, current episode in the last 8-9 years.
I’ll preface this by reminding you I tend to get a little superstitious about sports. Despite being aware of the Colts’ epic comeback against the Chiefs in January, I refused to turn the game back on. My turning it off had something to do with the change, right? I watch KU games from the same seat until they lose, then switch to the opposite side of the couch. In March, I’ll often switch seats at halftime if things aren’t going well.
Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus give us 6:00 minutes of pure fun. youtu.be/ovqM72em1…
After that two day, mini-week to begin the school year, we’re diving right in this week. Five full days of school. An athletic event every afternoon or evening. In the next five days we have two kickball practices, two kickball games, and one soccer practice. We could add another event, too, as we’re still waiting to hear when L.’s soccer team will practice. And high school football begins this week.
Belated links this week. Friday was a beast. First up, a story that I imagine will strike different readers in a variety of ways. I find it funny and charming. Others may find it a little creepy. Or even inappropriate. Regardless, here is the story of the letters Texas Tech football coach Kliff Kingsbury and a woman in Arkansas exchanged recently. Arkansas fan ‘breaks up’ with Kliff Kingsbury, coach responds with letter of his own
“Gimme Something Good” - Ryan Adams Had a video been available for this song three weeks ago, when I highlighted two of my favorite songs of the summer, it would have been included as well. In fact, I’ve probably listened to no song more over the past two months. In a summer in which Tom Petty has got a lot of attention for his new release, and a year in which his sound has influenced current groups like the War On Drugs, Ryan Adams may well have out-Pettied Petty.
St. P’s kicked off the school year today. The alarm went off at 6:30, the girls were roused,1 uniforms were donned, bags were packed, and off we went. Drop off was easy. M., as is her custom, quickly dismissed me so she could start digging through the box of supplies sitting on her desk and chat with her friends. C. quickly found her seat and did the same.2 And then we were went to the end of the hall and L.
Robin Williams was a force of nature. That’s a cliché, often used in moments like this, but it was certainly appropriate for him. When he was on, and rolling, there was no getting in his way. Nothing was safe or sacred. Anything could, and likely would, serve as inspiration. He wasn’t the best comic of his generation, but he probably induced more stomach-splitting laughter than his contemporaries. After you watched Robin, your abdomen hurt.
Wow. It was almost exactly a year ago that I wrote about a weekend series in Kansas City between the Royals and Red Sox, wondering if we would look back on it as the high point of the season. The Royals drifted, then climbed back to the periphery of the Wild Card race, staying in it until the final week of the season. After this past weekend’s sweep of the Giants, I’m tempted to write a similar post.
Running a little late on everything today. A fine profile by a fine writer. Pat Jordan on the eternal kid, Johnny Damon. An Idiot In Exile These are crazy times for music. Tom Petty just nabbed the first #1 album of his career. Which seems kind of crazy. More crazy is who preceded him: “Weird Al” Yankovic. As my girls would say, I know, right? Anyway, in case you wondered how “Weird Al” manages to make parody versions, legally, of so many popular songs, this article should clear it up.
youtu.be/xnS4jX9sa… “Summer Nights” - Van Halen School starts next Thursday, so it’s the last, real Friday and weekend of the summer for us. One last time to go down to the ol' fishin' hole. Wait… I don’t think Sammy was really singing about fishing, was he? Oh well, a great summer song and Van Hagar at the finest.
A couple hoops thoughts for Thursday. Wiggins headed to Minnesota Damn. It’s been pretty obvious, aside from the brief period when Cleveland kidded themselves that they could trade for Kevin Love without giving up Andrew Wiggins, that the #1 pick would be headed to Minneapolis some time before the season began. Still, it sucks for it to, apparently, be going down officially. Cleveland with LeBron was the perfect spot for Wiggs.
You may have noticed there was a comment on the site yesterday. No joke. After many years of not having comments I have turned them back on. I’ve even added the little Latest Comments widget over on the right sidebar so you can quickly see if anyone has offered up their opinions. It’s appropriate that my pal Stace was the first person to comment in this new era. We had a really ugly scene last week while eating lunch together in Kansas City.
My life, like pretty much everyone’s, has been full of ups and downs. Triumphs and tragedies. Successes and sadness. The last week or so has been one of the toughest in my life. Yes, I’m off caffeine. Good lord is it difficult. Until yesterday I had been plagued by headaches when my body realized, mid-morning, that no caffeine would be flooding my system. I am at a loss at what to do in the mornings, as brewing and enjoying coffee has been part of my routine since I left the corporate world a decade ago.
Summerland- Michael Chabon As with The Fault In Our Stars, while Summerland is officially classified as a “young adult” book, it is really a book for all ages. Especially if you love baseball and have time to read in the summer. Summerland is a bit confusing at first. But that’s not unusual for a Chabon book. In this case, he quickly introduces characters from different races and different locations in parallel worlds that cross over and interact.
File this under “Greatest Internet Finds.” It’s spectacular. In 1977, NBC gave Richard Pryor a prime time show. It last four episodes. Well, three and then an unaired final episode. That unaired episode is on YouTube. Find 45 minutes to watch it. It’s not a standard sitcom or variety show episode. Rather, it is a full-on roast of Pryor by the writers and performers of the show. Tim Reid, who went on to play Venus Flytrap on WKRP In Cincinnati.
youtu.be/g7_1R_b4x… “Refugee” - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Forgive me if I shared this one recently. I thought I had, but my running lists of Friday Vids does not show it. I occasionally miss writing one down, though.) In general, I’m not a huge Petty fan. That said, I really enjoy his early work, let’s say ‘77-82. And a ton of music I’ve been listening to this year1 is directly influenced by his sound.
It was an incredibly long week, but also an incredibly fast week. Thanks to all of those in Kansas City who helped me out in some way over the past week. Whether you offered me lodging, legal advice, companionship at lunch, a beer and room on your couch to watch the Royals, or just moral support, it was much appreciated. There were parts of the week that were very good. I saw several relatives I had not seen in a long time.
I’ll be gone for a couple days. As many of you know, my dad died last week. I’m off to attend his memorial service and begin the process of dealing with his estate. I’ve debated whether to write much about this. It’s no secret my dad and I were not close, and had not been for many, many years. Other than my wife, few know the details of why that was the case.
We’ve hit double figures. Friday, M. left the world of single digits behind and entered the realm of the big kids, the drama of the pre-teen years, the marketing target of the Tweens. That’s right, she’s now ten years old. As is our family custom, this was the year for a big party for her. And she was the first girl to break the monopoly Monkey Joe’s had on our family’s birthday parties.