The new music has been, thankfully, piling up again. So let’s go deep this week with an extra-packed playlist. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “House Burn Down” - King Princess Being pessimistic about your life shouldn’t sound this good. “Lockdown” - The Wind Ups Maybe it’s just me, but I hear a lot of the Ramones in this track. “Why Don’t You Touch Me” - Leon Bridges Another A+ track from Mr. Bridges. His new album comes out in two weeks.
KU Hoops It would be nice to say a dizzying three months of roster flux at Kansas came to an end Tuesday when Ochai Agbaji and Remy Martin both announced they were pulling their names from the NBA draft list and would be playing as Jayhawks in the coming season. But given how crazy college hoops is at the moment, can we be sure anything is locked in? For the sake of discussion, let’s assume there will be no more roster changes between now and when KU plays Michigan State in November’s Champions Classic.
A busy family and holiday week is in the books. We had visitors. My brother-in-law, his wife, and their three kids who live in Boston spent a week with us. Their kids are 6, 3, and 2. When I think of our kids being those ages and trying to spend a week as guests in someone else’s home, the word “disaster” immediately pops into my head. But the week passed quicker than I expected and was more-or-less incident-free.
‘Tis the season for my annual Independence Day playlist. One new addition this year but otherwise the same collection of fine songs that can, at least tangentially, relate to American Independence Day. Everyone have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend! open.spotify.com/playlist/…
Movies and Shows Big Shot Coach Korn and his band of merry basketball warriors triumphed. In that, there was no surprise. It was the trials and travails along the way that made their journey compelling. Will Coach Holly be on their arch rival’s bench next year? L and I hope there is a season two so we find out. Jessalyn Gilsig could coach my team anytime. B+ Spring Baking Championship Finally finished this.
June 2021 Middle Kids - 22 Wolf Alice - 16 Pearl Jam - 15 2nd Grade - 13 Crowded House - 16 Complete stats available at my Last.fm page.
We have a house full of guests this week. My brother-in-law and his family from Boston are staying with us. So far that has meant lots of pool and play time as we’ve dodged the daily thunderstorms. It’s also C’s first real week of summer after wrapping summer school up last week. In a few hours I’m going to go do the final walk-through at my in-law’s new home, which they will move into in about a week.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Nashville Girls” - Janet Simpson This was about to drop off my current music playlist when I realized I had not shared it with you. Which is a huge error on my part, because it is a hell of a song, filled with swagger. “Inside My Head” - Lost Ships I love songs like this that have a variety of influences that are both readily apparent and blend together to make something that isn’t quite like anything you’ve heard before.
Chart Week: June 12, 1982 Song: “Fantasy” - Aldo Nova Chart Position: #32, 12th week on the chart. Peaked at #23 for two weeks in May/June. I only caught a few songs of this countdown, but I tuned in at the perfect time. I’m guessing I had not heard this jam in a long, long time. Which is a damn shame because kicks all kinds of ass. I guarantee it was on a Johnny Lawrence mix tape.
Decent weekend in our house. I watched a lot of golf, thanks to the US Open being played on the West Coast. Which is always the best. The girls were even moderately interested since we stayed right off the course during our visit to San Diego two years ago. I watched some Euro championship soccer. I watched some F1. L and I watched almost all of the crazy ass game seven between Brooklyn and Milwaukee (she bailed to go to bed late in the fourth quarter).
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Solar Power” - Lorde Oh good Lord(e)! Our New Zealand queen has returned in a major way. An almost instant Song of the Summer, one that arrives with a rather controversial album cover. Her album art makes me feel uncomfortable, so I’m just avoiding it as much as possible. YMMV. “the angel of 8th ave.” - Gang of Youths Hopping across the Tasman Sea for another long-awaited track. Gang of Youths seem poised to become the standard bearers for big, anthemic, emotional rock.
Mid-to-late June is my favorite time of summer. It’s usually not too hot yet, or if it roasts for a day or two the heat will eventually break and you’ll have a stretch of pleasant days mixed in. The rhythms of the summer are still developing and the season holds seeming endless promise. At least that’s what it felt like to me as a kid, and I’ve never really lost that sensation.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a proper playlist. The new music has dried up just a hair and I haven’t had much time to devote to what is available over the past couple weeks. I’ve hacked together something to keep you occupied for a half hour or so, including two amazing videos. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Evergreen” - Bendigo Fletcher There is a lot going on in this song, veering through several different sources of inspiration.
Chart Week: May 12, 1979 Song: “In the Navy” - The Village People Chart Position: #5, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #3 for two weeks. I wasn’t old enough to “get” the Village People when they were at the height of their powers. I was 6–7 years old during their brief moment at the top of the pop culture pyramid. All I knew was that they were goofy and funny and sang catchy disco songs.
Before I get to our next Reaching for the Stars entry, I realized that I first need to share some disturbing news in the AT40 world that has radically changed my life. The local station that played American Top 40 on Sundays for at least 12 years has stopped airing the show. A week after we returned from spring break I turned on the radio and heard some random song from the ‘90s.
My reading pace slacked off significantly over the past month. I only finished three books in May, and none of them should have taken more than a couple of days. Because of that, the first two books in this entry don’t get very good recaps as it has been too long since I finished them to write anything terribly coherent about them. I also had my first abandoned book of the year.
Just a couple videos this week. After a rather cool, rainy week summer weather is finally here. So, first, a summer classic. youtu.be/MsW8rXPcn… Next, something I stumbled across yesterday which absolutely requires ten minutes of your undivided attention. youtu.be/M-0Z_2j1a… You’re welcome.
Movies and Shows Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Hard to believe this movie came out in 2002. And that I’ve managed to not see it in those 19 years! Based on the “autobiography” of game show creator and host Chuck Barris, it details both his efforts to make it in the TV biz and his - likely - fictional life as a CIA hitman. Reading things written about the movie upon its release, there were real questions about how much of the movie was true.
One of our more laid back Memorial Day holiday weekends is now in the books. Unlike most of the past decade, when we would either go to the lake or host a pool party, we had no major plans this year. We did have some friends over for dinner Friday, but it was cold and rainy that night so the adults stayed inside while the girls got into the pool for just a bit after I cranked the heater up.
May 2021 Middle Kids - 39 Manchester Orchestra - 25 Pearl Jam - 18 Dumptruck - 17 Paw - 16 Complete stats available at my Last.fm page.