A special music post for this Memorial Day. It has nothing to do with the holiday, but this seemed like a good day to squeeze it in. Music writer Sean Ross tracks what he calls Lost Hits. Based on his self-created Lost Factor, he looks at old songs and sees how often they get played today. Songs that were popular years ago but rarely, if ever, get played these days become his Lost Hits.
Drums please… youtu.be/Kr0tTbTbm… Summer is here! So why is the high only going to be 60 tomorrow? Remind me of this when the heat index is 115 in two months. youtu.be/F8V8_sIFL… Happy race weekend to my Indy peeps.
Today marks two weeks in as an Audi owner. I owe you faithful readers of this series some thoughts. The honeymoon is not over; I still love, love, love my Q5. It is pretty much everything I was looking for in a replacement for my Big Chevys.[1] Nimble, quick, comfortable. It has just enough sportiness to make it fun while remaining just big enough to have use as a family utility vehicle.
We had great weather all weekend, and a ton of activities (L and I went to watch Indy 500 qualifying, C had her birthday dinner out with friends, and we hosted a nephew birthday party), so I did not sit and watch endless hours of coverage of the PGA Championship. I saw enough to get the vibe of the tournament, though, including roughly the last hour of Phil Mickelson’s win.
We have reached the final week of the 2020–21 academic year. It’s kind of hard to believe the year was as “normal” as it was. To be very clear, it was not normal. There were all kinds of mandates and limits and headaches compared to what our girls had done every year before Covid hit. There were lots of bumps along with way, especially with C’s grade at St P’s. As we are almost done I won’t get into the details of those, but it’s the first time we’ve had any serious problems with school administrators.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” - TORRES Mackenzie Scott has been making critically acclaimed, ground-breaking music for going on a decade now. This might be my favorite thing she’s ever done. “Heavy Glow” - The Glow I always think it’s kind of cool when bands have song titles that include their name. Like it’s some kind of cheesy wink to the audience. Anyway, this song is a heavier take on traditional dream pop, and I like it.
Remember the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can? Leonardo DiCaprio starred as Frank W. Abagnale Jr., a man who fooled people into thinking he was an airline pilot, among other things, to live a jet-setting, check-forging, stewardess-banging life. The movie was wonderful, as I recall. It had just the right breezy tone to fit the times it was set in and dispensed with looking too deeply into the truth of Abagnale’s story in favor of a couple hours of enjoyable entertainment.
Some thoughts on the latest goings on with University of Kansas athletics. KU football I mostly sat out the search for the latest KU football coach. I was aware of the biggest names that were getting thrown around - Buffalo’s Lance Leipold and Army’s Jeff Monken - but I refused to invest much time or emotional energy into following the process. I assumed whoever KU hired, it would be the wrong choice.
If you’ve read my blog entries over the years, you know I can often be a little wordy with the background before I get to my point. I believe context is important and want to fully inform my readers. However, sometimes it is best to cut to the chase. So… Yep, I am now the proud lessee of a 2021 Audi Q5. It’s pretty fucking sweet. We picked it up Thursday, so it is still early days.
After six weeks of action, we are done with spring sports. At least at the middle school level. We had a little scare before the week’s events began. L had knee issues last fall and winter, a combination of growing pains and Osgood-Schlatter disease. They largely went away after the winter basketball season ended and never popped up again this spring. Until Monday, when she could barely walk. We got her a crash physical therapy course (thanks to a pediatrician she knows well and some Googling), a heavy regimen of Ibuprofen, and a lot of Icy-Hot before activity.
Happy Friday! The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and the mini-chill that has dominated the first half of May seems to be moving out. Please enjoy this hand-crafted playlist. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Misandrist to Most” - Lady Dan We’ve been trying to teach our girls since they were born to be strong and independent. Tyler Dozier, aka Lady Dan, has provided this fine anthem for independent women of all ages.
Time for some book chat. The Marsh King’s Daughter - Karen Dionne I hate it when books that come highly recommended don’t hit me with the same impact they hit others. I found this book on some “best new thrillers” list, and its jacket featured some positive blurbs from other authors I’ve enjoyed. But the story just didn’t work for me. It tells the story of Helena, a woman in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who was raised in captivity.
When I began this process last fall, Audi was at the top of my list. It didn’t matter which Audi. The Q3 if I went with a subcompact. The Q5 if I went compact. The Q7 if I wanted to blow out the budget. Once upon a time, say in the early ‘00s, Audis were my ultimate car, specifically a well-appointed S4. For years I’ve loved the looks of the Q series.
Track The City track championship qualifying races were held Saturday. L ran the 50, 100, and 200. C ran the 100 and 200. L was a little annoyed with her assignments. Each athlete has a three event limit, and she was hoping to run a relay. Her coaches are smart, though. They know we will win the medley relay as long as we don’t drop the baton thanks to our 400 runner.
I have no set order or reasoning to how I am scheduling my test drives. I guess some of it is stock dependent: if a dealer does not have the car I’m interested in on their lot, I’m not going to drive something else just for grins. In general, though, I head to whatever dealership my car muse sends me to. Last week I randomly picked my local Acura dealer - right across the street from the Mercedes dealer!
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Throw Me Around” - The Blips While not your standard supergroup, I think The Blips officially qualify. Made up of members from various bands in the Birmingham, AL scene, they may not be known entities, but they are still coming from different backgrounds to make something new. One reviewer described this as “Tom Petty takes on pop-punk.” That seems pretty solid to me. “Strawberry” - Doss I don’t know that I’ve listened to Doss before, but I like this first experience with her music.
Chart Week: May 1, 1982 Song: “867–5309/Jenny” - Tommy Tutone Chart Position: #8, 15th week on the chart. Peaked at #4 for three weeks in May and June. Quick show of hands: if you were alive and old enough in 1982, how many of you dialed 867–5309 to see if Jenny would answer? I know I did. I believe in Kansas City the response was an AT&T recording that there was no such number in my area code (816 represent!
Shows and Movies Pearl Jam Live On 6/25/2010, Hyde Park, London, England To celebrate Easter weekend, I guess, online streaming service nugs.net put this show up for free from Good Friday evening through Easter Monday. An outstanding show with terrific sound and a stellar setlist. It was unnerving to see how tightly the crowd was packed in, though. Not because of Covid but more because of the sheer amount of people in a small space.
The pace is winding down but still kid sports notes to share from the past few days. Track Yesterday was CYO track meet #3. This one was a little different: kids were free to make their own schedules. They picked a race, show up when it was called, and then scanned their wristband at the finish line to “register” themselves for that event. L kept bouncing around on what to run.
April 2021 Middle Kids - 61 Manchester Orchestra - 39 The Natvral - 26 Dumptruck - 24 The Pack A.D. - 23 Complete stats available at my Last.fm page.