The first playlist of February. The sun is coming up a little earlier every morning and staying up a little later each evening. Sure, the windchill is going to be well below freezing for the next week, but with the added sunlight it’s time to start thinking ahead to spring’s arrival. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Brisbane Radio” - Stephen’s Shore I always associate strummy Aussie music like this with spring, for some reason. So this song arrives at the perfect time.
We have reached the point in our home where college is not some far-off thing in our kids’ lives that we are casually planning for. It is approaching rapidly, and we are beginning to think much more seriously about the concept. M took the PSAT in the fall and ever since has received daily multiple brochures and letters from colleges. At first she was thrilled. The modern touch of the school creating a custom URL that included her name was an especially flattering.
Chart Week: January 21, 1984 Song: “Undercover of the Night” - The Rolling Stones Chart Position: #20, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #9 for two weeks in December and January. This edition is more about how I listened to the song than the song itself. Although there will be some song trivia before we’re done. 1983 was a big year on my Classic Christmas Gifts post list. That was the Christmas I received, among other things, a Pioneer SK–111F boombox.
Movies and Shows The Witches A movie L picked for us to watch New Year’s Night. Roald Dahl stories are always wacky and this one did not disappoint in that sense. Very weird and maybe/likely offensive at times? I’m not sure, but I get how some folks were offended. B Backstory: The Tale of T’eo Remember when we only had completely insane stories a few times a year? Now that they seem to happen almost daily we don’t get to really dive in and enjoy them the way we once did.
This weekend was a little different that other recent ones. No football, for starters. I also avoided the KU game, mostly because other plans kept me from seeing the beginning and by the time I had a chance to fire up the TV, several friends told me not to bother turning it on. It was also our first significant snow of the year. We only got between 3–4 inches Saturday night (and then another inch last night), but that was enough for the girls to get outside with a few of their cousins Sunday to build a snowman and play for a bit.
January 2021 A slow month of easing back into things and listening to tons of random stuff instead of focused listening. Wolf Parade - 25 Dua Lipa - 24 Lande Hekt - 21 The Rolling Stones - 19 Low Cut Connie - 18 Complete stats available at my Last.fm page.
Another week where I’ve reviewed a ton of new songs, and many of them have stuck. So it looks like you all are the winners, with another stacked playlist. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Take Back the Radio” - Katy J. Pearson A few of my loyal blog readers were also listeners to the music podcast I did for about 10 years, Carmel Liberation Radio. This would have been an easy choice for an opening song for CLR based on the title alone.
Deacon King Kong - James McBride My To Read list is always in flux. I’m constantly adding books, like any good reader should. And also culling books, figuring if a title has been on the list for a few years and I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, odds are I never will. The list tends to grow a lot in December, when various Best Of lists hit the internet, and I make additions that seem to be earning universal acclaim.
Some sports notes while waiting on an ice storm to arrive. NFL So the Super Bowl is Chiefs vs Buccaneers, just like we all thought. Seriously, I’m questioning a lot of what I’ve thought about football the last 20 years this morning. I was not alone when I believed, back when the regular season began, that Tom Brady would struggle in Tampa while the Patriots would continue to win with Cam Newton at quarterback.
Phil Spector died last week. To say he leaves a complex legacy is an understatement. He crafted some of the most unforgettable songs ever, and created a sound that will forever be synonymous with his name: The Wall of Sound. But he was also, by many measures, a horrible human being. He ruined the life and career of his one-time wife, Ronnie Spector. His wildly erratic behavior put the lives of people around him at risk.
When banging out my most recent Sports Notes post, I overlooked one very important local story. Which may have been a good thing because there was another very important local story that broke yesterday. Looks like I better bust out an Indy edition Sports Notes post! Pacers Make a Big Trade Anyone who follows the NBA knew a James Harden trade was close last week, it was just a question of where he would end up: Brooklyn or Philadelphia.
Some notes from the sporting world. KU Hoops First back-to-back losses in Big 12 play in eight years, first Big Monday loss in 18 games. Neither of those are a surprise. Against both Oklahoma State and Baylor KU looked utterly overmatched early. Overmatched for sure in the athletic sense, KU looking slow and bound to the floor where their opponents raced up and down the court and flew for dunks and blocks.
A busy start to a new year of reading. Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho These are a series of essays by Acho, a former NFL player and currently a talking head on Fox Sports, to help white folks understand people of color a little better. It is light and breezy, at times almost too light and breezy. But the title is accurate: for things to get better in this country, those of us in the white community need to have some uncomfortable conversations and accept that we need to make sacrifices in all aspects of our lives for change to come about.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Start All Over Again” - Candy Opera This sounds straight out of the early ’80s New Romantic movement, with a few modern flourishes. Which makes total sense as Candy Opera got their start in the early ’80s Liverpool music scene. They plugged along for about ten years, split up, and went their separate ways. Then, three years ago, they reformed. They put a new album out last fall and it was filled with majestic pop like this track.
This is the best thing I’ve read this year. What the Hole Is Going On? The very real, totally bizarre bucatini shortage of 2020. Rachel Handler looks into the mysterious shortage of bucatini. It is hilarious and fascinating. I have to admit, I don’t think I had ever had bucatini before I read this. Magically I found some this week and made the Bucatini all’Amatriciana recipe Handler includes in her piece.
In my final piece of 2020 business, here are the last three books I read for the year. These put my total at 59 books for the calendar year. I know this sounds dumb, but I was disappointed with that number. I’ve read that many books in a normal year. Surely in a pandemic year I should have knocked out a few more. Oh well, a goal for pandemic year #2, I suppose.
I think the first ever Super Wildcard Weekend was a success. Wall-to-wall football in the midst of a pandemic and winter weather felt right. We got mostly competitive games book-ended by the Colts blowing a winnable game and the Browns shaking off decades of failure and pulling off one of the wildest upsets in recent memory. Some Indy-focused thoughts from the weekend. Colts When your team loses a close game, you spend the time afterward picking through dozens of little moments that could have changed the outcome.
After taking nearly a month off from sharing new-ish music, it’s time to start getting caught up. So an extra-long playlist this week, filled with recent songs and a few classics. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Funny Farm” - The Hold Steady A late 2020 treat, and THS has a new album due out on February 19. That day is going to be a motherfucker for new music. Right now there are four albums out that day that I am very excited about.
A special playlist is in order this morning. There are plenty of other songs about this fine state that I’m guessing came from folks not happy with what went down in Georgia last night, thus they have been left behind. Hell, some of these may make no sense in the context of the election, Jay Farrar comparing his impending estrangement from Jeff Tweedy to a Civil War battle, for example. Nonetheless, a few songs about the state of Georgia.
A lot of material to get through, so strap yourselves in. The Holiday Shit Classics: Elf, A+ National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A A Christmas Story, A Die Hard, A+ A Charlie Brown Christmas, B South Park: Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo, A The Office, see here New: Holiday Baking Championship Lorenzo and Juliana were the most impressive competitors all season. Lorenzo is crazy talented for his age, and always taking his baking interesting angles.