The Kremlin’s Candidate - Jason Matthews Interesting timing, with this coming out right around the same time as the movie adaptation of Red Sparrow, the first book in the trilogy it completes. Matthews has been lauded by folks who know a lot more than me as an author who can combine good spy novel plot with offering realistic tradecraft, something he allegedly knows a lot about since he spent most of his adult life in the CIA.
There’s something to be said for losing in the Final Four in blowout fashion to a team that breaks a couple NCAA records along the way. To start off, you’re already happy your team made the Final Four. Even more so if you beat arguably the most talented team in the tournament, a team that you’ve hated for over 30 years. The fact the blowout started about a minute into the game helps a lot, too.
Some week. We’ve had a stomach bug run through the house. There’s been plenty of middle-of-the-night puking and I’ve had a sick kid home three different days. As I mentioned yesterday, the weather has been strange, careening between February snows and April showers. We are hosting our family Easter celebration on Saturday, so in between dealing with kids I’ve been trying to get the house prepped. It was also kickball jersey week, so our bonus room has piles of uniforms I’ve sorted out for St.
youtu.be/hv_zJrO_p… “Devil Inside” - INXS. Only a video this week. I have plenty of music backed up I could share, but I also have a very busy day lined up in preparation for our family Easter celebration tomorrow. The girls also get out of school early today and we’re watching one of my nephews after that, so this will have to do. This song was selected with a definite reason. In the spring of 1988, one of my best friends from my middle school years, who had moved to St.
In the past week we’ve had more snow combined that we had received all winter. Four inches fell last Thursday followed by over six inches Saturday.[1] In each case the snow melted quickly. Thursday it was all gone before the girls got home from school. Saturday’s snow was almost completely gone by Sunday evening. Now we’ve transitioned into warmer days - at least into the 50s - but it is dark and dreary and the land is saturated from seven days of melting snow and rain.
Chart Week: March 8, 1986 Song: “Kyrie” - Mr. Mister Chart Position: #1, 12th week on the chart, second week at #1. One of my favorite things to do when I hear old music is consider artists who had really brief, but really amazing runs. “Did so-and-so have the best year ever?” I’ll ask myself when I hear a song by an artist who was massive for a few months and then disappeared.
It’s pouring rain outside, I have a sick kid on the couch, so today seems like a good day to get caught up on books. Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks. This was a timely read, found at the library on a shelf of books pulled in advance of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. It is exactly what its title claims to be: the story of a trip around Ireland with a refrigerator.
It’s a little after 11:00 Sunday night as I begin this post. I just watched the replay of today’s Midwest Regional final, or at least the last five or so minutes of regulation plus overtime, on the CBS Sports Network.[1] I’ve been texting, emailing, and reading coverage of that game since it wrapped up in real time. I’ve just poured some celebratory bourbon. What better time than now to start putting words down about my Jayhawks getting back to the Final Four?
An Elite 8 with two Kansas teams in it is enough to earn a very rare Saturday post. Mark down the date, folks, because these don’t happen very often! First off, the important stuff: the Jayhawks are in the Elite 8 for the third-straight season, the second time in school history they have done that (2002–2004). In both of those runs, the third team was clearly the weakest of each group.
Jack White’s new album arrived this morning. I’ve listened to it once so far and am not terribly enthused by it. So I won’t share any songs from it in today’s playlist but will offer this link to a fine piece by Steven Hyden about the album and a connection between White and another legendary musician. open.spotify.com/user/224a… “What Are You Like” - Pugwash. Man, I was sure this band was some California band that was mining all the greatness of Tom Petty’s sound to launch their career.
Since my bracket is allllllll messed up, I might as well re-pick the field based on who is left. Either that or finish the Reader’s Notebook post that has been languishing for a few days. To the games it is, then! South Region No. 11 Loyola-Chicago vs. No. 7 Nevada. I’ve only caught bits of both teams’ games. In each case the good bits, too, as I saw Loyola win their two games at the buzzer and most of Nevada’s big comeback vs.
Now for some KU talk. Looking back on the weekend, I have to laugh at myself - and other KU fans - a little. After all that talk about Penn having a decent chance to upset KU, 10 minutes into the game on Thursday the Quakers led by 10 points and most of us were ready to throw up. Or throw things. Or both. It was a good thing the girls were at school as the expletives were flying in our basement.
I had to sacrifice any writing activities yesterday because it was the one day in the next 10 that looked decent enough to get outside and get some early spring yard work done. So apologies for being late with my NCAA tournament weekend one wrap up. Something I think we can all agree on, whether your team won or lost, whether your brackets are shredded or pristine, is that was the god-damndest weekend in the history of the tournament!
Apologies for missing Friday. I had the double-whammy of watching my 22-month nephew and having to head downtown to watch L march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. And when I got home there were hoops to be watched. So there was no time for blogging activities. open.spotify.com/user/224a… “M.A.H.” - U.S. Girls. A political song with a twist. This track, which channels turn of the decade Blondie, definitely comes from the political left.
It’s go time. I’m taking a last look at my picks here in the next hour or so before I lock them in. Them I’m going outside and setting $20 on fire, which is the grand total I’m wagering on pools this year. Or perhaps I should take that $20 and hand it to a homeless person when I’m downtown for the St. Patrick’s parade tomorrow. That’s how much faith I have in my picks.
I hate it when my favorite team makes me look dumb. I pick this as the year KU’s Big 12 title streak ends and they go out and win the conference by two games. They lose their only effective big man going into the conference tournament, and have to play a team that dominated them twice, so I figure they’re either one-and-done or maybe win Thursday and lose Friday. So of course they cruise on Thursday, fight through a sloppy game Friday, and play their best game of the season Saturday to wrap up the tournament title and secure a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament in the process.
Chart Week: March 5, 1983 Song: “Allentown” - Billy Joel Chart Position: #17, 15th week on the chart. Peaked at #17 for six straight weeks from February through March. This week’s edition is the first that draws from SiriusXM’s VJ Big 40 show on its Eighties on 8 channel. For those not familiar, Eighties on 8 features three of the original MTV VJs - Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, and Alan Hunter - pumping out classic tunes all day.
open.spotify.com/user/224a… “Espionage” - Preoccupations. Going back to their days performing as Viet Cong, this band has always mined the dark, post-punk sounds that came straight from Joy Division. I wasn’t crazy about this song at first, but it’s really grown on me in recent weeks. “Living” - EERA. Another dark and brooding song. I must be drawn to this stuff because it’s been so damn cold for the past few days after our spring preview of late February.
As the Billy Preston saga wrapped up in February someone posted the following list of how KU’s recent top front court recruits had performed in the NCAA tournament their freshman year: 2014 - Joel Embiid played 0 minutes in two games due to injury. 2015 - Cliff Alexander played 0 minutes in two games due to eligibility issues. 2016 - Cheick Diallo played 7 minutes and scored 9 points in a first round win over Austin Peay.
My torrid pace of reading in 2018 continues. I knocked out two more books in the Y: The Last Man comic series and am still enjoying it. And I’m still working through Nick Hornby’s Ten Years in the Tub. And then I knocked out a few other books over the past couple weeks. End of Watch - Stephen King “End of watch” is the term used when a police officer is killed in the line of duty.