I’m working on a couple longer, more personal writing pieces to share over the next couple days. Thus, rather than writing about the Olympics or college hoops, I’ll share another link from my Instapaper stash. I had planned on doing a What I’m Watching post before the holidays. That, obviously, kind of went to shit and is tough to recreate now since most of the shows I was watching then have wrapped up their seasons or are on hiatus.
I tried writing several introductory paragraphs for this piece. But they all felt wrong, probably because this is such a wonderfully written essay. So just go read it and enjoy it like I did. Unpacking Forty Years of Fandom For a Losing Team
I found myself watching the entire NBA All Star Game last night. That was kind of a surprise because that’s not something I’ve done very often in, oh, 20 years or so. Plus the Olympics were on, with some decent live coverage that didn’t revolve around four hours of figure skating for once. But L was excited to see Steph and Victor Oladipo, so we started watching and then I kept it on after she went to bed.
Chart Week: Feb. 7, 1981 Songs/Chart Positions: “Killin’ Time” - Fred Knoblock and Susan Anton, #28, “Smoky Mountain Rain” - Ronnie Millsap, #27, “I Made It Through the Rain” - Barry Manilow, #26 My normal Sunday routine is to get up sometime between 8:00 and 8:30, watch the local news long enough to check the weather, and then move into the kitchen to have breakfast. While eating I flip on the radio to check the week’s American Top 40.
open.spotify.com/user/224a… “Lovesick on a Hotel Wildfire” - Korey Dane. This is a song Spotify sent my way, and I’m glad it did. Apparently I’ve heard a couple of Dane’s songs before, although I did not recall his name. He’s been called a “stoner Springsteen,” and this song certainly fits that vibe. “Name For You - Flipped” - The Shins. A few weeks back Strand of Oaks released his Harder Love album, which featured both different versions of songs from last year’s Hard Love and songs that had been recorded in its sessions but did not make the final album.
I have a few more books to share, but this time I will do something a little different: write about a book I have not finished yet. I looked into the site’s archives and couldn’t find a direct reference, but I’m pretty sure one of the reasons I started writing about the books I read here is because of the influence of Nick Hornby’s “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column in The Believer magazine.
This Big 12 basketball season is exhausting. Every time I look at the schedule, checking the next 2–3 games, there is never a break. Every game comes with a series of questions and perils. There have been years when the top has been better, when you could look at the top 2–4 teams and think they all have a shot to get to the Final Four, but those years also often featured a couple teams at the bottom that everyone could pencil in for wins.
This is has nothing to do with the Olympics but is a must-watch. It is equally amazing and creepy. The best parts are about halfway through this piece, when you see the ice surface flexing and then cracking after Marten Ajne skates across it. I can’t ice skate, so I’ve never been tempting to go out on our lake when it freezes over in the winter. And even if I could, I would always be nervous about how thick the ice is, especially since our lake gets very deep very quickly.
It was a big week for L. Last Thursday was St. P’s annual leadership day, where they invite other schools to come in and take a look at several of the leadership programs they run for the students. Last year L got to give a brief speech about her experiences in the program.[1] This year she took a big step up and got to be one of the two student hosts of the sessions.
open.spotify.com/user/224a… “Get Out” - CHVRCHES. First single off their next album, and it sounds as shiny and glorious as their songs from the past. “The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs” - Wye Oak. Another first single from an up-coming album. It looks like Wye Oak will be sticking with the more electronic sound they adopted for their last album, and which Jenn Wasner uses in her side project Flock of Dimes.
I’ve been kicking around an idea for awhile about using the 1980s American Top 40s[1] I listen to most weekends as a jumping off point for writing about old songs. Every weekend, whether I listen to an entire countdown or just catch a few minutes here and there, I’m bombarded with memories from 30+ years ago when all those songs were new. Might as well put those memories to use and use them to create some Blog Content, right?
I’ve watched my share of Fixer Upper over the years. My wife loves it. My kids all love it. If you’re between, say, 30 and 50, white, and live in the suburbs, odds are someone in your house is a fan. While I appreciate the show, it has worn on me over the years. Thus I enjoyed McSweeney’s poking a little fun at the show. WE’RE ENDING FIXER UPPER SO WE CAN EXPLORE OUR NEW PASSION FOR 1970S EUROPEAN BRUTALISM
A couple very different books completed over the past week. Blue Highways: A Journey Into America - William Least Heat Moon I came across this in an odd way. In Nick Offerman’s Paddle Your Own Canoe, the actor/comedian/writer mentioned this book as having had a large influence on his life. He offered a blurb that it was about traveling across the backroads of the US and that was enough for me to place it on my reading list.
Well shit. I totally forgot about the halftime show in my Super Bowl roundup. You would be correct if you thought that had something to do with my reaction to it. Justin Timberlake’s performance was visually appealing, but otherwise safe, confusing, disappointing, and forgettable. I had heard the “controversy” coming about the rumored use of a hologram of Prince during JT’s performance. I also read the quotes from both Prince taken before his death and from friends and family that pointed out how he would not have approved the use of him image in that way if he were able to weigh in.
So, yeah, I watched the Super Bowl. I’m a goddamn American, right? Despite my lack of interest in the NFL these days, I wasn’t going to miss the biggest game of the year. Also, if I’m only going to casually watch pro football I kind of have to watch the Super Bowl, as it has become a cultural obligation. Like I said, I’m an American. Now my full attentions were not on the game.
It’s been a decent start to the new music year in terms of singles. But there has yet to be a great album that has captured my attention. And, sadly, the list of February releases is looking pretty meager as well. I’ll hope the solid singles keep rolling out until we finally get some long plays that require my attention. Oh and after a brief warm spell we’re back to winter.
I have passed another milestone of the aging process: last week I picked up my new pair of glasses, my first with progressive lenses. If there was any uphill left in life it is now certainly in the rearview mirror. My eyes are still adjusting, which is kind of always the case with me. I have a nutty prescription - both bad nearsightedness and serious astigmatism - and have weak corneas.
Stereogum writer Tom Breihan has started a series where he is writing about every song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Obviously if I owned an alley, this would be right up it. Now he’s still very early in the series, so not all the songs are terribly relevant or interesting to most of us. But last week he covered “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” from December 1958, and I thought one line in particular would make that entry a fun read for everyone.
Our first weekend with sports on both days for awhile. Saturday M had her first volleyball game of the year. They lost in two games, and neither was very close. The other team had one good server who ripped off 6–7 straight points early in each game and that was pretty much it. They were also better at passing than our girls were. M is playing on a C team.
open.spotify.com/user/224a… “Fireworks” - First Aid Kit. I’m been working on this band for awhile, trying to figure out if I like them and if their music fits what I usually enjoy. Some of their songs veer a little too hard into the country music sphere. Which seems a little odd for a sister duo from Sweden. But their vocals are so beautiful it’s hard to deny them. I’ve found myself listening to their latest album, Ruins, several times this week.