A couple quick notes before an emergency high school basketball update. Weather We had winter storm #3 of the young season Monday evening into Tuesday morning. The heaviest snow of the event fell right during Monday rush hour, meaning both S and L had to drive home in it. They made it here safely, if slowly. Once again we were in the predicted 2–4 inches zone, with the expectation it would be on the heavier end.
Video Slow Horses, season five A bit slower to start than some previous seasons, but a pretty fantastic ending. And plenty of Roddy Ho meant this might be the funniest season so far. At least one more season to come. A- The Lowdown Lots of critical praise for this, which turned out to be pretty accurate. Other than a lull in the middle of the season, it was very good. Sterlin Harjo, who also created Reservation Dogs, was the main force behind this one.
Thanksgiving week 2025 is in the books. It was mostly good. Other than me thinking Friday was Saturday all day. Lots happened, so here’s a lengthy breakdown to wade through as you ease back into your routines. Thanksgiving We hosted this year, only having 15. We could fit everyone at one (big) table! I feel like I have the food portion of hosting down. I know how to make a decent turkey.
This whole Olivia Nuzzi thing is wild. I remember reading one of her pieces a few years back, when she first rose to prominence, and thinking she was trying too hard to make herself part of the story. Little did I know! Another example here of a writer who only dabbles in politics cutting through an issue better than the alleged experts. A guide to the absolutely ludicrous Olivia Nuzzi media scandal
HS Hoops It was a two-game weekend for CHS. Things began with a bummer when L was told on Thursday she was going back to JV (along with one other junior). She needs minutes and JV needs players. That was a rough night in our house, as you might imagine. That’s about all I’ll say on that topic for now. Friday we drove 90 minutes south to play 3A #7 Jennings County, who came in 3–0.
Between wrapping up the first pass through my Apple Music library, doing some work on my Favorite Songs of the Year list, and other random stuff, I didn’t spend as much time listening to newer music as I normally do this week. So a blend of the new and old. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Hinge” - VILLANELLE Is this a Nirvana tribute band? The band is led by Gene Gallagher, son of Liam. And he was obviously influenced more by Kurt Cobain than his dad.
A quick (hopefully!), navel-gazey post today to share that my initial run through my entire library on Apple Music is finally complete! After transitioning over from Spotify in April, I spent several weeks attempting to recreate how I organized iTunes over 10 years ago to balance both new and old music in a daily playlist. This makes heavy use of Smart Playlists, which select music based on date added, rating, play count, and other rather granular details.
Let’s run through some quick hoops thoughts. Jayhawk Talk As expected Darryn Peterson did not play last night against Duke. As expected, Duke won comfortably. Not as expected was KU showing a lot of fight and progress from last week’s games. There was still, obviously, a big hole on offense due to Peterson’s absence. But the Jayhawks controlled the first 15 minutes of the game and were in terrific shape until first Flory Bidunga and then Tre White went to the bench with three fouls before halftime.
Somehow I haven’t read a spy book since July. It was time to revert to the mean, so this entry features one proper spy story, one that brushes up against the genre, and a proper mystery. Sheepdog - Elliot Ackerman When I added this to my reading list, I noted that it was described as being for people who liked Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series, either the books or show.
Another pretty laid-back weekend in our house, made even chiller without football games for either KU or the Colts. Trust me, I still sat on my ass and watched a lot of football. Strangely I watched more on Saturday when it was in the low 70s than Sunday when it was still nice but significantly cooler. With the holidays sneaking up on us and a busy weekend ahead, S and I did begin to prep for hosting Thanksgiving.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Dopamine” - Robyn Our Swedish Queen has returned! Her first new music in over seven years. “WAITING FOR THE PHONE CALL” - The Twilight Sad Speaking of artists that have been away for a bit, this song is the first new music from The Twilight Sad in six years. They have a very special guest on this track; The Cure’s Robert Smith, a long-time fan of the band, joins to play guitar.
Last night CHS finally played their first game of the year. I say finally because their opponent, and many other schools in the state, had already played two games. I know our coaches were trying to find a game to fill last week, but that fell through and we got off to a late start to the new season. Maybe it was that difference, one team having been on the court - and losing - twice versus the other getting real action for the first time.
Well, a real bummer of a sports weekend that was partially saved by Jonathan Taylor. Let’s get into it. Friday Shades of late August/early September as I was both listening to the Cathedral game and watching sports on the TV. My attentions were less divided than back then, though, as most of my attention was on the KU-North Carolina game. Which was a lot of fun for the first 20 minutes as KU took an 8-point lead into halftime, then kind of a pisser for the second 20 as UNC ran the Jayhawks off the floor.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… ‘’Over Our Heads” - Snocaps Last week’s big music surprise was the new album from Katie and Allison Crutchfield. Rather than resurrect one of their previous bands, they brought in pal MJ Lenderman and longtime Waxahatchee producer Brad Cook to do something completely new. It is a nice blend of what each sister does well. Believe it or not, I think I might prefer the Allison songs a little more.
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins One of the great parenting gifts I’ve received recently is L re-discovering her love of reading over the past year. She started reading more in the spring while she was rehabbing. When summer rolled around she kept up with it. After she got a Kindle she really took off. She is connected to my Amazon account, so I could see how quickly she was blowing through books, sometimes one per day.
It is time for our monthly overview of the NFL. As with the month one check-in, teams seem committed to confounding and keeping us from making any broad assessments about which are the best. Before I get to my breakdown, some thoughts about the Colts making, for the first time in years, a move at the trade deadline. And a huge one at that, sending two first round picks and Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for Sauce Gardner.
I just found this fantastic profile of American Treasure Katie Crutchfield that came out last spring. I knew she had a twin sister - more on that later this week - but did not know there was a third sister in the family. Turns out that sister’s story is a huge, emotional part of the music Katie has made in recent years. Their relationship made for a powerful section of this profile.
Not the most exciting weekend we’ve ever had, although there was one, massive event that sucked up a lot of my attention and messed with my sleep schedule. Halloween As usual a low-key night at our house. We had maybe 40 total trick or treaters. It’s always weird because we can see tons of kids just a block away, but few of them come to our door because they would have to scamper across a very busy street to get here.
Another month in which, both by choice and by chance, I didn’t watch a ton of TV. Also remember I’m stripping out a lot of the trivial stuff I glance at on YouTube (although I’ve cut a lot of that, too) and just sharing the substantial or impactful things I have watched/listened to. Harvesting Tequila, Surfing Secret Coves & Tasting Legendary Mexican Flavors | DIRT Guadalajara Typically terrific stuff from the DIRT crew.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Halloweenhead” - Ryan Adams When Halloween falls on a Friday, I kind of have to play this. “Anywhere” - Ratboys Second pre-release banger from the next Ratboys album, which has officially been given a February release date. “Paint Me A Picture” - Magdalena Bay MB just released two pretty good singles, I slightly prefer this sultry one. “Doldrum Days” - Miki Berenyi Trio Berenyi still makes music that has strong ties to her days in Lush, this one a perfect match of title and tone.