Voyage to the Blue Planet

Last night me, Jackson and my buddy Cory went to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Weezer's Blue Album by seeing them at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. This was my fourth Weezer show to see and by far this one was the most epic. It was a show of galactic proportions. They played the entire Blue Album. Holiday is my favorite song and I had never heard them perform it live. So great. Dinosaur Jr. opened but we didn't really get into them. The Flaming Lips, however...I'll post separately about them.

 

October Ball

Hey Hey Hey would you look at that! The Royals are going to the playoffs! First time in nine years and the year after losing 106 games. Go Blue!

Celebrate

Celebrating my Grandmother’s life today. She was a Royals fan and would be happy to know their magic number today to make the playoffs is one. Beautiful day to celebrate a beautiful soul. 

 

Gray Day

My Grandmother’s funeral is today. Saying our last goodbyes. 

Nina Simone Discog

I spent parts of the past year on another discography project where I listened to the entire released output of a particular artist. This last one was Nina Simone's library. Overall excellent with rare misses. Of course, I reserve the right to amend any of these very subjective ratings. Sometimes you're just not in the mood to be open to something and later you end up really liking it.

 

Rest in Peace

Saturday night, my 94 year old grandmother passed away. Fortunately I had been able to see her last week and talk with her. She was my last grandparent. 

Grandma was always one of my biggest supporters. She cheered me on no matter what. She had a great laugh. She and I shared a love of books and talked often about what we were reading. She always took us to the local public library when we visited her in the summers. She was so thoughtful and empathetic. I will miss her greatly. She was a rock in the swirling chaos of life. 

JWIII

Last Saturday I also picked up an unopened Fear of the Dawn by Jack White at Half Price Books. Unopened and for only 9.99! Wut. Saturday was a good record day. 

Revolver

One of the holy grails. Found at the Half Price Books mothership in Dallas this morning. An original pressing. Listen I look for these old Beatles/Beach Boys/ Dylan albums every time I go to a used record store and 98% of the time never see nary a one. As soon as I spotted it in the corner of my eye a big guy with a beard was there first and started looking at it while I was stalking him one aisle over while holding my breath. To my relief he put it down, moved over an aisle and I dove in and grabbed it. $15. No nicks or scratches. The store didn't know what they have. They usually do pretty good screening these things but occasionally they miss.

Endorsement, Part Two

Some poets prefer the 3-5-3 method of writing haiku because it more closely resembles the desired minimalist intent of of the Japanese poets. 

So...

Voting for

Kamala Harris

The sane choice

Endorsement

A Haiku (using the 5-7-5 method)...

 

Now for the record

I am voting for Harris

Because I'm sane

Loot

 

Thrift Store Find

 Found this 1965 compilation of the best of Hank for $2 today. 

Enough

 Enough is as good as a feast.

Lost and Found

I made an astoundingly happy discovery today. I was driving home earlier today streaming the magisterial Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. I was lamenting the fact that I didn't own this record on vinyl. When I got home I decided to play one of The Beach Boys lesser known albums "Carl and the Passions: So Tough" that I inherited from my Dad. I hadn't played it since I was given the album nine years ago. When I pulled the record out I noticed it was a double album. This surprised me because I didn't think this was a double record. Turns out the second album was a copy of Pet Sounds! Turns out in 1972, Capitol Records packaged the new Carl and the Passions album with a Pet Sounds record. Not only that, it's a rare mono release of Pet Sounds. In 1966, Capitol had released it in stereo against the wishes of Brian Wilson. This release captured the sound as originally recorded and conceived. It's now considered a collector's item. My Dad sure knew how to pick em. This was a happy day.

Accepted

 Accepted! Boomer! 

The Kids

 

It has been fun having both kids on my campus this year. This will be the only year that happens so I’m going to try to enjoy it. They usually aren’t in my classroom at the same time! 

Autumn Sky

 That time of year. Horses! 

Senior Night

 It was nice to see all the seniors involved with Band, Drill Team, Cheer and FB honored before last week’s football game. 

Dallas

 

Flying into Love Field can be pretty cool. 

9-3-24

 

God Bless KC

Flew up to the old hometown to pay last respects to a guy who was like a brother to me. Reconnected with some people from the old neighborhood I hadn’t seen in 30 years. Talked about the good old days. And grabbed a burnt end sandwich while in the neighborhood. God bless the Haughey Family during these difficult times. God bless old friends and God bless Kansas City (especially the Kansas side).