Tunnels

 

Laundry Time

She wasn’t intending to take a selfie. She was texting a photo asking the right setting for a load of laundry. 

End of a Chapter

Well, Jackson's marching band career is over after four great years. The Kaufman Marching Band came in 5th, one spot away from a trip to State. Second year in a row they've missed it by one spot under questionable circumstances. Some of the judging was sketchy. One judge had them in first. Two others had them fourth. Two had them 5th. And after prelims they were in the top 4. But mysteriously dropped down a spot after finals that allowed a more well known program into the top 4. Oh well, they had a great four year run. It's amazing how quickly it's all over.

 

Stars Hollow

Last week our town had a Night at Stars Hollow event downtown, just a couple of blocks from our house. Fun night.

 

Under the Stars

One night last week we took advantage of the nice fall break evenings to make s’mores and watch Harry Potter under the stars (and a comet)  

 

Comet

Saw the comet last week! Apparently it has the rather boring name of C/2023 A3. Guess it won’t be visible for another 80,000 years. 

The Bhagavad Gita

Unlike Robert Oppenheimer I did not read The Bhagavad Gita from the original Sanskrit. I read a translation by Juan Mascaro each morning the last few weeks during breakfast. I'm not naive enough to not understand the distinct differences between religions traditions and philosophies. But I was struck by the similarities of thought between what I read in the Bhagavad Gita and what I read in the Old and New Testaments of The Bible. Some very interesting parallels of thought that a lot of Christians would do well not to ignore simply because it comes from a different tradition.

Summer Days and Summer Nights

Found another old gem at the Half Price Books mothership today. An original 1965 pressing. $9 with just a few nicks here and there. My Dad had this in his collection but traded it in for the CD version in the 90's.

Fair 2024

The annual trip to the State Fair of Texas 

 

Tiring

 Birthdays can be tiring 

Bugs

 

New Ride

Our new ride.

 

Forever Royal

Well, it wasn't the ending America wanted but it was a great season! Coming off a 106 loss season to the ALDS the following year? No one would have predicted that. It was a closely fought series despite the Yankees payroll being three times that of the Royals. The Royals shall return and vanquish the high and mighty! Kansas City Royals forever!

Highway 61 Revisted

Found an album last Saturday at Half Price Books. Not an old pressing. New release actually. Never opened. But the price was only $9 so couldn’t pass it up. This was after seeing an original The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and almost having a heart attack. But the cover was really in bad shape and the record was so scratched up I don’t think it would be playable. So I had to pass. 

October Believer

Always a good day when the newest issue of The Believer arrives in the mail. 

A Good Night

Pretty rare to see the Royals and Chiefs win on the same night  especially in October. And on a Monday! It was very nice to see. 

 

Grand Champions!

Exciting Saturday as little Kaufman showed up to a 5A marching competition in Midlothian and won Grand Champion! 

The Aeneid

Another long term read (2 pages a day during breakfast) project in the books. This Robert Fagles translation is very good. I really enjoyed the first half. Seeing the famous story of the Trojan Horse from the Trojan's perspective was great. The telling of the fall of Troy is spectacular. Aeneas's doomed relationship with Dido is well told. I found the second half kind of tedious. Lots of repetitive battles with lots of names of warriors I didn't know.

I'm sure the original audience knew what was going on. Great first half. Meh second half for me. Enjoyed overall.

American Prometheus

Much more thorough (of course) than the movie. Much more of a tragic tale than the movie depicts. Lewis Strauss (the Robert Downey, Jr character) was even more evil in real life than in the movie. Oppenheimer was a flawed genius who was totally railroaded by a well orchestrated character assassination by a jealous adversary. Communist hysteria unfortunately doesn't sound too far off from what you see on Fox News now days. A fascinating read.

Slowly

 "Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future."  

- Thich Nhat Hahn

October Continues

 

The Royals finished off the Orioles yesterday afternoon to complete the two game Wildcard sweep. Who woulda thunk it after losing 106 games last season? I'm enjoying the ride. Next up, The Yankees. I saw Kansas City play the Yanks twice this season in The K. New York dominated both games. So it's a big task. But I got faith. Just making the playoffs this year was very satisfying. Everything else is gravy. But still, let's beat those stinkin' Yankees!

TFL Discography

Inspired by last weekend’s concert I’ve decided my next long-term discography project will be The Flaming Lips. This time I will start with the most recent releases and work my way backwards. Looking forward to it. 

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips at the American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas. Sunday 9-29-24. A phantasmagorical experience of creative greatness. A transcendent experience.