(Or How I Spent My Summer Vacation)
Lord, please, don't forsake me...
Dateline: Denver, CO
“You actually think you’re going to read on the plane?”
The tonality of Defarge’s inquiry was unmistakable -- plainly suggesting a knowing condescension mixed with a dollop of genuine pity at Jerrence’s naïveté. While he didn’t know the singular expression that captured such a nuanced sentiment, he was sure the French probably had a word for it.
In any event, he immediately refrained from putting the Vanity Fair magazine in his backpack. No great loss, he thought, it was already stuffed to the gills with games, toys, snacks and spare clothes that his 3 yr old traveling companion apparently required for the 4’ish hours involved in their travel from O'Hare to Denver.
“Gaga” was accompanying his granddaughter Sloane (not unlike Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac and the Merry Pranksters) on her return home -- setting off to discover America as it were -- perhaps experiencing a journey of therapeutic self-discovery while having more fun than possibly was legal.
Oh and in the process, meet many interesting people.
Sloane, this is uncle Bob... |
But Jerrence was savvy enough, albeit just barely, to not make a big deal about his heroic role in sheparding his granddaughter by himself — lest he receive the verbal bitch slap (“I took two kids under the age of 7 to China by myself, slick”) that would surely (and justifiably) be forthcoming from his wife.
What ensued over the next two weeks were, as Shakespeare might say, the stuff that dreams were made of.
If those dreams were from Mel Brooks. Or Fellini.
"Swear, Chris - what happens in Vail, stays in Vail..." |
Buckle up.
Here. We. Go.
Quote of the Week
Is a house really a home w/o a urinal in the garage? |
"Sloane, have you ever seen 'Eraserhead'?" |
Word of the Week.
August Thoughts
- 4/5 are from the defensive side. (Bet the 'under' a lot this year!)
- Arguably, all of them would be considered in the short list of the team's best players.
- The lone offensive player is a transfer but who has seemed to lead from the very first day he's been on campus.
Buddy's Buddy
"Nuit, nuit!" |
To that latter allegiance, it only seems appropriate, post-Olympics, in deference to both Shea and the clutch performance, to making Steph Curry this edition's Buddy's Buddy.
RE-PETE (A shameless, illegal lift of Pete Sampson's weekly mail-bag)
The coach
If this season goes to plan, Freeman will no longer be referred to as a “first-time head coach” by the end of it.
Notre Dame’s pick to succeed Kelly has learned on the job since Swarbrick swiftly promoted the former defensive coordinator after the program’s all-time winningest coach bolted for LSU. There’s been a lot of learning on the job since, a bargain Notre Dame made with itself by promoting Freeman.
For Notre Dame, there’s reasonable hope Freeman will take another step, which is more important than his 19-8 overall record, the most wins by any Irish football coach in his first two seasons. When Freeman gambled on the quarterback position his first season and lost, he went out and got Sam Hartman and then Leonard. When he got caught flat-footed with one offensive coordinator hire, he hit a home run a year later. Last year’s mess at wide receiver was rectified by three incoming transfers this offseason.
Point being, Freeman has learned at every step. That must continue.
Cocktail of the Month
However, the old fashioned features crucially in his 1960 novel Rabbit Run, proving Updike's familiarity with cocktails of the time.
Schedule 2024
Wager 2024
Wins | Director - ND Equivalence | Domer |
12 Christopher Nolan | The Nick Saban of the film world - Nolan is Mr. Swing For The Fences Big Idea Guy, even if every effort isn't always a home run. But they are undeniably ... epic. Just like a 12-0 season. | Kevin C, Lini Matt L., Brian M. Jay, John L. Ray |
11 Martin McDonagh | Hello, he's Irish! Solidly predictable for always being really, really good. And as his reputation has been burnished, the star talent in his cast has followed. Sound familiar? | Jerrence, Daryl Jim S, Tim C. Jerry C, Mike C. Greg R., Bob S. |
10 David Fincher |
Pretty much a stud in both film and TV formats. Always interesting, albeit with palpably dark undertones... one is never sure how the story is going to end up. Much like a 10 win season will feel like. | Pat B, Mike B. Bill, Jim B. Sloane, Alex Phillip, Randy Mike G. |
9 Yorgos Lanthimos | Do I always understand what's going on his films? Nope. | Alvin |
8 Richard Linklater | Perhaps the product of recency bias - I quite liked 'Hit Man' - Linklater's films fall for this blogger into the "nice-fun-I see an interesting insight" category. They just don't feel especially memorable. Like we'd view an 8 win season. | |
7 Wes Anderson | When does quirky/idiosyncratic become tiresome? When you feel like you're watching - again - an inside joke that you're not included in. Anderson attracts an an all-star cast that no longer seems to add up to the sum of their parts. In a word, disappointing. | |
6 Lars Von Trier | Uncomfortable. Unpleasant. Disturbing. Often off the rails, his films might be 'art' but it's tough to call it many people's definition of entertainment. | |
Schadenfreude of the Week.
- December 2023
- QB gets hurt, get bypassed for the BCS playoffs despite being undefeated
- Georgia pastes FSU 66-3 in bowl game
- August 2024
- Upset by unranked Ga. Tech -- and traveling 4k to do so.