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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #100-110

Music.  It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions.  It is the universal language that speaks to the soul.  It forms the soundtrack of our lives.

It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.

We wrap up the first half of the list today with our next batch of ten artists, crossing over from play totals of two digits into three and featuring the highest charting debut.

#110: Chance the Rapper
iTunes stats: 99 plays
Previous ranking: #89

The two clips from the Chicago born rapper’s intro video for the 2016 White Sox gained only six new plays over the last five years.

#109: Pink
iTunes stats: 100 plays
Previous ranking: #107

The three-time Grammy winner added 22 additional listens to the four songs that are in my collection.

#108: The Strokes
iTunes stats: 102 plays
Previous ranking: #110

The alternative band from New York rises two spots on the list thanks to 29 new listens to four songs off their debut album, not including a mash-up with Christina Aguilera.

#107: The Outfield
iTunes stats: 103 plays
Previous ranking: #85

With their only song in my collection being the walkup music for former White Sox infielder Gordon Beckham, the group from London’s East End added a mere four plays over these past five years.

#106: Blues Brothers
Continue reading →

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Braden Watch

Braden Smith moved closer to capturing the NCAA’s career assists record, adding another 9 in yesterday’s victory over UCLA in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.  Smith is now just 12 assists away from tying Duke’s Bobby Hurley’s record of 1,076.  At his current pace of 9 assists per game, Smith would need Purdue to play just two more games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in order to best Hurley, and both of those games are now guaranteed.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,064 – Braden Smith

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Royals All Time Leaders – Through 2025

To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  With less than two weeks until the start of the 2025 season, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals began life in 1969, joining the American League following the abandonment of the Kansas City market by the A’s following the 1967 season.  I’ve seen 277 players wearing the Royal blue in the 68 games I’ve seen them play, first in 1985 at old Comiskey Park where Willie Wilson took a throw to second base off the noggin, to last June, where Kyle Teel made his major league debut and picked up his first major league hit.

Home Runs

Name Total
Salvador Perez 10
Alex Gordon 6
Eric Hosmer 5

Hits

Name Total
Salvador Perez 36
Eric Hosmer 31
Billy Butler 30
Alcides Escobar 30

Runs

Name Total
Alex Gordon 17
Alcides Escobar 15
Salvador Perez 14

RBI

Name Total
Salvador Perez 28
Whit Merrifield 19
Billy Butler 16

Doubles

Name Total
Alcides Escobar 10
Salvador Perez 7
Whit Merrifield 6
Billy Butler 6
Alex Gordon 6

Triples Continue reading →

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Braden Watch

Braden Smith moved closer to capturing the NCAA’s career assists record, adding 10 in yesterday’s victory over Nebraska in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.  Smith is now just 21 assists away from tying Duke’s Bobby Hurley’s record of 1,076.  At his current pace of 9 assists per game, Smith would need Purdue to play three more games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in order to best Hurley, with two of those games now guaranteed.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,055 – Braden Smith

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Pirates All Time Leaders – Through 2025

pirates-primaryTo paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  With the winter meetings starting today, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates began life in 1887 as the Alleghenys, before taking on the Pirates moniker in 1891.  I’ve seen 245 players don the Pirates uniform in the 49 games of theirs that I’ve attended live, including a double header sweep in 2003, enabling the Cubs to clinch their first NL Central title and a work outing in 2008 against the White Sox.

Home Runs

Name Total
Brian Giles 3
Andrew McCutchen 3
Nate McLouth 2
Carlos Garcia 2
Craig Wilson 2
Jack Wilson 2

Hits

Name Total
Jack Wilson 27
Jason Kendall 14
Aramis Ramirez 14

Runs

Name Total
Jack Wilson 16
Brian Giles 10
Nate McLouth 9

RBI

Name Total
Jason Kendall 12
Brian Giles 11
Jack Wilson 8
Andrew McCutchen 8

Doubles

Name Total
Freddy Sanchez 5
Aramis Ramirez 4
Abraham Nunez 4

Triples Continue reading →

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Braden Watch

Tying his career high with 16 assists in yesterday’s victory over Northwestern in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament, Braden Smith has surpassed both Ed Cota and Chris Corchiani and now sits in second place on the NCAA’s career assists chart.  Smith is now just 31 assists away from tying Duke’s Bobby Hurley’s record of 1,076.  At his current pace of 8.9 assists per game, Smith would need Purdue to play four more games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in order to best Hurley.  Suddenly, with two of those games guaranteed, this once again feels possible.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,045 – Braden Smith

 

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Active Batting Leaders – Through 2025

Last month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2025.  With the end of spring training in sight and Opening Day right around the corner, let’s take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading into the 2026 season.

Home Runs

Name Total
Luis Robert 25
Tim Anderson 24
Andrew Vaughn 17
Yoan Moncada 16
Eloy Jimenez 14
Gavin Sheets 14

Hits

Name Total
Tim Anderson 218
Yoan Moncada 133
Luis Robert 111
Andrew Vaughn 102
Eloy Jimenez 98

Runs

Name Total
Tim Anderson 117
Luis Robert 65
Yoan Moncada 64
Andrew Vaughn 50
Andrew Benintendi 50

RBI

Name Total
Tim Anderson 73
Luis Robert 64
Yoan Moncada Continue reading →
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And The Oscar Goes To…

As they finish polishing up the statues in Hollywood for Sunday’s ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions with the major categories for the 98th Academy Awards.  So, without further ado, we begin with:

Best Picture

Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

I’ve actually seen three of these, so I’ll go with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Michael B. Jordan played two roles in Sinners, so that’s got to be worth something.

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Emma Stone, Bugonia

I’ve only seen one of these, but I’ll take a stab in the dark and pick the one actress I’ve never heard of for this.

Continue reading →

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Fitbit 12 – Week 7

A decent enough week, as I surpassed 30,000 steps for the fourth straight week and ran my streak of 4000+ days to 13.  Things got off to an ok start on Sunday, falling just 8 steps away from 4100.  An increase on Monday led to 4600 steps.  A slight drop on Tuesday left me with exactly 4300 steps.  Wednesday saw another slight decrease, as I needed 35 more steps to reach 4100.  A lunchtime walk around the block on Thursday left me 26 steps shy of 4900.  A morning appointment at the doctor’s office led to 5200 steps on Friday.  A rainy Saturday wrapped the week up with 4200 steps.

Total steps: 31,416

Daily average: 4488

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Book 13 (of 52) – Not Quite Dead Yet

Not Quite Dead Yet – Holly Jackson

When Jet Mason is violently attacked on Halloween night, she barely survives but has a ticking time bomb in her brain that will kill her within a week.  Rather than risking a surgery she likely wouldn’t survive anyway, she decides to spend her remaining time trying to find out who attacked her and why.  Staying with her childhood best friend, she starts investigating, uncovering family secrets involving her parents, her brother and sister-in-law, and her long-dead sister.  When she dies without learning the truth, her friend puts the final pieces together to find out the truth.

Winner of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Mystery and Thriller, Holly Jackson’s Not Quite Dead Yet puts a unique spin on the genre in her first novel intended for adults.  While searching for her “killer” is the main motivation of the Jet character, she learns more about herself during the investigation than she bargained for, finding how the choices she’s made, in the wake of her sister’s death, led her to where she is in the present and the regrets she will have now that time is no longer an unlimited resource.  I enjoyed this enough to keep an eye on Jackson’s back catalog and for any future output.