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Post Mortem – Single Parents

While it is holding off on announcing its fall lineup due to the corona virus pandemic, ABC did go ahead and cancel a couple of shows, including Single Parents.  Having just wrapped up its second season, the show centered around a found family of single parents, whose children mostly were in the same class at school.

While Taran Killam, Leighton Meester, and Brad Garrett were the names coming in to the show, Kimrie Lewis and child actors Mia and Ella Allan, who also teamed up on the dearly departed Jane The Virgin, showed their chops.  While not a great show, it was always entertaining and it’ll be missed come this fall.

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Cardinals All Time Leaders – Through 2019

cardinalsWith baseball shut down because of the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals began life in 1891, joining the National League the following year after the dissolution of the old American Association.  They took on the Cardinal name starting in 1900.  I’ve seen them play 31 times, most recently last May at Wrigley Field.

Home Runs

Name Total
Scott Rolen 7
Jim Edmonds 6
Albert Pujols 6

Hits

Name Total
Scott Rolen 22
Albert Pujols 22
Jim Edmonds 20

Runs

Name Total
Jim Edmonds 16
Albert Pujols 14
Scott Rolen 13

RBI

Name Total
Albert Pujols 16
Scott Rolen 15
Jim Edmonds 14

Doubles

Name Total
Ryan Ludwick 4
Albert Pujols 3
Scott Rolen 3
Jim Edmonds 3
Fernando Vina 3
Jason Heyward 3

Triples Continue reading →

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Fitbit 6: Week 17

We’ve now reached 10 weeks of sheltering in place due to the corona virus and, once again, the week was a complete disappointment.  Things got off to another slowish start on Sunday, where I came in just over 3500 steps.  Monday was the high point of the week, with 5600 steps.  Tuesday saw a big drop off, as I barely managed to make 2600 steps.  Wednesday jumped back up to 3900 steps, while Thursday managed to improve on that to 4100 steps.  Friday saw a slight decrease, falling back down to 3500 steps.  Saturday, I squandered every opportunity to do something athletic, finishing with a mere 2800 steps.

Total steps: 26,221

Daily average: 3745.9

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iTunes Top 200: #11 – 19

itunes_image4 years ago, we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library. Since my iTunes stats are still intact, across multiple PCs, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, I figured it was time to take another look at my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2020.

We break in to the the top 20 today, with the last batch of songs that scored less than 100 listens since my stats began in late 2007.

#19: Metallica – Harvester Of Sorrow
iTunes stats: 59 plays, most recently on 10/10/2019
Previous ranking: #15

Released as the first single from the band’s fourth studio album, it was used as the at-bat music for former White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko for the majority of his career.

#19: Foo Fighters – My Hero
iTunes stats: 59 plays, most recently on 10/14/2019
Previous ranking: #21

The highest ranking tune from the Foo Fighters, up 2 spots from four years ago, is this live version from their previously mentioned concert in London’s Hyde Park.

#18: Nancy Faust – Take Me Out To The Ballgame
iTunes stats: 60 plays, most recently on 3/28/2019
Previous ranking: #14

A slight decrease for the final 7th inning stretch performance of Nancy Faust’s career as White Sox organist.

#17: The Lonely Island – Natalie’s Rap (ft. Natalie Portman & Chris Parnell)
iTunes stats: 63 plays, most recently on 2/14/2019
Previous ranking: #15

A slight drop for the second digital short from The Lonely Island, which featured Natalie Portman playing against type as a lewd gangsta.

#16: Purdue “All-American” Marching Band – Hail, Purdue!
iTunes stats: 71 plays, most recently on 10/25/2019
Previous ranking: #17

A slight increase for this older version of the Purdue fight song, used during my time at the school.

#15: Purdue “All-American” Marching Band – Hail Purdue
Continue reading →

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Red Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2019

redsoxWith baseball shut down because of the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Boston Red Sox.

I’ve seen the Red Sox play 31 times at 4 different stadiums, first in the White Sox home opener in 1985, through the 2005 ALDS, and, most recently, in last May.  The game total would have been 2 higher, if the corona virus hadn’t put the kibosh on my early April weekend trip to Fenway Park.

Home Runs

Name Total
David Ortiz 6
Mike Lowell 4
5 tied with 3

Hits

Name Total
David Ortiz 22
Mike Lowell 17
Kevin Youkilis 15

Runs

Name Total
David Ortiz 16
Dustin Pedroia 9
Mike Lowell 8
Kevin Youkilis 8
Jacoby Ellsbury 8

RBI

Name Total
David Ortiz 19
Mike Lowell 13
Kevin Youkilis 12

Doubles

Name Total
David Ortiz 6
Manny Ramirez 4
Mookie Betts 4

Triples Continue reading →

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – Rialto Square Theatre

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  With the state shutting down tonight due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We kick things off with one of the entries from the Culture category: Rialto Square Theatre, from Joliet, IL.

Putting on more than 150 events a year, this Jewel of Joliet evokes a bygone era with its Greek, Roman and Byzantine architecture.

Afternoon tours are offered most Tuesdays.  The nearly century-old theater gets especially festive at the end of the year with its monthlong Home for the Holidays programming, with movies, concerts and other special events.

My one and only trip to the Rialto Square Theatre came in 2015 to see Craig Ferguson during his Hot & Grumpy tour.  To be honest, I don’t remember much about the theater itself, so I can’t say that it left much of an impression.  I certainly would be willing to go back if something interesting was coming to town.

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Book 8 (of 52) – Point B

Point B: A Teleportation Love Story – Drew Magary

In his latest effort, Drew Magary introduces us to Anna Huff, a high school junior intent on finding out who killed her sister years earlier.  When her roommate, the daughter of the CEO of the world’s only porting provider, disappears from school after one night, she combines her two obsessions and, with the rag-tag group of friends she manages to make, attempts to bring down the new world order.  In this world, Huff sees her two obsessions overlap, as the search for her roommate/crush overlaps with the search for her sisters’ killer.  Finding one leads her to the other, and, ultimately, the life she has always wanted.

While Magary’s previous novel was a bit of an acid trip, Point B is more of a straightforward story of love and revenge, with the science fiction framework of teleportation wrapped around it.  It’s a pretty realistic take on an unrealistic scenario, which helped ground the tale.  It would have been easy to just add teleportation to the world without going into detail on how it changed things, but Magary builds out the entire world, thinking through the effects this new technology would have on tourism, the workforce, real estate, and international politics.  If he can keep producing content of this quality, then I will continue to be on board.

 

 

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Fitbit 6: Week 16

Week 9 of sheltering in place due to the corona virus saw a slight up-tick, thanks again in part to improving weather.  Things got off to a slowish start on Sunday, where I came in just over 3100 steps.  Monday saw a slight increase, up to 3600 steps.  Tuesday was even better, with 4500 steps.  Wednesday fell back down to 3100 steps.  Thursday was the low point of the week, as I dropped back down to 2500 steps.  Friday saw a big increase, jumping back up to 4800 steps.  Saturday, I managed to improve that total all the way up to 6600 steps, thanks to trips to Mariano’s and multiple Jewels.

Total steps: 28,539

Daily average: 4077

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A’s All Time Leaders – Through 2019

oakland-athleticsWith baseball shut down because of the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams.  We continue today with the Oakland Athletics.

The A’s began life in Philadelphia in 1901, as one of the 8 charter franchises of the American League, before moving to Kansas City in 1955 and, finally, to Oakland in 1968.  I’ve seen them play at least 27 times, including twice in their home stadium.

Home Runs

Name Total
Matt Olson 4
Jason Giambi 3
5 tied with  2

Hits

Name Total
Adam Rosales 8
Rajai Davis 8
4 tied with 7

Runs

Name Total
Coco Crisp 5
Adam Rosales 5
Matt Olson 5

RBI

Name Total
Matt Olson 7
Ramon Hernandez 5
6 tied with 4

Doubles

Name Total
Coco Crisp 3
9 tied with 2

Triples Continue reading →

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FOX Upfronts

For the third straight year, FOX has delivered a fall schedule that will leave them off of my television screen, with not a single show that interests me.  With a number of shows either pushed to midseason or still waiting to see what how the future unfolds post-pandemic, FOX is moving forward with two new, already in-the-can series and two shows from lesser-seen services.

Monday has one of each of the new types of shows, with John Slattery’s new drama neXt following L.A.’s Finest, which originally premiered on Spectrum Originals last spring and stars Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union.  Tuesday follows the same script, with Cosmos: Possible Worlds, snatched up from Nat Geo, kicking off the night and Filthy Rich, a soap starring Kim Cattrall, closing it.  Ratings star The Masked Singer holds down its Wednesday slot, followed by MasterChef Junior.

Thursdays get turned over to the NFL, assuming the season starts on time, while Fridays belongs to WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown, which resumed taping last month (thanks, Florida).  Sunday’s animated block returns untouched.

At midseason, Fox will bring back 9-1-1 for its fourth season and spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star for season two, along with new installments of Duncanville and Hell’s Kitchen.  New shows debuting later this year include the Mayim Bialik comedy Call Me Kat, and the animated The Great North and Housebroken.  Scripted shows still waiting on a decision include Last Man Standing, Prodigal Son, The Resident, and Outmatched.