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Back Up To Twelve

The Oakland A’s, formerly of Philadelphia and Kansas City, announced yesterday that they may be on the move again soon.  After a 20-year saga to find a new, publicly financed stadium in the Bay Area, the team has signed a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres in Las Vegas with the hopes of having a new stadium ready to start the 2027 season.  In a statement, commissioner Rob Manfred said: “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.”

Removing Oakland from my active stadium count means I would now have twelve parks to get to in order to finish off the set.  I’ve made two trips to the stadium once known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, first in 1999 and again in 2008, seeing the Tigers and Orioles respectively.  Should this new stadium actually get built and a move actually take place, it would give me reason to visit Nevada for the first time since 2018.

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Off To The Pros?

Earlier this week, Zach Edey announced that he was entering the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.  After winning nearly every accolade available this past season, there is little more for him to prove in college basketball (except maybe a decent showing in the Tournament).  The big question is going to be how his game translates to the NBA, where the center position has become less and less prominent over the past decade.

If I had to guess, I’d say Edey winds up back in West Lafayette for another go-around.  My guess is he would be a second round pick, at best, and that he’d end up spending more time in the development league than on an NBA roster.  He can probably make more money through NIL deals back in school.  But, only time will tell.  The NBA draft is June 22.

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What’s New At The Old Ballpark

The 2023 baseball season is underway and there have been some changes at Guaranteed Rate Field.  Let’s start outside the stadium, where some nice, and long overdue, landscaping has been put in place.

The area surrounding the home plate from old Comiskey Park in parking lot B has been surrounded by artificial turf and blocked off from the rest of the parking lot.  In addition, strips of trees and vegetation has been planted across the divider between the lot and Gate 5.  While the reduced room in the lot makes it harder for me to park there, this is an overall net positive.

Inside the park, Miller Lite continues its takeover of right field.  After replacing Goose Island and rechristening the area behind the right field as Lite Landing last year, they have added additional branding above the out of town scoreboard on the scaffolding.

The upper deck gets two new clubs, the High Life Sky Lounge down the left field line and the Blue Moon Balcony along the right field line.  Both give upper deck patrons a place to stand and watch the game while imbibing in their beverage of choice.

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Fitbit IX – Week 12

Warm weather, another round of jury duty, and a couple of baseball games led to my first week over 30.000 steps in more than a month.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, as I finished with 3000 steps thanks in part to celebrating Michael’s birthday.  Monday saw a healthy improvement, jumping up to 6300 steps thanks to my trip downtown for jury duty.  Tuesday saw a big drop off, as I wasn’t required to report to jury duty and I managed 4400 steps.  Wednesday fell back down again, dropping down to 3000 steps.  A nice increase on Thursday left me 17 steps away from 4300.  A post-work trip to Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday led to the best day of the week, with 6300 steps.  Another White Sox game on Saturday put me just 6 steps shy of 5400.

Total steps: 32,879

Daily average: 4697

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Yet Another Mix Tape Monday – Volume 14

33 years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I put together the first of what would eventually become a nearly 20 volume collection of mix tapes, containing my favorite songs that I had gathered either from the radio, a cassette tape, or (eventually) CD.  Today, we revisit those mix tapes for the fourth time and see how, or if, the soundtrack of my youth still resonates in today’s digital world and how much has changed over the past four years.

Back in February, Soundgarden was announced as a 2023 nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  If they were to make it, they would be the fifth band featured on this cassette to receive the honor.  Aerosmith was elected in 2001, followed by Tthe Pretenders in 2005, Green Day in 2015, and Pearl Jam in 2017.

What does that mean?  Well, nothing, really, aside from some level of durability and commercial success.  I can’t think of anything less rock and roll than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and trying to rank something as subjective as music.  In fact, I purposely avoided the museum during my trip to Cleveland back in 2019.  But, it seems to mean something to the artists themselves, so I guess, for today at least, we will celebrate the honor.

Volume 14 takes us into the early summer of 1994, following the end of my sophomore year of college.  The song selection continues to be  mostly alternative, with a little G-funk added for flavor.

Side A

Stone Temple Pilots – Big Empty
iTunes stats: 22 plays, most recently on 7/7/2022

This entry from The Crow soundtrack picked up an additional five listens over the past four years.

Aerosmith – Crazy
iTunes stats: 26 plays, most recently on 10/16/2020

Only a three-play increase for the final installment of the Alicia Silverstone video trilogy, now with extra Liv Tyler.

Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
iTunes stats: 17 plays, most recently on 10/1/2021

Winner of the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy and nominated for Best Rock Song, the band’s biggest commercial hit picked up just four plays over the past four years.

Green Day – Longview
iTunes stats: 22 plays, most recently on 10/10/2022

The “debut” that pushed Green Day into the mainstream, hitting #1 on the Alternative Songs chart, added eight new listens over these last four years.

Hole – Miss World
iTunes stats: 28 plays, most recently on 3/12/2022

Hitting #13 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, the introduction of Courtney Love to a mainstream audience picked up six additional listens over the past four years.

Pearl Jam – Dissident
iTunes stats: 21 plays, most recently on 11/12/2019

Last heard prior to the pandemic, the song, which peaked at #3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart, saw just four listens over the previous four years.

Sarah McLachlan – Possession
iTunes stats: 14 plays, most recently on 6/7/2022

Inspired by letters written to McLachlan by two deranged fans, the 27th biggest hit of 1994 on the Alternative songs chart doubled its play total over the past four years.

Side B

Continue reading →

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Travelling The 50 States Recap

Over my 48 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Today, we look back and summarize my travels through our great nation.

Most Visited States

1100+ – Indiana
15 – Wisconsin
12 – Ohio
11 – California
10 – Florida

Florida has actually caught up to California, thanks to my trip there earlier this year for the Citrus Bowl.  Indiana will always be the leader here thanks to my years in college.

 

 

 

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Jury Duty 2: Electric Boogaloo

This past Monday, I was summoned to appear at the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for jury duty in District Court.  This was my fifth time being called overall, my first time in District Court, and my second tour of (jury) duty in as many months.  Unlike last month’s trial, this go around consisted of a trip downtown on Monday and a lot of reading on Monday before being let go for the day and… that was it.  No need to report for the rest of the week.  Hopefully, I get a nice long, multi-year break before my number comes up again.

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Fitbit IX – Week 11

Yet another disappointing week, despite a slight uptick in overall productivity.  Things got off to a poor start on Sunday, as I finished with 3200 steps.  Monday saw a nice improvement, jumping up to 6000 steps thanks to the start of the 2023 campaign at home for the White Sox.  Tuesday saw a dramatic fall, needing 20 additional steps just to reach 3800.  Wednesday fell even lower, going down to 3200 steps.  A slight improvement on Thursday left me 34 steps away from 3900.  Friday fell back down again, falling 25 steps shy of 3000.  Saturday was even worse, coming 22 steps away from 2700.

Total steps: 25,831

Daily average: 3690.1

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Book 16 (of 52) – All The Dangerous Things

All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham

A year after the disappearance of her son, Isabelle tries to keep the case alive, appearing at True Crime conventions and conducting her own investigation.  Teaming up with a podcaster, she hopes to find some new leads, but instead starts to think that she is to blame.  Will she find a way to cut through the fog and determine what actually happened to her son?

All The Dangerous Things is the latest from Stacy Willingham, who I first discovered earlier this year.  I find that she brings a new twist to the genre here, helping keep things fresh.  I will keep an eye out for her work in the future.