Author / admin

by admin

Book 12 (of 52) – Little Children

Little Children – Tom Perotta

In Little Children, Tom Perrotta tells us the tale of Sarah, a young housewife who spends her days at the playground with a group of mothers she can’t stand. When she meets Todd, a handsome young stay-at-home dad, they begin an affair that threatens both of their marriages, neither of which may be worth saving.  Will they throw it all away and run away together?  Or will they stay in their broken marriages for the sake of their children?  And where does the broken former policeman and the convicted sex offender he is obsessed with fit in?

I saw the movie version of this years ago and was familiar with the basics of the plot, but any details had long since left my mind.  When I saw the book on sale on the Kindle store, I decided to give it a shot given my recent experiences with Perrotta’s work and the HBO translations.  And, I was not disappointed.  Perrotta is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors, especially in the non-genre fields.  I don’t think I have anything else of his queued up on the Kindle, so I’ll have to keep a look out.

 

by admin

White Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2019

cws_logoWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We finish things off today with the hometown Chicago White Sox.

I’ve seen the White Sox play 592 times at 13 different stadiums in 9 different cities, including every home playoff appearance in 2000, 2005, and 2008 except for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 93
Jermaine Dye 39
Jose Abreu 36

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 366
Alexei Ramirez 299
A.J. Pierzynski 231

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 200
Alexei Ramirez 133
A.J. Pierzynski 104

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 235
Alexei Ramirez 138
Jermaine Dye 107

Doubles

Name Total
Paul Konerko 57
Alexei Ramirez 49
A.J. Pierzynski 41

Triples Continue reading →

by admin

200 Things To Do In Illinois – Water Tower

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 still shut down 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 continue things this week with one of the entries from the History category: Water Tower, from Chicago, IL.

Salute a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by stepping inside the city’s Historic Water Tower, an enduring Michigan Avenue landmark that’s now a repository for local artists’ work.

If I’m being honest, I’ve never actually been inside the old Water Tower.  But, I’ve been by it plenty of times, including catching a carriage ride after junior prom way back when.

by admin

T-Minus 7

With the delayed start to the 2020 season only a week away, the Cubs new Marquee network is still without a carriage agreement with Comcast, the dominant cable operator in the Chicago metropolitan area.  While the expectation remains that a deal will be in place by Opening Day, nothing is guaranteed in these types of negotiations.  As has been pointed out many times before, the Dodgers, who created their own network in 2014, still have not gotten full clearance in the Los Angeles market after 7 years and 2 World Series appearances.

by admin

Active Pitching Leaders – Through 2019

baseballs3Last week, we looked at the active leaders in games I’ve attended through 2019 on the offensive side of the ball.  With the second spring training winding down and opening day finally a week away, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball and the active pitching leaders.

Wins

Name Total
Chris Sale 21
Jon Lester 12
Jose Quintana 8
Nate Jones 7
Lucas Giolito 6

Losses

Name Total
Jose Quintana 17
Chris Sale 12
James Shields 10
Carlos Rodon 9
Jeff Samardzija 6
Kyle Hendricks 6

ERA (> 35 IP)

Name Total
David Robertson 2.17
Nate Jones 2.21
Zach Duke 2.38
Johnny Cueto 2.43
Cole Hamels 2.59

ERA (> 70 IP)

Name Total
Jon Lester 2.60
Chris Sale Continue reading →
by admin

Fitbit 6: Week 24

Week 17 of working from home due to the corona virus was still disappointing, in the grand scheme of things, but, for the second week in a row, was my best showing since being stuck at home.  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 9 steps shy of 4800.  Monday saw a slight improvement, coming in just shy of 5000 steps.  Tuesday was better still, coming in over 5100.  Wednesday was the high point of the week, coming in above goal by 66 steps.  Thursday fell off a bit, back down to 4300 steps, the week’s low point.  Friday saw a nice improvement, back up to to 5400 steps.  Saturday could have been better, but also could have been worse, finishing with 5200 steps.

Total steps: 37,544

Daily average: 5363.4

by admin

Cubs All Time Leaders – Through 2019

chc_logoWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Chicago Cubs.

I’ve seen the Cubs play 416 times at 9 different stadiums in 7 different cities, with the earliest identified game at Wrigley Field on August 4, 1984 against the Mets, through a late August 2019 game against the Nationals.

Home Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 42
Aramis Ramirez 41
Derrek Lee 38

Hits

Name Total
Derrek Lee 245
Aramis Ramirez 216
Sammy Sosa 136

Runs

Name Total
Derrek Lee 136
Aramis Ramirez 114
Sammy Sosa 102

RBI

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 151
Derrek Lee 128
Sammy Sosa 97

Doubles

Name Total
Derrek Lee 51
Aramis Ramirez 48
Michael Barrett 29

Triples Continue reading →

by admin

Looking Ahead To 2021

For reasons that I don’t entirely understand, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2021 schedule late last week, 3 weeks before the 2020 season begins. The local squads should have common goals in mind for 2021: competing for a title.  Assuming, of course, that the 2020 season goes off as planned and the pandemic winds down enough for 2021 to proceed as planned.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season against the Angels in (Los Angeles, California, Anaheim), the first time that has happened since 1993.  Which, I guess, is a decent sign if one’s looking for omens towards a division title.  They return home a week later, facing the Royals for the home opener.

The interleague schedule pits the White Sox against the NL Central, with trips to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee and home series against the Reds, Cardinals, and the Pirates. The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a series at Wrigley at the beginning of August and a follow-up at Guaranteed Rate Field at the end of the month.

The season ends with a 5 game homestand against the Reds and Tigers.

On the north side, the Cubs open their season up at home against the Pirates, which seems to be a familiar Opening Day foe.

The interleague schedule pits the Cubs against the AL Central, with trips to Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota and home series against the Indians, Royals, and the Twins.

The Cubs end the year with a 12 of their final 14 games against the NL Central, with 9 of those coming against the Brewers and the Cardinals, who are likely to challenge them for the NL Central crown.

by admin

iTunes Top 200 Wrap-Up

itunes_imageLast week, we wrapped up our latest look at the top 200 songs I’ve listened to, according to iTunes, since late 2007.  Now it’s time to take a final look at those 200 songs and the 122 (or so) artists that made them.  The average number of listens was just under 44, with the median number being 34.  There were 52 new entries, and of the returning entries, there was an average increase of just a tad over 15 listens per song.

Most Represented Band

Foo Fighters – 15
The Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer – 10
The Beatles – 8
The Lonely Island – 6
Garbage – 6
Tegan and Sara – 6

Largest Increase

78 – AC/DC – Thunderstruck
71 – Harry Caray – Take Me Out To The Ballgame
71 – Steam – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
70 – Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers – Let’s Go-Go-Go White Sox
32 – Van Halen – Jump

Smallest Increase

2 – Nancy Faust – Take Me Out To The Ballgame
4 – The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Coda
4 – Mazzy Star – Fade Into You
5 – The Lonely Island – Lazy Sunday (ft. Chris Parnell)
5 – 2008 White Sox Central Division Champs Montage

Most Recently Played

12/30/2019 2:42 PM – Aerosmith – Janie’s Got A Gun
12/30/2019 2:34 PM – The Beatles – Eight Days A Week
12/30/2019 2:31 PM – Florence + The Machine – Shake It Out
12/29/2019 11:59 AM – The Beatles – Helter Skelter
12/20/2019 2:57 PM – Hole – Doll Parts

Least Recently Played

10/16/2018 5:05 PM – The Lonely Island – Lazy Sunday (ft. Chris Parnell)
10/22/2018 6:02 PM – 10,000 Maniacs – Because The Night
12/17/2018 6:50 AM – Mark Snow – X-Files Theme
12/19/2018 9:08 PM – Foo Fighters – Everlong
1/17/2019 6:53 AM – Letters To Cleo – Here & Now

by admin

Twins All Time Leaders – Through 2019

Minnesota-TwinsWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins originated in 1901 as the Washington Senators, one of the charter members of the American League.  When Minneapolis was given an expansion team to begin play in 1961, owner Calvin Griffith requested to move the Senators to Minnesota, becoming the Twins, and to have the expansion franchise take over the Senators name in Washington.  I’ve seen them play 59 times at 3 different stadiums, including the division-title deciding game 163 in 2008.

Home Runs

Name Total
Oswaldo Arcia 6
Jason Kubel 4
Brian Dozier 4
Torii Hunter 4

Hits

Name Total
Joe Mauer 43
Justin Morneau 25
Trevor Plouffe 23

Runs

Name Total
Joe Mauer 19
Brian Dozier 13
Trevor Plouffe 11

RBI

Name Total
Justin Morneau 15
Oswaldo Arcia 14
Torii Hunter 11

Doubles

Name Total
Trevor Plouffe 6
Justin Morneau 5
Oswaldo Arcia 5
Joe Mauer 5
Brian Dozier 5

Triples Continue reading →