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Book 27 (of 52) – End Of Watch

End of Watch – Stephen King

Though physically incapacitated, Brady Hartsfield has developed telekinetic and mind-control abilities through experimental drugs and begins a new wave of terror by manipulating others into committing suicide, starting with the survivors of his attack at the Civic Center.  The police, unable or unwilling to do their own investigation, turn a blind eye as retired detective Bill Hodges follows the leads.  As the body count rises, Hodges, facing his own terminal diagnosis, and his partner Holly Gibney must stop Brady’s deadly influence before it is too late.

The third and final installment of Stephen King’s Bill Hodges Trilogy, End of Watch, which won the Goodreads Choice Award for favorite mystery and thriller back in 2016, brings back the cat and mouse game between Brady Hartsfield and Bill Hodges that started in Mr. Mercedes.  This was a good end for Hodges, though I can see why King decided to continue on with the Holly Gibney character.  Speaking of which, her latest adventure was just released, so I should add that to the waitlist.

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Post Mortem – Blue Bloods

After fourteen seasons, CBS said goodbye to Blue Bloods last fall.  Thanks to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the final season was split between the spring of 2024 and the fall, with the final episode airing December 13th.

A spin-off, featuring Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan character and with the working title of Boston Blue, is on the schedule for this fall.

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Post Mortem – Lucky 13

A game show hosted by both Gina Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal, Lucky 13 lasted all of ten episodes on ABC last summer.  The contestant is asked thirteen true or false questions and then has to pick how many they got right.  Then, the questions were gone over a second time, in a seemingly random order, to determine if the contestant fell within their chosen range of correct answers.  This duplicative part dragged things down a bit, as did having two hosts where only one was necessary.

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Fitbit XI – Week 18

A mediocre week overall but staying over the 30,000-step mark for the second straight week thanks to two good days. The week got off to a slow start on Sunday with 3800 steps.  Monday saw a slight decline, going down to 3600 steps.  A trip to Rate Field after work on Tuesday pushed me up to 7300 steps, my highest total of the week.  A big drop on Wednesday left me 16 steps away from 3800. The worst day of the week came on Thursday, as I managed only 3400 steps. Friday saw a little improvement, ending up 20 steps shy of 3500.  Another baseball outing On Saturday left me just 26 steps short of 6000.

Total steps: 31,488

Daily average: 4498.3

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Putting Down His PAD And Pencil

Peter David, fan favorite author and comic book writer, passed away this weekend at the age of 68.  Over the past thirteen years, he has had many health issues, starting with a stroke in December of 2012.

David was a prolific author, mostly in the science fiction and fantasy genres.  I’ve read a number of his works, mostly from the Star Trek: The Next Generation expanded universe.  The majority of my exposure to David’s work, however, was in the world of comic books.  He was most well-known for his award-winning twelve year run on The Incredible Hulk and also had notable runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.

While I haven’t been in the comic book game for quite a while, this news was still a bit of a shock.  I was aware of some of his earlier health issues, but not as up to date on the more current ones.  He was a unique voice and will surely be missed by his many fans.

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iTunes Top 200: #19 – 27

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 songs in my iTunes library, featuring he songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which older songs still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2025.

With the top of the charts in sight, we continue this week with songs ranking from 27th place with 56 plays up to those with 65 plays apiece, good enough for 19th place since my stats began in late 2007.

#27: Veruca Salt – Seether
iTunes stats: 56 plays, most recently on 2/5/2024
Previous ranking: #29

The group’s debut single was ranked as the 10th greatest grunge song of all time by Paste magazine in 2014.

#27: Garbage – Bad Boyfriend
iTunes stats: 56 plays, most recently on 10/26/2022
Previous ranking: #23

This lead track from the band’s fourth album features Dave Grohl, of Foo Fighters and Nirvana fame, on drums.

#27: Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench
iTunes stats: 56 plays, most recently on 10/28/2024
Previous ranking: #36

The first single from the band’s second album, chronicling the disintegration of singer/song writer Dave Grohl’s four-year marriage to Jennifer Youngblood.

#27: Barenaked Ladies – If I Had $1,000,000
iTunes stats: 56 plays, most recently on 2/5/2023
Previous ranking: #23

This live version of the song was recorded at Chicago’s own Metro theatre.

#26: The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Mustard
iTunes stats: 57 plays, most recently on 2/5/2023
Previous ranking: #22

A short interlude from the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer about the joys of dry cleaning.

Continue reading →

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Post Mortem – The Conners

For the third time in the past 28 years, ABC, and America, has said goodbye to the Conner family.  Spun off from the revival of Roseanne in 2018 after Roseanne Barr’s tweets got her fired, The Conners killed off her character offscreen and showed the family trying to move on.  Seven seasons later, the show wrapped up its run, giving us 17 seasons of programming across the three iterations.

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Book 26 (of 52) – The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne

In colonial New England, a young woman gets knocked up out of wedlock and, when she refuses to name the father, is forced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest for the rest of her days.  Seven years later, the father of her child, the local minister, confesses after being poisoned to death by the woman’s former husband, hiding under a new identity as the town doctor.

I somehow made it through high school without even being assigned Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, one of the first mass-produced books in the United States and considered a classic work of American literature.  Which is probably a good thing, as I can’t imagine I would have gotten through it at the time.  To be honest, I barely made it through now.

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Post Mortem – Rescue: HI-Surf

Rescue HI-Surf, following the adventures of a team of lifeguards on the north shore of O’ahu, was cancelled by FOX after one season.  “We love our partnership with John Wells and Warner Brothers and hope to do more with John and are doing more with Warner Brothers, but it just didn’t resonate with our audience the way we needed to be able to return it,” said Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn.

While it was nice having a view of Hawaii on the TV screen every week, and of star Arielle Kebbel in a lifeguard’s uniform, you could kind of tell this would be a one-and-done.  I’m sure we will see more of the pretty people in future projects.

 

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Fitbit XI – Week 17

A fully charged battery and two big days, including my first day over goal in the state of Illinois in nearly a year, pushed me back over 30,000 steps for the week.  The week got off to an excellent start on Sunday thanks to a Mother’s Day trip to Brookfield Zoo, needing 39 additional steps to reach 7700 and surpassing my daily goal for the first time in six weeks.  Monday saw an expected decline, coming 2 steps shy of 3900.  Tuesday saw a slight improvement, falling just 20 steps short of 4200.  Another small improvement on Wednesday left me 23 steps away from 4300.  The worst day of the week came on Thursday, as I managed only 2800 steps.  Friday bounced back up, ending up 38 steps away from 4200.  An afternoon at Wrigley Field for the latest installment of the Crosstown Classic left me just 3 steps shy of 7300.

Total steps: 34,313

Daily average: 4901.9