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Book 19 (of 52) – The Watchmaker’s Hand

The Watchmaker’s Hand – Jeffery Deaver

A suspicious crane collapse and a post on the dark web puts Lincoln Rhyme and his crew to work.  The investigation leads them to the Watchmaker, Rhyme’s arch-nemesis.  Can they figure out the Watchmaker’s true target in time?  And who is his mysterious new partner?

The Watchmaker’s Hand, the 16th and latest entry in the Lincoln Rhyme series from Jeffery Deaver, and the fifteenth that I’ve read.  In this entry, Deaver says farewell to the long-running nemesis to Rhyme while introducing a new baddie who has a personal vendetta against our protagonist.  I assume this means there will be additional tales in the series to come, so even though I may soon complete the existing books, there should be more to come in the story of Lincoln Rhyme.

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FB10: Week 16

Despite some pretty good days, the week overall fell below 30,000 steps after two weeks above.  A slow-ish Sunday got the week off to a poor start, finishing with 3300 steps.  Things improved nicely on Monday, jumping up to 4800 steps.  Things fell off on Tuesday, as I needed 27 steps just to reach 2000.  An afternoon trip to Wrigley Field on Wednesday for my first Cubs game of the year pushed me back up to 5900 steps.  Thursday fell off once again, dropping down to 2600 steps.  Another increase on Friday put me within 18 steps of 4500.  Graduation day for Danny on Saturday left me with 6700 steps, ending the week on a high note.

Total steps: 29,911

Daily average: 4273

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Fifty Years Of Music – 1991

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1991, the year I broke up with my first girlfriend, finished my junior year of high school, started my senior year, and got my first job.  Z95 flipped to Hot 94.7 before going away altogether and a new rock station, 103.5 The Blaze, entered the Chicago radio scene, providing the majority of the soundtrack of that year.  At 82 songs, we have broken past 80% of the Hot 100 that remain familiar to me today for the first time, with 62 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#100: R.E.M. – Shiny Happy People
iTunes stats: 28 plays

Teaming up with Kate Pierson of the B-52’s, the group notched their fourth and final top ten hit, peaking at #10.

#98: Salt-N-Pepa – Do You Want Me
iTunes stats: 19 plays

The third single from the group’s third studio album, it reached #21 on the Hot 100.

#96: Warrant – I Saw Red
iTunes stats: 11 plays

Peaking at #10, it was the band’s final Top 40 hit.

#95: George Michael – Freedom! ’90
iTunes stats: 16 plays

Thanks in part to a video directed by David Fincher and featuring, among others, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford, reaching #8 and spending twelve weeks in the Top 40 across 1990 and 1991.

#94: Naughty by Nature – O.P.P.
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Ranked in 2023 as the 96th best pop song of all time by Billboard, it hit #6 on the Hot 100.

#91: Deee-Lite – Groove is in the Heart
iTunes stats: N/A

The debut single from the dance group, it peaked at #4, becoming their lone Top 40 hit.

#90: INXS – Disappear
iTunes stats: 15 plays

The Australian band’s seventh and final top ten hit, it reached #8 on the Hot 100.

#89: Gerardo – Rico Suave
iTunes stats: 12 plays

Ranked as the ninth greatest one-hit wonder of all time by VH1 and the 37th worst song ever by Blender, it topped out at #7.

#88: Black Box – Strike It Up
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Hitting #8, the group once again used un-credited vocals from Martha Wash, leading to an out-of-court settlement.

#87: Cathy Dennis – Just Another Dream
iTunes stats: 21 plays

First released in the UK in 1989 to little fanfare, a remixed version hit the Hot 100 in January of 1991, peaking at #9 the following month.

#86: Aaron Neville – Everybody Plays the Fool
iTunes stats: N/A

First recorded by The Main Ingredient in 1972, this cover spent 20 weeks on the charts, topping out at #8.

#84: Tara Kemp – Piece of My Heart
iTunes stats: N/A

Her second consecutive top ten hit, it reached #7 and was her final Top 40 single.

#82: Queensrÿche – Silent Lucidity
iTunes stats: 22 plays

The band’s only charting single in the US, it peaked at #9.

#81: Tevin Campbell – Round and Round
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Featured on the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack and produced by Prince, the solo debut from the teen singer reached #12 on the Hot 100.

#79: Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
iTunes stats: 12 plays

Originally released in July of 1989, it became a top ten hit after being featured in Wild at Heart, eventually hitting #6.

#78: Poison – Something to Believe In
iTunes stats: 20 plays

The final top ten hit from the band, it peaked at #4

#75: Seal – Crazy
iTunes stats: 16 plays

The first big hit for the English singer-songwriter, it spent 19 weeks on the Hot 100, topping out at #7.

#74: Cathy Dennis – Too Many Walls
iTunes stats: N/A

The fourth and final top ten of Dennis’ recording career, it reached #8 on the Hot 100 and two weeks atop the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

#73: Tesla – Signs
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Recorded live for the group’s acoustic album, it hit #8, becoming their second top ten hit.

#72: UB40 – Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
iTunes stats: 23 plays

Peaking at #7, this cover of the 1973 Al Green hit was the second single from the British reggae-pop band’s ninth studio album.

#71: UB40 – The Way You Do the Things You Do
iTunes stats: 16 plays

A hit in four consecutive decades by four different artists, this was the highest charting version, cracking the top ten at #6.

#69: Mariah Carey – Love Takes Time
iTunes stats: N/A

The second consecutive year end chart appearance for this tune, which spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 in November of 1990 and ranked as the 76th biggest hit of that year as well.

#68: Styx – Show Me the Way
iTunes stats: 13 plays

Their first top ten hit since 1983, it peaked at #3, becoming the band’s eighth and final top ten single and giving them at least one in three straight decades.

#67: Heavy D and the Boyz – Now That We Found Love
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Originally recorded by the O’Jays, Heavy D and the Boyz reached #11 on the Hot 100.

#66: Prince & the New Power Generation – Cream
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Spending two weeks atop the charts in early November, it became the final #1 single of Prince’s career.

#64: LL Cool J – Around the Way Girl
iTunes stats: 19 plays

The first top ten hit in LL’s career, it topped out at #9.

#63: Enigma – Sadness (Part I)
iTunes stats: N/A

Mixing Gregorian chants with a drum beat, it somehow reached #5 on the Hot 100.

#62: Michael Bolton – Time, Love and Tenderness
iTunes stats: N/A

The title track from Bolton’s seventh studio album, it peaked at #7, giving Bolton his fifth top ten single.

#61: The KLF – 3 a.m. Eternal
iTunes stats: 12 plays

Found on the group’s fourth and final album, it reached #5 on the Hot 100.

#60: Hi-Five – I Can’t Wait Another Minute
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The group’s second consecutive top ten hit, it topped out at #8.

#57: Vanilla Ice – Play That Funky Music
iTunes stats: 9 plays

Originally the first track released by Vanilla Ice, it was reissued with new lyrics following the success of Ice Ice Baby, peaking at #4.

#56: Nelson – After the Rain
iTunes stats: 27 plays

The second release from the grandsons of Ozzie & Harriet, it reached #6, becoming their second and final top ten hit.

#55: Bonnie Raitt – Something to Talk About
iTunes stats: 22 plays

Raitt’s only top ten hit, it topped out at #5 on both the Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary chart.

#53: DNA featuring Suzanne Vega – Tom’s Diner
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Originally released by Vega in 1984, it was remixed by two British producers and released in 1990, reaching #5 on the Hot 100 and becoming one of the few singles in Billboard history to crack the top ten on both the Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Hot R&B Singles chart.

#52: Divinyls – I Touch Myself
iTunes stats: 40 plays

This ode to female masturbation was the group’s first single to chart in the US, peaking at #2.

#51: C+C Music Factory – Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
iTunes stats: 21 plays

The third single from the group’s debut album, it hit #4 on the Hot 100.

#50: Rod Stewart – Rhythm of My Heart
iTunes stats: N/A

Covered by Stewart for his sixteenth album, it reached #5.

Continue reading →

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Ever Grateful Ever True

On May 18, 1997, I graduated from Purdue University.  Today, nearly 27 years later, Danny will do the same.  It has been a quick four years, with a freshman year impacted by COVID, three years of football games, a trip to Florida for a bowl game, two trips to watch men’s NCAA tournament games, women’s basketball games in Mackey, and the ever-present band concerts both on and off campus.  I could not be prouder of him and look forward to seeing what comes next.

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Book 18 (of 52) – Murder Road

Murder Road – Simone St. James

In July of 1995, a young couple gets lost on the way to their honeymoon vacation spot and come across a woman walking alone on an abandoned road.  When they try to give her a ride, they quickly realize she has been stabbed, so they rush her to the hospital.  Unfortunately, they quickly become the chief suspects once she dies, both for her murder and many that have come before on the same stretch of road.  With the police unwilling to dig deeper to find the actual culprit, the couple starts their own investigation, leading them to an unknown woman killed 20 years earlier and her links to what is happening today.

After a two-year absence. Simone St. James returns with her latest, Murder Road.  Once again, she weaves the supernatural into an otherwise normal suspense plot, with some characters more accepting of it than others.  One of these days, I will have to dive into her back catalog, as she’s quickly becoming a favorite.

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FB10: Week 15

A pretty decent week, at least what passes for one these days.  An afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field to see the White Sox actually win a game on Sunday got the week off to a good start, finishing with 5400 steps.  Things fell a little shorter on Monday, but still managed to end with 4500 steps.  Things fell off a bit more on Tuesday, as I finished with 3500 steps.  A nice increase on Wednesday pushed me back up to 4800 steps.  Thursday fell off once again, coming 32 steps shy of 3700.  Another increase on Friday, helped in part by a trip out for dinner to the Patio, left me with 4200 steps.  A trip to Lowes on Saturday pushed me up again, ending the week on a high note with 4600 steps.

Total steps: 30,780

Daily average: 4397.1

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Fifty Years Of Music – 1990

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1990, the year I finished my sophomore year of high school, started my junior year, turned 16 and got my driver’s license, and, oh yeah, found myself with my first girlfriend.  These songs formed the soundtrack of my high school years and continue to be some of my favorites.  A full 70 of the Hot 100 are still familiar to me now, with a whopping 50 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#99: Mellow Man Ace – Mentirosa
iTunes stats: 17 plays

The lone single from the Cuban rapper, it spent 24 weeks on the chart, peaking at #14.

#96: Mötley Crüe – Without You
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Reaching #8 on the Hot 100, the song is said to be about drummer Tommy Lee’s relationship with Heather Locklear.

#94: Biz Markie – Just A Friend
iTunes stats: 39 plays

Markie’s highest charting single, it topped out at #9.

#91: Aerosmith – What It Takes
iTunes stats: 18 plays

Written with Desmond Child, it peaked at #9.

#88: Michael Bolton – When I’m Back on My Feet Again
iTunes stats: N/A

Reaching #7 in August, the song was Bolton’s third top ten hit.

#86: Paula Abdul – (It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Originally released as the second single from Abdul’s debut album in 1988 to little success, it was re-released in the fall of 1989 and rose to #3.

#85: D Mob with Cathy Dennis – C’mon and Get My Love
iTunes stats: 21 plays

The song that introduced Cathy Dennis to the public, it just cracked the top ten.

#82: Billy Joel – I Go to Extremes
iTunes stats: N/A

The second single from Joel’s eleventh studio album, the song just missed the top five, peaking at #6

#81: Black Box – Everybody Everybody
iTunes stats: N/A

Featuring uncredited vocals by Martha Wash, the song reached #8 on the Hot 100.

#78: The B-52’s – Love Shack
iTunes stats: 22 plays

Making the year-end charts for the second consecutive year, the 47th biggest hit of 1989 spent 27 total weeks on the chart.

#76: Mariah Carey – Love Takes Time
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending three weeks at #1 in November, the second single from Carey was her second straight chart topper.

#75: Faith No More – Epic
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Ranked as the 30th greatest metal song of all time by VH1, it was the band’s breakthrough hit, reaching #9.

#73: Technotronic featuring Ya Kid K – Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)
iTunes stats: 16 plays

Released in January of 1990, it rose to #7.

#72: Skid Row – I Remember You
iTunes stats: 19 plays

The New Jersey band’s second and final top ten hits, peaking at #6.

#70: Go West – King of Wishful Thinking
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Featured on the Pretty Woman soundtrack, the track reached #8 on the Hot 100.

#66: Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
iTunes stats: 22 plays

Released in February, the song became the group’s highest charting single in the US, topping out at #8 in July.

#64: Tom Petty – Free Fallin’
iTunes stats: 34 plays

The highest and longest charting hit of Petty’s career, it peaked at #7, becoming his third and final top ten hit.

#63: Taylor Dayne – I’ll Be Your Shelter
iTunes stats: 6 plays

Reaching #4 on the Hot 100, the song, released in March, was written by Diane Warren and remains Dayne’s final top ten hit.

#62: Digital Underground – The Humpty Dance
iTunes stats: 43 plays

The group’s first Top 40 hit, it topped out at #11.

#61: Aerosmith – Janie’s Got a Gun
iTunes stats: 37 plays

Hitting #4 on the Hot 100, the song earned the group a Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

#59: Janet Jackson – Black Cat
iTunes stats: 12 plays

The sixth single from Jackson’s fourth studio album spent a single week atop the Hot 100 at the end of October.

#56: Phil Collins – I Wish It Would Rain Down
iTunes stats: N/A

Featuring guitar work from Eric Clapton, Collins reached #3 on the Hot 100 with this track.

#55: MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The first rap song to be nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys, it peaked at #8 on the Hot 100.

#52: Michael Bolton – How Can We Be Lovers
iTunes stats: N/A

Reaching #3, Bolton co-wrote this tune with both Diane Warren and Desmond Child.

Continue reading →

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Setting A New Standard

Don’t download that Stadium app just yet.  A little over two weeks ago, news broke that the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks were expected to announce they were moving their game broadcasts from NBC Sports Chicago to Stadium, a multi-platform sports network controlled by Jerry Reinsdorf. Turns out that was a bit premature.  Yesterday, news broke again that the three teams would instead partner with Standard Media Group to create the new television broadcast home for all three teams, starting in October.  The currently unnamed network is expected to be available across multiple platforms, including over-the-air and carriage agreements with cable and streaming providers.

Based in Nashville, Standard Media Group is a local broadcast and digital media company that, according to its website which looks to have not been updated since 2022, operates television stations in Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska and Rhode Island.  Compared to them, Stadium, owned by a digital and media investment subsidiary of the White Sox with offices and studios at the United Center, looks like a major player.

Why the change?  Maybe Reinsdorf is looking to start greasing the wheels in Nashville ahead of a potential move.  Maybe the thought of spending money, even if the majority of it was coming back to him, offends the chairman to his core. Maybe the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks draw better in Rhode Island than anybody realizes.  We may never know the truth.

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Book 17 (of 52) – Blindsighted

Blindsighted – Karin Slaughter

The sleepy community of Grant County, Georgia is rocked when a blind woman, the sister of a police detective, is found raped and mutilated.  After a second woman, a local college student, is found after having been crucified and raped, the local pediatrician/coroner tells her ex-husband. police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, about her own attack years prior in Atlanta.  When a third woman goes missing, the clues start to come together, but is there still enough time to stop the rapist before he moves on to another victim?

Blindsighted is the first entry in Karin Slaughter’s older Grant County series, which I am once again reading out of order, both within itself and in relation to the Will Trent series.  Because of this, some of the reveals play a little differently.  For one, the reveal of Sarah’s rape is completely blunted, as this is already known information.  On the opposite side, the initial murder of Sibyl Adams cuts much deeper, having more familiarity with her character and with Lena from future stories.  With four more books to go in this series and a new Will Trent entry coming later this summer, there will be plenty of Slaughter to go around for the foreseeable future.