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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #3

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 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.

Today, we have our final entry from a comedian with the artist I first “discovered” in 1989 with his role as Rufus in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure followed by an HBO comedy special the following year, George Carlin.

#3: George Carlin
iTunes stats: 2102 plays
Previous ranking: #3

A 22% increase for the 117 tracks from eight different albums leaves the comedy legend, who died in 2008 at the same position.  Averaging nearly 18 plays per routine, many of these tracks, mostly from 1992’s Jammin’ In New York and 2001’s Complaints and Grievances, are used as background noise as I try to fall asleep while away from home.  Like our previous comedian entries, I’ve enjoyed Carlin’s work in other mediums as well, whether it was television, movies, or the written word.  Sadly, I never got the opportunity to see him perform live.

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15 Years Of Step Tracking

Fifteen years ago, I started a program through work that “encourages you to track your steps and help you to focus on your fitness in a simple and accessible way.”  They gave us a tracker, which attached to your shoe and used “an accelerometer to accurately calculate the number of steps, distance walked, calories burned and time of activity.”  I received that first tracker fifteen years ago today.  After a little more than three and a half years, the program shut down and I finished with a little more than 6.5 million steps.

That same week, I ordered my first Fitbit, looking to continue tracking my steps.  Which worked out well, at least until March of 2020 when a global pandemic caused the world to shut down for a year or so and for me to become a remote worker.

I crossed the 10 million step plateau in 2016, 15 million in 2018, 20 million in 2020, 25 million in 2023, and 30 million earlier this year.  To date, my total is 30,439,765 steps over 15 years, which averages out to a little over 2 million steps per year and 5600 steps per day.  In the early days, this was well above my goals, but I’ve been hoping for more for quite some time now.  I started looking to get 2,000,000 steps in those first few years, which I had a difficult time making.  As I moved over to the Fitbit from the Global Fit tracker, I started meeting those goals and, subsequently, increasing them each year.  These last six years have seen incredible backslides, but I’ve started to inch back upwards this year thanks to some weight loss and increased energy and stamina.

Along the way, I participated in some 5Ks, hiked up a mountain, traveled the world, and endured a global pandemic, racking up steps along the way.  Now that my world is opening back up again, here’s hoping the next 15 years are even better.

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With The First Pick In The 2026 Draft

To the surprise of nearly no one, the White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the top overall pick of the 2026 MLB draft.  Cholowsky, the consensus preseason pick both at the draft lottery in December and the start of the college baseball season in February, had an ok, but not outstanding junior season, enabling prep shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey to enter into the conversation.  Cholowsky reportedly agreed to sign under slot, which is just north of $11.3 million, which gave the team room to select Landon Thome, son of Hall of Famer Jim Thome, with the competitive balance pick they acquired yesterday from the Pirates in the Jacob Gonzalez trade.

Cholowsky becomes the third overall top pick by the White Sox, following Danny Goodwin in 1971 and Harold Baines in 1977.  Hopefully his career ends up closed to the later than the former.

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What Might Have Been

When I was young, maybe 10 or so, I apparently became enamored with the UCLA Bruin cartoon mascot.  I remember having the light blue t-shirt with the gold lettering and the cartoon bear, probably the only kid in suburban Chicago with such a shirt who had no connection to the school, and had determined that this is where I was going to go for college.  What that actually meant, I’m sure I had no idea, but that was my goal.  Unfortunately, my mom made sure to extinguish those dreams pretty quickly, letting me know in no uncertain terms that it was too far away and there was no way I would be going there.

I mean, what was the harm in letting a young kid dream?  Who even knew if it would have lasted or, if it did, if I would have even gotten in?  Anyway, by the time I hit high school and it was time to start seriously thinking about where I was going to go to school, UCLA never even entered the picture.  I visited four schools, applied to three, and ended up going to the only one outside the Illinois state borders: Purdue University.

Those childhood dreams were a distant memory by the time I graduated and made my first ever trip to California in 1998.  Still, the closest I came to Los Angeles was San Diego until 2014.  I’ve made a number of return trips to LA since then and occasionally thought of maybe adding in a trip to Westwood to at least see the campus, but it never got past that point.  It didn’t seem likely that I would ever see what I had missed out on, and that was ok.

In 2022, however, things changed.  In a surprise announcement, UCLA and USC were going to be joining the Big Ten, which opened up the possibility of heading west for a football or basketball game.  While UCLA football plays at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, nearly 30 miles from campus, Pauley Pavilion was smack dab in the middle of the action.  This past January, with realistic national title contention hopes still alive, Purdue basketball made their first trip to California for conference play.  And I was joining them.

After an early afternoon tour of Dodger Stadium on a Tuesday in late January, we headed west towards the UCLA campus.  After finding an overpriced parking spot, we started walking towards the arena, which is on the campus, passing students, faculty, and buildings along the way.  We were early, so we had the opportunity to just sit and take it all in for a bit, before getting in line for the game.  Decked out in gold and black instead of blue and gold, I was finally in Westwood and 10-year-old me was thrilled!  Sadly, the Bruins outlasted the Boilermakers that night and their souvenir cup game was lacking, but I came home with a John Wooden bobblehead, a legend at both schools, and a 40-year-old itch finally scratched.

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Book 37 (of 52) – Margo’s Got Money Troubles

Margo’s Got Money Troubles – Rufi Thorpe

When Margo, a young college student with no real plan for life, finds herself with child thanks to her English professor, she is unprepared for the realities of what keeping the child will mean.  After getting a small payoff from the father’s family in exchange for dropping out of school and leaving them alone, she finds that the only way for her to make ends meet is to start an OnlyFans page.  With the help of her roommate and her ex-wrestler junkie father, she starts to make things work, but a sudden custody battle and a separate CPS complaint by her estranged mother leaves her questioning her choices.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a 2024 Goodreads Choice nominee from Rufi Thorpe, first came to my attention earlier this year thanks to the Apple TV adaptation starring Elle Fanning.  It is an interesting tale, following the young protagonist and she struggles to find a place in the world and leaving her with a clear plan that should lead to future success.

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Tired Discourse – Booing

In January of 2025, the good folks at Defector.com published a list of 35 topics that have been discussed to within an inch of their life here on the internet.  Lucky for me, I haven’t publicly commented on most, if not all, of these topics, so I figured why not dip my toes into the fray on occasion.  We will continue today with the next question on their list:

Booing

I am going to assume this is related to sporting events and not, say, live theater or something along those lines.  Further still, let’s assume also that we are talking about professionals.  If you feel the need to boo at little league or high school games, then I suggest seeking professional help.

Booing is, of course, inherent in the contract between sporting teams and their fans, with the price of the ticket giving the right to express displeasure (or pleasure) with the product on the field.  Having attended my fair share of sporting events over the years, I can say that the majority of fans utilize that right judiciously.  And, as I get older, my need to seriously boo anything that happens on the field has diminished.

 

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Fitbit 12 – Week 24

Despite the excessive heat warnings, it was another great week, finishing with my highest weekly total in nearly two years, multiple days above goal for the first time since January. and pushing my 40,000-step streak to three weeks.  Afternoon baseball at Rate Field on Sunday started the week off on a high note, finishing with 7600 steps.  Monday dropped down a bit, falling 28 steps away from 5200.  The overbearing heat arrived on Tuesday, so an early morning walk helped push me to 6200 steps.  A trip to Wrigley Field on Wednesday again pushed me over goal, ending the day with 8400 steps.  An appointment for blood work followed by a car wash left me with 5500 steps on Thursday.  A morning walk on Friday pushed me up to 6200 steps.  The week wrapped up on a high note on Saturday, using another morning walk to finish with 6700 steps.

Total steps: 45,941

Daily average: 6563

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #4

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 artists in my iTunes library, featuring the songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which performers still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to artists, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2026.

Widely known for his stand-up performances and his role as Spence Olchin The King of Queens, Patton Oswalt checks in today at #4.  Oswalt began performing stand-up comedy in 1988, eventually moving from Virginia to San Francisco and then Los Angeles, where he became part of the comedy scene.

#4: Patton Oswalt
iTunes stats: 1402 plays
Previous ranking: #4

Funnyman Patton Oswalt stays level from five years ago, despite a small 9.7% increase thanks to 124 new listens to the 135 comedy bits in my collection.  In addition to the seven comedy albums, I’ve also read his book and, in 2018, saw him do a talk, moderated by author Gillian Flynn, about his late wife’s book, about the search for the Golden State Killer.  Little did he, or anyone, know, the next day Sacramento police announced that they had made an arrest in the case.

I recently added his latest two comedy albums via iTunes and I hope to one day make it to one of his live shows.

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150 Years Of Cubs Baseball – Relief Pitchers Part 2

Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.  Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history.  Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.

Fans have witnessed generations of unforgettable players, from historical heroes like Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams to more recent stars like Ryne Sandberg, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, and Anthony Rizzo.  The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.

To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs are holding a fan vote to select the franchise’s anniversary team.  Each week, we will go through the provided options for each position and declare who should, and, if different, who will, win the fan vote.  We continue today with the final eight selections for relief pitcher.

Carlos Mármol was signed by the Cubs as a catcher/outfielder in 1999 but was converted to pitcher in 2003.  He debuted in 2006, working mostly as a starter in place of the injured Kerry Wood.  Marmol resurfaced in 2007 as a setup man and helped the Cubs capture back-to-back division titles in 2007 and 2008.  Over those two seasons, Marmol battled Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood for the closer spot, getting his opportunity in both years thanks to injury to the incumbent.  In 2009, he finally replaced an ineffective Kevin Gregg as closer, holding down that position for the remainder of his Cubs tenure.  Marmol’s strength was in his ability to strike out opposing batters, averaging 16 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, setting the record for highest K/9 ratio by a pitcher with at least 50 innings pitched.  Things started to go south in 2011, when he tied for the major league lead with ten blown saves.  The following year, he was designated for assignment in June after continuing to struggle.

Randy Myers spent just three seasons with the Cubs, from 1993-1995.  In 1993, he set a then-NL record with 53 saves.  His most infamous moment came in a late September game against the Astros in 1995, when a fan jumped onto the field and ran to the pitcher’s mound to attack Myers after he gave up a go-ahead home run.  Myers used his martial arts training to drop the attacker to the ground and then held him down until security could get there.  He led the NL in saves twice in his three years with the Cubs and was a two-time All-Star.

Phil Regan was traded to the Cubs in late April 1968.  He excelled at the back end of the Cubs bullpen, leading all of MLB with 25 saves and earning the Sporting News Reliever of the Year award.  A run-in with an umpire on August 18 in his appearance versus the Reds saw Regan accused of throwing doctored balls, with fourteen pitches deemed illegal by the home plate umpire despite no evidence of any foreign substance on the balls.  While later cleared by the NL President Warren Giles, Regan’s reputation was sullied for the remainder of his career.  Unfortunately, he was never able to repeat that dominance and found his usage decrease each season he remained with the Cubs until he left in June of 1972.

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