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Book 56 (of 52) – We Chase Shadows

We Chase Shadows – Richard Osman

When a bodyguard for a low-level drug kingpin is found murdered outside his villa in Italy with an odd threat stuffed in his pocket, the We Solve Murders crew is called in to investigate.  As more bodies pile up, they set off on another global journey, from Italy to Spain, Sweeden, and the US before settling back in England to find out who is behind the murders and why.

We Chase Shadows is Richard Osman’s second entry in his new We Solve Murders series.  This was another lighthearted, yet engaging mystery and I’ll be waiting for what comes next.

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Fitbit 12 – Week 39

Still another great week, again surpassing my daily goal three times while extending my streak of 40,000 step weeks to eighteen.  The week got off to a great start, scoring 8500 steps on Sunday thanks to a long morning walk.  Monday nearly added finished above my daily goal, finishing with 7400 steps.  Things slowed down a bit on Tuesday, falling 21 steps short of 5700.  Wednesday improved to 6600 steps.  Another jump on Thursday pushed me to exactly 7600 steps.  Another slow day on Friday dropped me to 5000 steps.  A nice walk on Saturday as I charged my car pushed me over 7500 steps, finishing the week on a high note.

Total steps: 48,427

Daily average: 6918.1

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You Ought To Be In (20) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 111 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of August 1.

We continue today with the two actors that have starred in exactly 20 movies that I have seen, a decrease of one from three years ago.

Kirsten Dunst

The first Kirsten Dunst starring vehicle that I saw was Small Soldiers, which I saw in 1999.  That started a four-year run where I saw nine of her films, including four in 2000 alone.  After a one-year break, I returned to her films in 2004 with both Mona Lisa Smile and Spider-Man 2.  Besides 2000, there are five other years where I’ve seen multiple Dunst films, most recently in 2007.  Things have slowed down considerably for Dunst in my world, though she dud return after a nine-year absence with two films this decade, the most recent being 2025’s Roofman.

Sylvester Stallone

My first exposure to Sylvester Stallone was through the Rocky franchise, whose eight films make up 40% of this total.  Add in the Rambo franchise and is exactly 50%.  My biggest Stallone years were 1991 and 2007, when I took in a grand total of two films each.  His longest streak was four years, which ended with my most recent experience with his films in 2021, seeing the 1992 comedy(?) Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

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Against The Rockies All Time Leaders – Through 2026

To paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  As we wait for the World Series to start and prepare for the uncertainty of the 2027 season due to labor strife, this offseason we will once again take a look at the leaders, both offensively and defensively, against all 30 clubs.  We start today with the Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies began life in 1993, joining the National League along with the then-Florida Marlins.  I saw them for the first time in 2002, as they came to town to battle the Cubs.  Since then, I’ve seen them 21 additional times, including the 2018 Wild Card game, a trip to their home stadium of Coors Field in 2022, and to wrap up the 2026 regular season at Rate Field.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Chicago White Sox 4 3 0.571
Colorado Rockies 11 11 0.500
Chicago Cubs 7 7 0.500
Cincinnati Reds 0 1 0.000

Home Runs

Name Total
Todd Walker 2
Munetaka Murakami 2
21 tied with 1

Hits

Name Total
Derrek Lee 10
Alfonso Soriano 8
Aramis Ramirez 6
Corey Patterson 6
Mike Fontenot 6

Runs

Name Total
Derrek Lee 6
Alfonso Soriano 5
Ryan Theriot 5

RBI

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 6
Alfonso Soriano 4
Mark DeRosa 4
Jeromy Burnitz 4

Doubles

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 3
Mike Fontenot 3
Corey Patterson 2
A.J. Pollock 2

Triples Continue reading →

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Tired Discourse – Irish Goodbyes

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:

Irish Goodbyes

First, let’s define what this is.  Google’s AI bullshit says an Irish goodbye (also known as an Irish exit) “is the act of leaving a social gathering or party quietly and unannounced without telling the host or other guests.”  The term originated in America in the 19th century as a derogatory idiom despite bearing no relation to the behavior of actual Irish folks.  So, is it acceptable?  I guess it depends on the size of the gathering.  If there’s, say, 20 or more people at said gathering, feel free.  Nobody should particularly notice.  If it is a smaller gathering, then you should probably just face the music and say a proper goodbye, even if it is to the group as a whole.

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Book 55 (of 52) – Yesteryear

Yesteryear – Caro Claire Burke

A tradwife influencer seemingly wakes up one day in the 19th century, living the reality of the life she has glamorized on her Instagram feed.  As she tries to escape her believed captivity and return to her family, she relives the choices that led her to this point.

I have no recollection of how Yesteryear, the debut novel from Caro Claire Burke, ended up on my radar.  It was mostly ok, though not really my cup of tea, but the ending twist felt like a bit of a cheat.  While there were some clues along the way, there were also feints which have no other possible explanation than the one you, as the reader, are initially expected to believe.

 

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Fitbit 12 – Week 38

Another great week, surpassing my daily goal three times while extending my streak of 40,000 step weeks to seventeen.  The week got off to a great start, scoring 8500 steps on Sunday thanks to a long morning walk.  Monday once again saw me finish above my daily goal, finishing with 7800 steps.  Things slowed down a bit on Tuesday, falling to 4700 steps.  Wednesday improved to 6700 steps as the ALDS moved to Rate Field.  Thursday’s Game 4 between the White Sox and Guardians finished with me over 8300 steps.  Another slow day on Friday left me 15 steps shy of 5100.  Two smaller walks on Saturday, in addition to a haircut, finished the week with 37 steps shy of 6800.

Total steps: 47,994

Daily average: 6856.3

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2026 Final Pitching Leaders

Yesterday. we looked at the leaders in the 44 games I attended this season on the offensive side of the ball.  With the League Championship Series in full swing, it’s time to finish up our look back at the 2026 season with the pitching leaders, starting with everyone’s favorite pitching statistic:

Wins

Name Total
Anthony Kay 4
Sean Burke 2
Davis Martin 2
Jacob Webb 2
Edward Cabrera 2

Losses

Name Total
Anthony Kay 4
Bryan Hudson 3
Sean Burke 2
36 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Kyle Harrison 0.00
Hoby Milner  0.00
Sean Newcomb 0.67
Yoshinobu Yamammoto 1.08
Jacob Webb 1.17

Strikeouts

Name Total
Sean Burke 46
Continue reading →
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2026 Final Batting Leaders

Another season of baseball season is in the books, with both the White Sox and the Cubs advancing to the postseason for the first time since the pandemic year of 2020, with overachieving White Sox falling in the ALDS and the underachieving Cubs bowing out in the Wild Card round.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 44 games that I attended this season.

Home Runs

Name Total
Munetaka Murakami 13
Miguel Vargas 9
Colson Montgomery 6
Pete Crow-Armstrong 6
Randal Grichuk 6

Hits

Name Total
Miguel Vargas 32
Sam Antonacci 31
Munetaka Murakami 26
Chase Meidroth 26
Colson Montgomery 22

Runs

Name Total
Miguel Vargas 27
Munetaka Murakami 27
Continue reading →
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You Ought To Be In (19) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 111 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of August 1.

We continue today with the five actors that have starred in exactly 19 movies that I have seen, a decrease of one from three years ago.

Jennifer Aniston

The former Friends star first burst through onto my movie screen in 1997, with a double feature of She’s The One and Leprechaun.  In years since, she was a pretty steady contributor until 2014, with multiple films in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013, with a high-water mark in 1998, when I saw her in three starring roles.  Her most recent entry came in 2014, when I saw 2013’s We’re the Millers.

John Cusack

Local boy done good John Cusack entered my movie-watching consciousness in 1988 when he portrayed disgraced White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  After a nine-year dry spell, Cusack came back with a vengeance with three films in 1997 which started a run of eight films in four years.  Aside from 1997, he notched multiple films in 2000, 2004, and 2010.  His most recent film that I’ve seen remains 2012’s The Factory, which I watched in 2015.

Matt Damon

In 1994, Matt Damon made his first appearance on my personal movie screen with his role in 1992’s School Ties.  He disappeared for a while until reappearing in 1999 with three different films.  From that point on, he has been a pretty regular entrant in my watched films, including a four-year run from 2005-2008.  The last film of his I’ve seen was in 2019, when I saw 2017’s Downsizing.

Robert DeNiro

My first experience with Robert DeNiro was back in 1988, when I saw Angel Heart.  He then went quiet to me for eight years, coming back in 1996 with Sleepers.  2000 was my high-water mark with his work when I saw three of his films, while he showed up twice in 2004, 2011, and 2016.  My most recent experience with him was in 2020, when I saw 2008’s Righteous Kill.

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves slinked on to my movie screens in 1988 in a small film called Permanent Record.  The following year, he became huge thanks to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.  2020 stands out as my best Reeves year, when I managed to see three of his films.  His most recent appearance came in 2022, when I watched the 2020 sequel Bill & Ted Face the Music.