Winter Blunderland

Bad Call

So yesterday I chose not to venture out into the bitter cold, even though the roads were bone dry, because I didn't really need anything from the grocery store, and I thought perhaps today would be a bit better. Well...

View from my patio at 8:45 AM this morning.

And it hadn't stopped snowing. Here's the view as of 11:30 AM...

So now I'll have to venture out into THAT mess, and it is still bitterly cold. Never put off until tomorrow...

"And it snapped your 'good decision' streak at two..."

Very funny...

One upside is the precipitation has kept me busy enough to not worry about !@#$% politics for one morning, at least. I'm sure something will happen today to end that streak at one...

When No. 1 Visits Iowa

Three times this season the top-ranked team in NCAA Division I men's basketball has visited the state of Iowa. Three times they have been defeated.

On November 21, No. 1 North Carolina was beaten 71-67 by the University of Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls.

On December 29, No. 1 Michigan State was beaten 83-70 by the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. It was the first loss of the season for the Spartans.

The Sooners couldn't stop Georges Niang and the Cyclones.

And last night No. 1 Oklahoma was beaten 82-77 by the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames.

It was the first time the Cyclones had beaten a No. 1 team at home since 1957. I think
I spotted a couple of my former students when everyone rushed the floor after the final buzzer.

"You know none of those Iowa teams could handle the mighty UC-Irvine Anteaters!"

Actually, old friend, I know no such thing...

Requiescat in Pace

November 6, 1948 - January 18, 2016

So far I'm not loving the trend, 2016.

We're barely two weeks into the new year and it seems like we're losing a significant performer from my generation almost daily.




Yesterday afternoon brought the news that Glenn Frey, a founding member of Los Angeles rock band The Eagles, had died at age 67.

I was never the biggest Eagles fan, but I did enjoy a lot of their music, and I had the opportunity to see them live when they were just starting their career. They opened for Jethro Tull at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City on June 15, 1972. I enjoyed their set, but most of the Tull fans were restless, as the country-rock sound was about as different from Tull's progressive rock sound as you could get. Pretty sure there was no encore.

Among his many talents Glenn had a marvelous singing voice, and he sang lead vocals on many of the band's hits. He also had a successful solo career, and even did a bit of acting.

I know this sort of thing is part and parcel of growing old myself, but that doesn't make it any easier to bear. And it doesn't help when so many of the folks we're losing are so near to my own age...

Cancer Must Be Quaking In Its Boots

From the pen of Chip Bok, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

As is usually the case in the music business, when Glenn Frey teamed up with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner in 1971 to form The Eagles, no one really had any inkling of the success that lay in store. The group (which added Don Felder in 1974 and Joe Walsh in 1975) would eventually sell well over 100 million records, including five No. 1 singles and six No. 1 albums. The were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998

Original 1976 album cover

By far the group's most popular record was 1976's Hotel California, which topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart and has received sixteen platinum certifications. It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

The album produced two No. 1 singles, the title track and "New Kid in Town." Glenn Frey co-wrote both songs, and sang lead on the latter, one of my favorites. That song earned the band one of its six Grammy Awards as well.



Today's send-off features Frey's wonderful lead vocals on a performance of "New Kid in Town" at a concert in Washington, D.C., filmed in 1977. Enjoy...