Winning Moves

Gadget Update

One of the few unpleasant aspects of my recent trip to Pennsylvania to visit my best friend Skip and his wife was the battery on my beloved Motorola Moto X phone expanding and popping open the back of the phone's case on the flight home.
I was told that sort of thing happens sometimes due to air pressure changes during plane travel.

The phone still functioned, but I was informed that the only possible repair was a total replacement of the battery by a qualified Motorola repair center. Since the cost of such a repair was more than half the cost of a new phone, I decided it was time for an upgrade.

The replacement is the closest thing I could find to what I already had: the Motorola Moto X Pure Edition.

This time around I didn't miss out on the snazzy wood back (which wasn't available yet when I ordered my first Moto X), and having a couple of red accents (my favorite color) is aesthetically pleasing to me.

It is also running the latest version of the Android OS, which my old phone could not, and it will be upgraded to Nougat (Android 7.0) very soon.

"You're going to spend the next few days geeking out with that thing, aren't you?"

It is possible that I will, yes...don't judge me...

Bouncing Back

After getting creamed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at their place on October 2 (a game
I had the "pleasure" of viewing with my best friend and rabid Steelers fan Skip at his home in Pennsylvania), the Chiefs limped into their bye week at 2-2, knowing that their first game back would be a road game against the division-leading 4-1 Oakland Raiders, our biggest rivals.

I was pretty anxious about the game, but it turns out I needn't have been. Head coach Andy Reid ran his record to 16-2 in games following a bye week, as the Chiefs smothered the Raiders 26-10 in a driving rain. After permitting the Raiders a TD on their opening drive three minutes into the game, the Chiefs defense gave up only a single field goal the rest of the way.

Chiefs QB Alex Smith bounced back from his dismal showing in Pittsburgh in a big way, throwing for 224 yards in a highly efficient performance.

RB Spencer Ware had another fine game, rushing for 131 yards and adding another 32 yards on two pass receptions. He was a key to the Chiefs being able to keep the Raiders offense off the field for much of the second half.

All-Pro CB Marcus Peters intercepted yet another pass, his fifth of the young season, and helped lead the defense to a strong showing.

The Raiders only gained 286 yards on the day, and the Chiefs utterly dominated time-of-possession 36:45 to 23:15.

"Is there anything sweeter than beating the Raiders in their own stadium?"

Of course there is...beating them at Arrowhead...

Is There a Problem, GOP?

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

Until Next Time...

In just a couple of weeks it will be Halloween, followed by All Saints' Day, which is the unofficial starter pistol for the run-up to Christmas. That means I'm paying closer attention than usual to releases of sacred music, as I like to augment my extensive collection of such music this time of year. I'm especially fond of choral works.

This week's Music Recommendation is a stirring new collection of material from the famed composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina by the Sistine Chapel Choir, recorded live in that sacred space. It is not their first such album, though.

Last September the group released Cantate Domino (Sing to the Lord), the first musical performance ever recorded in the historic chapel itself.

It was a stirring collection of popular choral works by Palestrina and other composers, including Orlando di Lasso, Gregorio Allegri, Felice Anerio, and Tomás Luis de Victoria.





Today's send-off is the choir's gorgeous rendition of Palestrina's Sicut cervus, from their VEVO channel. Enjoy...