Music Friday: "Fell on Black Days"

I am way late with this. I guess I took a weekend hiatus from my regular blogging duties. 

This past week had its share of crappy moments, so I'm in a bit of funk. 

As an example, this past Tuesday I went into the doctor to have my elbow bursitis taken care of. When Mrs. Nasty learned that I was at the doctor, she didn't know why I was there. I told her this reason: "depression." 

I wasn't there for that. It's just my dark sense of humor because the nurse who checked me in had to ask about depression. I could think of plenty of issues to be plenty depressed about, however. 

As the doctor appointment progressed, they used a procedure to drain the fluid in my elbow. As the doctor was using the needle to drain it (it wasn't draining), he hit a nerve of some sort, and it made me pass out. 

Twice. 

I only remember waking up twice. 

After that inglorious moment, they did an EKG on me, and thankfully everything is fine. But I was nauseous as hell, and my wife had to drive me home. I upchucked on the ride home, and I slept the whole afternoon. 

It was a black day. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Apparently people have a different view of some pretty simple concepts and terms such as these: 

• Collusion
• Obstruction
• Guilty
• Treason
• Lies
• Criminal activity

If a Democrat like Bill Clinton or whomever would have done what Moscow Don and his campaign and his administration did, the GOP and their handlers/propagandists at FoxNews would be going ape-shit. 

I am so tired of white supremacists.

Yet I'm reading the Henry Louis Gate's Jr. book about the Reconstruction and the "Redemption" period that instituted Jim Crow. It's like picking a psychological and intellectual scab.

When I'm done with that fine book, I will move on to read K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner. I am especially intrigued by the the sinker, which is a pitch I'm trying to get my pitchers on my baseball teams to try out. If thrown correctly, sinkers induce lots of ground balls. 

Music Friday: "Driving the View"

I make this post out of some trepidation. Son Volt has been one of my favorite bands for years. 

Farrar and his cast of characters came out with a new album this year called Union. It's good, and I need to dig into the lyrics a bit more to fully appreciate it. 

But my complaint about Son Volt's newer works is that they've been almost too alt-country, with emphasis on the latter term. For me, Son Volt is best when the band is playing a more uptempo rock-based song, and the recent release provides more mid tempo to slower tunes with more twang. 

The kind of uptempo, rock-based songs are like the one I'm featuring today. 

Sunday Hangover: A-Day

It isn't Sunday, and I'm not hungover. Heck, it's Thursday. So here are my so-called thoughts after watching the A-Day game on Saturday. 

Second-string QB Mac Jones impressed again on a second straight A-Day. He looked good, but you have to consider he was going against the second-team D, which started a number of fresh players. Nonetheless, he looked good. I've always thought he could be a good quarterback, but he's gotten so few chances to shine that it was good to see him get a good bit of time to show what he can do. 

Tua looked a little tentative to me. Then again, I don't think he had the most cohesive starting offensive line out there because of injuries and players trying somewhat new positions. 

After losing Harris and Jacobs, it's time for Najee Harris and Brian Robinson to be the next duo of RBs to tote the load. We know what Najee can do, but Robinson doesn't have a ton of experience, but I expect him to do well. 

Coach Saban understandably complained about the drops by what one could argue is the best receiving corps in the nation. I expect them to clean that up, and the true freshman Metchie had a heck of a game. Also, when the second-leading receiver from last year (Waddle) is on the second-team offense, you know you have talent. 

Both sides of the ball were very vanilla, which directly relates to Saban's acerbic comment after the game: “We had the simplest offense and the simplest defense we could possibly have (in the A-Day Game), so that more players could play and the people that we play next year will not watch our game on ESPN and say, oh, let us do a game plan for all this stuff that they’re going to do.”

Music Friday: "Sunshine Rock"

One of the three new albums I bought recently was Mould's Sunshine Rock. 

Here's the first song on the album, a work that features his usual hard-driving rock. 

Random Notes from a Crank

Buying a hammock is one of those purchases you make that you think you're going to use it a lot but you never do. It seems like a good idea, but you rarely follow through on it. 

There's a good opinion piece in the Washington Post that is worth anyone's read: "The Fight Against White Supremacy Could Learn Something from America's First War on Terror."  I especially think the comparison of Moscow Don to Andrew Johnson is an appropriate one. 

The article connects to the book I just purchased: Stoney the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr. 

I'm exited that Netflix is going to do a live-action series reformulation of Cowboy Bebop. Variety has an article about the people cast in the show: "Cowboy Bebop..." The only actor I immediately recognize is Shakir because I saw him in Luke Cage and The Deuce.

Music Friday: "The Blues on Banjo"

I am a bit behind on keeping up with new music, so yesterday I bought three new albums: 

• Union by Son Volt
• Sunshine Rock by Bob Mould
• Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 by Todd Snider

The tune I'm featuring today is from the last of those three albums: "The Blues on Banjo." 

In times like these, we need to listen to Todd Snider.