Album Playthrough Project September 2024

What a great month of album listening! I found a groove and a good time to get some listening in.  First thing in the morning has turned out to be a really good time to get in most if not all of an album while I am getting ready for the day.  At least, it seems to have worked well this month.  We will see as we enter the fourth quarter of the year.  I hope you enjoy the music I enjoyed (mostly) last month!  

You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish (1978) REO Speedwagon 9/3/24
Hotel California (1976) Eagles 9/3/24
1984 (1984) Van Halen 9/6/24
Flesh & Blood (1990) Poison 9/6/24
Guts (Spilled) (2024) Olivia Rodrigo 9/7/24
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess 2023 Chappell Roan 9/9/24
emails i can't send (2022) Sabrina Carpenter 9/10/24
Fine Line (2019) Harry Styles 9/10/24
Under a Blood Red Sky remastered 2023 (2023) U2 9/10/24

Born in the USA (1984) Bruce Springsteen 9/11/24
Whenever We Wanted (1991) John Mellencamp 9/11/24
October Road (2000) James Taylor 9/11/24
Tuesday Night Music Club (1993) Sheryl Crow 9/12/24
Ringo (1973) Ringo Starr 9/12/24
Get Lifted (2005) John Legend 9/14/24
Beneath the Skin (2015) Of Monsters and Men 9/16/24
Fear (1991) Toad the Wet Sprocket 9/16/24
Sister Sweetly (1993) Big Head Todd and the Monsters 9/16/24
New Jersey (1988) Bon Jovi 9/19/24
Hozier (2014) Hozier 9/18/24
Trouble (2008) Ray Montagne 9/18/24
Deeper Well (2024) Kasey Musgraves 9/19/24
Sound and Color (2015) Alabama Shakes 9/20/24
Streetlight Serenade (1974) Billy Joel 9/21/24
Music (2021) Sia 9/23/24
The Black Album (Metallica) (1991) Metallica 9/23/24
Unorthodox Jukebox (2012) Bruno Mars 9/24/24
Because of the Times (2007) Kings of Leon 9/24/24
Nothing to Lose (2024) Hollow Cove 9/24/24
PourIt Out Into the Night (2023) The Revivalists 9/24/24
White Blood Cells (2001) The White Stripes, Jack White 9/25/24
Stereopathetic Soulmanure (1994) Beck 9/25/24
Only God Was Above Us (2024) Vampire Weekend 9/26/24
Gold Rush Kid (2022) George Ezra 9/27/24
Hardwired Mixtape (2018) Hailey Knox 9/28/24
Moonstone EP (2020) Raveena 9/28/24
The Classic Roy Orbison (1966) Roy Orbison 9/29/24
Live Trax Vol. 44: The Gorge amphitheatre (2017) Dave Matthews Band 9/28/24
In My Tribe (1987) 10,000 Maniacs 9/28/24

Best Listen of the Month: Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend

Biggest Surprise: In My Tribe, 10,000 Maniacs

Don't get me wrong, I loved this album back in the day, but whoa, it still hits today.

Biggest Disappointment: Music, Sia

It was okay. She should stick to Christmas music. Her songs are pretty enjoyable in that season.

Still Resonates Today: The Black Album, Metallica

Dude. This album rocks in 2024 like it did in 1991. And it will in 2054.

Favorite Newbie: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan

Best Concert Memory: Mixtape, Hailey Knox

Caught her show at a local tavern on St. Patrick's Day in 2019. Passionate about her music!

Perfect Moment to Listen: Under a Blood Red Sky, U2

Something about these guys always seems to be the right time.

Most Fun: Stereopathetic Soulmanure, Beck

He knows sound, and boy, does he play with it in his first album. Not an album to relax with.

2024 Reading/Viewing Stats 1st - 3rd Quarters

The summer has come to a close and Autumn has arrived.  I got some really good Dungeons and Dragons and DragonLance reading in this last quarter.  I also hit the comic magazines this last quarter bringing tons of entertainment and great storytelling.  I am not super pumped with the movie and streaming offerings, so I consumed lots of sports from MLB, Olympics, WNBA, NASCAR, and the NFL.  Once again, I am disappointed in the amount of podcast listening I did.  There is tons of content out there that I am missing out on.  I still haven't found a short story book that catches my attention.  

I have also been dedicating time to my Album Playthrough Project which I don't record here, but you can follow my progress in monthly posts that begin with this post in January.  

Here is what I've consumed in the first three quarters of 2024:  

Movies Watched: 10
Rewatch: 4
First time: 6
In Theater: 1

TV Series (streamed): 116
Rewatch: 44
First Time: 72

Podcasts episodes: 35
Time listened: 1,435 minutes

Books Read: 17
Fiction: 16
Non-Fiction: 1
Pages read: 3,777

Audiobooks: 1
Fiction: 2
Non-Fiction:
Hours listened: 8:39

Books Abandoned: 2
Fiction: 2
Non-Fiction:
Pages read: 258

Short Stories read:
Pages read:

Comic Books read: 181
Print: 115
Digital: 66

Book Titles:
Dragons of Spring Dawning: Dragonlance Chronicles Volume III
Star Wars: Dark Disciple by Christie Golden
Mandalorian: The Manga adapted by Yusuke Osawa
Numb to This: Memoir of a Mass Shooting by Kindra Neely (Graphic Novel)
#MurderTrending (abandoned)
Salt to the Sea by Rural Sepetys
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Cable: Conquest (Graphic Novel)
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
Superman: For All Seasons by Jeff Loeb (Graphic Novel)
Dungeons and Dragons: A Druid's Call by E.K. Johnston
Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch (abandoned)
Star Wars: Inquisitor Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah Dawson (audio)
Batman: Hush by Jeof Loeb (Graphic Novel)
Lord of the Fly Fest by. (abandoned)
Transformers Vols 1-6 (Graphic Novel)
Cat + Gamer vol. 1 (Manga)
Dungeons and Dragons SpellJammer: Memories Wake by Django Wexler
Classic DragonLance: Dragons of Eternity, DragonLance Destinies: Vol. 3 by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Conan the Barbarian: Vol. 1 Bound in Black Stone by Jim Zub

Movies Watched:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
The Marvels
Elvis
Hamilton
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Godzilla minus one
Big
Deadpool
Deadpool 2
Deadpool and Wolverine

TV Streamed Series and Documentaries:
Marvel's What If...
X-Men animated season 2
The Crown season 5
Echo season 1
Resistance season 2
Voltron
X-Men animated season 3
Bad Batch season 3
X-Men 97
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1
Heroes Journey the making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire
Wednesday season 1
Star Wars: Visions season 2
Taylor Swift Eras Tour
Assembled: The Making of X-Men 97
American Pickers
Star Wars: The Acolyte
I Woke Up a Vampire
Batman: Caped Crusader
Rings of Power season 2

Podcasts:
Song Exploder (8)
Teachers in the Dungeon (3)
Rebel Base Card Podcast (5)
Untapped Mana (2)
Coffee with Kenobi (2)
Business Wars (6)
All Songs Considered (2)
60 Songs that Explain the 90's (7)
The Colby Cast (2)

Topps Bunt Community - Paying It Forward

The first week of October when the Major League Baseball playoffs began an unusual thing happened on my Topps Bunt app.  See, my profile picture on the app is the Detroit Tigers "Old English D."  I am supporting my second favorite team, but my favorite in the playoffs.  Suddenly, I started getting unbalanced trades by 4 or 5 different people on the opening day of the Wildcard games.  When I say unbalanced, I mean unbalanced in my favor.  These people started sending me Tigers cards out of the blue with "Go Tigers!"  messages.  They weren't sending base cards; they were sending common and uncommon cards.  How fun!  It really made my day.  

I don't know.  I thought this was an amazing little trend, so I paid it forward and a sent whole bunch of my Tigers doubles to those who have the "Old English D" on their profile.  As the games continue through the playoffs, I plan to do this with fans of other teams.

Let's take this random act and pass it on in the other card apps.  Take a look at someone's profile and ship off unwanted dupes that match team or character of their profile.  This, by the way, isn't a trade you send to get something, just ask for a random base card.  Let that person know that you are celebrating their team or character.  

Top 5 Comics I Look Forward To Every Month

I did some looking back at my writing recently and I came across a post from September 2020.  Yep, as the world started to explore returning to work, school, and life, I was still reveling in the solitary times of reading comics.  I posted a Top 5 Comics that I look forward to Every Month in 2020, so I took a look at my list these days in 2024 to see how things have changed.  Take a look at the 2020 list here and see how some of my top comic choices have changed over four years.  

My Top 5 Comics I look forward to reading every month:  

5. Annihilation 2099 -  Marvel Comics - I discovered this book on the shelves of my LCS with issue 2 (shown left). I know the Annihilation story of many years ago; I know the 2099 story of even more years ago, so I thought this had potential with my mind just putting two things together.  It was even better than I thought it would be.  These are one-shot stories per issue.  I don't know where it is going (besides several enticing one-shots), but I look forward to who the next issue will feature and what villain will be introduced in 2099.  

4.  The Transformers - Image Comics -  I really enjoyed the 1980's Transformers cartoons, but just couldn't get behind the Transformers movies.  I just couldn't follow the transformations in the movies.  They went too fast, and that is what was cool about the Transformers, watching them transform!  Anyway, I saw that Image Comics released a Transformers line and have connected with other titles (G.I. Joe, and Void Rivals) through the Energon Universe.  I figured I'd give it a try and boy has this been fun!  If you are/were a fan of the Transformers, this book certainly has the feel of the original.  

3.  Conan the Barbarian - Titan Comics - I was visiting with Jim Zub on my podcast Teachers in the Dungeon when Conan the Barbarian came up.  My beef with so many Conan titles in the recent past is that Conan has so much back story and baggage, that I can't tell what the heck is happening.  Who are friends and who are foes?  Then, I came across Zub's Free Comic Book Day issue introducing Conan.  I told him that his writing, while interestingly complex, really simplified the story.  I know that doesn't seem to make much sense, but I could follow what Conan was doing and the story and characters were  clear.  This book is definitely worth picking up if you haven't yet.  

2.  Geiger - Image Comics - My friend Cory was recommending some of his favorite comics to me when he mentioned the book Geiger.  He named it as one of his favorite of the year.  So, I picked it up, and I couldn't agree more.  While still early in the series, it has had its ups and downs story-wise, but overall it is interesting and enjoyable.  It is a dark future and Geiger has become infected with radiation that he can "kind of" control.  But instead of using it for evil, he chooses it to help people.  He is dangerous, but he tries to be careful to not hurt anyone.  This is a worthwhile book to check out.  

 

1.  The Amazing Spider-Man - Marvel Comics - After looking at the 2020 list, it may seem obvious that this would be my choice.  It is no secret that I am a huge Spider-man fan, but this wasn't a no brainer choice as my number one book to look forward too. All of the books above went through my head as possible number ones.  This Spider-Man book has been most excellent for about a year and a half!  The art is phenomenal and the story exceptional.  One of my gripes over the years has been the constant recycling of the same villains, but for some reason, the "old" villains have felt new or maybe more developed in this book.  If you haven't checked  Spidey in a while or you've somehow never been a fan of the web-head, this might be the time to jump on.  Issue 1000 isn't that far away.  Okay, 50 issues away, but still that isn't too far away.  I can't wait to start experiencing the build up to that Amazing Milestone!  

A New Fantasy Football League brings a New Team Name (Updated 10/6/24)

I have been playing Fantasy Sports since the late 1980s when my friends and I got permission from our math teacher on Tuesdays to go in the hall to figure our fantasy points from the baseball team stats in the USA Today.  Over the years, I've won a few seasons, had lots of promise for good seasons, but more than not, they end in disappointing seasons.  I have played Fantasy Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Nascar (I had no business in the Nascar league).  The league I have been with the longest started sometime in the early 2000's.  That is a baseball league league with guys from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States.  I didn't know most of them when we started and some guys dropped off and some have joined, but we have become good friends even though many of us have never met in person.  

The whole point of this walk down memory lane is to say, when I am asked to join a new league, I struggle mightily to say no.  That said, I joined a new football league this year, and I would like to introduce a new Fantasy Football Team: The Kamino Clone Kids in the Jedi Knights Football League.  

Here's a look at the opening week roster of the Clone Kids: 

Starters: 

QB: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

RB: Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars

RB: Joe Mixon, Houston Texans

WR: Nico Collins, Houston Texans

WR: DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

TE: Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburg Steelers

WR: Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

WR: Brian Thomas, Jacksonville Jaguars

WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

DL: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers

LB: Zaire Franklin, Indianapolis Colts

DB: Kevin Byard, Chicago Bears

Bench: 

QB: CJ Stroud, Houston Texans

RB: Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams

RB: JK Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers

WR: Hollywood Brown, Kansas City Chiefs

LB: Bobby Okereke, New York Giants

LB: Quincy Williams, New York Jets

DB: Antoine Winfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I am excited for this league for a few reasons.  First, I've never played in a league where we draft individual defensive players instead of a team defense.  That is kind of fun and offers a new way to strategize both in the draft, but in the season as well.  Second, I'm in this league with some really great friends, and I think that is what it is all about, friendships.  Anyway, after week 3 the Clone Kids are looking pretty good, and headed for a clash with the only other undefeated team in the league, the Pabu Porgs managed by my very excellent friend Colby, host of The Colby Cast.  

Week 1: 1-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 177.6

Khofar Nights:  129.20

Week 2: 2-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 228.45

Mustafar Moof:  188.30

Week 3: 3-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 180.00

Kessel Revolutionaries: 167.50

Week 4: 4-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 184.50

Pabu Porgs:  181.40

Week 5: 

The 2024 Fantasy Football Champs - Coca Cola Kids Shoot for Back-to-Back Update 10/6/24

The Coca-Cola kids, the 2024 Champions of their Fantasy Football League, are ready for a new season.  The draft is done and we head into the second week of the season with a 1-0 record.  The team this year doesn't have quite the powerhouse players as last year's team, but the Kids look to be competitive again this year.  Slow and steady is the way to win this year!  Maybe there will be a couple surprise, highlight seasons from a couple guys to push the Kids to a back-to-back championship.  

Here is the roster of the Coca Cola Kids as of Week 1:

QB - Kyler Murray, Arizona

WR - CeeDee Lamb, Dallas

WR - Puka Nacua, LA Rams

RB - Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit

RB - Raheem Mostert, Miami

TE - Sam LaPorta, Detroit

W/R/T - Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco

Q/W/R/T - Derek Carr, New Orleans

K - Jason Sanders, Miami

DEF - San Francisco

Bench:

Will Levis, QB Tennessee

Terry McLaurin, WR Washington

Calvin Ridley, WR Tennessee

Courtland Sutton, WR Denver

Jordan Addison, WR Minnesota

Trey Benson, RB Arizona

Brock Bowers, TE Las Vegas

Week 1:  1-0

Coca Cola Kids: 136.89

Roll Tide: 131.46

Week 2: 1-1

The Watergirl: 180.11

Coca Cola Kids: 167.09

Week 3: 1-2 Headline: "Missing: The Coca Cola Receiver Squad"

Rittz Boyz Blitz:  196.01

Coca Cola Kids: 125.41

Week 4: 1-3 Headline:  "Manager Goofs: Leaves 30.50 points on the bench"

Blood Sweat and Beers: 144.25

Coca Cola Kids:  143.27

Next week I will introduce you to a new Fantasy Football league and my team in that league.  

My 5 Favorite Breakfasts

It should be no secret that I love breakfast.  Go back to 2021 for my post on Breakfast Cereals as proof of my love for the morning meal or at least the food from the morning meal.  As I was scarfing down a Pop-Tart at 9:45 PM one recent night, it got me thinking, what are my favorite breakfast foods.  These would be foods that are traditionally served at a morning meal, but could be eaten at any meal.  Or, any of these breakfast meals could be eaten with a nice hot cup of coffee...at any time of day.   

Here are my Top 5 Breakfasts!  

5.  Pop-Tarts!  Let's face it, Pop-Tarts are basically cookies for breakfast!  The classic Brown Sugar and Cinnamon are my favorite with the chocolate Pop-Tart with white cream filling is a super close second.  I like the frosted cherry Pop-Tarts too.  While I don't mind a generic Toaster Pastry, they aren't a Pop-Tart.  

4.  Sausage Breakfast Burrito - Yep, roll those suckers up in foil and take them on a hike or bike ride and you've got a great protein-filled and filling snack.  Even though they scream morning meal, I can eat these at any time of the day.  Please, do not put any cream sauces of any kind on my breakfast burrito.  I would take it with a dipping salsa thought.  Yum!  

 

3.  Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon with toast and jelly -  This is a classic and one of my favorite meals to make; however, I like it when my youngest daughter makes it.  She has a touch about making the eggs super fluffy (I think her secret is lots of almond milk).  I do love that when she makes this breakfast for the family, I have to flip the bacon.  I mean, the grease can hurt a little.  

2.  Cereal - I can eat cereal any day and any time of day.  I will eat sugar cereal, healthy cereal, and cereal in between.  I love cereal.  

1.  Steak and Eggs!  Okay, steak and eggs with hash browns.  What else do I need to say other than when I have steak and eggs, the eggs have to be sunny side up so the yolk spreads across the plate to get soaked up in the hash browns.  Okay, I can taste it now.  My favorite place to have steak and eggs is either at a local ma and pop restaurant or at Bob Evans Restaurant.