Randy

You must live in Cincinnati too. Yeah I'm going to miss WNKU.

I really like this new Young Fathers song from the Trainspotting 2 soundtrack.

If we are doing this, I figured I'd get it started. It's impossible to boil down an entire year to 1 song, but for me DRUNK DRIVERS/KILLER WHALES would be on any playlist for this year. It is the most interesting song from my favorite album. It almost feels like multiple songs merged into 1; it goes in-and-out of different moods and tempos. It encompasses a lot of the themes of their lyrics that you see throughout the album. It's introspective and sardonic; it critiques and inspires. It was the best rock song of the year.

Yeah Michael Kiwanuka is a great singer. I first became of him a few years ago with "Home Again". Such a beautiful song. I think "Black Man in a White World" is an important step in his career. We knew he was a great songwriter, but he has shown his willingness for social commentary now.

my favorite punk album was "Take Control" by Slaves.

Have you read Irene by Pierre Lemaitre? The Black Dahlia (along with other classics of crime fiction) plays a major role in the plotline of it. It's really good.

The opening to the Simpsons was super dark.

you know a Darius?

This is a great performance:

That's an amazing anecdote. The issue must've meant a lot to this anonymous person! I wish I felt that strongly about stuff.

Haven't heard anything about streaming.

More excited for the Oasis documentary, personally.

Currently reading The Peripheral by William Gibson. For me, this started out really confusing. It was one of the most confusing reads I've experienced, the first 75 pages or so. Mostly because it starts out being about gaming, and I don't game at all. So there was all of this coded language that I did not get at all. But, it's like this futuristic version of gaming, which only added to the confusion. So, there was gaming, maybe some drone-like or avatar stuff, and 3-d printers. I was lost. Plus, there are a multitude of characters that I didn't see how they connected to one another. But then, all of a sudden, everything started to click and the puzzle pieces started to fit together. I'm about 250 pages in now, and it's become really good. Once I pushed through the initial confusion, it has become worth it.

Going to see Kurt Vile tomorrow night. Should be a fun, mellow time.

Is it just me or are teams wearing their 2nd kits when it isn't necessary that they do so? Today, Man City was wearing black when they could have easily worn blue at Stoke. And now, Arsenal is in yellow at Leicester.

Diego Costa is the best. Every week, he scores and people say "but should he still be on the pitch".

Kate Winslet should be mentioned.

Things get crazy there in the final 90 seconds.

5 of the 7 goals scored came from former Southampton players. All of them save the Coutinho goals.

My favorite episode of the season is probably the newspaper one. Great gimmick episode.

I started reading Nora Webster by Colm Toibin today. Maybe it's because I was going back-and-forth between that and watching Stranger Things on Netflix, but there's something that feels really eerie about this book.

I'm debating seeing Savages on Tuesday. Anybody here seen them?

Oh, I definitely read and like Michael Dirda as well. But, Charles reviews exclusively new releases, while Dirda is more about delving into forgotten or over-looked selections. I mostly read new books, so that's why I lean more towards Charles. But I will sprinkle in older stuff in. For instance, this year I read "The Lost Stradivarius" and "Harlequin's Millions". I think both of those recommendations came from Dirda.

I'm watching the Stephen Chow movie "The Mermaid" now and the scene with the police sketch artist is one of the funniest things I've seen. Nothing that hasn't been done before, but still hilarious.

My favorite reviewer is Ron Charles of "The Washington Post". His opinions are pretty trustworthy. I've been reading him for the last few years.