Sunday Reflections

Its Sunday, so it means its time for those Reflections!

Music to Listen to: La Villa Strangiato by Rush


I was listening to this last night and was feeling Rush. I know that some people get on Geddy Lee for his voice but you can’t deny that Rush is one of the best eclectic rock bands ever. What that means is that they have a variety of sounds to their music. For me to consistently listen to your band and consider myself a fan of you, I need variety. You should be able to play a slow song with an accustic sound just as well as a faster song with loud guitar riffs equally well. If you’re a rapper, you have to show diversity in your rhyming skills as well. I also like different instruments musing together as well.

Crush of the Day: Allyson Felix

Sticking with the theme of the Track and Field World Championships that concluded today, I’m choosing Allyson Felix, who defended her 200 meter world championship. Well done.

-This was truly a lazy weekend for me. It wasn’t intentional but I think well needed. I’m still adjusting to my new job and an improved workout plan, I’ve found myself getting weary. This isn’t a bad thing. I’ve been working out in the early morning again, meaning I wake up at 6 a.m. It stunk for the first week buy by the second week, my body got used to it. I’ve also started going to sleep around 10-10:30 p.m. again. This has all been good but by Friday night, all I want to do is crawl in bed and sleep for two days, which is pretty much what I did.
Once football starts up and college soccer season kicks off in earnest next weekend, I will be more socially active but sometimes you just need to rest the body. I did manage to do some things this weekend like…

a) I re-watched Almost Famous. During a recent podcast by Bill Simmons on ESPN.com, he discussed with Chris Connelly the best movie of the 2000’s. Bill came to the conclusion that it was Almost Famous, which I’ve seen about six or seven times but not in a few years. I Netflixed it and gave it another viewing. It’s a really good movie and you know that I enjoy that era of music. I can argue that the eras of 1970-75, 1982-87 and 1991-96 were the best three periods in our modern times with the first one standing supreme. This deserves another individual post as well.

The one thing that stuck with me while watching the movie was how good the music was then and how weak it is now. I mentioned a post or two back that when my nephew listens to the current songs that we have in 2009 that I harken back to better times. I know that I sound like an old man when I say that but lets break it down.

Off the top of my head, here’s a list of bands/musical artists that were arguably in their peak from 1970-75, in no particular order…Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Parliament, Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Iggy Pop/The Stooges, Jackson 5, John Lennon, Paul McCarthy, Deep Purple, Elvis Pressley, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Elton John, Lynard Skynard, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, The O’Jays, Miles Davis, Genesis, Parliament, etc. I’m probably forgetting about five or six other artists that you will tell me. You get what I’m trying to say.

All of those artists mentioned above are Hall of Famers, first-round draft picks, on short lists of greatest musicians of all-time, etc. Who do we have from this era that can top that? Not many. I’ll discuss on Wednesday.

I can tell you one thing that I wasn’t doing this weekend…

b) Watching Little League baseball. I have major beefs with ESPN constantly feeding us crappy baseball by little kids on their network. If you find excitement watching 12-year-olds playing baseball on TV, good for you I guess but there has to be something more exciting going on in your life.

Honestly, unless you have a family member playing in the games, what is the point of watching. I’ll get into this on my next Blog post on Tuesday.

c) I did spend extensive time this weekend preparing for my fantasy football draft which takes place on Monday. I can’t get into details about my strategy unfortunately because some of you are in the league.

I’m taking it seriously because I’m the defending champion and I plan on repeating. I probably spend the most time researching and preparing for the league so I should be in a position to win. Fantasy sports involve an element of luck but preparation is the key.

d) I drove past Belmont on Saturday and saw the freshmen moving into the dorms. Classes start for them on Wednesday and that’s always an exciting time for everyone. Even though I’m not working in college athletics at the moment, I still live close enough to a campus to see everyone getting ready.

That’s all for tonight. Here’s a tentative schedule what to expect this week:

Tuesday: Why I dislike the Little League World Series with a passion

Wednesday: What musical artists from 2009 will be remembered as fondly as the artists from 1970-75?

Thursday: MMA Review

Friday: Freestyle

Good fight, good night and have a good week.