We might have been the last people on Earth to start watching streaming TV, but we are fully committed now. We are on board.

More or less in order: Prison Break, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Queen’s Gambit, Ozark, Afterlife, and a few more that we just sampled and may revisit again someday. Some pretty good stuff in there, but everyone knows about all of those shows already.

I want to mention a show we’re watching now that we really like and that you may not know about: Last Chance U (Basketball).

Last Chance U started a few years ago and focused on football programs at community colleges around the country, the kind of places where players go when they had bad grades in high school, or tried a year of college and it didn’t work out for some reason. Key point: nobody wants to be there, they want to be somewhere else better but need to start there. 

Last year they did a basketball version for the first time, about East L.A. College. We found all the coaches and players likable (some presented a bit more of a challenge in this area) and easy to pull for. It’s a view of young men, and of college sports, that you never ever see unless you know someone personally in one of these programs.

Eight episodes, around 50 minutes each, on Netflix. Worth checking out. Here’s the official trailer.

Tomorrow: another show we like called The Kominsky Method.

Woke up late this morning after waking up at the normal time this morning. Wait, what? 

See, normally I wake up around 6am naturally, no alarm needed. This morning I could hear birds chirping outside and looked at my phone: 5:48. Good enough, but still tired so I’ll just lay here and relax a few minutes ... then my wife’s alarm rings and suddenly it’s 7:10. 

Seemed like 15 minutes to me but it was an hour and 22 minutes. Huh.

Coffee making is late. That’s my gig, and always has been, because I wake up first and as James Lileks always says, “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee”. 

Enough trivia. 

Interesting links you should check out:

Pathogens in One Lesson, Courtesy of Sunetra Gupta - very interesting and informative, key takeaway is “take care of your immune system and don’t obsess about pandemics”

Roquan Smith Awarded Ed Block Courage Award for Chicago Bears - congrats to Smith, who had a great year last year on the field too 

Image above: Van Gogh “ Houses in Auvers” 1890

Woke up this morning to frost on the car windshield. Reminder:  it’s April 22.

We had some light snow on Tuesday. Again:  today is April 22, and Spring started a month ago. 

Two weeks ago we hit the 80s a couple of times. EIGHTIES in early April. 

So, yes, Springtime is a little bit bipolar around these parts. I’m not complaining though, I prefer cooler weather, and would be perfectly happy with highs in the 60s in the Spring. 

And the Summer. And the Fall. 

Maybe two weeks of highs in the 80s, from July 1-15, that would work. How can we arrange that? Is there a 1-800 number or something? 

I guess I should get a Tesla so my disgusting CO2 output will drop and cool the planet by 0.00000000000000000000000000001 degrees. Or a Chevy Volt? Something like that.

I love it when a plan comes together. 

Cat Stevens “Morning Has Broken”

Happy Easter!

Jerry Jeff Walker “Pickup Truck Song”

1942-2020 R.I.P 

The Rascals “It’s a Beautiful Morning”

 

It's a beautiful song, too. Lyrics, singing, arrangement, even the message and attitude -- get up and tackle your day with energy and positivity and thoughts of what is possible, and guess what, sunshine and fresh air and being outside is good for ya -- is spot on.