Author: Chad
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Au Revoir to Aaron Rodgers
With Aaron Rodgers now officially traded to the Jets, I felt compelled to commemorate the end of his era in Green Bay—something I did for his predecessor. It feels impossible to fully honor Rodgers’ on-the-field legacy given his endless highlights and memorable moments over the last 15 years. But I’m with Mike Spofford at Packers.com,…
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On the passage of bathtime
There’s a quote I discovered floating around Instagram Reels that people use as narration for clips of their little kids: You have little kids for four years. And if you miss it, it’s done. That’s it. So, you gotta know that. Lots of things in life you don’t get to do more than once. That…
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The Church of ‘Bull Durham’
Really enjoyed reading Ron Shelton’s The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham, which I followed up with a rewatch of Bull Durham. He has such a wry, matter-of-fact style and perspective on his careers, most notably minor-league baseball player and movie writer-director. Some quotes… On being an athlete with intellectual curiosities: Around this…
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Lifeblood of reading
Alan Jacobs gets to the crux of the ongoing Hachette v. Internet Archive lawsuit, which pits publishers against libraries in the quest to determine who has the right to distribute digital books: Whatever forces are arrayed against libraries are also arrayed against readers. But publishing conglomerates don’t care about readers; they only care about customers.…
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Holy book bans
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’m against book bans of all kinds. They’re the literary version of the Streisand Effect, not to mention small-minded and fascistic. And yet, I also can’t get enough of people petitioning to ban the Bible based on the same criteria used for other books, most recently in Utah for example. It’s both A+…
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On the aesthetic mindset
I enjoyed the recent Armchair Expert conversation with Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross—the authors of Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us—about how the arts affect our brains and well being. At one point they talk about having an aesthetic mindset, which isn’t some kind of highfalutin theory but instead just the concept…
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RIP Marcus Theaters policy trailer
You know the part of movie theater previews when they show what’s basically an in-house ad for the host theater chain, along with housekeeping items like silence your phone, no talking, etc.? I’ve learned these are called policy trailers and that many of them are available online. I was curious if I’d be able to…
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Recent Views
More photography here and on my Instagram. My wife and son heart-bombed my car for Valentine’s Day while I was at work: I’ve never tasted or seen Romanesco broccoli but it looks super cool: He’s been using his new training-wheels bike a lot: Some colorful stairs in Woodstock, Illinois: Our friends built a mini sledding…
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Ratatouille
Rewatching Ratatouille recently made me think of a line from the Guardians of the Galaxy Honest Trailer, which portrays Marvel as so dominant and drunk on its own power—and its fans so eager—that a weird movie with a trash-talking raccoon and monosyllabic tree can be a smash success. Their tongue-in-cheek name for the studio: “F—…
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The Lion King
It’s hard for me to watch The Lion King objectively as an adult when it’s so deeply ingrained into my being, having been released when I was 7 years old and subjected to countless subsequent rewatches in our family VCR—not to mention inspiring my own adult creative endeavors. But rewatching it now—with my 4-year-old son…
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Tools of the moment
An ongoing series Pretty much everything from my last update. Kindle Paperwhite. After years of holding out, we got one last Black Friday and I finally started using it. I wasn’t against e-readers before; I just usually prefer print or audiobooks. But the e-ink screen and appealing handling of the Paperwhite is quite nice. Safari…
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Jack would NOT have fit on the door in ‘Titanic’
I’m sorry, but it’s true. I say that in spite of the apparently real investigation into this internet-famous debate by National Geographic and James Cameron himself: All the evidence you need is from the scene itself: When Jack tries to get on the door, it almost capsizes. Putting two grown, soaking-wet adults on it amidst…
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My son’s media of the moment
A spinoff of an ongoing series Yoto. He uses his mini Yoto audio player every day, which is an excellent screen-free source of “edutainment”. He’s always ready to spout facts he’s learned from the many nonfiction cards he enjoys. (Some terms he’s learned and repeated: hominid, pyroclastic flow, and bioluminescence among others.) Current favorite cards…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood. Hilarious and insightful memoir/biography of Lockwood’s Catholic priest father and her experience living with her parents. Blankets by Craig Thompson. A stunning graphic novel memoir about small-town life, religion, young love, winter, and so many more things. The Climb. An excellent indie film told through episodic, slice-of-life sequences…
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My ‘Back to the Future’ bonanza
Well, I finally did it: I finally revealed my decades-old collection of Back to the Future memorabilia. With it being Sci-Fi Month at Cinema Sugar, I thought the timing was right to show-and-tell such items as: I had a blast doing this, so please watch, enjoy, and share:
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A ‘Bluey’ song exploder
One of my Christmas presents was Bluey: The Album on vinyl. My wife got it as a joint present with my son since we’re both big Bluey fans. The first song on it is an extended version of the theme song I’d never heard before called “Bluey Theme Tune (Instrument Parade)”: After the standard opening,…