As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
Excellent opinion column by Matt Bai on Larry Hogan’s decision
to run for the Senate as a Republican.
“Hogan had an option here. He could have formally left his
party and run as an independent. This isn’t crazy. In my native state of
Connecticut, the Land of Steady Habits and Mean Drivers, two political giants
pulled this off after they were bounced from their parties for being
insufficiently doctrinaire: Former Republican Lowell Weicker won the
governorship in 1990, and former Democrat Joe Lieberman was returned to the
Senate in 2006. Right now, in Nebraska, an independent candidate for Senate,
Dan Osborn, has effectively drawn even with the Republican incumbent, Deb
Fischer. … For all his defiance, when it really mattered most, Larry Hogan
chose the path of party tribalism over the harder road of going it alone.”
Larry Hogan is certainly not a MAGA Republican. But Donald
Trump, Mitch McConnell (who begged Hogan to run), and every MAGA Republican
wants him to win. The alternative is to go with Angela Alsobrooks, who’s
supported by Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden, among many others. A
subtle point: U.S. Senators serve six-year terms. So, even if Maryland doesn’t
wind up being the tipping point for which party has the majority in the Senate
next year, electing Hogan would improve the odds of Republican control after
the 2026 and 2028 elections as well.
Start time: 3:05pm (the common starting time for all games
on the final day* of the regular season)
Time: 2:40
Attendance: 26,729
Start Time Weather: 69° F, Wind 6mph in from Rightfield,
Overcast, No Precipitation.
* - OK, not quite the final day THIS year …
This was a much drearier day for the hometown team, in terms
of crowd size, result, and weather (at least it didn’t rain, but the sun went
back into hibernation for the day), as the NL East Champion Phillies avoided
the ignominy of being swept by a sub-.500 team in its final series before
heading into the postseason.
Jake Irvin dug a hole for himself right away, sandwiching
full-count walks to Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos around a Trea Turner
single to load the bases. Infield grounders by cleanup hitter (!) Bryson Stott
and Alec Bohm each plated a run to give the visitors a quick lead, which the
Nats immediately cut in half on a leadoff home run by Luis GarcÃa Jr. off Aaron
Nola.
Irvin then settled down, retiring the Phillies in order over
the next three innings. Washington also failed to score, although they made it
interesting in the 3rd when, with runners on first and third and one out, Dylan
Crews was caught attempting to steal home. Irvin walked the leadoff hitter
again in the top of the 5th, however, before two singles again produced a
bases-loaded, no outs situation. This time Philadelphia took full advantage,
with a two-run Schwarber single and a two-run double by Weston Wilson that
ended Irvin’s outing.