So, yesterday was a mouthful, eh? Let’s cut the crap and get through some admin.
You mean, stick to the basics?
Goodness.
Music news
I mentioned last month that I was happy about Of Monsters and Men releasing ‘Alligator’. I didn’t realize the song would improve markedly in a stripped-down form. This was also true of ‘Crystals’, another thumping single from their prior album that made a big step forward in acoustic form. Since it’s been an OMAM lovefest here the past couple of months, I’ll note that I considered their cover of ‘Dancing In The Dark’ to be a national tragedy. Let’s leave The Boss alone, please.
Speaking of covers, I found myself digging back into a band I thought I’d left for dead – The Head and The Heart. I found two winners – ‘Beacon Hill’, a tastefully named but astonishingly sad song from Damien Jurado, and "Don’t Dream It's Over", an often covered 1986 hit by Crowded House. Going back to The Head and The Heart was surprisingly difficult for me in some ways – like stepping into a time machine - but I was glad to hear some songs I hadn’t heard in a few years.
Soccer update
My notes last month were conspicuous for containing no mention of Liverpool and their upcoming Champions League Final. There was no hidden intent there, just bad timing given that the final was on June 1st and that I write these proper admins a few days before I publish the post. Spoiler alert - Liverpool won, which brought me a lot of necessary-unnecessary joy.
Liverpool returning to the final prompted me to look back on ‘The Final Exam’, a series I did a couple of years ago when I reflected on my experience of watching Champions League Finals during my first decade as a soccer fan. I was pleasantly surprised by my own writing (though not as much by the length) and this encouraged me to think about adding a few new posts to the series to cover the last couple of finals. As always, we’ll see.
While I’m waxing poetic about my own writing, check out this own goal from England’s second-tier promotion playoff final. Should I write about that… again?
Finally, one year after the men’s edition, the women took the field for the 2019 World Cup. I haven’t watched much except for last Saturday's Norway-Australia match, possibly the best soccer game I’ve seen in 2019. Sam Kerr, Australia’s star player, was marshaled effectively by Norway’s defense, but her greatness was still evident in her movement, work rate, and in her response to missing a penalty. Norway’s midfield was equally impressive, led by Caroline Graham Hansen, a player the commentators kept referring to as 'Graham Hansen' throughout the game which led me to wonder whether folks in Norway ever make assumptions using names.
Anyway... the USA remains the heavy favorite but watching this game confirmed for me that the world has caught up to the Americans.
Anything else?
Wait, what?
You went rambling on, and pretty much used the whole world count rambling about soccer–
Well, it’s probably an appropriate time to mention that sometimes I do need more than five hundred words to cover all the admin. In these cases, I’ll come back later in the month with some extensions and leftovers. I suppose I’ve done it around here already so readers should be familiar with the idea.
So, we'll be back soon with a little more.
Until then, thanks for reading.
In the next month… of True On Average…
1. What is breakfast for, really?
2. Is it really helmet football season already?
3. We take note of where it all started...
