EOD: June 7th

 There are some days when everything crashes around you. I’ve long had the ability, propensity and let’s face it, stupidity, to grind days until I had nothing left. You think you’re helping in the moment to get things done and, as I’ve always said, “to keep the line moving.” But, at some point, you hit the swing into negative returns and cause some frustration and pain to those around you. 

And, you find your own health compromised. The more elaborate tales of this ilk will arrive in book form sometime in the future. 

Suffice to say, the first win of Monday is simple ... nap. Nap for 15 minutes. Stretch it out to an hour if you can. Mine felt like a second half to a night’s sleep, leading to a rally for the day.

What else happened?

1. Nice long walks with the dog. Put on some tunes and just get the body moving. I carry a wide array of songs and artist in my playlist, a collection termed “The Devil’s Jukebox” long ago. So, Monday’s journeys included some Gutter Twins, Elton John deep cuts, Warren Zevon, Roger Waters and a block of Jethro Tull. 

One of the songs at the start of the walk was a Gutter Twins cover  of Jose Gonzalez’s “Down The Line.” 

I always forget the surroundings or, more likely, don’t much care and start singing along: 

“Don’t let the darkness eat you up!”

Check out the original here. 

Gonzalez’s “Down The Line”

2. I finally finished the draft for my Will. Psychologically damning and that recognition of age and how spread out your money can get. Diversification is a good thing. Just make sure you’ve got your spreadsheet of sites and logins handy. I do need to add one or two instructional lines — think Shawshank Redemption, and to produce the latest in the farewell playlist. Oh, and to procure a lot of mini-bottles of booze for the global toast. 

3. Finally, the FSR show on Monday had its twists and turns. The band “Jimmy Eat World” became part of the soundtrack because of the band’s appearance at halftime of the Suns-Nuggets game. We argued about the ongoing Aaron Rodgers saga, chronicled two blowouts in the NBA and celebrated Kevin Durant and the resurgent Blake Griffin. 

EOD May 26

Captain’s Log — or whatever the hell title I take on ...

Gotta keep up on the wins. They’re like Billy Mack sang in Love Actually —- they’re all around us. 

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1.     Watched some tremendous soccer action as I did show prep, read and got a workout in. Villarreal took down Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Championship. The 1-1 game was decided by penalty kicks ... by the goalies. That’s right. The game went to the 11th penalty kicks, thereby goalie-on-goalie strikes ended the game. Geronimo Rulli drilled a shot to give Villarreal their 11th PK score, and then defended a shot by Man U goalie David De Gea to secure the victory.

2.    Made a nice chicken divan dish for dinner. Chicken with a broccoli sauce - cream of chicken soup and, yes, mayonnaise at its base. 

3.    NBA Playoff action. I’ll go deeper in video form on SwollenDome.com in the miserable activity of a couple fans that marred an otherwise fantastic night of NBA Playoffs action. The biggest event on Wednesday’s slate occurred at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks rallied from a 13-point deficit to upend the Hawks, and the crowd in the “Basketball Mecca” hit a level of raucousness not seen in quite some time. The Knicks last won a home playoff win in 2013. We’ve had big baseball and spring football crowds, a decent-sized crowd in Tampa for the Super Bowl. No, this registered differently. 

The Dodgers are calling a June home date - “ A Grand Reopening.” I think the Knicks beat them to the punch.