Our Weekly Supply of Catch-Up*

One would think that, with so many hours of time off during Spring Break, that I would be able to finish my blog posts in a timely fashion. But this week, one would be wrong. Still, I've caught up on a lot of other stuff this week, so hopefully that bodes well for blogging in the weeks ahead. Anyway, here are the unfinished posts from earlier this week that have now been completed:

• My take on the copyright controversy surrounding Michael John Blake's "What Pi Sounds Like" song.


• Yes, we have too many laws on the books already, but there really should be one addressing rogue robo-callers.


• My annual St. Patrick's Day greeting to readers.


• Another way to fix education: Require everyone to major in their chosen discipline, rather than just a generic education major.

Tomorrow will once again feature the new stuff I've been listening to in the Kevmobile this week. (I'm going to start the shell of that post now, so that it's not late as well.)

* I don't know if I've ever mentioned this here before, but as a kid, I really did see a store brand of catsup/ketchup that was spelled "CATCHUP"--weird...

Blogging With a Side of Catch-Up

Now that I'm on spring break, I can finally catch up on the past week's posts:

• A cruel last-minute finish to the Mean Green men's basketball season


• A quick bleg for advice on treating an injured digit


• My thoughts on Chuck Greeberg's departure from the Rangers


• One final visit to a doomed bookstore, and some thoughts on the waning era of bookstore-as-CD-store.


• And of course, my weekly roundup of what's been playing in the Kevmobile.

Blogging should be less sporadic with a little bit more time on my hands this week, so please return often.

Enjoy some Pi with your coffee: Happy Pi Day (3.14, of course). Tomorrow's post will discuss a clever music video that was gone almost as quickly as it went up, why it got taken down, and the ethics of same.

Playing a Loooooong Game of Catch-Up

OK, it's been a crazy few weeks--preparing for a weekend with both a recording session and a gig with a guest artist, then getting students ready for a rescheduled Solo & Ensemble this past weekend. Blogging already took a hit once I joined Facebook, and the fact that the above events pretty much ate the two or three free hours that I usually have at home means that I'm all kinds of behind. So I'll be posting things from the past few weeks over the course of this week, and I'll alert everyone as things go up.

Thanks as always for your patience. I'm committed to keeping this going, but sometimes the days just need to have a few more hours in them.

UPDATE: And the catching up has begun. Check out some pictures from the unusual venue where I played a gig over the weekend, along with two weeks' worth of "Playing This Week in the Kevmobile" posts.

A Different Kind of Spring Cleaning

Blog posting has been pretty scant from me recently, so there's nothing like a lazy Saturday on a three-day weekend to get all caught up. As always, so that my work won't go for naught, here is a list of posts I've completed today:

• When Firewheel opened in '05, some people lamented that New Urbanism would be the death of downtown Garland. But another such project may well revive it.


• As expected, my household status did not change between the time last month when I filled it out and April 1, the day it was supposed to reflect.


• My thoughts on the controversial Erykah Badu video.


• Dallas/Ft. Worth finally rises above 80 degrees for the first time since last October.


• I had a lot of fun last weekend performing with Tom "Bones" Malone at the college jazz festival last weekend.


• My thoughts on the upcoming end of 24.


• I also weigh in on Keith Jarrett's latest anti-audience outburst.


• The NFL's new overtime rules for playoff games--good idea/bad idea?


• Count me as one teacher who's opposed to the idea of a four-day school week.


• One more New Urbanism development has joined us this spring; this one's in Fairview.

With any luck, I'll have regular posts up again now that things have calmed down.

And if I'm still behind in posting next week, I have a new excuse: After literally years of people bugging me to do so, I finally joined Facebook last night. Feel free to friend me if we have that status in real life or fan me otherwise. (And if either of the above makes for too much Kev in your online life, you can always stick with the old stalwarts known as MySpace and Twitter and this very blog...)

All Caught Up

As promised, I've managed to complete the bulk of the unfinished posts from the past few weeks. So that my work doesn't go for naught, here's a list of everything that's new on the blog:

• The lady in Dallas who feels "humiliated" after being ticketed for not speaking English has a problem that should embarrass her more than that.


• I offer congratulations to KNTU on its 40th anniversary.


• The unfortunate saga of Willis Willis, the guy who technically won Mega Millions until a corrupt store clerk took this ticket himself and cashed it in.


• I give kudos to the Dallas Morning News for their features on local marching bands.


• I celebrate the "return" of Zuzu Handmade Mexican Food, which was never really gone in the first place.


• My knee recovery is to the point where I can start taking The Walk™ again, and I'm enjoying doing so.


• Did you thank a veteran on Veteran's Day this year?


• In honor of making it through Friday the 13th unscathed, I share a cool Monk tune by that name.


• Ten years after the fatal collapse of its bonfire stack, Texas A&M pauses to remember.


• I'm not in any way a fan of "emo pants," but I'll defend your right to wear them to school.

WIth the holiday coming up, I'll try to do better with this; most of the posts didn't take that long, so I have to just get in the proper frame of mind to blog before I get too tired at the end of the day. Just as the hardest part of practicing an instrument is opening the case, sometimes the hardest part of blogging is going to Blogger and hitting the New Post button.

This Is Turning Into a Weekly Ritual, So It Seems

I seem to notice a pattern during this, the busiest of all semesters, with regard to blogging by yours truly:

1) Post on Monday, one of my "earliest" finishes (6:45) of the week.

2) Start posts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (and sometimes Friday) but never have time to finish them.

3) Catch up on Saturday or Sunday and post links to all the "missed" posts.

Well, here we are again, and this is what I've completed thus far today:

• I roll out a long-awaited rant about "activists" and how their being so easily offended isn't helping anyone solve problems.


• Remembering Vic Mizzy, composer of some favorite TV themes.


• Asking for some advice regarding dry winter skin on the hands.


• Once again, I chastise Congress (yes, an easy target) for attempting to mess around with college football

I'm pretty sure the week ahead will be just the same, but feel free to check in daily just in case I get to complete a post during the week.

And Yet Again...

I'm all caught up on posts. It's amazing what an idle Saturday morning can do in that regard.

As always, since I don't want my work to go for naught, here's what I started talking about the past few weeks but didn't have time to finish until now:

• What's up with all this rain in Dallas lately? I keep expecting to look toward the downtown skyline and see the Space Needle...


• Denton gets a 24-hour coffeehouse once again.


• Once again, perusing eMusic leads me to a really cool band.


• My thoughts on the end of the Rangers' season.


• The latest from my most recent visit to the knee doctor.


• Once again, I praise New Urbanism (imagine that! LOL), as I experience the phenomenon late at night.

I'm organizing a big concert that takes place tomorrow, but once that's over, I hope to be able to post regularly again for the foreseeable future (please don't be snarky and start taking bets on that).

And Once Again...

...I'm all caught up, for now Here are some posts that have been recently completed:

• A lot of ink (and pixels) has been used in some circles to decry New Urbanismthese folks--who actually live in such a development--like it quite a lot. (Also, I've discovered my new "lottery neighborhood.")


• An unusual tribute to Miles Davis, created with vintage video game sounds.


• I weigh in briefly on the NEA "conference call" kerfuffle.

Hopefully, I'll have more new stuff up soon.

(Mostly) All Caught Up

It's been a busy first few weeks of school; even this four-day one had taken its toll on me by the time yesterday afternoon was done. When I have weeks like this, weekday blogging is one of the first things to suffer; thankfully, I usually end up with some time on the weekends to catch up, and this is no exception. Here are a few posts that I started recently and finished today:

• My annual 9/11 tribute is up, and I really apologize for not getting this one done in a timely manner.


• I had a great time seeing the One O'Clock Lab Band on Wednesday night.


• The NTTA's new toll road policies are somewhat frustrating to this longtime rider.


• An area school district is revisiting its electronic communication policy for teachers and students...which is good, because the current one goes a bit too far.

Looking back in the list of posts, I still have a few unfinished ones from several weeks ago, but I'll get around to those soon enough. In the meantime, as I always say, I'll try to be better about this in the future.

All Caught Up, Lazy Summer Edition

As promised, I managed to finish all of the past week's pending posts today. And whenever I do that, I link to those posts, so that they'll get the frontpage attention they deserve and not ending up being written for nought. So here's what I've been working on today:

• Here's a young jazz artist who's worth your time: Alto saxophonist and composer Steve Lehman.


• I also discovered a hilarious viral video series this week.


• And as I ended the busiest part of the summer, I noticed that relaxation became easier as my healing process has progressed.

There are a few more topics in the pipe, so now that I'm caught up, I should be able to start at least one of them tomorrow.

Caught Up Once Again

Just like a week ago, I've been blogging up a storm on the weekends to make up for the time I haven't had during the week, and again, I'll point you to those posts (started on time but not finished till now), so that my work hasn't gone for naught;

• The week's second installment of "What I'm Listening To" focuses on two European artists: Nik Bärtsch and Nils Petter Molvaer.


• This is not one California school district's proudest moment: Administrators screw up, kids pay the price.


• Some news I missed last week: Hard times for Jazz Times.


• And another collection of odd stories from all over the place.

I suppose I'll be able to blog more consistently when I'm recovering from surgery and unable to drive for a while, but thank goodness for weekends...and as always, I'll try to do better.

Almost Caught Up

I've been blogging like crazy this weekend, trying to finish the massive logjam of half-completed posts that have been sitting around for over a week now. Since I don't want my efforts to go for naught, I thought I'd link to them here on the frontpage:

• An ode to the beginning of what should be a very unusual summer.


• The DISD's solution to recent funding inequities differs radically from mine (imagine that!).


• A salute to the Class of '09.


• The traditional "throwing of the fish" at Pike Place Market in Seattle has raised the ire of PETA. (Try reciting my headline to this story ten times fast: "PETA Peeved by Pike Place's Piscatorial Projectiles." Yeah, I couldn't do it either.)


• I may be behind on blogging, but that didn't stop me from joining Twitter.


• And finally, with all the publicity it's gotten, it amazes me that people could have still been unaware that Friday's DTV switch was taking place.

Most of the rest of my unfinished posts, save for a (probably long) one from last Sunday, are concert reviews from a while back; I'll try to get to those fairly soon.