Greetings for a stranger

Hi folks, I'm still alive. I know I've said it before, but it seems as though I never make it to a computer long enough to write a blog post (except when I'm at work, and I'm not allowed to blog at work--for obvious reasons).

So what's new with me you ask? I've been reading quite a bit lately, for one thing. While on vacation, I picked up an old book called Going All the Way by Dan Wakefield. It's a coming-of-age story (bildungsroman, if you will) that takes place in 1950s Indianapolis. The book has been a pleasant surprise and well worth the $3.50 I spent on it at the used book shop in Munising, Michigan.

The used book shop in Munising is this place:

Falling Rock Cafe, Munising

Great food, good coffee, and used (and some new) books. It replaces the dearly departed 84 Charing Cross, which was the previous book shop in Munising that closed back in about 1999 or 2000. So if you are passing through the upper peninsula, or plan on going on the Pictured Rocks tour, but also are a book worm, make a point to stop in Falling Rock Cafe.

I shouldn't be too surprised that I like the Wakefield book, because I also liked another book he wrote called New York in the Fifties, which was a memoir about (drum roll please)....New York in the fifties. I wouldn't say that Wakefield is a beautiful stylist like, say, John Updike, but he does have a dry wit and tells a good story.

In other news, October 2 is the release date for The Tragically Hip's new album, Now For Plan A. As I may have mentioned before, I love this band. They have been together since 1983 and have been recording since 1987, but sadly I didn't discover their music until 2006--and it was practically love at first listen. The Hip have been a Canadian institution for decades, but have a mere cult following in the States and everywhere else in the world. This is probably due to their lyrics being, for the most part, specific to Canada and lost in translation everywhere else. That's not to say that ALL of their lyrics are "Canadian" (lyricist Gord Downie tackles plenty of other subjects too, but he's probably best when he touches on elements of the Canadian experience). Gord also has a very impressionistic and stream-of-consciousness bent, and that probably limits the band's accessibility. Oh, and Gord's singing is idiosyncratic and definitely an acquired taste. So I guess that probably explains why the band has never broken big in the States.

I have been writing most of the morning: here and on my MSU sports blog, so I need to wrap it up and get on with life. More later...