The Victors
(№ 25) Michigan 45-0 Illinois
4-2, Big Ten 2-0

I was resigned to being unable to watch the Homecoming game due to Saturday's nuptials in the City of Broad Shoulders. Resigned but unhappy, as I groused for weeks in advance, "Who the hell schedules a wedding for a Saturday in the fall?" I was delighted to learn that I'd failed to account adequately for the lengthy interval 'twixt the early afternoon wedding & the early evening reception. Relatively rare have been the occasions when I have had a hotel room all to myself, so I spread my possessions hither & thither, sprawled out on the bed, & sat back to a most satisfactory afternoon. The domination of the valiant Wolverines over the feisty Fighting Illini was complete, & Shoelace was at his most masterful. Closely contested football games are the most invigorating, but every now & again it does a soul good to see a thrashing; I do not deny the viciousness in my character.

The next contest will be a stiffer test, against our "little brother," the dastardly Spartans. Their wining streak is far too long & they have gotten far too big for their britches. Those illiterate arsonists needs to be taken down a notch.

Go Blue!

Operation ÖSTERREICH
Three items. Item the first: I set a new personal best today, fifty seconds better than the previous course record. This is arguably invalid, as I jogged part of the distance, but I think I shall count the personal best as valid, because should not jogging the entire distance, & much beyond, be my eventual goal? Item the second: Today's daily constitutional surpassed the number of such walks taken during the initial outdoors walking phase, from May to early July. More sessions in less time—that can be only to the good. Item the third: 'Twas a traffic jam out on my course today, as I encountered three other walkers/joggers. The previous record was two other walkers/joggers. Today was an unseasonably warm, sunny day, a perfect day for a little exercise out of doors. That is all; the work continues apace.

The Queue
Plainly discernible from the tone of I Love Michigan/I Hate Ohio State is that the author is not a Michigan man. He roots for the valiant Wolverines, but only in football, making him a faithless cur. He was never himself a Wolverine; instead, he was a newspaperman (a thoroughly disreputable profession) for the late, unlamented Ann Arbor News who merely covered the valiant Wolverines, & he thinks this qualifies him to pontificate on what Wolverines love about the University of Michigan & disdain about THE ^{Ohio State University}. It is to laugh. I should read something by John U. Bacon to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Recently
Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon, & Sal Trapani, et al., Showcase Presents: Metamorpho, Vol. 1
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Chessmen of Mars
Rich Thomaselli, I Love Michigan: Personal Stories about the World's Greatest Team, Fans, and Traditions/I Hate Ohio State: Personal Stories about the Absolute Worst Team, Fans, and Traditions

Currently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Master Mind of Mars

Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Fighting Man of Mars
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Swords of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Synthetic Men of Mars
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, The Arabian Nights (specifically, "Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves")

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Reel Big Fish, "S.R. (the many versions of)" (live) from Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "The many versions of" the ska song "S.R." include such genres as punk rock, blues, disco, country, garage rock, old-school rap, death metal (decried by the band themselves as "terrifying"), & emo.