The Weeklies #131

The Weekly Challenge. Remember that golf game I mentioned a couple weeks ago? That’s going down today. Wish me luck.
The Weekly Time Waster. What happens when baby seals get sick of being clubbed and start to fight back? Well, check out Clubby The Seal.
The Weekly Read. I plowed through Linwood Barclay’s Never Look Away and I’m growing convinced that Barclay and Harlan Coben are actually the same person. Okay, not really. Coben’s a little better. But their stories are insanely similar, tend to revolve around a family, a member of that family disappearing or somehow not being who everyone else thought they were. While I read them all, I really can’t tell any of Coben’s stand-along thrillers apart and Barclay’s input is almost indistinguishable. That said, the stunning lack of originality doesn’t translate into a bad book. It’s a fast-paced thriller. There were plenty of twists and turns though I saw most of them coming a mile away. It was well-written and entertaining.
The Weekly Music. I’ve given The Hold Steady’s Heaven Is Whenever a couple of spins since buying it Tuesday night. The Hold Steady may be one of the best bands of the century so far. Heaven Is Whenever doesn’t do anything to change that. Is it their best? No. But it’s good. Craig Finn’s lyrics are brilliant as always and there’s a raucous bar-band feel to the music. It’s guitar-driven and wonderfully bombastic. When I first got into The Hold Steady, the first hurdle I encountered were Craig Finn’s vocals. They were more loudly spoken word than singing. Over time he’s worked on his voice and he sings more often than not. And as much as that spoken word stuff threw me off, I miss it now. There’s an exuberance that’s missing now. That said, Heaven Is Whenever is a kick-ass, not-to-be-missed album.
The Weekly Ridiculous Product. Fart in bed? There’s a blanket for that.
The Weekly Schadenfreude. There once was a British gentleman who wasn’t very bright but owned a boat. He, therefore, decided he would sail along England’s coast. During his voyage, he ran out of fuel and had to be rescued. And it turned out that during the entirety of his journey, he’d been circling the same small island in the Themes River. Poor, dumb bastard.
The Weekly Question. What strategy should I use to make it through my golf game. This question is for all of you even if you know nothing about golf. I don’t tee off until 1:30 and I’m going to have my phone with me. I expect some brilliant strategies whereby I won’t look like an ass.