Apples, Football, and Movies
Compared to last fall, this is an eventful fall in apples, football, and movies. Plus, football, travel, and Greg's Greatest Hits.
I have finally gotten my first fresh apples of the year. County Market. I think they were Fuji, Pink Lady, or Gala.
Wait, let me check here and see what I've got right now.
I definitely have some Gala apples from Hy Vee.
Let me check. I also got some Honeycrisp apples, also from the Hy Vee at Northgate on East Kimberly in Davenport.
Finally, I got some kind of apples called Stemilt Rave. They also came from a Hy Vee.
The ones I just finished from County Market were something or other.
As of Wednesday, September 29th, Lewistown's Varsity Football team was 1-3. They pulled off a hat-trick 26-14 win over South Fulton in their recent game, on Friday, September 17th.
Lewistown lost its first game to Havana, 22-6, but at least we did score a touchdown. We didn't manage a touchdown in our next two efforts, with a 34-0 loss posted against Illini West in Carthage, and a home loss, 30-0, to Rushville-Industry, on Homecoming night. It wasn't for lack of effort, though. The Indians had a pretty good drive that at least led to a 3rd down play at the end zone where the QB threw a pass at the running back or wide receiver. But it slid through his fingers.
The Rushville game also has the dubious distinction of having one of the worst calls by a referee of the season. It probably will go down as the worst.
Sam Arnett got thrown to the ground while trying to lead a Lewistown drive to their endzone. And apparently we threw the 2nd shove before the one that put him on the ground. Needless to say, we got the penalty yards.
Our coaches went ballistic. For good reason. Rushville's lineman was just about to charge ours. Who WAS ALREADY ON THE GROUND. IT WAS RIDICULOUS.
It should have been 23-6. Or 23-7. Or 23-8. We should have scored on one of the passes, or perhaps on that drive when Arnett was carrying the ball.
I will say this, Wyatt Neidig, our back-up quarterback, has performed ably as a back up quarterback as Dane has been on the mend with his shoulder. He played a significant role in our 26-14 defeat of South Fulton.
It was a great celebration to win the game against South Fulton, with Blayne Clary and Trey Gaston punching in a collective 4 touchdowns, replete with help from Wyatt the new back-up quarterback. But he got hurt in this game, and so did Porter Black. So we've been hit hard with injuries. That, compounded by the pandemic sheltering in place and quarantine led us to call the game against Princeville this past Friday.
Then our game against West Hancock at Warsaw happened.
We got to play against West Hancock on two weeks' rest. And we got off to a flying start with a Blayne Clary touchdown. Then Wyatt Neidig and Trey Gaston punched in some more touchdowns. I was asked by the announcer who was able to cross into the endzone with the first touchdown. But I couldn't tell for sure! It was heavily covered! By the West Hancock Defense! If the Announcer couldn't tell, how was I supposed to determine who was taking it in? And I was looking through the tiny monitor of the Sony Carl Zeiss camera! I couldn't look at the action in wide angle in person!
Alleman hasn't won a single game yet. And my dad is concerned that they may be playing their last season of eleven man football in the Western Big 6 Conference. Their enrollment has dropped. There were only eleven freshmen boys. There was no freshman sophomore football team. Everyone is playing on the Varsity roster.
Movies:
Don't Look Up
Red, White, and Water
Respect
Free Guy
Stillwater
Finch
Encanto
Dune
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
Ron's Gone Wrong
Home Sweet Home Alone
The Addams Family 2
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Marvel's The Eternals
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
No Time to Die
The Many Saints of Newark
King Richard
The Matrix 4 (if it's released)
Dear Evan Hanson
West Side Story
Television: You'd better believe I've been watching The Wonder Years! The reboot, or as Elisha Williams has called it, the Remix, on ABC by way of Hulu. As mentioned, Elisha Williams has the title role, of Dean Williams. It is a black family. Montgomery, Alabama, 1968. He rides the bus to school with his best friend, Corey. He loans his Avengers comic book to Keisa Clemmons, the girl he's had his eyes on since second grade, and long has been working up the nerve to ask out. But he keeps getting cold feet when the opportunity arises for a moment of gallantry.
And he doesn't want to wait too long to make his move, because, heaven forbid, what if her magical first kiss is with somebody else?
Add to this the backdrop of the war in Vietnam, where Dean's older brother is stationed, potential marital strife, as the Dad, played by Dulé Hill, is a music professor by day, a session musician and recording artist by night; and the mom, this time a working mom, happens to have a work buddy who she convinced to help with Dean's baseball team; and the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and we've got a very cogent, very relevant series.
The first episode had a delightful showdown between Dean's dad and his mom's workfriend/coach. And this was a hilarious scene that segued directly into the news report from Walter Cronkite that Dr. King had been shot in Memphis.
A harrowing moment. Civic unity. Civic outrage.
Dean tried to turn to his friends. And he couldn't have found himself more alone in that moment.
I love the new version of The Wonder Years.
Other shows I am picking up:
Only Murders in the Building
Marvel's What If...?
Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Big Shot
Good Morning America
ABC World News Tonight
The Today Show
The Tonight Show
NBC Nightly News
CBS Sunday Morning
Girlfriends (it was a long day at work)
Sister Sister (again, a long work day)
Saved by the Bell
Brooklyn 99 (getting back to watching that, rewatching some of seasons 1,2, and 3)
Saturday Night Live
Quantum Leap
M*A*S*H
The Greatest American Hero
Some of those aren't current, I'll grant you.
I have finally gotten my first fresh apples of the year. County Market. I think they were Fuji, Pink Lady, or Gala.
Wait, let me check here and see what I've got right now.
I definitely have some Gala apples from Hy Vee.
Let me check. I also got some Honeycrisp apples, also from the Hy Vee at Northgate on East Kimberly in Davenport.
Finally, I got some kind of apples called Stemilt Rave. They also came from a Hy Vee.
The ones I just finished from County Market were something or other.
As of Wednesday, September 29th, Lewistown's Varsity Football team was 1-3. They pulled off a hat-trick 26-14 win over South Fulton in their recent game, on Friday, September 17th.
Lewistown lost its first game to Havana, 22-6, but at least we did score a touchdown. We didn't manage a touchdown in our next two efforts, with a 34-0 loss posted against Illini West in Carthage, and a home loss, 30-0, to Rushville-Industry, on Homecoming night. It wasn't for lack of effort, though. The Indians had a pretty good drive that at least led to a 3rd down play at the end zone where the QB threw a pass at the running back or wide receiver. But it slid through his fingers.
The Rushville game also has the dubious distinction of having one of the worst calls by a referee of the season. It probably will go down as the worst.
Sam Arnett got thrown to the ground while trying to lead a Lewistown drive to their endzone. And apparently we threw the 2nd shove before the one that put him on the ground. Needless to say, we got the penalty yards.
Our coaches went ballistic. For good reason. Rushville's lineman was just about to charge ours. Who WAS ALREADY ON THE GROUND. IT WAS RIDICULOUS.
It should have been 23-6. Or 23-7. Or 23-8. We should have scored on one of the passes, or perhaps on that drive when Arnett was carrying the ball.
I will say this, Wyatt Neidig, our back-up quarterback, has performed ably as a back up quarterback as Dane has been on the mend with his shoulder. He played a significant role in our 26-14 defeat of South Fulton.
It was a great celebration to win the game against South Fulton, with Blayne Clary and Trey Gaston punching in a collective 4 touchdowns, replete with help from Wyatt the new back-up quarterback. But he got hurt in this game, and so did Porter Black. So we've been hit hard with injuries. That, compounded by the pandemic sheltering in place and quarantine led us to call the game against Princeville this past Friday.
Then our game against West Hancock at Warsaw happened.
We got to play against West Hancock on two weeks' rest. And we got off to a flying start with a Blayne Clary touchdown. Then Wyatt Neidig and Trey Gaston punched in some more touchdowns. I was asked by the announcer who was able to cross into the endzone with the first touchdown. But I couldn't tell for sure! It was heavily covered! By the West Hancock Defense! If the Announcer couldn't tell, how was I supposed to determine who was taking it in? And I was looking through the tiny monitor of the Sony Carl Zeiss camera! I couldn't look at the action in wide angle in person!
Alleman hasn't won a single game yet. And my dad is concerned that they may be playing their last season of eleven man football in the Western Big 6 Conference. Their enrollment has dropped. There were only eleven freshmen boys. There was no freshman sophomore football team. Everyone is playing on the Varsity roster.
Movies:
Don't Look Up
Red, White, and Water
Respect
Free Guy
Stillwater
Finch
Encanto
Dune
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
Ron's Gone Wrong
Home Sweet Home Alone
The Addams Family 2
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Marvel's The Eternals
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
No Time to Die
The Many Saints of Newark
King Richard
The Matrix 4 (if it's released)
Dear Evan Hanson
West Side Story
Television: You'd better believe I've been watching The Wonder Years! The reboot, or as Elisha Williams has called it, the Remix, on ABC by way of Hulu. As mentioned, Elisha Williams has the title role, of Dean Williams. It is a black family. Montgomery, Alabama, 1968. He rides the bus to school with his best friend, Corey. He loans his Avengers comic book to Keisa Clemmons, the girl he's had his eyes on since second grade, and long has been working up the nerve to ask out. But he keeps getting cold feet when the opportunity arises for a moment of gallantry.
And he doesn't want to wait too long to make his move, because, heaven forbid, what if her magical first kiss is with somebody else?
Add to this the backdrop of the war in Vietnam, where Dean's older brother is stationed, potential marital strife, as the Dad, played by Dulé Hill, is a music professor by day, a session musician and recording artist by night; and the mom, this time a working mom, happens to have a work buddy who she convinced to help with Dean's baseball team; and the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and we've got a very cogent, very relevant series.
The first episode had a delightful showdown between Dean's dad and his mom's workfriend/coach. And this was a hilarious scene that segued directly into the news report from Walter Cronkite that Dr. King had been shot in Memphis.
A harrowing moment. Civic unity. Civic outrage.
Dean tried to turn to his friends. And he couldn't have found himself more alone in that moment.
I love the new version of The Wonder Years.
Other shows I am picking up:
Only Murders in the Building
Marvel's What If...?
Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Big Shot
Good Morning America
ABC World News Tonight
The Today Show
The Tonight Show
NBC Nightly News
CBS Sunday Morning
Girlfriends (it was a long day at work)
Sister Sister (again, a long work day)
Saved by the Bell
Brooklyn 99 (getting back to watching that, rewatching some of seasons 1,2, and 3)
Saturday Night Live
Quantum Leap
M*A*S*H
The Greatest American Hero
Some of those aren't current, I'll grant you.