John Hanley's Summer 2015 Top Ten Cool Things
John Hanley's Summer 2015 Top Ten Cool Things
10. Deez Nutz! Yes, I know it's inane, and yes, I know it's older than the four months it's dominated the "humorous" discourse at 1052. But those facts not withstanding, there is nothing like a good Deez Nutz joke, particularly when played out in The Peoples Court or when it briefly becomes a candidate for POTUS. Why is this cool? That's entertainment, ladies and gentlemen!
9. Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand. I read more this past summer than I have in a while, and this book stands out from the crowd. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the first half of the American Century. It was very cool because I found myself enjoying the sport of kings of all things through passages of great power and grace.
(Runners-up: The Road - Cormac McCarthy; Gasoline Alley Complete Sundays, Vol. 1 & 2 - Frank King; The League of Regrettable Superheroes - Jon Morris)
8. Rick and Morty. I experienced most of the runners-up listed below from a distance as Jack and Charlie binge-watched them on the laptop in our living room, a bit of a disappointment as I had expected this to be The Summer Of Seinfeld around our house. However, by the end of August, I'd about had enough of this and used my Amazon Prime account to buy a couple of seasons of Rick and Morty, a fiendishly funny animated series that will not at all sound so if I describe its specific elements. Let me just say that we laughed and we laughed, and I think most of you would, too, so you should give this very cool show a try.
(Runners-up: Bojack Horseman; Parks and Recreation; The Office; Arrested Development; Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
7. Love and Mercy. While I expected to enjoy this bio-pic about Beach Boys' resident genius Brian Wilson, I did not anticipate coming away from the film with the sensation of having experienced a great work of art. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the good luck that has led to one of the great third acts in American arts and letters would extend to this extraordinarily insightful movie. This was cool because Brian and I go way back.
6. Camping w The Fam. This year was the fifty-ninth since my first trip to Interlochen State Park with my family. It was the second year that we stayed in a camper cabin while we let the boys stay in their man cave tent across the way. This is generally the best week of the year and the very cool fact is that this year was no exception.
5. Road trip 2K15, Return to Hell: Schuler Books & Music. Continuing a tradition we began in 2003, I tossed the boys into my MINI Cooper some time after school let out for the summer and off we went to wherever our mood took us. This year's road trip was a little different in that we consciously set out to repeat favored destinations from the past (hence our stop in beautiful Hell, MI) and that we finally landed at a motel considerably further south than usual, in Lansing. However, this spot turned out to be why this was the coolest road trip of all as we discovered a kind of frozen-in-time version of the late, lamented Borders Books, Schuler Books and Music, at the mall down the road from our motel.
4. CPH, My Buddy. Charles Preston Hanley is my youngest son, and I'm not gonna lie, at age 13 can present some special challenges. But that said, it's certainly nothing I didn't face in almost three decades of teaching, and besides none of those erstwhile charges were such day-in-day-out buddies of mine. By which I mean that as this summer unfolded, I realized that despite Jack's newfound freedom (see #3), Charlie was the guy I could count on to be there for me — you know, kind of like Gus is during the school year, only instead of spending 75% of his day sleeping, Charlie put in overtime every day watching Minecraft videos on his cell phone. Which despite the occasional take-out-those-damned-ear-buds flare-up, made him a really and truly cool thing from Summer 2015.
3. JEH, Free At Last. My middle boy, Jack, decided to leave the high school marching band program in mid-July. Now that the dust has settled from this momentous decision, I have to say that he looks almost as relaxed as another member of the family does after leaving a thirty year career as a classroom teacher behind. And we all ought to know that no matter the age, less stress = more coolness.
2. TCAF w WPH, BMOC. My summer kicked off a little bit early as I put my blog on hiatus, then cut out for the Toronto Comics Art Festival with my oldest son, Walter. I can't think of a cooler way to spend the beginning of summer than visiting a truly big city and taking part in a gathering of some of the very coolest practitioners of a favorite art form there, unless it was doing so with my son, whose idea the trip was and who in his patience and helpfulness made it possible for me to go. The summer ended with Walter heading off to college, and while I had decidedly mixed emotions, ranging from elation to grief, at that prospect, at least I was able to look back with love on a final adventure of his boyhood.
1. Walking 4 mi a day w JBH. I can't quite believe I'm saying this, but the coolest thing from Summer 2015 was getting this damned Fitbit that rests on my left wrist even as I type and has made it possible for me to really lean into an everyday exercise program, thus forestalling if not reversing the effects of the Parkinson's Disease that began to be apparent a few years back. Of course, like all the really great things in my life, I have one person to thank for getting me up most mornings this past summer, seeing that I got that initial 3500 steps or so in, then encouraging me to do more midday before she came home after work, and much more often that not taking me out and past the magic wrist-tingle that comes with 10,000 steps. That person is the Beloved Spousal Unit, the one, the only, Julie Boyer Hanley, who is now and forever the coolest thing in my life. Thanks, honey! I love you bunches!
#6: Camping w The Fam