Mid-week musings

- Happy 65th birthday to one of my favorite rockers--Pete Townsend of The Who.

- Congrats to our friends at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, CA--the agency was just awarded the Chevy business from G.M.

- Outdoor Living ranked the best cities for fishers and hunters and--drum roll, please--Rapid City, S.D. came out the winner.  The rankings were based upon proximity to good fishing and hunting, affordability of living, and general quality of life.  Local markets which made the list were Kirksville, MO; Lebanon, MO; Great Bend, KS; Dodge City, KS and Springfield, MO.

- Postpartum depression isn't just for mothers anymore.  Researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, found that one in 10 fathers become depressed after the birth of their child.

- The Smashburger chain has made its debut locally with the opening of a location in Overland Park, KS.  I've eaten at this location twice now and rate the burgers as quite good, although the fries are pretty pedestrian.  The cuisine is sort of a poor man's Blanc Burgers + Bottles--it sits somewhere between Blanc and Five Guys or Winsteads on the burger continuum of quality coupled with atmosphere and price.  The good news is that you can get a beer with your burger and fries; the bad news is that, if you come during the dinner hour, you may be stuck in the typical Johnson County restaurant hell of screaming babies and kids running around un-supervised.

- The Pacific wrapped up its ten-week run on HBO this past Sunday.  And, much like its companion series, Band of Brothers, the finale was incredibly moving.  Its hard not to watch either of these shows and not feel a tremendous debt of gratitude to the "Greatest Generation" who served seemingly so willingly in World War II.