By Jim Magdefrau

So it’s been a while. I’m looking for an artificial intelligence way of writing a column. I have the artificial thing down, but I’m still working on the intelligence.

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I enjoyed catching “The Music Man” and its portrayal of Iowa in the early 1900s. The music still knocks me out. The folks would usually buy the soundtrack before we’d go to the movie, so we knew all of the songs when we heard them on the screen.

It captures the great Iowa traditions and stereotypes.

One scene that jumps out is the mayor’s wife protesting to the local librarian, seeking to ban books with which she disagreed.

I am so glad the movie is fictional. It could never happen today.

Pick a little. Peck a little.

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A lot of my friends are back from trips to the gulf, the Caribbean, Florida and Arizona. I’m still bouncing back from my big trip down south over the border. Maryville and Kansas City. The instant that I pull off the interstate and see the sign to watch for horse-drawn vehicles, I know I’m in the right place.

When out of town, my college friends give me a rough time in that wherever I go, I know somebody. It is a treat to see folks from Benton County when out of town. It provides a sense of security. We get away so we can visit about the place we got away from.

A highlight was picking up a book which gives a pictorial history of Kelly’s Westport Inn. A highlight of the highlight is a full page on Tombo, one of the many “mayors” of Westport. He knew our names as soon as we walked in.

The weather was a bit rainy and snowy, which made for another fun four-mile run through the streets of Westport. By run, I mean walk. We weren’t in last place, but we could see where it was. Recovery at Kelly’s led me to my first Irish coffee. There’s something going on in there that I like.

The basketball team gave us plenty to cheer about and then to be philosophical about. We’re already looking forward to next season and another trip to the Big 12. Old friends and new friends. That’s the whole idea. That’s the Iowa Way.

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The week before that, many traveled to see BC coach Kal Goodchild get inducted into the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame, with the plaque presented by Coach Kirk Ferentz. They saved Kal for the final award, knowing he would deliver a standup routine that the crowd would enjoy.

My contribution to football is sending along good motivational quotes that I find. But he has the best quote that he tells his players.

“You might not be gifted. But you can be tough. And toughness is a gift.”

Congratulations to coach. He and his players are living examples of that.