It’s Wednesday. Her name is Victoria Acosta, and she’s a sixth-grader from Seattle who has been tearing it up behind a drum kit since the age of four. Yes—four. In the years since, Victoria hasn’t just been banging around in the basement; she’s studied with some of the best drummers on the planet, including musicians who have played for legends like Carlos Santana and Lady Gaga. Not bad company for someone who still has homework.

In this clip, she takes on Rush’s Tom Sawyer—no small feat. Anyone even remotely familiar with Rush knows that Neil Peart, the man behind the drum kit, is widely regarded as one of the greatest percussionists of all time, and for good reason. His parts are demanding, precise, and with a level of skill that few drummers ever truly match.

That’s what makes this performance so impressive. Watching Victoria tear through Tom Sawyer at such a young age, it’s impossible not to come away thinking this is just the beginning. She’s not just keeping up—she’s owning it, and it’s clear she’s got a long, very exciting road ahead of her.

-keep

It’s Tuesday. Well, damn. NASCAR has further postponed the Clash race to Wednesday now, saying they need more time to remove all the snow from the Bowman Gray track. NASCAR drivers, crews and fans continue to wait.

In the meantime, one of my Canadian readers sent in today’s featured photo, kindly mocking the measly four inches of snow we’ve got on the ground here in Illinois. Not funny, Hoser.

…Okay, fine. Maybe a little funny.

-keep

Keep,

We here in Canada wanted to send our condolences for the 4″ of snow you received last weekend. It must have been SO stressful… LOL

Regards,

Your friends in the GREAT White North!!

Malcolm

It’s Monday. Well, that’s just great. I was all fired up thinking the long wait was finally over and it was time to hear engines roar again with the first NASCAR preseason race on Sunday. But, of course, Mother Nature had other plans. Those plans came in the form of a major East Coast snowstorm that dumped more than eight inches of the horrid white stuff on the Carolinas—right on Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina. NASCAR will race on a road course in the rain, but snow? Yeah, not so much. The entire weekend of racing was wiped out, and the main event got pushed to Monday night to give crews time to clear the track and get things ready for the teams and fans. And judging from the photo above, that’s going to be no small task.

Here in Illinois, the ground is still buried under snow, but at least the temperatures are finally creeping out of the single digits and into the double digits. Normally that wouldn’t be anything to celebrate, but after weeks of negatives and single-digit misery, you take the win wherever you can—even when it’s a small one.

-keep