Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013 :: These Are a Few of my Favorite Things
This one and that one:
New job, new hat, all good stuff.
Really the favorites of all of my favorite favorites. Forreals.
All Media Network
Turmoil! Upheaval! Exciting Things! Terrifying Things! Liberating Things! Pain-In-The-Ass Facilities/Office Manager/Startup-y Things! This year my former company spun the websites I work for off to a new company called All Media Network. This means that the day-to-day operation of AllMusic, AllMovie and AllGame has been handed over to myself and a small team of my good friends. While this is ultimately not unwelcome, it is a huge responsibility and it weighs heavily on my soul. I am up for the task, I feel empowered to keep the sites growing, but at the same time...hoo boy. It was a bit of a surprise.
We hired a really talented designer, got our shit together and nailed down an entire from-the-ground-up redesign of the site in a matter of weeks.
It then won an FWA shortlist award and will be a Merit award winner in the 15th Annual HOW Interactive Design Awards in July 2014.
It was a slog to build out but I'm incredibly proud of the results.
Basement Erasement
A couple years ago we had some problems with our plumbing and the guy said "You've got two options. You can replace all of the plumbing or you can never keep anything of value in your basement." This year we replaced all of the plumbing in our house (no small task), then insulated, painted, repaired the cement, replaced the windows, added carpeting and put furniture down there, now we have a place for the boy to put his Legos and we could reclaim the living room. Hard work, expensive, but ultimately worth it.
My father's day consisted of Zingerman's bacon, Biercamp brats, Bells beer, the Detroit Tigers and Washtenaw Dairy ice cream.
Michigan Father's Day achieved
They look so cartoonishly alive. I want to watch a Cartoon Network series based on their escapades.
Bobcat Goldthwait voices Red Rooster and Pee Wee Herman is the voice of Big Blue.
SXSW
I got to go to South By Southwest music festival as part of my job. Lonestars, BBQ and heard some good music.
AMG Softball Reunion
I flexed my Softball bones at an AMG softball team reunion game this year. Everybody won.
A talented artist created the monster on the left and then another talented artist create a companion monster on the right.
They both look like cool bros.
A boat tour under Mighty Mac
We took a boat tour under the Mackinac Bridge and really got the back story and little tidbits about the construction of the bridge. Additionally, sailing underneath the bridge and seeing all of the angles in the sunset was pretty great. Recommended!
Porchsleeper reunion
Where you been? Honestly this is probably the only situation in the history of rock and roll where the band members liked hanging out with each other so much that they decided to start playing music together again just so they could be around each other. Also, this is the basic plot of Brokeback Mountain.
I have some pretty nice friends.
Literati
An independent bookstore opened in a downtown location in America. It was appreciated and became financially viable, not by selling papercraft or incense or action figures, but by selling actual books. Film at 11.
Isalita
A terrific Mexican street food place called Isalita opened up in our town. Bury me in elotes!
I've always heard the phrase "Does a bear shit in the woods?" but I guess I never thought about what polar bears might do...
I saw a meteor:
I really thought it was just above Ann Arbor. Turns out it was an entire state away. Still, pretty wild to see.
My Mom retired
Long time coming. She seems happier.
On the night before April Fools Day I spent about an hour gluing googly eyes on every thing in our fridge.
The look on my wife's face the next morning was worth it.
Also, there's still a mustard with one eye in the door of our refrigerator.
The Bar at Braun Court
A kooky little bar opened our little town and I got to spend some time there this year. They serve some weird drinks and they have a bathroom full of plug-in moving portraits of Niagara Falls. It feels a lot like the kind of bar I'll probably open someday.
I saw Hem, Band of Horses, Old 97s and Drive By Truckers do rock shows.
We also saw Bill Harley who does stories and kids music, and I'll be damned if this goofy guy doing his storytelling goofballiness didn't stick with us. We'll go see him again.
At my grandma's 95th birthday party she only received whiskey.
She made excellent choices in life.
"Swing out...Beach Boys... downstairs ...annnnd we're back. YEAH!"
Vine
Teeny six-second movies that loop. Sometimes it's the little things.
Wii U
We finally caved and got a video game system for the boy (now that we have a cool basement). It's a pretty amazing piece of technology.
The podcasts Harmontown and Bullseye with Jesse Thorn.
Both of these are worth putting in your ears.
This guy makes fathering look like fun (and being his wife look very challenging).
Tumblr in general but also LiartownUSA
Liartown USA are the folks behind the fake grocery fliers you may have seen. All comedy gold.
This Spotify Playlist has my best tunes from 2013.
Spotify is like a faucet of music that you just turn on
Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
Quite simply the most original and best album of the year. Damn if those French robots don't know how to make good music.
Lonesome Dreams by Lord Huron
The debut from Michigan-born/Los Angeles-based band, this got a lot of play from me this summer. Just terrific wistful and melodic music from the ends of the earth.
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You by Neko Case
Oh Neko, you wild thing. How do you make such incredible, loving, terrifying music. I think if I met you we'd eithe have a pleasant conversation or you'd force me into a car for some unwanted Thelma & Louise-type caper. (Aw who'm I kidding, I'd probably go willingly).
Ghost on Ghost by Iron & Wine
In my imagination, Sam Beam moved down to a ramshackle old mansion in New Orleans, channeled some ghosts and then hired a ton of great musicians to record a new version of Astral Weeks. That's how the movie plays out in my head anyways.
The Ash & Clay by The Milk Carton Kids
Heartbreakingly sweet and haunting, these two kids pick up the Gillian Welch/David Rawlings mantle, channel it through some early Simon & Garfunkel LPs and make some really charming and heartfelt songs.
Summer Sleeves by Andrew Leahey & the Homestead
Even though this EP is only 4 songs long, the leadoff track "Little In Love" got a ton of "windows-down-volume-up" play in my car this summer.
Hannah Georgas by Hannah Georgas
Haim and Lorde made a ton of noise this year but in my opinion, this Canadian singer-songwriter has more songwriting chops than both of 'em.
No Beginning No End by José James
Imagine if that D'Angelo video of his torso was interpreted by a jazz combo and recorded for Blue Note, you might have an idea of what this album is about.
Magpie and the Dandelion by The Avett Brothers
While I believe these are mostly b-sides or leftovers or what-have-you from The Carpenter sessions, I liked this better than the proper album they put out.
Steel Guitar Jazz by Buddie Emmons
While this album actually came out 50 years ago, I was turned onto it this year. It was described to me thusly: "I picked up an album in NYC that I have now learned is the long out of print score for the Truman Show-esque movie about Zac. When he's in the scene, this is playing. In your head, his, or both."
Good for summer afternoons or January days when you wish it was summer.
Finally: somebody uncovered this recording of The Ronettes doing Baby I Love You (Isolated Mix)
These are books:
True North by Jim Harrison
I waited until I was in the northern Michigan woods before starting this book and it was the right choice. Harrison's simple anti-hero drinks too much, gets some tail from women who are not too skinny and aimlessly tries to atone for the horrible money-grubbing rape of the wilderness his family has caused in the Upper Peninsula. No wait, it's really good and uplifting. Aw, I'm not telling it right. Jim Harrison does though. You should let him do it.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
A twisting tale that kept me rapt the whole way through. I am afraid to see the movie.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Listed as young adult fiction, but this weirdo time travel Potter-esque tale was pretty dark and twisted. Kudos!
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
An amateur pilot and his dog try to survive in a barren post-apocalyptic wilderness. Gripping.
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Craig Marks, Rob Tannenbaum
I will never look at Billy Squier the same way.
Straight Man by Richard Russo
Over the novel's four days, all heck breaks loose -- while his wife is out of town, college professor Hank Devereaux's department goes haywire, his daughter's marriage dissolves, his nose is mutilated by a coworker, he threatens to kill a goose on local television . . . oh, there's a drunken episode involving a hot tub, and another scene in which our hero is stuck in a heating vent while spying on a department meeting.
Dare Me by Megan Abbott
If you had handed me this book about two high school cheerleaders getting involved in a smalltown suicide/murder investigation and said "You'll really like it" I woulda said "Nah." In fact it was quite compelling and made me very glad that we will never have a teenaged girl living in our house.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This was not a terrific book but it was a terrific read. The definition of a page-turner. It'll probably make a great movie if they don't screw it up too bad.
So many people say "It's the greatest" or "There's not a bad episode in the whole series" and that is tough to swallow from a rabid uber-fan. "Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's great." But if you spend 44 minutes and watch the pilot, you might want to clear your schedule for the next couple weeks. It's pretty compelling TV. Also, I am now interested in buying some crystal meth if you know somebody who is holding.
Arrested Development
I never watched these the first time around although the concept is right up my alley (comedy weirdos, ensemble cast) and when they got resurrected by Netflix I started watching the first series. There is a lot to like but I abandoned ship about halfway through. I'll get back in once Breaking Bad is done.
The IT Crowd's Last Episode
Poke around on the innernets. It's worth it.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Joss Whedon had something to do with it. I'm In.
Workaholics
Alternately hilarious and creepy but then hilarious in the creeposity. These brajs really love each other, which is sweet...but creepy.
The usual suspects.
Tigers games, Mad Men, Firefly and 30 Rock reruns.
R.I.P. 30 Rock!!!
'I love this cornbread so much I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.'
– Tracy
'I like when a woman has ambition. It's like seeing a dog wearing clothes'
–Jack
'I watched Boston Legal 9 times before I realized it wasn't a new Star Trek.'
–Tracy
'I don't sleep on planes. I don't want to get incepted.'
-Jack
'I only pass gas once a year, for an hour, atop a mountain in Switzerland.'
– Jack
Liz: 'Why are you wearing a tux?'
Jack: 'It's after six. What am I, a farmer?'
–Liz and Jack
'Who hasn't made mistakes? I once french-kissed a dog at a party to try to impress what turned out to be a very tall 12-year-old.'
–Liz
'They do that a lot in movies: An Affair to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle, and that remake of An Affair to Remember that I was in, A Blaffair to Rememblack.'
–Tracy
'Hey, nerds! Who’s got two thumbs, speaks limited French, and hasn’t cried once today? [pointing thumbs at self] This moi.'
-Liz
'One time I laughed at a blind guy eating spaghetti! Sometimes I pee in the shower if I’m really tired! I saw my grandparents making love once and I didn’t leave right away!'
-Liz
Kenneth: 'And your landlord called and he says it's not the toilet, it's you.'
Liz: 'That's his opinion.'
-Liz and Kenneth
'Here's some advice I wish I woulda got when I was your age: Live every week like it's Shark Week.'
–Tracy
These are all of the movies I saw this year.
I offer no ranking for them only to say that Planes was pretty terrible and Free Birds was only passable.
Pacific Rim
Iron Man 3
Gravity
Thor: The Dark World
Sound City
Planes
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
Free Birds
Our ancient cat Bukowski died.
The only cat I ever knew who would fetch. Hair ties, milk jug rings...If you balled up a piece of paper she would come around to see if you would throw it.
My Great-Uncle Aub died
A ballsy old coot. He drove a hot yellow muscle car for as long as I knew him.
Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burgers Closed.
My parents actually sorta met at Blimpy's all those years ago. Hopefully they'll reopen somewhere but I doubt it'll be the same.
Some folks I worked with no longer work with me.
Some by choice, some were not by choice. All were a drag.
Famous people I like died.
George Jones, Storm Thorgerson, Roger Ebert, Hal Needham, Jonathan Winters, Elmore Leonard and Barbara Park (the author of the sassy Junie B Jones children's books) hit pretty hard.
Thanks Innernets and those involved with my life.
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