The Turnaround
I was a doubter, a hater, a shaker of the head. When Peter King and a few other NFL analysts said the Colts had a reasonable shot at the playoffs last August, I wondered what they had ingested that had so altered their judgement. This was a team that won 2 games last year! How in the hell did people…
Reading, Part 2
I finished 2012 with two books about two of my favorite teams ever. Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever – Jack McCallum. This is a perfect accounting of the perfect team: the 1992 US men’s basketball team. The long-time Sports Illustrated NBA…
Reading, Part 1
2012 was an interesting year for me, reading-wise. For the first time since I can recall, I struggled to read. I went an entire calendar month – April – without finishing a book. Where I normally went from one book straight to the next, I had a hard time picking books to read. For the previous four summers I spent…
Stats 2012
Top 10 artists for 2012, based on my Last.fm stats, which sadly, aren’t necessarily a full representation of what I listened to. Close enough for blog purposes, I suppose. Wussy – 250 The Clash – 220 The White Stripes – 219 Japandroids – 188 Jack White – 184 Frightened Rabbit – 169 Radiohead – 150 Pearl Jam – 145 Dum…
Out With The Old
Each year, when I post something around New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day, I make the joke that it’s the Xth straight good year in my life. I say it’s a joke because let’s face it, any year where you’re still upright at the end is a good year. You can go through mistakes and missteps, tragedy and loss, but if…
Christmas 2012
It was a pretty memorable Christmas for the B’s. Not because there were any super special presents, although we’re having trouble forcing the girls to stop playing with their Barbie Dream House. It wasn’t because of a surprise visitor, although we did have some fun guests. Nope, it was the anticipation of the Blizzard of 2012 that really added something…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #1
“The House That Heaven Built” – Japandroids Here it is, the big one! This, my friends, is a great fucking song. It is a song that, the first time I heard it, I knew would be in the running for song of the year. I’ve listened to it countless times since that first play in April, and it has never…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #2
“Season In Hell” – Dum Dum Girls The Dum Dum Girls topped my favorites list last year with “He Gets Me High.” They nearly repeat with this, perhaps their finest song yet. Over the past two years lead singer Dee Dee Penny’s life has been a whirlwind. Her mother got sick and then died. Her band immediately blew up, becoming…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #3
“Myth” – Beach House Because there is always a difference between reality and our deepest desires, even the best relationships are based, in part, upon a myth. When that gap is exposed, heartbreak is inevitable. Here Beach House explore the moment that gap becomes evident, and the overwhelming desire to bridge it. Your heart can’t help but break a little…
Holiday Notes
I’ve written at least 2000 words about Newtown, but none of them have felt right to share here. I may yet post some thoughts about it, but for now let’s focus on more enjoyable stuff. So, holiday notes! Any home with girls in it will have a higher than normal amount of random glitter. Stuck to furniture, in the laundry,…