My Year in Lists

So as another year slingshots its way around the last orbit of the toilet bowl of time, one cannot help but look back at the last year. I've done a whole lot of nothing in the sense that I've not really moved forward professionally or educationally; but somehow that doesn't really bother me right now. I've taken up a few new hobbies, and resumed one for which I thought I'd lost almost all interest. I've made a great deal of new friends that I really appreciate, and hope that I've broadened their horizons as much as they have mine. That's all I'm going to say on that type of retrospective self-indulgence. But, there still remains the entertainment factor of my year.

Concerts:

1. Pixies - DAR Constitution Hall
Easily the best show of the year. I finally got to hear these rock icons play in an incredible venue (the only detraction was having to stay in the area of my seat). They played the entirety of Doolittle and all pertinent B-Sides as well as encored with most of Surfer Rosa. There was a kid who even got on stage and danced across. He would've gotten away too, if the little re-re didn't try to get back to his seat after running away. I mean seriously, the security is smarter than the video game guards you go up against on the daily, junior.

2. Cake - 9:30 Club
What can I say? My first real blog was about this show, and it carried its way all the way through to my top 5 concerts. The sing-a-longs and witty repartee was classic Cake. Double set? Yes Please! Commemorative 9:30 Cupcakes? Yupcakes!

3. The Thermals - Black Cat
I have to put this concert in the top 5 if nothing else but for the fact that I was in the first mosh pit I've been in for nearly a decade. It was also the first positive mosh pit I've been in...ever, really. High energy indie pop punk that brings to mind sitting in your parents basement listening to punk albums and damning the man.

4. Matt and Kim - Black Cat
These two kids show just how happy they are to be playing on a stage in front of people at every show. That newness is so refreshing. With their wild stage antics (mule kicking, and impromptu dance party-ing) and random :30 second covers of pop and hip hop, Matt and Kim are an infectiously catchy group that I will continue to see (even if they really are retiring some of their :30 second covers)

5. Ghostland Observatory (ACLMF) - Zilker Park
I just finished writing about this, but it was that important an experience that I didn't care if it was no longer timely. I love this band, live, and had so much fun at this particular show. Between the cameo by the UT marching band and my almost-over-enthusiastic 5-person dance party people, I had to let this one round out the top 5.

Albums:

1. Matt and Kim - Grand
Incredibly simple, straight-forward, dancy indie pop. These kids are catchy and the fun of their live shows nearly translates to the album.

2. Gossip - Music for Men
Frontwoman, Beth Ditto, provides a voice that's equal parts cotton candy and whiskey over dancy guitar and drums.

3. The Protomen - Act II: The Father of Death
Incredibly geeky, but a band that is slowly producing an epic rock opera about Megaman is freaking awesome. The sound itself is way more mature with a fuller, more rockabilly influenced sound. I must say though, I do miss some of those 8-bit sounds...

4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
Sweet, noisy songs of being in love that call to mind bands like the Vaselines and the Smiths.

5. Passion Pit - Manners
Loud, dreamy songs that embody summertime fun.

Songs:

1. 1901 - Phoenix

2. Little Secrets - Passion Pit

3. Good Old Fashioned Nightmare - Matt and Kim

4. Albatross, Albatross, Albatross - The Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

5. Love of an Orchestra - Noah and the Whale

Movies:

1. Inglorious Basterds

2. District 9

3. Moon

4. Drag Me to Hell

5. Up

Comics (!!SPOILERS!!):

1. Invincible Iron Man (Matt Fraction/Salvador LaRoca)
Incredible story, if last year was the rise of Tony Stark as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.; this year's frantic spiral down into the Disassembled arc is the perfect reversal of fortune.

2. Fables (Bill Willingham/Mark Buckingham)
Fables had slipped in my eyes after the Flycatcher arc, but the goings ons on the Farm, and Buffkin rebuffing Babayaga's attempts to escape the office are both intriguing and action packed.

3. Green Lantern franchise (Geoff Johns & Peter Tomasi/Various Artists)
The War of Light that has been building since 2004 has finally arrived and gives rise to a new breed of "zombies" in the DC universe!

4. Dark Avengers (Brian Michael Bendis/Mike Deodato)
The Marvel Universe is upside down, and a homicidal maniac is in charge of the world's premiere peace keeping organization. He has used his new governmental powers to misappropriate the identities of earth's mightiest heroes and give them to known criminals to deliver his own unique brand of justice.

5. Batman and Robin (Grant Morrison/Frank Quietly & Philip Tan)
Bruce Wayne is dead. His son is the new Robin and the first Robin is the new Batman. Grant Morrison's sense of the bizarre and macabre lends itself seamlessly into Batman's world and shows that Batman is an ideal and not just a man while delivering us new villains and unique takes on classic ones.

TV:

1. Sons of Anarchy
The biker drama roared back this season with a super-intense opening that grabbed you by the throat and kept squeezing like a vice until the finale kicked you to the ground to recover for next season.

2. Flash Forward
Who thought that stealing half of Lost's concept would work so well and not feel as hackneyed as it sounds? It brings up great predestination/free will arguments to boot.

3. Modern Family
Well-written mockumentary style show about a complex interconnected family. Ed O'Neil proves that he's not just a one trick pony that needs to be put out to pasture.

4. Community
In my opinion, the first of NBC's post-Seinfeld comedies to hit its stride in the first season. The credit bits with the guy from Derrick Comedy? Easily best part of the show.

5. Venture Bros.
The stoners at Astro-Base Go! bring us Season 4 of Venture Bros. The cast continues to expand, characters continue to grow and change, all the while delivering top-notch satire and nostalgia.