maybe it's just me

All Apologies

Somewhere in the depths of my New Year's Eve stupor, a sober one in fact, I had a thought about making an effort in 2005 to do a better job. At everything. My one sort-of typical, exercise related resolution was to do push-ups. I know it sounds weird but I was home alone with the cat, Mary was in Pittsburgh & I'd stayed up late reading this book, a really long book about magicians that has footnotes. The date above this entry is something like the 16th of January, I think. Push-ups done so far = 0. I did have a chance to go home to Chicago for a week, which was just about enough time. I had a show opening & although I left Boston with only $40 & no frames for the pictures, everything turned out in the end. Things accomplished = 1. Things I appreciate about Chicago now that I've been away for some months = many. Including...people I know & miss, an elegant gridded city plan, efficient comprehensive public transportation, cheap diners & probably 100 things I'm forgetting because I just had my first cup of coffee.

And speaking of lists...After digesting countless lists from others I realized that having spent no time thinking about my own list in the last 12 months might be a detriment to making one today. And then I decided to make one on the fly. So here it is; some things that I can remember being awesome in 2004, more or less.

(In no particular order, of course. Numbered for ease of use.)

1. Mastodon - Leviathan. I read somewhere that this record is all about Moby Dick. That's really nice but I don't care. The heaviness is most welcome, gets the blood rising & soothes at the same time. Why is that?

2. Hot Doug's - Chicago's Sausage Superstore. Newly re-opened, bigger & just as mouth-watering. On my recent jaunt home I ate there twice in three days. The BBQ Hot Link is the dog of my dreams.

3. Leo's Lunchroom - Chicago. There's new owners, the prices are slightly higher & now the menus are yellow but staff seems the same old friendly bunch & the Reuben (on wheat, thank you) made my day (which was already going pretty good).

4. Fixed Gear Gallery. This is the stuff dreams are made of.

5. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow.
6. Rogue Wave - Out of the Shadow.
7. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs.
8. Black Dice - Creature Comforts.

9. A Very Long Engagement - Jeunet hits all the right buttons & Audrey Tatou is still really cute.

10. Deerhoof - Milk Man & Live.
11. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes & Live. I didn't go to a lot of shows in 2004 but both of these bands had my face hurting from smiling so damn much. The LPs are decent but only partial evidence of their amazing-ness.

12. Slint Reunites! - Am I dreaming? My friend Matt Jencik tried out for bass & got 3 callbacks but didn't make it.

13. Oneida live in Boston. My one & only musical outing here so far. I was someone's plus one & I got a ride & someone bought me a drink. And then Oneida dropped rock bombs, keeping on even after wimps left to catch the T. An almost perfect night out.

14. The Arcade Fire - Funeral.
15. Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days & The Creek Drank the Cradle. I caught on way late but both were helpful in shutting out the early morning commute noise & defining the annual winter doldrums.

16. Ted Leo & the Phamacists - Shake the Sheets & Live. He can do know wrong on record. The live performance left me speechless, all goosebumpy when they covered Springsteen & Stiff Little Fingers for an encore.

17. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand. Undeniable.

18. The Decemberists - Her Majesty & the Tain EP. The most suitable inheritor of Neutral Milk Hotel's crown of sea shanty, wheezy, kitchen-sink Pet Sounds genius & whatever

19. The Walkmen - Bows & Arrow + Live. My most listened to of 2004. Look here for my thoughts on the show.

20. Madvillan - Madvillainy. Most anticipated & most worth it. Doom & Madlib collide & make weird hip-hop babies. (I'd put the new Doom on here too but I only just heard the whole thing this morning.)

21. Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album. Tush was the dirty hook that kept me coming back until the rest got caught in my head. Thank goodness for Ghostface.

22. Eccentric Soul - The Capsoul Label. So many semi-undiscovered gems from one tiny label.
23. Midwest Funk - 45s From Tornado Alley. Look no further than here to swell your mid-continent pride. Dante Carfagna does the homework.

24. Wax Poetics. If it doesn't get your fingers itching to look through some saggy, cat peed LP racks then you're dead inside.

25. Garden State - Zach Braff directs upper-Middle Class, mid-20's anchorless-ness that makes me happy regardless of personal shoulder chips & that cringe-worthy sequence involving the Shins song.
26. Scrubs. Along with Arrested Develoment below, one of the only worthwhile sitcoms on TV.

27. Arrested Development. The resurrection of Jason Bateman. One of the weirdest & best shows on TV. Who knew that Ron Howard had it in him to be involved in something like this? Jeffery Tambor!!!

28. Mythbusters. Although our less than basic cable leaves out the Discovery Channel, I will gladly wait out daylong BitTorrent downloads to watch them try to raise a sunken ship with ping pong balls on a tiny screen.

29. Beautiful Losers.
30. Morning Wood. Both recent books bring together hugely disparate artists all related by skateboarding, surfing, graffiti & other "marginalized" cultures. The work is fucking good.

31. Stephen Shore - Uncommon Places: The Complete Works. It's like the unexpurgated Bible.

32. ReadyMade Magazine. Even though we've yet to make anything from it's pages, it sure is inspiring.

33. The Boston Public Library. The Chicago Public Library & I got off on the wrong foot several times. Both of us felt it best to leave the other alone. Starting with a clean slate in Boston has allowed a new & fruitful relationship to blossom. Aside from the lack of magazine reading room (Am I missing it? Where is it?), I like everything about the library. It's so nice to be back in the comfortable, non-late fee owing bosom of public bookdom.

34. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger. I know I read some good books this year but this is one of the only ones I can remember. That must mean something.

35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry. Is there anything better than seeing a great movie for free? I liked it so much I went back with Mary the next day & paid. I hope there's more forthcoming our favorite French video director.

36. DVD burning software. I still can't believe that it's as easy as it is.

37. M. Hulot's Holiday.
38. Mon Oncle - Jacques Tati. Criterion got around to reissuing these finally. No word on Playtime, though. Check out the Tativille site, too.

39. Jeffrey Brown
40. Anders Nilsen. The kids at the Holy Consumption of Chicago are alright.

41. The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone.

42. Huck Finn. The restaurant. How I miss thee.

43. Pittsburgh. They got bridges & Heather White.
44. Primanti Brothers sandwiches. Pittsburgh has these, too

45. Kanye West - College Dropout. I wore it out.

46. The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl. I believe I am a fan of historical fiction.
47. The Baroque Cycle - Neal Stephenson. I'm only 1/3 of the way through this trilogy that deals with math & science, vagabonds & pirates, natural philosophers & the church, the origins of modern banking & the stock exchange. and intrigue among European royals plus some other stuff.

48. Taking Pictures LP - Someone needs to put out this record.

49. 2046 - Wong Kar-wai. I just saw it on dvd in Chicago. I can't say much besides I want to see it again.

50. Graduate School. Worth all the trouble, so far.

Posted by Rob at January 17, 2005 11:26 AM | TrackBack