2003 list - for those who have extra time

I’ve found myself being much more politically minded these days. I’m still pretty apathetic as far as action goes, but I bitch more pointedly. Nearly every day, angry mental letters are written to Bush…then mentally shredded.

You can’t be too careful. The Patriot Act had a section reactivating the Dream Police (Po-lice. Po-lice).

There isn’t much more to say about the current administration that hasn’t already been said, but I am always amazed at how much the media shapes our view of the world. Perception is reality. The country was scared shitless by the non-stop coverage of the Agent Orange Alerts and took action to stop their onslaught. Today the press has gone Momento on us. Why was WMD written on our arms again? I can’t remember. Lives were lost due to a very well-publicized hunch and it’s as if nothing happened. But ohhh, that Martha Stewart. She’s getting hers. Hee Hee. Goodnight dear.

It’s not just Iraq. Howard Dean went from Dr. Can’t-Do-Wrong to screech owl on repeat in 24 hours. Kerry went from bumbling-into-obscurity to a sure win over what’s his name. Whatever the media says is true. I think we should never lose sight of that. There should be a law mandating that US news coverage get its sources from both non-US-based media and US outlets to keep mania in check.

Anywho, I will take of my Crackpot hat to get to music, which is why we all came here tonight. Below are the 10 CDs I listened to most in the past 12 months
10. (Tie) Zwan – Mary, Star of the Sea / Kathleen Edwards – Failer (thanks Matt)
9. MC Paul Barman – Paulelujah! Juvenile, but unique.
8. Triplefastaction – Cattlemen Don’t
7. Ben Harper – Diamonds on the Inside. Not quite Fight For Your Mind (The Best album of the past 10 years or more), but damn good.
6. Nada Surf – Let Go. Has fruit flies as analogy, blizzard of 1977 as backdrop.

In honor of my recent departure from Sony, I will talk about the top 5 using Haiku.

5. Counting Crows – Across A Wire – Live in New York (NOT Hard Candy)
This album kicked ass
Really. This album kicked ass
This album kicked ass

4. Outkast – Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Oh how I miss Prince
Half of this record does too
The other just misses

3. Third Eye Blind – Out of the Vein
My guilty pleasure
Songs about car crashes…cool!
Why are you laughing?

2. Andy Stochanksy – Five Star Motel
Thom Yorke, you’ve lost my
Twelve Dollars, Ninety-Eight cents
I Hail the new Bends

1. Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales AND On and On
(especially Brushfire Fairytales. Amazing, amazing stuff)
A beach party with
Funky folky tendencies
And soothing vocals

Honorable Mention

- Happy Birthday Daddy – Zack and Becca acapella


4 groups starting with the letter P that I wish would make a record as good as their glory days
- Pearl Jam
- Prince and the Revolution
- Plugs 1, 2 and 3
- Pussycats (Josie and the)

Some of my favorite moments of the year
- Playing in the snow with Wendy and the kids. My mental image now has an added a mental soundtrack and slow-mo snowballs.
- Watching Matt propose to Lori while he was wearing a wedding binder and wedding veil. Yeah, I guess you had to be there.
- Finding out #3 is on the way…and then using the promise of naming rights to potential employers. Nextel Communications Lipshultz is due April 5th.
- Telling my family that we were moving back to the area.
- Yet again, the opening kickoff at a Ravens-Steelers game. My father said he was offered $800 for the tickets and didn’t sell them because he knew I wanted to go. It was the end of the season and had no bearing on the playoffs, but every single soul in that stadium acted as if the game had world-altering implications. The towel-thrashing crowd created what looked like ocean wave whitecaps as the haze of fireworks still hung in the air and the speakers pulsated the opening guitar strums of U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name”. My Dad was right – I wouldn’t have sold.
- The next day, after the Steelers lost, my then-gloating father gave the above-mentioned Raven towels to the kids as a gift. I told the kids they were dancing towels. I am still smiling at the image of Zack and Becca pouncing up and down on the face of the Raven on the towel as my Dad helplessly looked on. Quite possibly the most quick witted I’ve been in defeat.
Fin