2008 in Review
Other than the excellent course correction in the direction of our country decided in November, 2008 for me was kind of a low key year.
I didn't go anywhere new. Back to Champaign for Ebertfest, Orlando for family vacation, and visiting relatives in Illinois and Minnesota -- that's it. For 2009, it's likely to be more of the same. I officially have permission to return to London if I feel like it, but will likely wait until Ben is old enough to go with me.
Movies... there was a mere handful of really good ones, in my opinion. The Dark Knight and The Visitor were my favorites, along with The Band's Visit, Frozen River, and Slumdog Millionaire. Nothing that really stands out as something I must see again. Although, I am currently behind in new releases. It strikes me that I may have seen fewer new movies in 2008 than in any other year since the 1980's.
I was far more excited about TV in 2008, especially after discovering the excellent Emmy-award winning AMC series Mad Men, a show so dense and of such high quality that it was like watching a new short movie every week. My current opinion is that Mad Men may be my all time favorite TV series... that's how much I enjoyed it. To a lesser degree, I also enjoyed discovering both Monarch of the Glen and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on DVD. The former is a quirky Scottish family dramedy that kind of lost its luster after its second season, while the latter is a kind of crude comedy of which we desperately need to see more. I also enjoyed the short-lived summer series Swingtown.
The only new album I purchased and listened to all the way and repeatedly was My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges, about which I commented in August. These days, new music is primarily based upon the singles market in MP3 format. I tend to read about new artists and their music, then download a song or two from Amazon, which started selling MP3s cheaper and in a higher quality format than does iTunes. Also, their MP3s work on any player, not just on iPods. Additionally, Amazon gives away a half dozen or so free MP3 songs every week, many of them big current or classic hits. I love Amazon. Didn't go to any concerts in 2008. Would really love to see one of my old favorites (Billy Joel and/or Sting) come back with a new album.
In any event, 2009 promises to be a more exciting year. Of course, virtually the entire world eagerly awaits our country's regime change. Personally, I have a new home and my son will start school full time. We have our next vacation booked already, and of course this blog will report all the latest. Although...
Another thing that happened this past year is that virtually everyone and his uncle joined Facebook, a social networking site that is easy to update, handy for posting photos, and surprisingly very popular among mature adults though it was created by and for college students. I have dozens of real-life friends on there already, and I'm a person who doesn't have a lot of friends. To me, Facebook finally lives up to the promise that neither Classmates nor MySpace was able to fulfill. And it has better privacy controls... I will likely continue to post more and more on Facebook and less here. But I won't stop the blog action as long as I have more boring stories to share.
Happy New Year!
Other than the excellent course correction in the direction of our country decided in November, 2008 for me was kind of a low key year.
I didn't go anywhere new. Back to Champaign for Ebertfest, Orlando for family vacation, and visiting relatives in Illinois and Minnesota -- that's it. For 2009, it's likely to be more of the same. I officially have permission to return to London if I feel like it, but will likely wait until Ben is old enough to go with me.
Movies... there was a mere handful of really good ones, in my opinion. The Dark Knight and The Visitor were my favorites, along with The Band's Visit, Frozen River, and Slumdog Millionaire. Nothing that really stands out as something I must see again. Although, I am currently behind in new releases. It strikes me that I may have seen fewer new movies in 2008 than in any other year since the 1980's.
I was far more excited about TV in 2008, especially after discovering the excellent Emmy-award winning AMC series Mad Men, a show so dense and of such high quality that it was like watching a new short movie every week. My current opinion is that Mad Men may be my all time favorite TV series... that's how much I enjoyed it. To a lesser degree, I also enjoyed discovering both Monarch of the Glen and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on DVD. The former is a quirky Scottish family dramedy that kind of lost its luster after its second season, while the latter is a kind of crude comedy of which we desperately need to see more. I also enjoyed the short-lived summer series Swingtown.
The only new album I purchased and listened to all the way and repeatedly was My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges, about which I commented in August. These days, new music is primarily based upon the singles market in MP3 format. I tend to read about new artists and their music, then download a song or two from Amazon, which started selling MP3s cheaper and in a higher quality format than does iTunes. Also, their MP3s work on any player, not just on iPods. Additionally, Amazon gives away a half dozen or so free MP3 songs every week, many of them big current or classic hits. I love Amazon. Didn't go to any concerts in 2008. Would really love to see one of my old favorites (Billy Joel and/or Sting) come back with a new album.
In any event, 2009 promises to be a more exciting year. Of course, virtually the entire world eagerly awaits our country's regime change. Personally, I have a new home and my son will start school full time. We have our next vacation booked already, and of course this blog will report all the latest. Although...
Another thing that happened this past year is that virtually everyone and his uncle joined Facebook, a social networking site that is easy to update, handy for posting photos, and surprisingly very popular among mature adults though it was created by and for college students. I have dozens of real-life friends on there already, and I'm a person who doesn't have a lot of friends. To me, Facebook finally lives up to the promise that neither Classmates nor MySpace was able to fulfill. And it has better privacy controls... I will likely continue to post more and more on Facebook and less here. But I won't stop the blog action as long as I have more boring stories to share.
Happy New Year!
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