Ranking 2009
If you haven't participated in the previous post - "Ranking the 00's" (see below) - feel free to do so - I'd love to see your rankings! That post has fewer questions than this one. However, I am continuing the tradition I started last year with doing various rankings each year. Amazingly, I have only posted 4 other posts this year, so it is quite remarkable that I am posting 3 new ones in the last 2 days of the year. The final year-end post will come on New Year's Eve Day. But let us commence the second of the ranking posts. Feel free to answer all or only a few. I know I write a lot in my answers but don't feel obligated to do the same. My answers are in the thread. Cheers.
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse year than last?
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both)
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year
4. Favorite sports moment
5. MOVIES
a) Best
b) Worst
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year).
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
b) Most disappointing album
c) Best concert
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike)
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
8. BOOKS
a) Best
b) Most disappointing
c) New author you discovered
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered
b) Most frequently consumed
12. Top resolution for new year
13. Pick for BCS championship winner - Alabama or Texas?
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010
15. Toast proposal
posted by thewalrus at 2:38 AM
10 Comments:
Here's a list of the questions if you want to copy and paste for convenience. My answers are in the next comment.
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse year than last?
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both)
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year
4. Favorite sports moment
5. MOVIES
a) Best
b) Worst
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year).
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
b) Most disappointing album
c) Best concert
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike)
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
8. BOOKS
a) Best
b) Most disappointing
c) New author you discovered
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered
b) Most frequently consumed
12. Top resolution for new year
13. Pick for BCS championship winner - Alabama or Texas?
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010
15. Toast proposal
4:17 PM, December 30, 2009
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse year than last? Worse
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both): Personal (Seeing a St. Louis Cardinals game @ Busch Stadium with my dad); National (hmm, let’s go with the Inauguration for now).
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year: Personal (My father passing away); National (the bailouts)
4. Favorite sports moment (Alabama 32, Florida 13 – December 5th)
5. MOVIES
a) Best: There’s a lot of movies I have yet to see, including “Up in the Air,” which I hear is kick-ass. For now, I’m going with “The Hangover,” the best comedy since “Anchorman.”
b) Worst: Ok, I know “District 9” is a favorite of many critics but it disappointed me. My expectations were through the roof so that may have set me up for disappointment. It’s not the “worst” for me but rather the most disappointing.
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010: “Shutter Island,” “The Road,” and of course, “Iron Man 2.”
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show: I’ve been too busy to pick up a new one this year.
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year): I’ve been catching up on “House.” What a great show with brilliant writing. Season 4 kicked ass and Season 5 is doing the same.
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry: David E. Kelley’s show “Legally Mad” was scheduled for the fall but was cancelled before it ever began.
7. MUSIC
a) Best album: This is tough but I’ll go with Hurt’s “Goodbye to the Machine.” Thursday’s “Common Existence” and Thrice’s “Beggars” are close behind.
b) Most disappointing album: Three Days Grace’s “Life Starts Now.” It’s not bad but it’s not great either.
c) Best concert: Cowboy Mouth @ Exit In, Nashville
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike): I didn’t discover them but I’m just now really getting into 30 Seconds to Mars.
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is): Hurt’s “Goodbye to the Machine” and Chevelle’s “Sci-Fi Crimes”
8. BOOKS
a) Best: The best I read this year was Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” and re-reading Cormier’s “The Chocolate War.”
b) Most disappointing: Lois Lowry’s “The Giver”
c) New author you discovered: Elmore Leonard
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read: Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend: Like I said in the Ranking the 00’s post, I’m amazed bangs are back.
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism: When Fox News fact-checked (not sure what that means for them) Palin’s suggestion that the redesign of U.S. currency to move the once-centered text “In God We Trust” to the edge of coins was an anti-Christian trend. She apparently didn’t know this design was commissioned in 2005 by a Republican-controlled congress and then approved by President Bush. The decision was later reversed in 2007. Oopsey daisy!!!
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered: St. Germain liqueur. It’s heavenly. Favorite new cocktail is the Sazerac.
b) Most frequently consumed: No suspense here - Captain and coke.
12. Top resolution for new year: Being a much better bartender for thesecondchance. thesecondchance had an epic bartender FAIL in 2009.
13. Pick for BCS championship winner – Alabama or Texas? Roll Tide, my friends. It’s been too long.
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2009: I’ve got a few already but I’d like to hear yours too.
15. Toast proposal: To my Dad, who loved his sons more than life itself. Cheers Dad. You will be missed.
5:40 PM, December 30, 2009
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse year than last?
--I'll answer for the decade, then the year (since I slacked on the last post). It at least ended better than the last decade. The early years were a blur, and not for any fun or adventurous reasons. 2009 is also a better year, considering I will not be spending it doing laundry and watching "Live from Lincoln Center".
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both)
--Personal highlight would have to be getting engaged (randomly) on Halloween. National highlight: There was a brief glimmer of hope for the country I hear, but that's all over now.
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year
--National: Same as above.
Personal: There were lots of them, but we're leaving them in 2009.
4. Favorite sports moment
--The one where my team won that thing with the most points. Damn, what a good game.
5. MOVIES
a) Best
--Princess & the Frog (a nice tribute to New Orleans with only a fair amount of over-generalization by the folks at Disney); Seducing Dr Lewis (Find it)
b) Worst
--Anything with Sandra Bullock
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
--Either the new one from Lucero or Ida Maria's Fortress Round my Heart
c) Best concert
--BRUUUUUUUUUUCE!
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike)
--Again, Ida Maria.
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
--The new one from Lucero
8. BOOKS
a) Best
--Yeats is Dead
b) Most disappointing
--Anything I read in a course entitled "EcoFeminist Literature"
c) New author you discovered
--Dara Weir
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
--Capital's Utopia (about the founding of my hometown)
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism
--Tina Fey and Amy Poehler: "Lipstick....lipstick....LIPSTICK!!"
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered
--Became a more devoted beer drinker this year, so I'll go with the Great Lakes Brewing Company, Dogfish Head's "Midas Touch", and the Millenium Trippel at Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh
b) Most frequently consumed
--Probably Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA
12. Top resolution for new year
--Lose 10% of body weight by July
--Get my anxiety under control
--Be a better partner to my partner
13. Pick for BCS championship winner - Alabama or Texas?
--On Tim Gilger's behalf, Texas. But because I'm a smart man, I know to say Alabama.
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010
--Finding home, place, family, and community.
15. Toast proposal
--To Mr. E Banks Lyons, a great friend to whom I owe much thanks, which I so seldom offer. That 2010 is a better year, that the coming decade surpasses the last, and that in each successive moment you become more and more of yourself, as we've all come to love the man you've become.
2:05 AM, December 31, 2009
Questions/Rankings:
1. Better or worse year than last?Hard to say. Certainly a handful of negative moments, but I guess I'd say better overall.
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both): Took a few vacations, which was nice (San Juan Islands/Seattle, LA, St. Louis). Also, completing my masters degree.
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year: My dog Bessie dying. I miss her.
4. Favorite sports moment: Melanie Oudin at Wimbledon
5. MOVIES
a) Best: I didn't really see enough to comment...
b) Worst: Didn't see much, but I was disappointed by District 9.
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010: I really have no idea what's coming out, although I do want to see Shutter Island and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Also want to see Precious and Up In The Air which are already out.
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show: Well, this one's neither new, nor a favorite because I've yet to see it, but I'd like to give Mad Men a try.Also, this isn't new either, but this year I got into the show How I Met Your Mother a little bit. I actually looked forward to it on Mondays for several weeks...
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year): Didn't watch much, or a full season of anything, but of what I have seen I'll go with The Office and House.
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry: I just read that ER was canceled this year. Although I never actually watched it, I'm happy it's gone; it's about time.
7. MUSIC
a) Best album: Hurt - Goodbye to the Machine, U2 - No Line On The Horizon (mostly)
b) Most disappointing album???
c) Best concert: Thursday at The Masquerade in Atlanta
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike): Like: The Limousines, MGMT, a couple of new songs by Franz Ferdinand
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is): Ha, I hardly ever take discs out of my car CD player... I think Chevelle's "Wonder What's Next" has been in my car disc player pretty much all year long...On the home disc player, The Clash's 1977 self-titled album has been getting lots of play.
8. BOOKS
a) Best: Chuck Palahniuk's Pygmy
b) Most disappointing: Reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food right now and not quite as impressed (yet?) as I'd hoped to be
c) New author you discovered: I really liked Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Also was inspired by Mark Bittman (Food Matters)
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read: The rest of Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Dry by Augusten Burroughs
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend: Favorite: old, worn-in blue jeans; over-the-knee boots (on some people)Least Favorite: shoulder pads on women, guys in v-neck t-shirts and/or girl's jeans
3:34 AM, December 31, 2009
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism: Resigning, and any Tina Fey impersonation.
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered: I'm with the walrus, St. Germain was a wonderful discovery. A St. Germain gin and tonic is tasty!
b) Most frequently consumed: coffee and water
12. Top resolution for new year: Better overall health and finances, and more creative outlets
13. Pick for BCS championship winner - Alabama or Texas?seriously? Bama.
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010: How about pros and cons of environmental/green technology, maybe? And something on the agricultural/food industry, definitely. And a literature post of some sort...
15. Toast proposal: To remembering those who are gone (your dad had a beautiful spirit, he was really a sweetheart. I miss him and am so sorry you and your family had to say goodbye this year); to appreciating the small and simple things; to trying to do our best at anything and everything we do; to finding inspiration; and to laughter. Cheers walrus. And thanks for your post; I always enjoy these.
3:36 AM, December 31, 2009
Ok--this is kind of selective (for brevity's sake).
1. Better or worse year than last?
Better. No longer working as a paralegal. Family healthy.
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both)
Coming home after living in Chile. Home is home is home.
4. Favorite sports moment
Ha. Marion Jones deciding to join the WNBA.
5. MOVIES
a) Best
SHAUN OF THE DEAD!! I can't believe I hadn't seen that before! Thank you, Simon Pegg..
b) Worst
Does this have to be a movie? I am living with someone that likes watching DVDs of "Gilmore Girls," and, considering the amount of mental anguish (and binge drinking) it causes I think that show deserves a "worst"
6. TV SHOWS
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year).
all disappointing.
c) A show that got canceled that makes you happy or angry
The Office should probably be put out of its misery.
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
I always enjoy Beck.
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
Oh Elvis Costello...if only you were a little younger...
8. BOOKS
a) Best
a James Still collection. Oldie but goodie.
b) Most disappointing
These post-Ludlum Bourne books. The original 3 were delightful... the others, not so much.
c) New author you discovered
Enrique Mayer
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
Omnivore's Dilemma. Been trying to read it for years. I always get depressed.
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend
...what is this 'fashion' you speak of..?
I like nail polish, and, sweatpants. Good invention, the sweatpants.
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
Had real eggnog for the first time, and it was wonderful(ly intoxicating)
a) Favorite newly discovered
see above
12. Top resolution for new year
do something courageous. every day.
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010
hm. peer review of a certain novel.
15. Toast proposal
to being what we have always known in our hearts we could be.
10:08 PM, January 04, 2010
P.s.--also, to a better year, for you, walrus.
10:12 PM, January 04, 2010
1. Better or worse year than last? Worse
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both)
(Personal)Getting married, meeting Ryan Adams
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year
(Personal)End of marriage/5-year relationship
5. MOVIES
a) Best
I didn’t see a lot, but I liked 500 Days of Summer and Sherlock Holmes
b) Worst: Paul Blart: Mall Cop
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010
I think it technically came out in 2009 but I want to see The Road
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show
Not new this year, but just got into Californication
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year).
Flight of the Conchords and The Office
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry
Flight of the Conchords (disappointed the show is not returning for a 3rd season)
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
(My top 5)
Ben Kweller – Changing Horses
M. Ward – Hold Time
J. Tillman – Vacilando Territory Blues
Dawes – North Hills
A.A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose
b) Most disappointing album
Vetiver – Tight Knit
Norah Jones – The Fall
c) Best concert
Dawes & Langhorne Slim @ Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
Beach House & Grizzly Bear @ Williamsburg Waterfront Pool Party
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike)
Dawes and A.A. Bondy
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
I don’t really have a CD player anymore, but let me see…J. Tillman’s Vacilando Territory Blues got a lot of plays on iTunes
8. BOOKS
a) Best: A few of the best I read this past year were
The Great Gatsby
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
You Can’t Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe
b) Most disappointing
I enjoyed all the books I read this year
c) New author you discovered
I want to read more Thomas Wolfe
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
Wizard: The Life and times of Nikola Tesla, Look Homeward Angel, or Winter of Our Discontent
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend
I don’t think skinny jeans are bad per se. If you’re tall and skinny then it works, but most of the people I see wearing them can’t pull it off.
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered: Jameson
b) Most frequently consumed: coffee
12. Top resolution for new year
improve my wardrobe and get in better shape, visit Nashville sometime
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010
I second Thom Dawkins’s suggestion or something about destiny or love
15. Toast proposal
To the Walrus. I hope 2010 is a great year for you man.
8:55 PM, January 09, 2010
1. Better or worse year than last? better
2. Positive personal or national highlight of the year (pick either or both) Bama back in the big dance, and, I made it to the Inauguration and to Europe this year.
3. Negative personal or national highlight of the year. FOX NEWS
4. Favorite sports moment. Tebow crying
5. MOVIES
Aside from the Belcourt, I also joined Netflix this year. I have seen a ba-zillion great films. um, top 5 maybe?
a) Best: Children of Heaven, Tetro, Waltz with Bashir, Hunger, Bright Star....
b) Worst: this independent film, Midlothia, was horrible. I also cringed during, Valentino, because of its lavishness and materialism.
c) Most anticipated movie(s) of 2010: um, is The Road a 2010 or 2009? also Alice in Wonderland and I think another Harry Potter will be released
6. TV SHOWS
a) Favorite new show. Lame answer: I only watch the Sopranos and the Office, ever
b) Favorite season of the year for an old show (feel free to include one that started in fall of last year).
??
c) A show that got cancelled that makes you happy or angry: I started getting into Southland on NBC but the dumass executives cancelled it during their Jay Leno debacle. Now, they are considering a return of Southland but I'll protest watching it now on principle
7. MUSIC
a) Best album
JOHN MAYER's BATTLE STUDIES! notable mentions: Joshua James' Coal War, Bob Schneider's Lovely Creatures, and Alicia Keyes Element of Freedom
b) Most disappointing album
Dude, Moby's "Wait for Me" was such a letdown
c) Best concert
number 1, I heard the Nashville Symphony play the Adagio for Strings (which is top 10 songs for me). number 2, Joshua James at 3rd/Lindsley. I got to meet him after the show and discuss music for awhile. It was great.
d) New artist you discovered (that you like or dislike)
again, Joshua James and Bob Schneider have done a lot for me
e) What stayed in your CD player the longest throughout the year (regardless of how old or good it is)
toss-up b/n Ray LaMontagne or John Mayer
8. BOOKS
a) Best
The Stranger, by Albert Camus
b) Most disappointing
The Violent Bear it Away, Flannery O'Connor
c) New author you discovered
Does Leo Tolstoy count?
d) Book on your nightstand or shelf next in line to be read
Blood Meridian, McCarthy
9. Favorite or hated new fashion trend
Leggings are ridiculous, your mama wouldn't let you out of the house if she knew you were wearing those!
10. Favorite Palin moment or Palinism
you really resigned as governor? what kind of political gain do you have in mind by abdicating your current office? moron
11. DRINKS (you can choose among alcoholic or non-)
a) Favorite newly discovered
I hope this counts... Italian red wine while sitting in Italy is impossible to beat
b) Most frequently consumed
chocolate whey protein mixed with milk
12. Top resolution for new year
make out with a girl, or at least get a number
13. Pick for BCS championship winner - Alabama or Texas?
oh me, thats funny
14. Topic request for thesecondchance for 2010.
previews of the infamous novel being penned by the walrus
15. Toast proposal: long live the porch
2:35 AM, January 11, 2010
I just realized I never officially thanked all of you for participating in this ranking thing. I have a lot of fun with it. And thank you Thom, goose, and lb for the toasts and kind words. They inspire me to be the friend that all of you so genuinely deserve. Cheers.
2:38 AM, January 26, 2010
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