filed in Music on Dec.30, 2009
Okay, it’s almost the end of the year, so I’ll finally have to settle on my list of the best my favorite CDs of 2009. Here it is (in no particular order except alphabetical):
Brakes—Touchdown
Future of the Left—Travels with Myself and Another
Girls—Album
Japandroids—Post-Nothing
Matt & Kim—Grand
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart—The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Pink [...]
filed in Music on Dec.25, 2009
Although I received a few cool Christmas books, I’m sticking with the tome I had started before the gifts rolled in—The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. I picked it up based on good reviews—one from the Times, the other from Phil (friend, coworker, and noted Dr. of Music Obsession). I teach a bit on [...]
filed in Culture on Dec.13, 2009
Some jokes are just too easy and thus take all the fun out of laughing. What else can be said about this year’s greatest holiday gift, the Snuggie for Dogs? The only difficulty now is deciding which was the strangest gift I encountered all year: Dude Da’ Bunny or this tacky canine robe. I’m going [...]
filed in Teaching on Dec.07, 2009
This was one of those days when teaching feels like one long test of patience. It can actually be a very spiritual profession if you can make yourself treat every frustration as a challenge to your equanimity. Seven days before final exams and you would expect that a little extra motivation would appear, especially among [...]