Stay safe!

Here's to you ringing in the new year safely, and to avoiding Uber surge pricing!

NYE! NYE!

My favorite part of New year's Eve? Indulging in a delicious dinner with a pretty girl at Club Lucky.

My least favorite part? Having to wait another day for that dinner!

Fear of great heights.

Despite having done quite a bit of traveling for work, I still get anxious when flying. 

I actually love flying, the whole experience including that weird magical zone that is the airport (even when things are going badly), but it also scares me to have total lack of control of my destiny. I've worked up a routine to deal with it and it involves lots of steps—a certain order at the airport bar, shopping for gum, specific drinks and snacks in flight, anti anxiety medication prescribed by my doctor when needed. This gets amended if i'm traveling for work since that knocks out the booze portion, but the routine structure stays the same. 

When traveling for pleasure sometimes the routine gets away from me and I end up arriving worry free, but more than a little tipsy. Last night I traveled first class (something I have only done a handful of times) and I arrived home WAY more than a little tipsy! Luckily for her, Mich was still at her parents—I returned earlier to work today—and didn't have to deal with me. Luckily for everyone else I eventually ended up on my couch with a box of Dominos pizza (and luckily for the driver I was in a really generous mood tipping-wise).

So what about you? Do you have any travel routines?

I need some stretchy pants.

This holiday season has done me in. If I didn't work out as often as I do I'd be in much worse shape, that's for sure. But even with regular trips to the gym as this holiday snacking and boozing has truly taken it's toll, especially on a guy who has to look sharp in a suit for photos that will forever mark one of the most important days in his life in a few months. So, one more week of indulging and then we get serious about getting back to our summer weight and shape.

And by we I mean me. The rest of you? You look fabulous just the way you are!

Have yourself, a very Bowie Christmas...

Does my gal know me or what?

Thanks Mich!

Can we talk about the weather?

It was sunny and warm in Chicago yesterday. Absolutely and stunningly wonderful. Two days before Christmas.

I can't ell whether to enjoy this sort of thing or be terrified by it.

United deserves a shout out.

My last few airport experiences have been less than stellar, so I'd like to take a moment to let everyone know that every United employee employee I encountered on a recent trip rocked. The woman who took my checked bag (and even the TSA agent at their station); the gate attendant who gave me an even better seat than the good one I already had; the flight attendant that gave me an even better seat than that—all of these people came together to make my trip one of the more pleasantly memorable ones in years.

Thanks.

It's beginning to feel a lot like...

...it's almost the end of my work week! Sorry, I seem to be pretty singleminded here.

T! G! I! F!

I wish today marked the beginning of my vacation, but it does not. I'm certainly going to enjoy the weekend though!

All day sucker.

I'm addicted. Stuck on repeat. So sad this didn't actually come out in August when it was supposed to since then it could've been my summer jam. I guess I'll just have to make do with it's heat fighting off the winter chill.

Revised! Wait on best album lists until actual year's end!

Now with minor tweaks and clarifications.

It's a SUNBEARS! Christmas!

Jonathan Berlin of SUNBEARS! wishing you holiday cheer!

I've been a fan of SUNBEARS! for quite a while, and I won't pretend one reason wasn't because they sound a lot like a slightly more together version of the Flaming Lips circa 1998. So it didn't surprise me to heat the two bands had become pals. But that's not really germaine to the SUNBEARS! Christmas tunes I'm sharing with you today, although come to think of it, both bands do seem to have a Christmas jones, considering The Lips did a whole freaked out and fucked up movie about Christmas on Mars.

Anyway, SUNBEARS! recorded a bunch of Christmas covers, so play these at the party when everyone is gagging because the host is unironically playing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (unless it's this version of that song). SUNBEARS! also has a new album out that I have yet to get a chance to properly review but it's no letdown and shows the group is only getting better and tighter, compositionally. Maybe all they can pass off that good influence onto their pals The Flaming Lips.


In fact you know what? Here's one of their new tunes to give you an idea of what they sound like when they're not making Christmas songs sound more interesting. And you can download it.

BONUS!
 

A challenge to fellow music writers: save your best of lists for when the year is actually over.

'Did you write your best music of 2014 list yet?"
"No, becasue 2014 isn't over."
"Good."

I know this is an annual complaint of mine, but music "best of" lists should really wait until after year's end to go up.* A few years ago websites started to go into defensive mode and publish their lists earlier and earlier in order to garner the most buzz for their selections. That approach was a dumb exercise in preemptive striking, and it's been made even more so over the last few years, for a number of reasons.

Best of lists have turned alarmingly homogenized. In a time when such a massive amount of material is out there and folks have the power to discover bands not held back by gatekeepers this feels counterintuitive. Leading me to believe most lists are based on a combination combining publicist relationships along with the wish to reinforce readers' believe that their tastes as really awesome. Why rush to release a list that looks like everyone else's?

Artists are increasingly releasing music weeks (or months) after these lists come out. I'm sorry, if you publish your list in November you can't put Beyoncé's December release from last year on a 2014 list. And who just dropped an album at midnight last night? And possibly one of the most anticipated albums since My Bloody Valentine's follow-up to Loveless? D'Angelo. And this trend is only going to grow more popular. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we saw one or two more high profile surprises drop before Dec. 31, 2014.

How can you call a "best [insert name] of 2014" list before the end of 2014? I mean, aside from my previous two points, this one seems the most glaringly indefensible from the standpoint of people that have already published lists?

This whole practice is sadly outdated, and honestly it's built on a practice that did make sense in the past—most music writers had music through the end of December delivered to them well before December even began so these lists could be built ahead of time. But that practice was rooted in print limitations and those limitations have quickly eroded into pointless habits over the last few years.

It's time for my fellow entertainment writers to get with the times, accept they ain't just a 'changin' but have long changed, and adjust this whole "best of" exercise to actually reflect reality.

I guarantee if you take more time with your lists and don't just cobble them together in hopes of getting them out the door first you'll a) make more selections you won't be embarrassed by in 3 months and b) you identify more unexpected selections that might actually give your readers the pleasure of discovering something new instead of jumping on the bandwagon everyone else already signed up to ride.

*I originally framed this piece to include all entertainment "best of" lists but in some arenas—specifically film, TV and literature—the physical product is still largely limited by mead times music is no longer held back by, so I can see how it's still possible to construct a list for some other sources of entertainment ahead of time in good conscience.

Halfway through the holiday season.

Festive frivolity abounds and while it builds to exhausting levels of time commitments in the end it's all good fun and a good excuse to celebrate friendship and good company.

How to handle a holiday party.

I was listening to a story about office holiday parties earlier this week and realized that my company is pretty genius: they allow you to bring a spouse / SO and that generally helps defuse any awkward situations. The upswing? We all have a blast and no one is looking at anyone else with any guilt the next day. Judging from the NPR story this outlay of cash—effectively doubling the bill by allowing guests—seems far more worth it in the long run!

Bo and Luke Duke put a whole new weird spin on "Baby It's Cold Outside."

The only thing weirder than the stars of The Dukes Of Hazard—Tom Wopat and John Schneider—putting out an album of Christmas standards together is their taste in song selection. The usually super creepy "Baby It's Cold Outside" is slightly retitled, without losing any of its more unsettling lines, to cast Bo and Luke in an interesting new light. Me? I think it's hilarious that these two dudes have obviously decided to tweak the song by keeping the uneasiness intact, hopefully making apologists for the more, um, traditional arrangement of a man entreating a women to stay the night, squirm as the lyrics stand in a starker light.

I mean, I'm assuming this is intentional on their part, right?

Happy birthday to my favorite girl!

The birthday girl in her natural habitat: warm, summer sunlight.

When she turned 30 I took Mich on a trip to a tropical island because she hates the cold and is always sad her birthday is in the middle of winter. I couldn't do anything quite so grand this year since we're saving for, you know, a wedding and all, but I'm hoping that between dinner, friends and good tidings sent her way throughout the day her heart will know the warmth of all the love coming her way for birthday today.

Party animals of a certain age OR we still know how to have a good time and thanks for all the memories!

This is how we started our Saturday.

Saturday was one of those days and long evenings we should be far too old to fall prey to but manage to do so every couple of months any way.

OUr day time adventures included our annual pilgrimage to the Christkindlmarket for spiced wine and souvenir mugs. We then spent many, many hours tracking down my birthday gift to Mich since no outlet had exactly the color and specifications she desired, and I got it into my head she had to have her gift before her actual birthday on Tuesday. We returned home in victory, gift acquired, but that also meant we had no downtime ahead of what promised to be a busy evening.

The evening began with a holiday party in Oak Park which was in our friends' beautiful new house and had all the trappings of an adult soiree including many toddlers, but also including an incredibly—and deliciously—potent bourbon-based punch. I perhaps had one or two more than I should have before downshifting to the beer.

I left early in order to catch two of my favorite local band play at Metro in Wrigleyville, and of course missed my connecting stop coming back from the suburbs, adding another 30 minutes to my travel time. Luckily I made it to Metro just in time to catch the first bad  I wanted to see. After their set I got another drink and proceeded to take a power nap in the balcony of the club, missing a segment of the set performed by the second band I really wanted to see. Whoops!

Then it was off to a bar on the far north side (all of these stops throughout the evening were separated by great distances but don't worry, I don't own a car so it was all public trans and cabs for this stumble-y dude).

And then of course it made total sense to go to The Corner bar since it is a hundred feet from my back door, whereupon I proceeded to have a generally genial time that I remember through a haze as being a goodnatured time of old fashioned fun (not necessarily fueled by Old Fashions).

Annnnd Sunday ... these party animals are pooped.

The next day? I felt fine but Mich had one of the worst hangovers she's suffered in 2014 so I let her relax and even picked up some carryout for her to help nurse her back to health. A dozen hours of napping on and off through the day and she was right as rain by nightfall so all's well that ends well.

And to everyone whose path I crossed on Saturday night I want to extend my genuine thanks at making it a really fun evening of many stops filled with many people I see far less often than I'd prefer.

Snowglobe.

I am extremely proud of closerlook's holiday video and the team I worked with to make it a reality. I won't say anything beyond that but I urge you to watch it. And then watch it again, because I think you'll want to.

This is awesome.

Too busy...

...to write. You 'll see why tomorrow!

"A Quick One..."

This has always been one of my favorite Who songs, and it also holds the status of being the song that I think made Mich fall in love with Keith Moon behind the drum kit via the Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus version. I guess I didn't realize they hadn't played the shong live since the early '70s and while only half the band is even around to bash it out any longer I'm pleased they resurrected it and did it justice, even if it oly ends up being for one show.

Bowling! Yay!

Every week we bowl with the media league, and by "we" I mean Team Chicagoist (adoringly also known as "Team Don't Fuck Up"), and by bowl I mean I sit and drink beer and bourbon and watch Mich and my fellow writers bowl. But this year there's a rule that says all players need to be there by a certain time so I've been getting to the lane's earlier and occasionally actually bowl to fill a space while we wait for other writers to show up.

But last night a fourth never showed up so I ended up bowling all three games. And got really high scores in all three (one of them I think might have been a personal best or close to it, though I think there was once a game a decade or so ago I broke 200, but that might be a wishful dream more than an actual memory).

And Team Chicagoist won last night too! Which, to be fair, this season is shaping up to be one where we're looking pretty competitive.

Anyway, my takeaway was that sometimes I think I actually do like being a participant and not just an observer of things.

Too much negativity. Let's counter that!

It's dark outside all the time and I think that's just adding to my grumpiness, transforming be into a borderline real life curmudgeon! Yikes! I need to counter that, STAT! So here is a cute picture to get you and me through the rest of the day.

As long as we don't look at each other, we can pretend the other one's not there...