Off shortly for a quick weekend trip to Chicago. Hope everyone has a good Christmas wherever you are.

Didn't you retire?

Well, I guess it's Year End List time. I didn't buy much music in 2005, and didn't go to as many shows as in previous years either, but I did grab a few CDs that have kept me entertained this year. Here are a few that have held up to repeated listens.

Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production Of Eggs

This disk has had more listens in 2005 than any other. I don't even remember where I found the links to "Sovay" and "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left", but I found them at some point this year and went to the record store to by this album that same evening. Andrew Bird was a member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, one of those bands that I'm kind of surprised I'm still listening to after all these years.

Bird's solo work is not in the same old timey jazz vein as the Zippers, but dang that guy can arrange a tune. Violin features heavily in Eggs, as does his whistling skill, but there are also smart lyrics, and he's a dang good singer. This is by far my favorite album of 2005, and I'm still kind of kicking myself for not going to see him when he was in town with Ani DiFranco this spring. Hopefully he'll make another swing through town next year, I hear his live shows are incredible.

Andrew Bird - Opposite Day
Andrew Bird - Tables and Chairs
Andrew Bird - Sovay

[The Album]

MC Frontalot - Nerdcore Rising

Enjoyed by me and I think four other guys, Nerdcore Hip-Hop is a growing scene. I've now seen mc chris in concert. (twice) Bex and I spend one of our evenings in New York at an MC Frontalot show. (And an excellent show it was.) I guess this album has to show up here, even if nobody other than I will enjoy it.

But come on, where else are you going to find an album with songs about collectible card games, porn and Nigerian 419 scammers? Nowhere, that's where. Frontalot has been good enough to grace us with free music for years, so I felt it was only right to purchase his album (particularly after listening to Charity Case), and it didn't let me down.

MC Frontalot - Hassle - The Dorkening
MC Frontalot - Charity Case

[The Album]

Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

On marc's recommendation I grabbed a copy of this album and have enjoyed it quite a bit this year. It does suffer from a bit of double album bloat, particularly the many instrumental tracks riffing on the "Theme To Blinking Lights", but there's more than a full album's worth of excellent songs on here. There's angry on The Other Shoe, quiet on Suicide Life and Dust of Ages, Trouble with Dreams is just an excellent song, and Old Shit/New Shit, and Hey Man (Now You're Really Living), why they're almost happy songs. Going Fetal: that song is just silly, and I love it.

This is another one definitely worth a listen. As marc says, they remember that self loathing is supposed to be fun.

Eels - Old Shit/New Shit
Eels - To Lick Your Boots
Eels - Losing Streak

[The Album]

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Enjoyable Talking Headsish music. You may very well hate this band because of the singer's voice. (Upon having this album played for her, Bex's sister exclaimed "I hate that voice. Never play this for me again.") I enjoy it, though. When I bought the album, it had a few tracks on it that I enjoyed as much as the songs that were already in the wild, but I wasn't totally blown away by it as a whole. Still, Home On Ice, Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood, Over and Over, and The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth are in heavy rotation at work, so I would be remiss in not mentioning this one.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Over and Over

[The Album]

I hereby apologize for having said that I liked the chicken wings at Hooters. I have now eaten the wings at The Peanut.

Sorry, I just didn't know what good chicken wings were. I'll never do it again.

Tylenol
Diet Dr. Pepper
Old Wisconsin Beef Sticks
Skittles (12 Purple, 12 Orange)
One slice Pizza Hut Pepperoni Pizza.
14 oz. Water

I didn't watch the Packers for the first time this season on Sunday. Looks like I didn't miss much.

I continue my losing ways in two of my three fantasy leagues, but hadn't even noticed that I pulled into first in a third until I was setting my lineups this Sunday. I'm currently down by 23 points with Shaun Alexander to play tonight. That's winnable, but I'm in the playoffs however it turns out. A win tonight secures me a first round bye, I think.

As for the Gimpysoft Pick 'Em, it still looks like I'm guaranteed to come in dead last on the season by a mile, but I at least somewhat redeemed myself by picking 15 of 16 this week. A Seattle win tonight makes it a perfect week. Gerg remains out in front, with marc only four games behind. Raj trails Greg by eight games, and I am now sixteen games out of first.

Not my year. Not my year.