Sorry I've been away so long, did I mention I've been working on a book? And moving permanently? And getting a heart cath next week? And homeschooling? And playing Dishonored way too much?
So instead of a top ten music list like I normally do (either here or on Amazon) I wanted to expand a bit. Here they are in no particular order.
1) The Newsroom. A new HBO show starring Jeff Daniels. It's a behind the scenes drama about a news show that actually decides to do the news. No Casey Anthony, no opinions from Sarah Palin, just the news that's actually news. Along the way, they manage to articulate every thing that has gone so wrong with American's expectations of the news, and what we consider important (or not). It attacks the dumbing down of the American public by so-called "experts," ratings driven infotainment, and the panic whores on Fox News and the like (the worst purveyors of "tragedy porn" as Daniels calls it). Truly funny, and more often than not it says what I've been thinking for so long - that when citizens get bad information, they makes stupid decisions.
2) Trader Joe's. We now have one about a half hour away and it pains me to say that their microwave meals are better than anything I might slave over the stove for half a day creating. If you've never been to a Trader Joe's, they're basically a self-contained, small grocery store chain that mainly carries their own brand name products. They deal direct with suppliers and you never know what you're going to find there because they constantly change their inventory. Seriously, the best Lasagna and Chicken Marsala I've ever eaten.
3) Van Halen - again. If you've spent more than 5 minutes in a room with me, it might have come up that I'm a frothing at the mouth Van Halen fan. You might have considered a restraining order to protect yourself from have to hear about it again. I even liked Van Hagar. I even tolerate Van Halen III with Gary Cherone from time to time. Yeah. I'm hardcore. The first time I heard Van Halen was on a buddy's walkman in 7th grade. When Panama came on, I nearly peed myself. I abducted the walkman, cut class (the first time ever and for years after), hid in the boy's bathroom, and listened to the whole album (1984). It changed my life, no kidding. So it just makes me giddy to see the Van Halen brothers and Diamond David Lee Roth laughing and joking in interviews and performing together again after 19 years. When he left in 1985 I was heartbroken. I feel like I'm 13 again listening to the new album (A Different Kind Of Truth). And man, what an album. It surpasses some of the classic stuff. I love hearing artists in their 50's doing everything better than they did in their 20's. I'm a fan all over again. See? Longest entry on the list. Be glad I'm not sitting next to you on a couch telling you about it. Trust me, you don't have that kind of time.
4) The Walking Dead. I did a whole post about this show, but suffice to say, I love this show as much as I hate zombies - which is to say A LOT. Like, I hate zombies so much, I can't even recommend the show to you. It is gory. It is gross. I watch it with one eye closed most of the time. But it also makes me whoop for joy and cry over the human condition, and the metaphors for the myriad social and political ills addressed therein...I could go on and on. Simply brilliant, and probably the most cathartic thing I've experienced since starting down the road to a heart transplant.
5) Banana Peppers.
6) D&D - again. As much fun as I had trying to break into the world of Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, I'm having ten times that teaching the boys to play. We got the 4th edition for Christmas from Santa. Can't wait to dig in.
7) Dishonored. Several old friends from my Thief days worked on this AAA game and it's the best thing I've played since Thief. You play an assassin but you don't have to kill anyone, and figuring out how to dispatch the various targets without actually touching them or hurting them physically is quite a puzzler. It requires careful planning, patience, and attention to detail. It is the opposite of Halo. It is to Call of Duty what Bob Dylan is to Justin Bieber. It has sold really well, which means with luck, and a few brain cells bumping together between the publishers (unlikely), we'll see more games like this in the future.
8) That I Cannot Paint With Watercolors. Okay, that's not really my painting. I didn't have one to link to because I destroyed them all before they ate my children and tried to take over the government. Despite having taken a class, being encouraged by my lovely wife, watching online instructors, and persistence that - given my fragile psychological state - was honorable; noble, even, the fact of the matter is that a watercolor brush in my hand births hideous, unholy things that my children should never have to be subjected to. It scares me to consider the depth of dark, twisting horrors in my own soul from which some of those paintings sprang. On to acrylics!
9) Indian Food. While in Norwalk, we had the good fortune of a friendly Indian place down the street called Saffron. I know many people who are under the impression that Indian food involves cat meat, insects, or curry, but nothing could be further from the truth. Most dishes are made with chicken, lamb, or even beef, and depending on the restaurant, goat (which is seriously more tasty and healthy than beef or chicken). The sauces simply use a different spice combination than what you find in Italian or Chinese food - lots of cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon red pepper, turmeric and black pepper. Sometimes sweet, sometimes really, really spicy, sometimes both. But certainly not "weird" and you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't try a good Lamb Marsala or Chicken Vindaloo at least once in your life. I did, and now all other foods are boring to me.
10) That Facebook and Blogging are taking too much time and attention. I need to be writing books, learning things, writing music, playing with the boys, and reading. So I'm on an indefinite hiatus from Facebook and I intend to scale back my blog roll to a few close friends. As for posting, I will use this blog to post excerpts of books, music, or art I'm working on, and of course for health updates, at least until I feel like writing angry political and spiritually cynical posts again. I intend to keep the Gypsy School House blog going, but less often than I did earlier in the year since we're no longer travelling. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like our lives are a little bit *too much* on display, and I feel obligated to write and post pictures of every little thing we do with the boys. Today we visited an armory and instead of taking pictures, I just watched them. Much more satisfying for the time being. Of course Christie and I are compulsive picture takers, so eventually I'll get back to it, but for now, I'm returning that blog to its original purpose, which was to provide family and friends with a closer glimpse at the way we home school. Or rather, don't sometimes.
So there's my top ten for the year. I'll probably do an obligatory music list on Amazon again so someone can argue with me about whether or not Kip Winger is still relevant (he is). Important stuff. Thanks for reading.
I can't disagree! That was quite a blog entry of substance to finish out the year. I hadn't heard about the heart cath (I cannot recall it mentioned, or maybe it was a ways off when I did), so here's hoping the results lead to life improvement for all of you. Like I said on FB, you do what you gotta do. You aren't severing all ties at all, so hopefully no one forgets they can drop a note instead of sitting in apparent silence worrying an' all that unnecessary shiz. See you when you pop up and look for your shadow, Dave. Thanks.
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