1. Honeythistle Promo, the Sweet Divines Only 3 songs from this amazingly-unsigned Brooklyn soul revival outfit, but I have probably listened to this about 1,000 times. Seeing the Sweet Divines live will probably be what I miss most about living in NYC. We caught them 4 times this year, most recently at Joe’s Pub this week.
2. Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, Amanda Palmer Amanda is the singer/pianist in Dresden Dolls, who also made my list. This one is my Fox Confessor Brings The Flood for this year.
3. This Gift, Sons and Daughters Best effort yet from this Scottish band. They pronounce it “Thess Geft.”
4. Rain, Joe Jackson Stripped down production and wailing vocals are my favorite thing. Anyone who sings at the top of their lungs gets much love from me (see Neko, Amanda Palmer, Jemima Pearl of Be Your Own Pet).
   
5. Antidotes, Foals I couldn’t believe this was released in 2008– February seems so long ago. Minimal/Maximal math rock. One of the best shows I saw all year, Dan and I caught them at Union Hall (which I will also miss!). 
   

I got to see each and every artist on top 5 list this year!

The other 20 (in no particular order):

• Night Drive, Chromatics Like an amazing soundtrack to all of the parts they edited out of The Hidden.
  
• Get Awkward, Be Your Own Pet Riot Grrl-channeling loud punk at its best.
  
• Casting Shadows, the Black Hollies Lush psychedelia from Jersey City revivalists. Listen to them play most of the album live on the Cherry Blossom Clinic.
• S/T, Jean on Jean Spacious and haunting folkishness from the Out Hud cellist.
• S/T, Vivian Girls What everyone else said.
• Live at Shea, The Clash Great selection of songs played at blistering speeds.
  
• No, Virginia…, the Dresden Dolls Especially “Dear Jenny”.
  
• Drippers, Black Moth Super Rainbow The only scratch-n-sniff release on my list. More nice and heavy synth-psych. There’s also a free release of additional material! (scroll down to July 9)
  
• Alpinisms, School of the Seven Bells Greg got me into this in November, been listening pretty much non stop since.
  
• S/T, Little Joy Strokesy enough to be great.
  
• ¿Cómo Te Llama?, Albert Hammond Jr. Also strokesy enough to be great.
  
• S/T, Hercules and Love Affair “Athene” was my favorite track released in 2007– I get to put this on the list since the album wasn’t officially released until 2008. I love you lazy disco.
  
• BITS, Oxford Collapse The kind of 90s-style loud indie rock that has been sorely missing for about 10 years.
  
• Beat Box, Glass Candy
  I’ll say it again. I love you lazy disco.
• Fantasy Black Channel, Late of the Pier Strange and suprising late addition to my list.
  
• Alight of Night, Crystal Stilts Kelly loves this. Joy Divisionist.
  
• Feed the Animals, Girl Talk Kind of an embarrasing entry, but I couldn’t get enough of this while running this year. & the price is right.
  
• Velocifero, Ladytron Ladytron never dissapoints but is terminally ignored!
  
• Luminarium, Tape The only experimental/ambient release in my 25– I’m trying to be more accessible.
  
• Vol. 1, She & Him Listened to this one a lot on long runs in Fredonia this summer.
  
• Partie Traumatic, Black Kids I know, I’m not supposed to like this, but I had it on my iPod and I realized that I never ever skipped any track from it. For like months. Then I put it on my shuffle for running… it’s still there.
  

Honorable Mention:

This years releases from High Places, Tobacco, Au, Chairlift, Ra Ra Riot, Ane Brun, Lykke Li, Bon Iver, Ladyhawke-with-the-e, Ladyhawk-without-the-e, Pit Er Pat, Women, Ellen Allien, Studio, HEALTH, Squarepusher, Black Mountain, Jamie Liddell, Fennesz, Titus Andronicus, Growing.

A street view view of our new street (taken in warmer times– we’ve noticed that the google van was in Syracuse on the most beautiful day of all time).

Oh, and I ran three miles on the treadmill the other day– it’s nice have sore quads again. I hope to get at least a few Prospect Park runs in before we leave. But it’s supposed to snow here, so we’ll see.

I just hope that the behavior of the Villanova fans is not typical of the Big East– we’ll be at a lot of BE conference games, hopefully, once we move to our new home in Syracuse next month. That’s right, we’re moving: I accepted a job at Syracuse University right before Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to it, and we’re heading up there this weekend to find an initial place to stay. I’ll start in early January.

Somewhat unrelatedly, on my way to the Garden to meet Kelly last night, I listened to this week’s The Moth podcast, which featured my hero Joe Jackson telling a story about his early days playing in pubs (a bit of the story is also in his great memoir, A Cure for Gravity). Thanks to J for making sure I didn’t miss it! I bring this up, because I keep meaning to post my top 10 or so albums for 2008… Joe’s Rain is definitely on that list.

I had my wisdom teeth extracted on Friday, and it’s messed with my sleeping schedule so much that I was actually awake to watch the end of the Panther game tonight. What a great second half… I’ll never get to sleep now.

I had gotten up to about 3 miles at a time on the treadmill before the surgery, and everything felt great, so once I’ve fully recovered, I should be out on the road again. That is all.

History.

Let’s not forget that McCain’s speech last night signaled the end of his (and Pailn’s) cynical, shameful, and fearful campaign. Let’s hope the nation takes Obama’s lead and starts to think about thoughtful, inclusive ways we can address the challenges that face us all. Sadly, many of the votes on ballot initiatives we’re seeing this year show how far we have to go.

I’m planning to get back to running this week, at least on the treadmill… the weather is getting perfect for long runs in the park though.

It may only be the recent trip to Texas, but Kelly and I are now addicted to Friday Night Lights.

• As Joe suggested, I will plan all of my meals in advance. This should be fun and delicious, since I have a super long list of Austin restaurants I miss. Having Kelly and others around to deliver the meals, as Don suggests, is going to be helpful.
• Lisa convinced me that I should only spend about 3 hours each day reading and reviewing literature so I can force myself to write for the rest of the day.
• I’ve asked Kelly to reset my bloglines password so I can’t procrastinate with my RSS feeds.
• Everyone suggested avoiding staying up all night writing and trying to adhere to my regular sleep schedule, until perhaps Thursday.
• Save save save save.

I’ve brought with me my APA publications manual and a bunch of pdfs and things I’ve written, but that’s about it.  I’m excited and nervous to see the questions I’ll be answering.

Kelly and I are staying in Austin until the 12th, so we’ll have time to relax once it’s all over.

The only real bummer I can foresee is that I’m still in physical therapy for my leg so I can’t run Town Lake at all while I’m there.

Ok, going underground….. now!

Luckily, I’ll just defer my admission to the marathon until next year. I’ll have to pay again, but I have little choice now. Oh well. I’m not beating myself up about it, just working hard to get back on my feet. Been to a few cycling classes, and have continued consistently stretching and practicing yoga. Sadly, my two favorite yoga classes at the gym got discontinued, probably because I was one of only 2 or 3 who ever showed up. Hopefully those teachers will be back at other times, they were my 2 favorites.

Relatedly, I finally got in to the physical therapist this week. It has been a nightmare to schedule these appointments, since I have to take off from work early to get to the office before they close. Visiting this place is like stepping back to the 70s. It’s basically a railroad apartment, mauve walls and brown trim, divvied up by orange, brown, and green striped curtains. Behind each curtain is a cot and an aged brown-plastic machine covered in dials. It definitely seems like more of a rehab-after-workplace-accident type place than a sports medicine practice. Thanks HIP! If it weren’t so close to my house, I might seek another place.

Anyway, they hooked me up to this shocking machine for 15 minutes, then gave me an ultrasound massage on my hamstring, and then I rode an archaic stationary bike that looked like a discarded The Price Is Right prop for about 6 minutes. Two feet from the bike was the receptionist’s desk… she was filing as I peddled. A strange place indeed. Perhaps I’ll get some pictures next time– have a few weeks of this ahead.

Oh, and I went to see My Bloody Valentine last night. They were terrific, and the fact that I brushed past J Mascis in the crowd would have made my 15 year old self ecstatic. Haven’t done much that would impress 15 year old me lately, so that felt good. (I can feel him shudder each time I put on my running tights!) The highlight for me was actually the extended noise break they closed with– it was overpoweringly, sensory-overload loud. Like thunder on pause forever. I was fine with earplugs, but people seemed to be losing their minds a bit. I can only imagine that this event had some negative impact on the Jersey Boys performance in the theatre next door. The highlight for Kelly is that she didn’t go to the show and therefore missed it.

Apart from not playing “Cupid Come,” they covered everything I wanted to hear. Alphabetcityblog documented the show way more carefully than I ever could have, I’m just glad I got their in time for the whole set, had a decent view (though this person had a better spot! — this was more like where we were), and was able to meet up with Jon and Melissa beforehand. Well worth the price.

No one seemed to know what was happening, then the ferry started turning around,  headed back to Manhattan. A rumor spread that there was something wrong with the SI slip, and we had to go back. Before that rumour got to everyone, though, the boat started listing heavily to the starboard side. That freaked me out.

For some reason, I went starboard, and noticed that the boat was tilting because everyone else was headed that way as well. Because there was a big Coast Guard boat heading toward us. I figured they were going to try to evacuate us. Then I noticed a smaller boat, with two Coast Guard folks pulling a limp, fleshy person aboard.

Instantly people said someone jumped. Sounded good to me. The loudspeaker came on, told us the rescue operation was successful, and we started on our way again. I wondered how someone could have gotten out of the boat without anyone seeing them (of course, people have been known to). Told a bunch of folks at work about it, and even read about the jumper on the SI Advance website.

Then, a couple hours later, Kelly lets me know it was Hannah Upp, the missing teacher from Harlem. Apparently, she’d jumped off the pier and swam into the harbour. The Ferry captain stopped the boat to save her when someone on the boat noticed her floating there. Strange.