Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, from a snowless and balmy Colorado. It’s 52 here (probably over 60 in the sun), which is pretty crazy.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, from a snowless and balmy Colorado. It’s 52 here (probably over 60 in the sun), which is pretty crazy.
Having a little time off means I’ve been spending some time on my blog. I’ve been wanting to catalog as many of my music playlists as I can find, whether they’re online or not. You’ll see a new Playlists menu item if you’re visiting my blog on the web. I’ll be adding more over time.
If you’re looking for a list of lists when it comes to music released in 2025, look no further.
I just hit send to my secret music email list. It’s one email per year with my year-end playlist. You can listen to it on Apple Music, Spotify and even YouTube Music, if that’s your thing. Make sure you listen in order at least once. No cheating. You’d only be cheating yourself after all.
This is the photo I used for the playlist cover. It’s a photo of some turkey vultures I snapped while we were on a glamping trip at El Capitan Canyon, just north of Santa Barbara, earlier this year. We actually just got back from another trip this weekend. It’s always a good weekend getaway. Anyway, it felt like a good photographic representation of this year.
Absolutely incredible! Wow! It’s Not That Serious is a dance film by Ricky Ubeda.
In no particular order, these are ten albums released this year that I enjoyed. Are they the best? I dunno. Who cares? I don’t want to argue or invite discussion about that sort of thing. I do, however, want to introduce people to music they might not otherwise hear. There’s nothing quite like getting a note from someone telling me they really enjoyed some album or song I told them about. My thirst and excitement for new music hasn’t wavered. I suspect it never will. Most of my music listening is a never-ending quest not just for new, but new and interesting. I live for that initial feeling of being moved in some way by a song or album. Much of what stirs something in me tends to be some form of jazz, classical, electronic or some combination of thereof. All of that to say, I hope you find something to like from this list. If you do, let me know.
Patricia Bennan - Of the Near and Far
P.S. I’m still working on my usual year-end playlist, which will certainly include music from these albums and more.
I lost my mom to Parkinson’s this year, so this one hit a nerve. My mom would never have done this sort of thing, but as the saying goes, this is the worst it will ever be. I hope I live disease-free long enough to see some significant treatment advancements for neurodegenerative diseases.
The last month has been one of the most intense (largely in a good way) times in my life. Something I’ve been contributing to over the last year was completed. There was so much doubt. I’d never done it before, but it worked out. Maybe I’ll say more another time. It was a nice end to a shit year.
A Plea.
A great use case for Perplexity that I have found highly valuable (literally) is asking it to find valid discount codes before I check out from an e-commerce site. It ALWAYS finds them.
Been listening to R Is For Rocket non-stop. Cassidy even asked me to send her a link, which I’m pretty sure hadn’t ever happened.
I don’t remember the last time I used a mouse. I love MacBook touchpads and the Apple Magic Trackpad. Webb brought my attention to the Melt Mouse, which looks really nice.
Geniuses Cameron Crowe and Judd Apatow talk for Interview Magazine.
I’ve been thinking about an e-bike. LA is really not a very bike-friendly city, which has kept me from getting one. The Also TM-B looks so cool though. Wow.
Subway Builder feels like a game I could really get into (via Installer)
David Marchese interviewing Sean Penn was a really fun listen. Oddly, I can’t find it on YouTube, which is where I would typically link to, so here’s an Apple Podcasts link or you can just find it using whatever app you use.
As I’ve mentioned before, Search Engine is one of my favorite podcasts. The latest episode is actually an episode of Talk Easy, a podcast I had never heard of, wherein the host, Sam Fragoso interviews Terry Gross. It is a masterclass in long form interviews.
Jeremy Maluf updated his incredible Indefinite Backpack Travel post for 2025. It’s one of my favorite lists of this kind. I almost pulled the trigger on the Montbell jacket. I’m in the market, but the Japanese fit differences gave me pause. Side note: Having AI in a browser is nice when researching such things.
I started reading If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares this weekend. It’s the first book of its kind that I’ve read, but I figured if I’m going to read something on this topic, this would be the one to read.
Feels like an Entrance Music morning here.
Another Department has a fun new shirt.
I’ve read some great stuff that I’ve found on Arts & Letters Daily. It continues to be an essential read, as it has since the late 90s. Today I came across an essay from James Marriott called The Dawn of The Post-Literate Society. I’ve since linked many friends and family to it. I don’t think I’ve read something quite so clear on the topic of how truly ruinous our pocket computers have been, particularly to reading and writing. I’m not sure I agree with everything in the essay, but I highlighted quite a bit and plan to spend time re-reading it. It really rocked me!
Jimmy Kimmel is back! (for now).
