Fifteenth Annual Ralphies

One more time around the sun!  This year had lows, it had highs, but the lows were lower and the highs were higher.  A pretty intense year, if you want to know the truth. And now to the awards ...

MUSIC:  Maybe it was just serendipity, but music seems to have had a pretty good year, or I just heard some good music that's been out there for a while.   A few songs were outstanding and kept playing in my brain throughout the summer and fall, most notably "Pristine" by Snail Mail and "Your Dog" by Soccer Mommy.  Despite a late surge by "Future Me Hates Me" by the Beths,  the Song of the Year award goes to "Pristine" (local girl Lindsey Jordan makes good).  Other songs I kept pressing repeat on were "Lover Chanting" (Little Dragon), "Almost Had to Start a Fight" (Parquet Courts), "Yellow Bike" (Pedro the Lion), and "Highway Tune" (Greta van Fleet).  Of cover tunes, "Destination Unknown" (Joan Jett) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Patti Smith) deserve notice.

MOVIES:  I saw some movies!  Very enjoyable were The Favourite (not at all what I expected) and Incredibles 2 (pretty much what I expected).  But the Best Movie award goes to Into the Spider-Verse, with Avengers: Infinity War a close second.  (Yeah, I'm a Marvel fan, what of it?  Sad farewell to Steve Ditko and Stan Lee.)

TV:  I didn't watch TV.  I had it on from time to time.   There were ball games and re-runs.  

BOOKS (Non-fiction):  I tried to read Bob Woodward's Fear, but found it too depressing to go more than a few pages in.   But I finally got around to reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, which was SO good.  I don't feel a part of that kind of demimonde at all, but anyone can relate to the story of artists finding their voice and growing up at the same time.  

BOOKS (fiction):  Did anything blow my mind this year? I guess it was Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.   A very compelling read.

POLITICS:  I actually donated some money to Beto O'Rourke's campaign.  First time I've done that in .... a long time.  I'm sorry he didn't win, but I have a feeling he'll be around for a while.

That's all, folks!  See you next year.