Some Contenders for Single of the Year

Hardly a comprehensive list...

Things I've Written

Randomly decided to take inventory of what I've written online since the Sports-Den/Xanga era. As far as I can tell/remember, it breaks down as follows:

• 1335 posts at One Thing I Did Today
• 1314 tweets under @jlukeadams
• 396 stories for MLB Trade Rumors
• 272 entries on Livejournal
  
• 142 entries at I Like These Lyrics
• 61 tweets under @championsblog
• 47 entries at One Thing I Remembered Today
• 39 posts at My Opinions On...
• 26 posts at These Are Things I Think About
• 25 Facebook notes
• 9 entries at Champions of America's Pastime
• 9 blurbs for OFG Radio
• 7 posts for MuchMusic
• 7 pieces (4 reviews, 3 features) for Stylus Magazine
  
• 5 entries for ExtravaDanza

Planning My Pitchfork Festival Schedule

Yes, I'm reviving this blog from the dead for a post that will mostly only be of interest to me. And maybe the handful of other people I know who will be at the Pitchfork Festival next month.

So let's do this. Green and bold is for artists I REALLY want to see. Red is for artists I have no interest in seeing. Black is for artists who I wouldn't mind seeing if the opportunity arises.

Friday July 16 (gates at 3 p.m.):

3:30 Sharon Van Etten (a)
4:00 The Tallest Man on Earth (c)
4:35 El-P (a)
5:30 Liars (c)
5:45 Hannibal Buress (b)
6:25 Robyn (a)
6:30 Wyatt Cenac (b)
7:15 Michael Showalter (b)
7:20 Broken Social Scene (c)
8:00 Eugene Mirman (b)
8:30 Modest Mouse (a)

Saturday July 17 (gates at 12 p.m.):

1:00 Free Energy (a)
1:00 Netherfriends (b)
1:45 Real Estate (c)
1:55 Sonny and the Sunsets (b)
2:30 Delorean (a)
2:50 Kurt Vile (b)
3:20 Titus Andronicus (c)
3:45 Dâm-Funk (b)
4:15 Raekwon (a)
4:45 Smith Westerns (b)
5:15 Blues Explosion (c)
5:45 WHY? (b)
6:15 Wolf Parade (a)
6:45 Bear in Heaven (b)
7:25 Panda Bear (c)
7:40 Freddie Gibbs (b)
8:30 LCD Soundsystem (a)

Sunday July 18 (gates at 12 p.m.):

1:00 Allá (a)
1:00 Cave (b)
1:45 Cass McCombs (c)
1:55 Best Coast (b)
2:30 Girls (a)
2:50 Washed Out (b)
3:20 Beach House (c)
3:45 Local Natives (b)
4:15 Lightning Bolt (a)
4:45 Surfer Blood (b)
5:15 St. Vincent (c)
5:45 Here We Go Magic (b)
6:15 Major Lazer (a)
6:45 Neon Indian (b)
7:25 Big Boi (c)
7:40 Sleigh Bells (b)
8:30 Pavement (a)

Now that I've written all this out, my schedule-making decisions look much easier. The only real problems:

• Wish the comedians were starting a little earlier Friday night. Not overly excited about El-P or Liars, and wouldn't mind having a few laughs instead.
  
• Big gap between Smith Westerns and Freddie Gibbs on Saturday. Guess I'll be getting dinner and watching Wolf Parade again during those hours.
• I wouldn't mind seeing ANY of the bands from Best Coast to Surfer Blood on Sunday, which means I'll have to pick and choose. I'm guessing after Best Coast, I'll catch a little Washed Out, then all of Beach House and at least some of Lightning Bolt out of curiousity.
• Sunday night is another tough one. Looks like I'll have to miss Sleigh Bells, which is too bad.
  

Favourite Moments in The Sopranos

My major TV-watching project this year has been watching The Sopranos. Lisa and I started watching it together around the beginning of 2010, but when I broke my arm in the second week of the year, it resulted in way too much sitting-around-and-resting time for me to wait for her to watch the rest. So, over the course of the last few months, I've plowed through the series' 86 hour-long episodes on my own. This culminated in a mini-marathon yesterday, when I watched the final six episodes and eventually, at about 1:30 am, saw that infamous "Don't Stop Believin"(*) final scene that I'd read so much about. Loved it. The performances, the story arcs, the dream sequences. It was all great.

(*) I'm on the fence about Glee as a whole, but the pilot for that show was fantastic, and pretty much defined by the performance of "Don't Stop Believin" at the end. Add that to this Sopranos episode and even a pretty solid moment in a third season episode of Scrubs and I feel like it's become the go-to TV-moment song. "Hallelujah," you're yesterday's news.

So, as a sort of instant, reactionary exercise, a few indelible moments from the series as a whole. Those who don't want to be spoiled should probably stop reading now, if you haven't already....

Livia and Junior conspire to kill Tony
1.10: Nobody Knows Anything
YouTube

I have to admit that it took me a while to appreciate how amazing Livia was as a character. The way she played the "poor me" (not to be confused with "oh, poor you") angle while subtly manipulating everyone around her was a pretty terrific character study. Her ability to put the idea of whacking Tony into Junior's head and then back away from any responsibility in these scenes is amazing.

The failed hit on Tony
1.12: Isabella
YouTube

The first really memorable action sequence involving one of the main characters, this scene was also a good example of how well The Sopranos utilized music to create a certain mood. Sure, The Wire's ability to avoid it altogether was admirable, but sometimes the right song, edited the right way, can have a huge impact. Here, it depicted Tony finally snapping out of a depression-induced haze and saving his life.



Livia's wake
3.2: Proshai, Livushka
YouTube

I'm glad this Youtube sequence is as long at is, but I wish it was even longer. Because the scenes leading up to the wake, showing how the various characters prepared for it, were tremendous too. But man... this scene just brings one great moment after another. Janice awkwardly forcing people to try to something nice about Livia. Fanny, the woman who Livia once ran over with her car, being the only one to say something nice about her. Chris, high out of his mind, delivering a nonsensical monologue that ended with him unable to remember what his point was. And finally, Carmela and her dad telling it like it is.

Ralph kills Tracee the stripper
3.6: University
YouTube

This was the episode that killed any notion I had that these characters weren't that bad. It wasn't just this horrifically violent scene, where Ralph destroys Tracee's dreams, then kills her and their unborn child. It was the treatment she received from a slew of the series' protagonists over the course of the hour. Because of this episode, the Kinks' "Living on a Thin Line," which Tracee dances to at one point, still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

Jackie Jr.'s failed attempt to rob the card game
3.12: Amour Fou
YouTube

One of the best action sequences of the series, this reminded me of the episode in the second season of The Wire where Ziggy Sobotka seals his fate by shooting up Double-G and company. Jackie Aprile Jr. had been established as a screw-up, but to see him ruin his life in such dramatic, devastating fashion was mesmerizing.

Christopher's intervention
4.10: The Strong, Silent Type
YouTube

All due respect to Arrested Development, this is the most hilariously disastrous intervention I've ever seen on television. I'm not an expert on these things, but I don't think they're supposed to end with the subject of the intervention cracking his skull after being attacked by his supporters. The sequence also features one of my favourite exchanges in the entire series:

Silvio: "When I came in to open up one morning, there you were with your head half in the toilet. Your hair was in the toilet water. Disgusting."
Christopher: "I told you I had the flu!"
Silvio: "I said my piece, Chrissy."

It's impossible for me to watch this without laughing.

Tony and Carmela separate
4.13: Whitecaps
YouTube

The acting throughout the entire series was mostly superb, but if I had to point to one episode as a tour-de-force display of acting prowess, it'd be "Whitecaps." The domestic problems between Tony and Carmela came to a head in this one, and James Gandolfini and Edie Falco just nailed it in every one of their scenes. Incredible.

A.J.'s suicide attempt + Tony knocks Coco's teeth out
6.19: The Second Coming
YouTube + YouTube

One of my favourite episodes of the series in large part due to these two sequences. A.J. immediately regretting his attempt to kill himself but unable to save himself until Tony came home was one of the most devastating scenes I've ever seen on television. I have to admit there was times during the series when I wasn't a huge fan of Robert Iler (A.J.), but that sequence... wow. As for Tony's retaliation on the New York crew after Coco harassed Meadow... well, the series had some brutal moments, but Coco getting his teeth knocked out was the only one that made me yell at my screen in shock/disgust/whatever-else. Brutal.



The final scene
6.21: Made in America
YouTube

Everyone's already said everything that can be said about this scene and this episode, so I'll just add: I love it, and I'm totally on board with David Chase's style of television-making. I really like something he said in regard to the Russian from "Pine Barrens," whose whereabouts remained unknown: "They shot a guy. Who knows where he went? Who cares about some Russian? This is what Hollywood has done to America. Do you have to have closure on every little thing? Isn't there any mystery in the world?" I think the same could be said about the series' final scene. Who knows what happened after the screen went black. Whether Tony was killed, arrested, or continued to eat onion rings in peace is up for the viewer to decide, with the help of a slew of hints. And that's all I need. People who want everything spelled out explicitly are the most irritating kind of TV viewers, and I imagine I'll be saying the same thing on Monday, after Lost's series finale. Do you have to have closure on every little thing? Of course, in fairness, I also don't expect Lost to leave questions unanswered as effectively and interestingly as The Sopranos did. Kudos, David Chase.

More Things I'm Looking Forward to This Summer

• Eating ice cream at The Big Chill.
• Hearing summer anthems blasted from open car windows.
• Blasting summer anthems while driving with open car windows.
• "Babes on bikes."
  
• The new Hold Steady album.
• And the new LCD Soundsystem album.
• And Wolf Parade. And The-Dream. And the New Pornographers. And The National. And Born Ruffians. And and and.
  
• Summer blockbuster movies? Are there any I'm looking forward to? Maybe Scott Pilgrim, if that counts as a blockbuster. I can't get on board with the Michael Cera backlash.
  
• More frequent visits from out-of-town friends no longer weighed down with schoolwork.

• Free shows at Yonge-Dundas Square and Harbourfront.
• Potentially getting back into that magical free, empty bar in Harbourfront Centre.
• Going to Canada's Wonderland.
• The last hour of the day at Canada's Wonderland when everyone is clearing out and there are no lineups for anything.
• The Behemoth.
• Having the fan in my room turned on 24 hours a day from May through September.
• Turning a darker shade of white.
• Baseball's trade deadline, which will make my job exciting again.
• Taking cold showers by choice, rather than dreading stepping out of the shower onto the cold bathroom floor.
  

Artists I've Seen Live

Since 2003, I've kept a .txt file saved on my hard drive, documenting the shows I've attended. The list isn't exhaustive, but it's pretty close. Any time I went out with the intent of seeing a live performance, I jotted down what I'd seen: artist, date, venue. If I ended up going out and seeing a band or two by accident, or if I wasn't really paying attention, it usually didn't make the list. And I'd have to be there for at least 50% of a set for it to warrant "seeing the band" -- catching a couple songs doesn't count. Basically, these are the artists I'm comfortable saying I've seen live over the past seven years.

7 times:

• Shout Out Out Out Out
  

6 times:

• Metric

5 times:

• Born Ruffians
• The Constantines

4 times:

• Controller.Controller
• The Golden Dogs
• Holy Fuck

3 times:

• Basia Bulat
• Islands
• Japandroids
• Junior Boys
• Mother Mother
  
• Thunderheist
• Woodhands

2 times:

• 120 Days
• Akron/Family
  
• And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead
• Bocce
• Caribou
• Cool Kids
• Dan Deacon
  
• dd/mm/yyyy
• Death from Above 1979
• Do Make Say Think
• Dragonette
• Final Fantasy
• Franz Ferdinand
• Frightened Rabbit
• The Futureheads
• The GZA
  
• Hot Hot Heat
• Hylozoists
• LCD Soundsystem
• M.I.A.
• The Most Serene Republic
• The National
• Oh! The Pretty Things
• The Organ
• Pink Mountaintops
• Plants and Animals
• Polysics
• The Ponys
• Spiral Beach
• The Thermals
• Tokyo Police Club
• Uncut
• The Unicorns
• Wavves
• Wolf Parade
• You Say Party! We Say Die!
  

1 time:

• A Horse and His Boy
  
• The Acorn
• Apostle of Hustle
• Battles
• BBU (Bin Laden Blowin' Up)
  
• Beach House
• Beirut
• Bellflur
  
• The Black
• Black Lips
  
• Bloc Party
• Bryan Webb
  
• Built to Spill
  
• Cadence Weapon
• Califone
  
• Camouflage Nights
• Carcrasheyes
• Chromeo
  
• Circuit Breaker
• Clipse
• The Coast
  
• The Court & Spark
• Craig Taborn's Junk Magic
  
• Crystal Castles
• Cuff The Duke
• D'Ubervilles
  
• Daft Punk
• De La Soul
• Deadboy & The Elephantman
  
• The Dears
• Deerhunter
  
• The Delays
• Diamond Rings
• DJ Champion
• DJ P-Love
• Dymaxions
  
• The Early Morning
  
• Elliott Brood
• Fembots
  
• The Flaming Lips
• The Floor
• Flosstradamus
• From Fiction
• The Fruit Bats
• Future Islands
  
• Future of the Left
• Girl Talk
• Golden Horse
• The Good Life
• Grand Buffet
• Grizzly Bear
  
• Headlights
• HEALTH
• Hidden Cameras
• The Hold Steady
• The Hood Internet
• Howl!
  
• The Illuminati
• Immaculate Machine
• Interpol
• Jason Collett
• The Jesus Lizard
• Jim Guthrie
• Jokers of the Scene
• Jon-Rae & The River
• Katie Stelmanis
  
• Kid Koala
  
• Klaxons
• Land of Talk
  
• Laura Barrett
• Louis XIV
• Love is All
• Lovvers
• Lullabye Arkestra
• Lynx and Ram
• Magneta Lane
• Magnolia Electric Co.
• Make Believe
• Malajube
• Mazarin
  
• Menomena
• MF Doom
  
• MGMT
• The Midway State
  
• The Miniatures
• Muffled Suitcase
• The New Pornographers
• No Dynamics
• NQ Arbuckle
  
• Nuclear Power Pants
• Oakley Hall
• The Octopus Project
• Of Montreal
• Off The International Radar
• Ohbijou
• OK Cobra
  
• Olenka & The Autumn Lovers
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• Peter Elkas
  
• Pharoahe Monch
  
• Ponytail
• Professor Murder
  
• The Race
  
• The Rapture
• The Raveonettes
• Read Yellow
  
• The Reputation
• The Riderless
  
• Rock Plaza Central
• Royal Wood
• Russian Futurists
• San Serac
  
• Sandro Perri & Friends
• SebastiAn
  
• Secret Machines
• Shad
  
• Shaky Hands
  
• Shudder to Think
• Slint
• Smith Westerns
• Sonic Youth
• The Sonics
• Spiritualized
• Stars
• Stereo Image
  
• The Stills
• The Talk
  
• Tangiers
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Teeth Mountain
• Tin
• Torngat
  
• Two Hours Traffic
• Two Minute Miracles
• Viperscheme
• Vivian Girls
• Voxtrot
  
• The Walkmen
• We Are Wolves
• We're Marching On
• Winter Gloves
• Wintersleep
  
• Wolfmother
• The Wooden Sky
• Wooden Stars
• The Wrens
• YACHT
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Yo La Tengo
• Yoko Casionos
• Young Rival
  

Things I'm Looking Forward to This Summer

• Walking. Everywhere.
• Wearing short sleeves to nonchalantly show off my badass scar.
• Actually going to the beach this year, wherever it is.
• The weekends when College or Bloor Streets are closed for street festivals.
• Walking through those festivals in the middle of the road. Underrated feeling, walking down the middle of a normally ultra-busy street.
• Toronto Island excursions.
• Park sitting.
• Patios patios patios.
• The Hold Steady. Exploding Hearts. Nikki & the Corvettes. My summer rap playlist. Summer music in general, really.

• Buying a barbecue.
• Learning how to use a barbecue.
• Drinking beers on our balcony on sunny afternoons.
• Drinking beers on our balcony while barbecuing on sunny afternoons.
• Having an iPod dock for our balcony this year.
  
• Throwing a house party or two where people will be crammed out on our balcony instead of crammed in our living room and kitchen.
• The outside possibility that our long-imagined hot dog eating contest could actually happen.
  
• Sangria.
• Girls in summer dresses.

• Going to as many Blue Jays games as I want, via my Toronto Star Season Pass. This could be as many as 80 but will probably be more like 15.
• Watching any baseball game I want to all summer, via my $20 MLB.TV subscription.
• Ben moving to Toronto so we can waste way too much time watching and talking baseball. I mean that's not WHY he's moving here -- just a fortunate side effect.
  
• Finding out where Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh will sign.
• Playing recreational and pick-up sports outdoors, health permitting.
• The two-hour LOST series finale on May 23.
• The Party Down premiere on April 23, and its subsequent season.
• The rest of season 3 of Breaking Bad.
• Plowing through the remaining 3.5 seasons of The Sopranos that I've yet to watch.
  

• Attempting to swim in the public pool at Dundas & Bathurst on warm nights, after being at a bar or show.
• Remembering not to jump into that pool with my jeans still on this year.
• Road-tripping to Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival.
• Not having to sleep upright in a leather chair every night while in Chicago this year.
• Wearing shorts. I don't care if shorts are lame.
• Having every window in the house open and still being hot.
• Hearing that damned ice cream truck announce its presence all over the neighbourhood.
  
• EATING FREEZIES!!
• Countless other small pleasures that I'm almost certainly forgetting.