Top 5 of 2011!
Welcome to my Top 5 albums of the year. I loved listening to music this year. I got married and did all sorts of life changing things this year and music led the way. I hope you enjoy these albums for yourself. I have included sample tracks too! Enjoy!
5) Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
Eddie Vedder is soulful and his solo album devoted to the tiny ukulele delivers big. A collection of originals and cover songs, this album is the perfect backdrop for an evening curled up in a blanket. Much like his Into The Wild soundtrack, this album is chill, but still manages to make my heart beat faster. Bonus points for covering “Tonight You Belong to Me” which is one of my favorite scenes in the movie “The Jerk”. Listen to it above.
4) Childish Gambino - Camp
In a year that featured another strong album by Jay-Z and Kanye West, comedian Donald Glover (of Community fame), delivers an honest and thoughtful rap album about growing up black and becoming successful under the moniker, Childish Gambino. The formula isn’t all that different from the likes of Kanye or Drake, but Childish Gambino makes it accessible, even to a Cracker. Check out one of his more edgy tracks, “Firefly” above.
3) Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes
It makes me so happy to see Fountains of Wayne release another album after 4 years. They specialize in pure power pop and this album does not disappoint. The charming lyrics and the stylish vocals makes any drive to work a summertime cruise with the top down. The first track on the album, “Summer Place” is deep and clingy, but fun and catchy all at the same time. Check it out above.
2) Mike Birbiglia - Sleepwalk with Me (Live)
Number 2 on the list is a comedy album. Comedy Radio came to town this year and as a result I have had the chance to listen to comics I might not have. BirBigs is one of them. His new album (which turned into a one-man broadway show) is essentially one long story with many many tangents. I have included track 1 to get you started, I promise you his awkward take on life will make you laugh!
1) Saintseneca - Last
My top album of the year by a LONG shot is Ohio band, Saintseneca. Their first album Last is an amazing folk explosion. His vocals weave in and out of the music like a dart and I love every second of it. This album has been on repeat since it was given to me. I would love to see them live!
ClusterFiction
This is the new site that I am contributing stories to. Check it out when you get a chance. Hopefully the content will start filling up soon!
Do yourself a favor and download all the Delta Spirit daytrotter sessions!!
The use and misuse of Twitter?
Lately I have been following this girl on twitter. She works in PR and by all accounts spends most of her day blogging on various sites and of course immersing herself in social media.
What I find most interesting in observing her twitter feed, as well as spending a little time researching social media as it relates to business for a project at work, is her mix of personality and feelings with business targeted links to articles and blogs either written by herself or her peers.
This got me thinking. Social media can no longer be considered a new medium. Folks have been blogging and posting status updates for well over a decade. This girl I follow clearly gets paid to use twitter, but she has masterfully harnessed it’s power to not only push her business message, but to build a private following based on her personality. She has done this most likely through years of practice as a teen and twenty something traversing the web and its social pull. The funny thing is, is that corporate America is just now realizing within the past few years how powerful it can be. All the while still conflicted on it’s use in generating revenue.
But it isn’t just companies that are still figuring out ways to make social media sites like Twitter work for them, some consumers are struggling in the same ways. Another friend of mine maintains a twitter feed, but exclusively feeds off of it. I don’t think he has posted a single tweet. He just follows and reads content. While others, like Kanye West use it to project and push out their information to a massive following of people, following only a few other users and probably ignoring their tweets. So which is correct?
I have spent some time examining the reason why someone would post a tweet from a business perspective and it seems that offering a message, while important, might not be nearly as beneficial as engaging with other users. So while neither of the examples above are wrong, I think that in order to grasp the full depth of social media and it’s draw, you must do both. You must read and engage the poster with your own knowledge, effectively creating a community or message board spoken through short isolated bursts.
Twitter clearly realizes this as they make updates that allow users to track tweets that are joined through @ and RT forming conversations that span time and space. It is a neat idea when you think about it, but it does sort of take the public nature of the tweet and moves it more into private conversation. This is by no means a bad thing, maybe this will force businesses to become more personable. Maybe it will convince my friend to tweet more and maybe it will even cause Alyssa Milano to respond to my constant pleads of affection. You just never know until you try. So go forth and engage in twitterdom!
Banter and the Couple’s Glossary
So after spending three plus years with Cara, I have noticed that we have developed our own language over time. Certain ways to describe stuff that we don’t seem to use anywhere else, but that we fully understand none the less. The following are a few examples.
BoopBoop - This is a term that means you need to fast forward through the commercials when we are watching something on our DVR. While it is great that I get the power of the remote 99% of the time, the burden of the boopboop falls mainly on me.
Fend - When we are lazy or one of us comes home late, this is a term we use that means “I am going to eat whatever I want and you are on your own!”
Your Turn - This usually comes into play when we sleep in on Saturdays, it means that the Dog needs to be let out.
BACK TO THE FUTURE : Irina Werning - Photographer
This is amazing, who wants to do this?
Application
The world around me is moving so fast. Mobile devices are making virtually all information instantly available at the touch of a button. An idea released into the world can reach the masses in seconds.
Unfortunately this makes it increasingly harder to have an original idea, one that isn’t pounced upon and driven to completion by someone with more motivation and more means. Maybe they happened to hear you talking about it in line at the movies, or maybe you mentioned something brilliant on a facebook wall or a twitter response. In the internet age, you can never be so sure who is and isn’t listening.
It makes me wonder. To be driven, to be special, to be the next big thing, it isn’t easy. In the past I have lost steam on ideas that I knew were great. I lacked the confidence to see a project through to completion. I am hoping that soon I will turn a corner, that I can overcome this evil cycle of failure.
All it takes is one success to breed others. Even if it is a mild one. I am hoping and praying that my one success happens soon. I hope the support system I have for this is strong and won’t allow me to sit down and watch another idea get picked up by someone with more motivation. I need this and I want this, I hope I wake up soon and remember just what it would mean to put my heart into something that matters.
I can’t go on coasting, I need to be passionate about things I do day in and day out. I want to care, I want to wake up at 3am and NEED to work. Where and when will this happen to me? Soon I hope. Soon indeed.
moviebarcode
This is a cool site, if you love movies, you can just feel the movie by looking at these! Thanks to Adam for sending me the link.
Spring Training
Traditionally I am not a baseball blogger. I follow several of them online and with twitter, but I tend to leave the analysis to them! That being said, I do want to make a few points in an effort to get through to the casual fan. Today Spring Training starts, it is the first day for pitchers and catchers to report, so I think today is a good day to devote a blog to the team.
I have been seriously following the Royals for probably the last 4 years and semi-casually for a few years before that. I was a season ticket holder for 2 long years (a total of 70+ games). So believe me when I say that this season might be one of the most exciting/scary seasons in memory.
When I say that I mean that no one is expecting the Royals to field a winner. With the lowest payroll in the league going into 2011, no one I mean no one thinks this team is going to win. In fact there have already been countless blogs on the subject and if you have read even a few of them then this post might not be for you. I want to talk directly to the casual fan, the cynical fan, that guy at the office that insists on going to ball games, but still talks sh*t on the team.
Listen, the Royals might not set the world on fire this season, but what will happen is we are going to see some of the most hyped prospects in the league finally make it up to the bigs and show our proud city what they can do.
I remember the first time Alex Gordon got called up from the minors, he was touted as the second coming, the next George Brett. I also remember that he came up in his first major league at bat and struck out with bases loaded. I think collectively the entire Kansas City area let out a massive sigh. We are still waiting for him to catch up to all that hype. Alex will be our everyday left fielder, maybe he will finally forget the pressure and just play baseball with style.
So Gordon is the perfect example of a prospect that doesn’t pay off 100% (though in his defense, he is still in the majors and will play everyday), so I am not saying that all the prospects will get called up and win a world series this year, but I can say that some of them will definitely get called up in an otherwise unforgettable season and show our fair city what they are made of without the pressure of winning.
Maybe just maybe that will translate into something great, maybe we will compete, scare a few teams, earn a place at the table of some big name free agents next season, you never know. I guess what I am saying is that if you want to come to the K this summer, don’t come and fuss when we don’t win (we will sometimes). Take a deeper look at the player, look at (shutter!) advance stats, maybe even take some time to figure out their strengths and weaknesses in the minors and compare those actions to the majors.
Doing so might just make the potentially sad season bearable. I know I am taking this approach, trying to keep positive about the coming year.
In closing, I just hope that Jason Kendall doesn’t start at Catcher all year. we need to see Pena and May get some reps. And because they have already played with a lot of the minor pitchers that will probably be up hurling.
So look for me on opening day. Cara has never been and I am looking forward to letting her see what the K is like in a playoff-type atmosphere (Sadly opening day is the only sell out that seems like something is at stake!).
I like the Royals a lot, but on this Valentine’s Day my heart is with Cara. Can’t wait to marry her this summer. I hope to see you all at the K when we get back from our honeymoon!
Sometimes it amazes me what people are capable of…this is kind of rad.
Beer
When I was in High School, I didn’t drink. Save the occasional sampling at a family party or late at night with friends, I didn’t have the stomach for alcohol. Even when I made it to college, drinking wasn’t a part of my everyday life. It wasn’t until I was about 20 that I started drinking on a semi-regular basis.
I started with beer; it is universal and accessible when in college. I did not care for it. That hoppy taste just didn’t sit well with me. I, like many new drinkers, just couldn’t understand why people drank this crap all the time. I feel the same way about coffee, gross.
So when I was in college, I leaned more toward vodka and whiskey, any mixed drink suited me more. Over the years though, I have come to appreciate the process and styling of beer. My father is a beer guy, so much so that I took him to get a pint of beer tattooed on his arm! He has taught me that not all beer is the same, and that there are indeed subtle differences in the flavors that each style of beer exhibits. These flavors are achieved through changes in the hops and barley that are added to the beer during the cooking process.
Fast forward to today, I consider myself a beer novice still, but I understand more, like what makes a pilsner different from a lager or a porter. I have opened my eyes to micro-brewing and seek out strange and interesting batches of beer from all sorts of origins. I go to beer tastings and festivals when I can. I have fallen in deep love and respect for Boulevard Beer Company, the local star of breweries.
So with that being said, I think I am ready to make the move into home brewing. My dad has been home brewing for several years, but has yet to transition from extract to full grain brewing. I hope that with my help we will be able to create something fun and exciting that we can share with friends and family sometime soon.
I am very much looking forward to the process of making a Cahill original beer. I think it will help me to appreciate even more what it means to order a beer.
Holiday Letter
2010
In the recent weeks, Cara and I have been receiving a lot of Christmas cards from all sorts of awesome and caring friends. One family in particular, The Zinkiewicz family, likes to send along a little “year in review” letter. Now the parent’s of my friend have been sending one out for years, but since their sons are now married and having kids, they have both joined in on the fun as well. I found it kind of inspiring, so I decided that I would throw my hat into the ring and draft my own holiday letter. Only instead of mailing it like a respectable human being, I am just posting it on my blog. I hope you enjoy it, or at least read it through to the end!
Dear (Insert Your Own Name Here),
Cara and I are so thankful for making it through another year without any serious death or pestilence. We would like to send our heartfelt apologies to your family for the (Insert your specific tragedy here). We too have had some struggles this year, which I will get to later, but overall things have been extra awesome for us.
The year started off pretty decent for us, we made it through the past winter in the new house without so much as a light bulb burning out, so we were able to concentrate our finances on fun things like beer and clothes. January saw me heading to Minnesota to see an NHL game with Matt Wilson Miles, a new tradition for him and I!
February came up almost immediately following January and making good on a Christmas gift from Cara, we set off to St. Louis to see another hockey game and to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Little did Cara know I had a few surprises in store for her as well! I managed after a few missed chances to ask for Cara’s hand in marriage while in St. Louis. She, as most of you know, responded with a rousing “YES!”
Once I locked that down and put a ring on it, we moved into spring with little fanfare. We want to thank everyone who helped us celebrate our 30th birthdays (Mine in April and Cara’s in July). I think in both cases we were able to recapture a little bit of our youth! (Insert your name here), you were Crazy that night!
Cara proving once again how dedicated she is at her job was awarded the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award at school for 2010-2011. She milked that among her students and from me for quite awhile, but we are all truly proud of her for that! I started introducing her not as my fiancée, but as the teacher of the year! She told me to stop.
The summer was pretty cool too. We got out quite a bit on our bikes, even riding in our first organized bike tour, the ‘Tour De Lakes 2010.’ Cara on the other hand found an even better hobby. She signed up for a tennis program with (Insert your name here if you played tennis with Cara) and has made improvements in her game by leaps and bounds! She even managed to beat me once or twice when I was sick or something! She is currently cutting her teeth in the USTA circuit this fall and is looking forward to growing in the sport.
In July we thought it would be awesome to get another dog. Cara had been asking for one for a while, so for her birthday we went and rescued a sweet little Boston terrier. It turned out to not be awesome at all. We named him Dexter and if that is any indication, he tried to kill our dog Killian! A few stitches later and much to our chagrin, we sent Dexter to live with a friend. We will try again another time.
Shortly after that, our aging dog Killian was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, which we had removed. He seems to be doing fine. He has been through a lot this year for a 10 yr old Boxer. Thanks for the prayers on that one!
Cara and I are truly blessed to have not only have found each other and a great home, but to all of you out there that have affected our lives this year (Four Loko notwithstanding). We are planning our wedding for 2011, so we are pretty confident that the coming year will be just as awesome as this one was. Happy Holidays to all of you and say a few prayers for our family members (and to yours) that are struggling with medical issues and such. We know how hard life can be sometimes, we are just thankful that we had some pleasant things to share this year!
Love,
Ian (and Cara who doesn’t know I wrote this yet)
