There are only 3 days left in this year. Three. I for one am holding my breath, waiting for it to end. I really just want to ensure that the remainder of this year does not fuck with me. Seriously. So it’s looking good, with just around 72 hours left. And while 2010 was probably the shittiest year on record – for me, anyway – there were some highlights. I read some excellent books, discovered some great new music and saw some killer live shows. All which I will document for your end-of-the-year reading pleasure.
Books: The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer – this one probably goes on record as my favourite book of the year. I know I raved about it in an earlier post, so I won’t get into too much here, but I loved this book so much for its story and for its sheer beauty. You should read it.
Captivity by Deborah Noyes is another one I read this year that really stayed with me. Those are the best books, are they not? The ones that cause you to think about them days or even weeks after you finish.
All the Living by C.E. Morgan. This book was just over 200 pages, but that the author was able to convey so much beauty and pain and landscape in such a short work is really quite incredible. Loved it.
Bloodroot by Amy Greene was stunning, and was yet another book that I had a hard time getting out of my mind once I’d read it. Beautiful, lyrical and bright, and at the same time dark and horrifying, I don’t know that I’ve read anything quite like this before.
The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum. I really loved this book for the history, the interesting facts behind the development of forensics as a science and also for the crazy shit that went down in NYC during this time. So awesome.
Music: The Sadies, Darker Circles. Fantastic album from one of the best and hardest working Canadian bands ever.
The Black Keys, Brothers. Hell to the yeah. I came to this album pretty late in the year, even though it was on my “to purchase” list for months. But, better late than never, and it truly did not disappoint.
The Revivalists, Vital Signs. Here is a band that I got to hear via a Paste Magazine sampler CD, and once I ripped it to my iPod and found myself replaying the song “Not Turn Away” over and over and over, I bought the album. Absolutely fantastic, and I would bet the farm that they are a damn fine live band too. So in case you’re reading this, members of The Revivalists PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD COME TO CANADA! *ahem* No, really. Love you guys.
Live Music : With everything that went down this spring, I have to say that 2010 didn’t see the UIG attending as many live shows as usual. However, the ones that I did see stand out in a pretty big way.
White Cowbell Oklahoma at Casbah in Hamilton was the first show I saw in 2010, and what a way to start the year. Damn fine music and a killer show. See my post from last January for full details.
Blue Rodeo at Massey Hall in Toronto marked the first time I’d ever seen this band at MH and it was fantastic. We had front row seats and were the first two people dancing up at the stage when Jim invited everyone up. Magic.
Illusion Avenue, assorted gigs in the Hammer. You have likely not heard of these guys, and that’s ok. They’re pretty new. And young. In fact their bass player? Is my kid. The Musician is in this band with 3 other local dudes – no one is older than 15. And yet? They fucking kill it every time. They write their own songs and they do some wicked, well-chosen cover songs. They are all extremely talented musicians and everyone who sees them has their mind blown by the sheer awesomeness. I might be biased. Or, I might just be really, really proud of my boy. Either way, whatev. They’re good. Not just “good for their age”. They are good-good. And seeing them kick it in the clubs around town has been such a highlight for me in a year where nothing really good seemed to happen.
TV: We don’t tend to watch an awful lot of TV. This isn’t some sort of smug testament to our intellect, mind you. It’s mostly because we spend our weeknights at the dojo during primetime, and we don’t have one of those fancy schmancy PVR thangs. Actually until recently our TV didn’t even have a remote, so see? We’ll get there eventually. Now, having said that, one of the shows we did rearrange our schedules to watch as it happened was Lost. And god help me if I didn’t freaking love that show, and yes I cried when Jin and Sun died and yes I cried at the end and yes we talked about the ending for days and days afterwards, just trying to get our heads around it. I miss that show, I really do.
Dexter, Seasons 3 & 4 on DVD. So here is another show that blows my mind every episode, and while we don’t get to see it unfold like everyone else, I’m counting these two seasons for 2010 because we just could not get enough of it. Season 4 especially was fucking brilliant and the season finale just about killed me. Seriously. Can’t wait for Season 5, and I have heard that it’s on board for a 6th season too, which makes me really happy.
So there you have it. The UIG’s “best ofs” for 2010. Oh, and 2010? You can’t get out of my life fast enough. It’s not me, it’s you. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out, k? And as for you, 2011. I have really high hopes for you not fucking with me and my family. Can we please agree on that from the start? Cos I’d really appreciate that.
The Urban Info Girl 