Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009 Obligatory Year in Review

First off i'd like to thank all three of my readers for sticking with me for another year, apparently it will be on to year 4 and we'll see how that goes, see i've made up my mind to write more and you could say that's my resolution except i've never had a resolution, i've been working on a bunch of shit which seems to help me neglect the lounge and as you can tell the bottles of whiskey are getting dusty and the draft beer gives you a splitting headache but i'll see what i can do in the coming year as i attempt to post a bit more than i have the past six months, of course it would be easy to blame Kid B for interrupting my sleep and keeping me busy but the little shit's such a mellow, happy dude i can't bring myself to do it...

What to expect? fuck if i know, more Wilderness Years, maybe some more posts about Late Night Maudlin Street and we may start mining a few of the Hardwood Diaries (basketball diaries was taken by Jim Carroll, RIP) but we'll see, anything would be a start now wouldn't it? we may even begin to delve into the evolution of the North Oakland Player into the King of North Oakland and my won't that be a treat for the masses.... and now on the the obligatory lists...
of course me being me some of these books and records won't be from 2009 they'll just be my favorites from the last year... and in no particular order...

Books- Hans Fallada-The Drinker, Hans Fallada-Little Man What Now, Thomas Pynchon-Against the Day, Michel Houellbecq- Platform, Arthur Koestler-Darkness at Noon, Georges Simenon-Dirty Snow, Georges Simenon-The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, Roberto Bolano- The Skating Rink, Roberto Bolano-Amulet, Will Self-The Book of Dave, Markus Zusak-The Book Thief, Thomas Pynchon- Mason and Dixon

Records- Morrissey-Years of Refusal, The Magnetic Fields-Get Lost, Lambchop-Ohio, Lambchop-Live at XX, Sunset Rubdown-Dragonslayer, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart-s/t, Dinosaur Jr.-Farm, Destroyer-Bay of Pigs ep, Los Campesinos-We are Beautiful We are Doomed, Stone Roses-s/t re-issue, Pavement- Brighten the Corners re-issue, Blank Dogs- Under and Under, Vivian Girls-Everything Goes Wrong, Brian Jonestown Massacre-Tepid Peppermint Wonderland

Top 3 Posts- 1) Late Night Maudlin Street Part 1 2)The Wilderness Years - A Marriage Proposal 3) The Hipster Bar/Moped Gang shitstorm that provided endless entertainment for a few weeks.

Top Moment - June 4, 8:06am, the birth of Nicholas Finn, watch his Dad cry like a baby when he lays eyes on his second son for the first time.... others include...

The Penguins winning Lord Stanley's cup, My always interesting conversations with the Kid, CBK's art shows and the fact that these two young bucks have helped push and inform my own art over the last 12 months for which i am much indebted, Furious getting hitched and the hurricane i drove through to get there, Arthur Guinness's 250th anniversary, The Limey and his usual genius and the fact that i've buried no family or pets and only one friend in the last 12 months (knock on wood)...

so while the naysayers and news makers tell me every thing's fucked i tend to think they might be lying, i've got my books, my tunes and a handful of good friends, two healthy and happy sons and dare i say a serenity that i've been looking for for quite some time, i'm drinking beer in my pajama's and for those of you who've never done it i highly recommend it and while much of the world runs around and celebrates i'm sitting in a quiet house with a cat sleeping behind me and two boys and the girl sleeping upstairs, come midnight i'll creep into their rooms and kiss Nicky Finn and his big brother I-mac on the head and smile that i've made it this far and look forward to hitting the typer in 2010. cheers. The King of North Oakland.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

happy new year, kono! those are two incredibly beautiful boys! looking forward to more tales from the asshat lounge! as well as a good reason to visit CMU so i can buy you a drink!

Mongolian Girl said...

I put you in my reader on something like 29 December, so maybe that counts as 4 readers?

Anonymous said...

Platform's a great book, Lambchop's a great band and your two boys are utterly gorgeous! I love the oldest one's eyebrows ;-)

Kono said...

Daisyfae- if you're ever in the neighborhood there Daisy let me know, they closed the rockin' gay bar near CMU which was always a good time but as you can probably surmise my knowledge of Pittsburgh bars is quite extensive.

Mongoliangirl- Welcome to the lounge and thanks, you'll get your own stool at the bar.

Nursie- i knew you always had good taste in music, books and eyebrows ;)

twin said...

beautiful boys!

a lot of lurking....always reading....sometimes commenting. there's a new swell coming....see ya in the water. hny kono.

kid said...

i know i'm late here, but my favorite lounge quote of 2009, hands down:

"...i want fucking blood and guts, i want dope, guns and fucking..."

that was back in march I believe.