SteveMandich.com Blog 2011 Year in Review!

This is easily the best picture I took this year, if not the best picture I've ever taken.

Among this blog's 105 posts in 2011, it's obvious that I became obsessed with hockey (and to a far lesser extent, D.B. Cooper), and I had fun on my travels around the Northwest and Southeast.

Celebrating birthdays this year were Yakov Smirnoff, Wayne Gretzky, Dog, Dr. Dre, Jack Chick, Ace Frehley, Willie Mays, Chris Elliott, Gene Simmons, The Onion, Ryan Kesler, Adam West, Captain Bananas, Weird Al, the University of Washington, Washington state, Quatchi, Fred Armisen, Peter Criss, Lemmy and Don Francisco.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Tura Satana, the White Stripes, Knut, Jim Mandich, Gil Scott-Heron, Cave Man, Clarence Clemons, Rick the Peanut Guy, R.E.M., Red Foxx (albeit 20 years too late) and Kim Jong Il.

On top of this being the fifth full calendar year of this blog, I also started a couple new blogs in 2011 -- Super Ichiro Crazy! and Bigfoot is Real -- and I've also added lotsa stuff to my flickr pages, which now hosts almost 1,000 images.

Anyway, the good Mayans willing, stay tuned for more of this stuff in 2012... Thanks for reading!
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My Favorite Music, Movies, DVDs & Books of '11!

Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Moneyball
Win Win
Notes: Of the 29 movies I watched this year, 12 of which were 2011 releases, but just these three I deemed list-worthy.

DVDs
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live in Texas '78
Louie: Season 1
Breaking Bad: Season 3
In Treatment: Season 3
The People vs. George Lucas
Eastbound & Down: Season 2
Lemmy
Don Cherry's Rock'em Sock'em Hockey 23
Notes: This doesn't include stuff from the "Movies" list above; it's mostly either TV shows or films from previous years first released on DVD this year.

Songs
Apex Manor - "Teenage Blood"
The Baseball Project - "Ichiro Goes to the Moon"
Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise"
Black Keys - "Lonely Boy"
Black Lips - "Noc-a-Homa"
The Dirtbombs - "Cosmic Cars"
HeadCat - "Let it Rock"
JEFF the Brotherhood - "Ripper"
R.E.M. - "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"
Wild Flag - "Something Came Over Me"
Yuck - "Get Away"
Notes: Like last year, I listed songs instead of albums, since really the only new 2011 album that I've found start-to-finish killer is Only in Dreams by Dum Dum Girls (also good: their He Gets Me High EP). Otherwise, my favorite '11 albums are either new reissues of old faves (Some Girls by the Stones), or sorta new-to-me favorites from years past (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!), neither of which apply... I became obsessed with Devo this year, and saw them in concert in September. Other bands I saw this year were the Black Lips, the Butthole Surfers, and the Baseball Project, where I shot this video.

Books
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training by Josh Wilker
Evel by Leigh Montville
I Want My MTV by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
Notes: The other 21 books I read this year were either published in previous years, or comics...

Comics
Batman #1
Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case
Huntington, West Virginia “On the Fly” by Harvey Pekar
Old-Timey Hockey Tales by Robert Ullman and Jeffrey Brown
Paying for It by Chester Brown
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago
Notes: None.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
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Happy 71st, Don Francisco!

The host of the long-running Sabado Gigante hits the big seven-one today.

I wish I could watch his show more often, but unfortunately I have to work most Sabados.
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Merry Xmas to Me

As per my Christmas list, Eliza got me this kickass 1965 edition of Æsop's Fables, selected and adapted by Louis Untermeyer, and wonderfully illustrated by the wife-husband team of Alice and Martin Provensen.

Others have posted images of the cover and inside pages, so I'm just showing a few details here.

The book was treasured by my sisters and me when we were kids. My oldest sister still has that copy, so I'm happy to finally have one of my own... The Provensens also illustrated some other books that I haven't seen before, but I have now reserved at the library... Incidentally, their Æsop's illustrations remind me of Ed Fotheringham -- he's the former lead singer of Seattle's infamous Thrown-Ups, who recorded such tunes as "Smiling Panties," "Felch," and "Eat My Dump."
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Happy 66th, Lemmy!

Mr. Kilmister hits the big six-six today.
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Happy 66th, Peter!

The Catman hits the big six-six today.
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We Hardly Knew Ye: Kim Jong Il

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Your Attention Please: New Flickr Sets

Check out my new flickr sets: Batty, Baseball Zines, and miscellaneous pocket schedules from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.

Thanks for your time.
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Your Attention Please: Bigfoot is Real

Somehow I forgot to mention here my new-ish Tumblr micro-blog, Bigfoot is Real. I'm keeping it minimal, though I do aim to do at least one post per day. I've also added a link in the right-hand column here.

Thanks for your time.
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Happy 45th, Fred!

Fred Armisen hits the big four-five today.

He's one of my favorite performers on Saturday Night Live, and though I haven't seen much Portlandia, I did see him live here a few years back. He played a pitch-perfect cover of the Damned's "Smash It Up (Part I)" on guitar, followed by a monologue playing Saddam Hussein as if he were a British Invasion rocker.

His finest moment, however, was in Anchorman, playing opposite Will Ferrell in the funniest scene in the funniest movie since 1998's The Big Lebowski. Watch the above video.
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