My Favorite Music, Movies, Video & Books of '12!

Movies
The Dark Knight Rises
I'm Now: The Story of Mudhoney
Searching for Sugar Man
Notes: Of the 19 movies I saw this year, eleven of which were 2012 releases, and just these three of those I deemed list-worthy... I got myself all psyched for The Amazing Spider-Man, but it turned out to be a proverbial turd in the punchbowl... And the less said about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the better.

Video
Breaking Bad: Season 4
Eastbound & Down: Season 3
Get a Life: The Complete Series
Louie: Season 2
Notes: This doesn't include stuff from the "Movies" list above, just TV shows... Still need to see season five of Mad Men, released this year... Can't wait 'til the latest seasons of Breaking Bad and Louie are out on video, hopefully in 2013.


Songs
Best Coast - "Mean Girls"
Dum Dum Girls - "I Got Nothing"
Bob Dylan - "Pay in Blood"
Ben Gibbard - "Ichiro's Theme"
Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built"
King Tuff - "Bad Thing"
Melvins - "Let Me Roll It"
Bob Mould - "The Descent"
Public Image Ltd. - "One Drop"
The Rolling Stones - "Doom and Gloom"
Soundgarden - "Been Away Too Long"
Bruce Springsteen - "We Take Care of Our Own"
TacocaT - "Cat Fancy"
Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus"
Jack White - "I'm Shakin'"
Notes: I just don't get into new albums as much as individual songs anymore, though the exception this year would be Best Coast's The Only Place... A couple older acts I became obsessed with in 2012 are the Beach Boys and Hüsker Dü (the first rock concert I ever saw was the Beach Boys, at the Puyallup Fair in 1981 or '82, and I regret not seeing them on their 50th anniversary tour this year; I saw Bob Mould open for the Pixies in '89 (and thought he sucked)... I'm also bummed that I again missed the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup when they came through town... Otherwise, I saw some classic rock bands for the first time (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Heart) as well as a couple new favorites (Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls), plus some old standbys (Girl Trouble, Melvins, Young Fresh Fellows).

Books
The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy
Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
The Obamas by Jodi Kantor
Everybody Loves Our Town by Mark Yarm
Notes: I didn't read much this year. The other ten books I did read were either published in previous years (the best of which was Duff McKagan's It's So Easy (And Other Lies)), or comics...

Comics
The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist by Alvin Buenaventura
Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland by Harvey Pekar
New York Drawings by Adrian Tomine
Notes: I still wanna read Chris Ware's Building Stories.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
***

Hot New Mexico Action

I spent a few days last week in New Mexico, bringing the number of states I've visited to 43. (However, 15 of those I haven't spent a night in, and in two of 'em -- Florida and Nebraska -- I didn't even get outside the airport. Still haven't been to Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Vermont, or either Dakota.)

Anyway, upon touching down last Sunday at the Albuquerque airport Sunport, I visited Isotopes Park (above), home of the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (so named after a certain Simpsons episode). Then I drove down a nearby stretch of Route 66, though I was disappointed that it didn't look as cool as in this 1969 Ernst Haas photo. Time for a late lunch, so I had a footlong and Frito pie at the Dog House...

After checking into my downtown hotel, I drove up to the Santa Ana Star Center (a small arena on the edge of the desert) for a performance of Batman Live. Despite the Cirque du Soleil-type bullshit, I enjoyed it anyhow -- it was a good story, and besides, I'm a sucker for all stuff Batman. For dinner I ate a burrito at the Frontier Restaurant, then headed over to the Launchpad to see the Melvins on their record-setting tour. Nobody rocks a muumuu like King Buzzo...

Monday morning I rode the Sandia Peak Tramway to its 10,378-foot summit, the highest elevation I've ever been on land...

Back in the city I had a so-so Lotaburger at local chain Blake’s...

Belly full, I motored four hours to the south and west through desert, mountains, and Truth or Consequences to my sister and her husband's house outside Silver City, where I spent a couple nights in their Airstream...

On Tuesday we drove an hour north to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (below), and soaked in some nearby hot springs.

Wednesday I headed back to Albuquerque and flew home, changing planes at the Phoenix airport Sky Harbor. Next time I visit, I'll fly into either Tucson or El Paso, both of which are closer to Silver City than Albuquerque, and neither of which has a stupid airport name.

New Mexico's license plates refer to the state as a "Land of Enchantment," though I also found it a land of hot-air balloons, Kokopellis, dreamcatchers, green chile, blue crystal meth, and bloody, crusty boogers, which I woke up to every morning (I'm not used to the dry climate). However, thanks to melatonin and proper hydration, I slept much better at these relatively high altitudes than I had in the past. Still, I was glad to get home, down at sea level during a rainy stretch of weather.

***

MPLS

Yesterday I returned from the latest of my annual ballparks-I've-never-been-to-before road trips, this time to Minneapolis. There I saw the Mariners take two out of three from the Twins, though I didn't stick around for the series finale, which the M's also won. (I've now attended games at 26 of the 30 current MLB stadiums, leaving only Toronto, Tampa Bay, Miami and Wrigley Field.) The series highlight was easily Monday's game, in which King Felix threw a complete-game five-hit shutout. On top of that, Root Sports showed me on the M's Seattle telecast, thanks to some behind-the-scenes arrangements by my pals Curtis and Amy. Here I am, game face on...

A couple days later, I took a tour of the Twins' former home, the Metrodome, where the Vikings still play...

I was far more impressed with the Dome Plus store across the street, especially its Original Baseball Hall of Fame Museum of Minnesota...

I bought a Twins T-shirt there.

One day I went out to Saint Paul, where I checked out the Minnesota Wild hockey arena, and had a late breakfast at Mickey's Dining Car...

Another day I ventured down to Bloomington to see the rocket-powered Human Fly motorcycle, built in 1977 by Rocketman Ky Michaelson. Ky welcomed me into his home, showing me his custom cycles and homemade rockets and celebrity photos and heaps of other memorabilia, and regaling me with stories of working with the Human Fly and other daredevils throughout his career. All in all, a great guy.

Here's video of the Fly's rocket-powered jump (it starts at the 5:15 mark), and here's the bike's gas tank (which wasn't actually on the bike at the time of the jump)...

Also in Bloomington I visited the Mall of America, just to gawk at the monstrosity of it all (I bought an Orange Julius to enhance the experience). It's built on the site of the former Twins/Vikings home, Metropolitan Stadium, while the nearby Ikea is built on the site of the former North Stars home, the Met Center. These are my feet...

I got around the Twin Cities via bus, taxi, light rail and bicycle. The bike rental system is way better than what I experienced a few years back in Copenhagen, and even if the bikes themselves are somewhat cumbersome, they're easier to ride in flat Minneapolis than a lightweight 18-speed is in hilly Seattle. This is what a rental kiosk looks like...

I pedaled by the Let It Be house and Paul Westerberg's house, around Lake Calhoun, across the Stone Arch Bridge, and through Dinkytown to the Gopher Hole...

Foodwise, the best thing I ate was an amazing mushroom tart at Fika, the American Swedish Institute's cafe (and I got Eliza this tea towel in the ASI gift shop). I also liked the Jucy Lucy at Matt's, and Black Sheep's meatball pizza, which I shared with my pal Nicole. Along the way, I enjoyed plenty of Surly, Summit, and especially Grain Belt beer...

At The Depot (part of the famed First Avenue/7th Street Entry rock 'n' roll complex), I had the pleasure of meeting up with Tom, the guy who does my favorite baseball blog, It’s a Long Season. The building is covered with stars commemorating the more noteworthy acts that have performed there over the years, including this personal favorite...

Besides the 'Mats, songs by Husker Du and Soul Asylum ran through my head throughout the trip.

What else? I played Spider-Man and Rolling Stones pinball at Grumpy’s, saw statues of Mary Tyler Moore, Kirby Puckett, and several Peanuts characters, bought some Batman Legos at the flagship Target store downtown, walked through a bit of the Skyway, and took in the view from the Foshay Tower...

So yeah, I crammed a whole lot into three days, yet I still found time for a couple naps and a dip in the hotel pool. Still, I missed a few things that'll have to wait 'til next time: the Witch's Hat Water Tower, Nye’s Polonaise Room, the 5-8 Club, the CC Club, and a Silver Butter Knife Steak from Murray's (currently closed for renovations)...

Love is all around, indeed... Skål! 

***

Batman vs. Spider-Man

They both look killer.

***

Happy 83rd, Adam!

TV's Batman hits the big eight-three today. Though Bruce Wayne comes from Gotham City, West hails from the Jet City. And while The Lone Ranger was the first TV show I was obsessed with, Batman soon made me forget all about it. Its campiness, however, shot way over my head. As a four-year-old, I was scared that Batman and Robin would really be baked to death in that giant cake.
***

Seattle's Sports Poster Boys

Over the summer, Manhattan gallery Salon 94 ran the exhibition For the Kids, displaying these once-ubiquitous, athlete-worshipping posters cranked out by West Seattle's Costacos brothers. John and Tock Costacos enjoyed early success selling "Purple Reign" T-shirts to Washington Husky football fans in the mid-'80s, before getting Seahawks star safety Kenny Easley to pose for their first poster as "The Enforcer." The Costacoses then convinced other star athletes to do the same, and by the time they sold their company in the mid-'90s, they had moved some 25 million posters featuring over 700 athletes. Their most popular poster was of Michael Jordan, selling 1.2 million copies. Probably the most popular poster here in the Emerald City celebrated notorious Seahawk flop Brian Bosworth (above).

The brothers initially didn't own licensing rights to display logos and game uniforms, so they instead relied on the color schemes of the subjects' respective teams, like the green and gold in this poster of Seattle SuperSonic Xavier McDaniel...

Nowadays these pre-Photoshop posters look pretty campy, with their garish colors and weird, non-ironic themes. However, for better or worse, they did help turn pro athletes into larger-than-life celebrities. Here's Giants-licensed hothead Kevin Mitchell (N.L. MVP in '89, the same year Tim Burton's Batman was released) before he joined the Mariners...

I never actually owned any of 'em -- I was more partial to Sports Illustrated's straightforward posters, like the one I had of Steve Garvey.
***

Postage Stamp of the Week: Batman

This 2006 specimen, featuring Bob Kane's 1940 cover of Batman #1, is part of this larger DC Comics Super Heroes pane.

Why Batman? Why now? Well, not only is Batman my favorite superhero (particularly the Adam West variety), but he's also the cover star of the current Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps. The book, which arrived in my mail this week, features color illustrations of every goddamn U.S. of A. stamp issued from 1847 through 2006. Unfortunately, the stamps aren't all actual size, and they don't all reproduce that well. Worst of all, the thing is held together with cheap-ass comb binding!

I still love its historic, pop-culture thoroughness, much like I dig this book, and this one. I'll certainly enjoy browsing through it in search of more cool stamps to highlight here.

Tune in next Friday -- same Postage Stamp of the Week-time, same Postage Stamp of the Week-channel.
***