Ministry of Propaganda - 31/Dec/2004: "Top 12 3/4 of 2004"
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Top 12 3/4 of 2004
The newspapers are full of them, various blogs also have them: Their Top somethingorother for 2004, review of the year or Best ofs. Which made me draw up my lists as well, my top 12 & 3/4 (or something like that). Not necessarily things released this year, but things I listened to/ read/ used/ drank/ ate this year. Here we go:
Music
- Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself: On heavy rotation since I bought the album, for me the debut of the year. "Lounger", "I Love You 'Cause I Have To" and "Paul Newman's Eyes" are probably the best songs, but the rest isn't far behind them. If at all.
- BBC 6 Music was probably the station I listened most to, in particular during the second half of the year (and only at home, as it is only available on DAB and over the web). They've replaced BBC Radio 1 by simply playing more and better music instead of talking too much rubbish.
- The Undertones - True Confessions (Singles=A's+B's). No, not only since John Peel's death in October, I had them on my list for the whole year. Don't know why, I just like them. Of course "Teenage Kicks", but not necessarily first. There are also "True Confessions", "Jimmy Jimmy", "Mars Bars", "Here Comes The Summer" and "My Perfect Cousin", just to name a few.
- Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand: Probably on quite a few lists. Also on mine. The second band from Glasgow on this list. Something in the water?
- Barbara Hendricks - Ave Maria: Can't always listen to rock music, so here's the classical selection. Actually, not only classical, there are also a few spirituals on this CD. But Schubert's Die Forelle is my favourite.
- Martin Scorsese presents The Blues (Box Set): And finally the big one, a five CD box set with the Blues. Enough music for a few hours. And excellent music all these boy bands, girl bands, manufactured stars don't even get close to...
Books and other reading
- Bruce Schneier - Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World: A great and eye-opening read, I learned a lot about security from reading this book. And became very suspicious about a lot of the security theatre our politicians seem to be so fond of.
- Francis Wheen - How Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions: The world is full of charlatans, Francis Wheen debunks quite a few of them. Also probably offends almost everyone. Must be a good read then. Certainly one of my favourite reads this year.
- The Economist: Possibly the best analysis available. I don't necessarily always agree, but it certainly helps to understand what's happening in the world.
- Ian Rankin - Fleshmarket Close: A year without Inspector Rebus wouldn't be a good year. This one is the latest one, excellent as usual.
Gadgets, things and other stuff
- I actually bought them late last year, but a lot of walking was done in them this year. Meindl boots are excellent, especially the Air Revolution boots.
- Again something I bought last year, but still used extensively this year and expect to continue using next year: My Pure Evoke-1 DAB digital radio. I'm so impressed with it that I'm considering buying the Tempus-1 for my bedroom. And once my stereo packs in (various bits and pieces are starting to fail now) I might replace it with a Legato DAB/FM/CD micro system.
- OK then, time for something I bought this year, the Nikon D70 digital SLR camera. The reason I listed here already, at least some of them.
- After the first couple of uses I only thought why didn't you buy the Berghaus Freeflow II 20 earlier? Very comfortable and the Freeflow system keeps my back much drier than other systems.
- This blog as well as my other sites are now written with it, I gave up on other editors I used previously. I doubt any other editor can replace it soon, especially as the author continues improving it: Nick Bradbury's TopStyle Pro is my software of the year. It's only a humble HTML/CSS editor, but in my eyes the best one out there.
Food & Drink
- Difficult to get hold of, but Colonsay Honey is just excellent. I bought some straight from the source when I visited Colonsay with my sister this summer. I'm running out now, time to send off an order for more soon.
- If you are a regular reader of this blog you probably expect me to mention whisky. Islay whisky of course. You won't be disappointed: Laphroaig and Bruichladdich are to be expected, they will feature in this type of list for years to come. But I'm also going to give Islay's neighbour a mention: I've just bought (and opened) an Isle of Jura Superstition, very nice!
- Hm, another alcohol related point. Just to calm you down, I also drink copious amounts of water, milk and orange juice. Anyway, they only opened this year but as far as I know are already very successful: Islay Ales. I've run out long ago, now I have to wait until my next visit to stock up again (don't think they do mail order, postage would probably be ridiculously expensive). Honourable mentions go to the Arran Brewery and the Loch Fyne Brewery. Forget the big brands, local microbreweries are the way forward. If only I could get those ales down here in Swindon...
On the web
- BBC News, simply the best news site as far as I'm concerned. And they've acknowledged and embraced the blogs. I'm sure there's more to come from the BBC than a lot of people thought.
- Blogs I discovered or started reading more this year: Bagger, Schneier on Security, Pink Socks and My Expatriate Odyssee. Not to forget the old favourites: The Cartoonist, Blethers.com, PapaScott and The Aardvark Speaks. What will 2005 bring?
- Bloglines is now my news aggregator of choice. It even allows me to share my subscriptions. A service I don't want to miss any more.
- And everyone who sent me suggestions for my Blogging Abroad (Expat Bloggers) page. The page is in urgent need of an update, hopefully one of the first things I'll do in the new year...
I think that's all. More to come next year.
End of entry
Entry trivia
- When writing this entry the weather was: cloudy, mild
- When writing this entry I was listening to: The CD's mentioned above
- I'm currently reading/have just finished reading this book/publication: Private Eye
- I recently visited this website/-page: various pages mentioned above
- The last drink I had was/is: Isle of Jura Superstition
End of entry trivia
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