#195 - links & drinks 2011.

well...so today, for the first time in almost a year, i actually went back & checked out last year's top ten links & drinks list. in it, i described 2010 as an "often-shite year." hmm...i thought that 2011 was the often-shite year. who knew? 2011 was a year that, with that whole "lack of steady employment" thang going for me, i spent a LOT of time on the internet. on TWO separate occasions this year, i got my google reader down to ZERO. somebody please design me the appropriate nerd merit badge.

as is par for the course, much of my interwebz time was spent perusing food & drink sites, as i dreamed of all the things i could be cramming into my piehole. along the way, i came across a bunch of new blogs & tumblrs & whatnot, many of whom worked their way into the regular rotation.

all told, this year's list is comprised of eight new sites & two repeat members from last year's list. if you're looking to waste all your precious time on the internet, you can't go wrong with adding any of these sites to your daily regimen...enjoy!

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#194 - my last day of freedom.

mom. dad. hi. you've previously mentioned to me that you occasionally check out your favorite son's blog posts...even the ones on that website with a swear word in the name. that makes me extremely happy but in this case, i'd like to take this opportunity to suggest ahead of time that you skip this one. i mean, i wouldn't want you to think that i'm some sort of debaucherous lush or anything & when you're done reading, you probably will. sorry. i completely understand if you decide to go further though. after all, parents are pretty must just like kids, so when you tell them not to do anything, they usually do it out of pure curiosity. anyway, don't say that i didn't warn you.

...so after a calendar year that i was fully employed for about a quarter of, yesterday i started a new gig...one where i have to WEAR A TIE & report to work BEFORE 10AM. i know...OMG! for at least a half decade now, i've just slapped on a pair of jeans & rolled into work any time between 10am & 11am. yay, adulthood!

with my impending first day of work just three days away, on friday around 2pm i met up with an old friend (who will remain nameless) in midtown at lexington brass for a lil' "last free weekday" food & drink action.

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the fifty states project #6: CA.

if i've learned one thing from 2 pac & dr dre, it's that california knows how to party, or at least they'll know how to do so in the year 2095. personally, though i've attended a number of rockin' parties in the san fran area in my time, i can't attest to southern california's partying skillz, so i'm just going to have to take their word for it. since the state's got the most people of any in the nation & an economy that's larger than canada's, i suppose that their ability to throw an acceptable party is pretty good. they could get beer from their hundreds of fine craft brewers, wine from their hundreds of fine vineyards & weed from their thousands upon thousands of fine weed proprietors. any cali band except for the red hot chili peppers or green day or blink 182 can provide musical entertainment. if all that cali party awesomeness doesn't do it for you, you can just drive east to vegas to gamble your face off amidst a blur of neon, hookers & adrenochrome.

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wilco needs to try harder this time.

...so last week i was hanging round the apartment & i'd just finished watching this week's episode of rescue me. i'd opened a bottle of lagunitas wilco tango foxtrot (which i'd first tried last june) & i was playing on the internet & randomly learned that wilco has a new album--the whole love--coming out near the end of september. since i was having a beer with "wilco" in the name & they have a new album on the way & i haven't been listening to music much recently & haven't enjoyed much of wilco's recent output but believe in second chances, i got this crazy idea. starting with 1995's A.M., i'd listen to a bunch of wilco's discography in chronological order as i had myself a lagunitas wilco tango foxtrot, eventually, i fell asleep & when i woke up the next day, i listened to some more wilco, finishing with 2009's wilco (the album).

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the fifty states project #5: NY.

if i ever see that car commercial again, the ad with the new york yankees' derek jeter tooling around in a ford whilst jay-z's "empire state of mind" plays in the background, i might have to take a hostage. don't get me wrong. i ♥ new york. i'm indifferent to fords. though i hate derek jeter as a yankee, i respect him as a player. what gets me is that friggin' song. i know it's got the state nickname in the title & all, but it's been played SO often & in SO many places that we risk opening a black hole if we continue to revisit it. let's instead honor new york by co-opting "across 110th st." since interpol's now irrelevant, maybe they can sell off "NYC?" i'd even tolerate the sting version of "englishman in new york" for a while if it meant putting "empire state of mind" to bed. of course, all of these songs are about new york city & not new york state, but that's ok, because new york state is pretty much all about new york city anyhow. deal with it, schenectady.

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