The Automatik

What a strange and wonderful year. Again, I didn’t get to see nearly as many films as I would have liked, but looking back at the releases, it doesn’t seem as if I missed much Although nothing as life-changing as Fight Club, Velvet Goldmine or Ghost World came out this year, I would have liked to have seen Punch Drunk Love, Bowling for Columbine, Far From Heaven, Solaris and The Pianist. Unlike last year, there weren’t nearly as many new albums by current favorites (don’t hate me because I own Beck’s Sea Change and the new Rhett Miller CD, but haven’t listened to them yet). Enjoy.

Top Ten Films of 2002

1. Secretary, dir. Steven Shainberg
2. Igby Goes Down, dir. Burr Steers
3. Minority Report, dir. Steven Spielberg
4. One Hour Photo, dir. Mark Romanek
5. Death to Smoochy, dir. Danny DeVito
6. The Two Towers, dir. Peter Jackson
7. Spider-Man, dir. Sam Raimi
8. Die Another Day, dir. Lee Tamahori
9. The Good Girl, dir. Miguel Arteta
10. Signs, dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Top Ten Albums of 2002 (This includes new releases, old favorites and just-discovered gems. I’d also like to add that, I don’t care how cool they think they are, Pitchfork Media’s number one album of 2002 is a piece of crap.)

1. All the mix CDs Shaun made me. How else would I know about awesome bands like Drummer, The Heat, 54-40 and The Lovedaddys, not to mention Thin Lizzy’s “The Rocker.”
2. The Hives, Veni Vedi Vicious
3. The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Down at the Khyber
4. David Cross, Shut Up You Fucking Baby
5. Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs
6. Super Furry Animals, Rings Around the World
7. The Move, Movements box set
8. The Meligrove Band, Let it Grow
9. Aerosmith, Rocks (and the other first four albums)
10. The Jesus and Mary Chain, 21 Singles
    

Top Ten Best Things About 2002

1. Shaun. I love you more than I could ever find a way to say to you.
2. Realizing that what is truly important is not what I ever thought it was before.
3. The seemingly miraculous recovery of my Maw Maw.
4. The reuniting of my sister and stepfather who have been fighting for the past seven years. Even if #2 below was the catalyst.
5. Letting go of the past. I’m not 100% recovered, but I’m working on it.
6. Learning to love myself. It’s so Oprah and Dr. Phil, but really, it’s something I neglected for too long.
7. Being appreciated for my writing. It means so much that I touch others with my words.
8. Spending quality time with my dog.
9. Cooking. Not only is it fun, I’m good at it.
10. Music. It adds to my life in countless ways.

Top Ten Worst Things About 2002

1. Miserable people who mistakenly think they can drag you down with them (too many to mention).
2. The death of my dear Aunt Jan. I miss her every day.
3. Smoking. To those I know who smoke: please, it’s killing you and it’s filthy. Just stop it!
4. The return of jingoism. Eat a flag pill and shit out a flag! Don’t be asleep on the job America!
5. Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili. I hope I never have to endure such stress again.
6. Pretentious, shallow hipsters. They’re everywhere and they must be stopped.
7. The insidiousness of racial intolerance.
8. Fake friends. Enough said.
9. Letting go of the past. It’s a good thing, but it hasn’t been easy.
10. Whatever causes this chronic shoulder pain I have. I know it sounds strange, but it’s seriously fucked up and needs to go away. Fixing it needs to be a New Year’s Resolution.

Top Ten “If I was a hipster writer for a trendy magazine, I’d put these things on my list” Items of 2002

1. Mr. Show 1st two seasons on DVD. How much funnier could the commentary be? The answer is none. None more funnier.
2. The fact that Peter Holsapple lives in New Orleans, works at Borders and likes to rap about music.
3. The Shim Sham. I might not frequent it as much as I used to, but it’s still the best place to see bands with the coolest employees. Nowhere else will you see such a heady mix of colorful locals, embarrassing tourists and straight-up freaks. No matter how much naysayers may squawk about it, you can’t beat the DJs at Glitter on Saturdays.
4. Vintage Aerosmith and early U2. Aerosmith is the best American rock band of all time. They can explain their present state of suckitude with “we’re recovering addicts.” What’s U2′s excuse? Listen to their first album Boy and try not to get chills, I dare you.
5. Redd Kross’s Neurotica being released on CD. If you don’t know why, read my review in “high fidelity” and feel the love. Thank you reddkross.com for continuing to spread the word on one of the greatest, most underrated bands ever.
6. Toronto, Canada. Multiculturalism; The CN Tower; the metric system; Tim Horton’s; Value Village; Black Market; color spelled “colour;” toonies, loonies, and the Queen’s image on money; the subway; The Royal Ontario Museum cafeteria; Lee’s Palace; snow in April; Sloan and all the bands I got into because of Sloan; etc., etc.
7. The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Such a diverse display of gorgeous art and the most incredible bookstore ever!
8. My 80s Music. All my tapes from WTUL and albums I’ve owned and loved since they were first released. These could contain songs by bands that everyone knows (Depeche Mode) or songs by bands that everyone forgot about (The Lucy Show). Sometimes listening to that decade’s output is so rewarding, I feel I could stop listening to anything else at all. Everyone needs to like the Cocteau Twins. Seriously.
9. Saturns and the experience of buying a Saturn. Mine is now a year old. The monthly note is a bitch, but I no longer live in fear of the “CHECK ENGINE” light and I have rear window defrosters and power windows. Plus, the people that work at the dealership are really nice.
10. The Virgin Megastore. They have EVERYTHING and the employees are ridiculously pleasant and helpful.