Picking and Choosing: My Favorites from 2018

Alright, I am going to try to revive this blog. Hopefully nobody missed it too much. If you are one of the very few people who have read anything from me, let me say I really appreciate it. I am hopeful I can find time and effort to write with a lot more frequency this semester. Over the break I put together a short list of topics I aim to write on in the near future. But for now, I am going to get back into the swing of things with some light hearted content. 2019 is now underway, and I had some time over New Year’s to consider some of my favorite parts of 2018. In the spirit of closure, I decided I wanted to share some of those favorites with you all. This will be done in no particular order with no particular direction. So for what it’s worth, here are some of my favorite things from 2018.

Favorite Concert I Attended: Foo Fighters

The first Foo Fighters song I can recall is “The Pretender”. The song was released in August of 2007 as the lead single to the album Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace. I first heard the song via its music video; this was back in the day when VH1 and MTV would play music videos in the morning. The music video was pretty intense, with a charging mob of riot police eventually being flooded in a wave of red colored water as Dave Grohl shouts the final lines of “WHO ARE YOU?”. I was 12 years old in the fall of 2007 and I can firmly say I had no idea what that song was about and I was not a fan of the Foo Fighters. At that point I was firmly entrenched in alternative rock fandom of bands like Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and others. Some of these bands I’ll still defend today, others I cannot and my only excuse is that I was a moody adolescent. Anyway, I didn’t seek out the Foo Fighters’ music until I was in college. The group started in 1995 and has released 9 studio albums since. They have a ton of songs and many of them have been turned to a loud volume by me. I’ve grown to like them more and more and at some point during the last couple years they have become my surefire favorite band. So, when I heard they were wrapping up one of the final concert dates of their Concrete and Gold (the name of their latest album) Tour in Phoenix, I made the decision that it was a show I could not miss. My friend Matt and I made the trip from Tucson on a Monday evening. Safe to say, we were not disappointed. The group played for nearly 3 hours at Talking Stick Arena. They churned through the newer hits like “The Sky is A Neighborhood,” and “Walk” while spending time on the classics as well such as “Best of You” and “Learn To Fly”. To put it flatly, the Foo Fighters were awesome live. They closed down the show with “Everlong,” my favorite and perhaps their most well known song. My voice was gone and my ears were ringing… I would see them again in a heart beat.

Favorite Sports Moment: Game 4 of the Spurs-Warriors 1st Round Series

The 2017-18 Spurs season was one of the stranger experiences I’ve had as a fan of any team. San Antonio was coming off a 2017 playoffs where they had upset the Rockets in Round 2 and held a commanding lead in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Then, Kawhi Leonard wrecked his ankle and the wheels came off. Throughout the 2017-18 season we endured the injury saga that was Kawhi Leonard’s quadricep muscles. The whole thing was and will probably forever remain a mystery in some ways, and honestly there have been a million columns written about this from people who know way more than I do. I won’t besiege you with my thoughts on that topic. Nonetheless, the Spurs entered the playoffs as a 7 seed thanks mostly to a tremendous season by LaMarcus Aldridge. Their first round matchup was with the Warriors, and there was no question that the Warriors would win the series. My hope was that they could win a single game, and earn themselves a gentlemen’s sweep at the hands of a vastly superior team. They did just that, due largely to the efforts of 40 year old Manu in Game 4.

https://youtu.be/-5tuXgNVWQ0

I could and probably should have written an entire piece about Manu Ginobili after his retirement. He is one of my favorite players I have ever watched. I hate to roll out the sports cliches but the guy was an amazing competitor, and a joy to watch every game he was out there. He was incredibly beloved by the fans in San Antonio, more than any of the legends they’ve had. I’ve seen the Spurs in person twice and unfortunately in both cases he was out for injury, and I think I’ll always regret not getting to see Manu play live. That Game 4 win in San Antonio turned out to be the last time he played at home, in front of a crowd that went absolutely nuts every time he came off the bench just to check into the game for the first time. Although I wasn’t sure at the time, I knew it was possible that Game 4 could be his last in San Antonio. The Spurs went back to Oakland and the Warriors finished them off promptly in Game 5. In the grand scheme of the 2018 NBA playoffs, that Game 4 in San Antonio meant relatively nothing. To me though, it will always be my last memory of Manu in a Spurs jersey.

Favorite new place I visited: Sedona, Arizona

Over 4th of July weekend my girlfriend and I made a trip up to the two most popular destinations in Northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Because of an incident involving bad timing and my old Impala, we were only able to experience the Grand Canyon for about 90 minutes before the sun went down. I saw it, but I didn’t really see it, you know? Nonetheless, we spent a full proper day in Sedona and it was really incredible. The hiking is great and the views can’t really be appreciated by any single picture. Another perk is that there are so many different trails around the area that it keeps things less crammed full of people. Sedona’s red rock formations surround you anywhere you look around the small town and it’s bizarre how unique the area is compared to the neighboring terrain. What I mean by that is, drive 20 minutes in any directions and it is a totally different landscape from the towering red rocks. There are definitely some tourist trap-ish areas in Sedona but the town also has restaurants and shops that are reasonably priced and enjoyable to relax at after hiking. I give a big endorsement for Sedona and would love to get back.

Favorite Podcast I listened to: The Rewatchables

I love watching movies. My friends in college would tell you that this isn’t true, and that I find something wrong with almost every movie I watch. There is maybe some truth to that, I must admit I am pretty particular with which movies I give high praise to. I can be a bit hard to please, but when I find a movie I really love then I can rewatch it five times easily. The rewatchables is a podcast from Bill Simmons’ The Ringer site, and it’s goal is to simply deep dive any movie that a member from the rotating crew of contributors to the podcast feels strongly about. They go through the movie in a lot of detail mentioning the highs and lows and throw in funny categories like “What’s aged the best, and what’s aged the worst?” or “Casting What If’s” and “Most rewatchable scene”. It’s always worth a laugh and they covered some of my favorite movies in 2018. That list includes Good Will Hunting, Ocean’s Eleven, Forrest Gump, Inception, Wedding Crashers, Step Brothers, and Tombstone. The rewatchables has never been on a regular schedule previously but in 2019 they will be covering 52 movies on basically a one per week schedule. I recommend checking out the feed and I bet you’ll find a movie or two that you love being broke down by some genuinely funny writers.

Favorite Book I Read: The Whistler by John Grisham

I can’t say I have read every single Grisham book but I’ve read most of them, and I finally got a chance to read The Whistler last summer. The book was published in late 2016 and it had been on my wish list for quite awhile. I’d say it is probably my favorite story from him this decade although there is a lot of buzz going around for his most recent work, The Reckoning. The Whistler is set in North/Central Florida and involves the typical legal puzzle seen in most Grisham stories except from a unlikely source in this case. The quick premise: Judicial Conduct investigator Lacy Stolz gets preposterous dirt on money laundering from an unnamed and seemingly untrustworthy source. Good characters, plenty of plot twists, and the right amount of humor.

Ok, so if anyone is still reading I appreciate your interest and also I’m sure you’re close to being bored by now. Like I said in the intro, I have a few things cooked up that I would like to get on the site in the near future. I am optimistic about having a bit more time to write in these next few months. I’d love to get the site expanded in terms of topics and even contributors to the content. I wish everyone a happy 2019 and I hope to have something more thought provoking up on the site soon. Until then, take care, and thanks for reading.