Sticking with redesign mode, I’ve finally migrated Superfectablog from Blogger and [...]]]> After much CSS/PHP/JavaScript wrangling, DVAG Wire is finally up and running. I have no doubt, dear reader, that you have been desperate to know what has been going on behind the scenes at a number of Philadelphia archives: now you can keep track automatically.

Sticking with redesign mode, I’ve finally migrated Superfectablog from Blogger and over to WordPress and redesigned it, from logo to layout – as the site was approaching its fifth birthday (with only one-and-a-half major redesigns), the move and facelift were long overdue. While the new design is not a huge departure from the old one in terms of layout, the greater control and flexibility afforded by WordPress is very pleasant indeed – it makes up for the temporary traffic drop I anticipate from the move.

While planning the redesigns, I did a little digging for inspiration (or, perhaps more accurately, to review lessons learned) and found some old work in the Wayback Machine: a little feature I did on The Phantom Menace (before discovering its full horror), an old music review and a website for a radio show I built long ago.  While not universally the case, the fact that many of the ads were preserved is oddly pleasing to me.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Rather shamefully, I have no books on this list; while I read many, not a one was published in 2009 – my excuse is that I’m waiting for the new Nick Hornby novel to come out in paperback.  So, in fractured order, here are this [...]]]>

Arctic Club, Seattle

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Rather shamefully, I have no books on this list; while I read many, not a one was published in 2009 – my excuse is that I’m waiting for the new Nick Hornby novel to come out in paperback.  So, in fractured order, here are this year’s Things I Liked A Lot:

Best Thing I Wrote This Year: On Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra and Memory
Best Race (live): The Haskell (just edging out the Preakness)
Best Race (televised): Breeders’ Cup Classic
Best (human) Race: Dogfish Dash 10K
Best Soccer: US beats Spain, Confederations Cup
Best Trip: Seattle, Arctic Club/MLS Cup/REI pilgrimage/new light rail
Best Airline: Alaska Airlines
Best Live Show (overall): Leonard Cohen, Tower Theater
Best Free@Noon Show at World Cafe Live: John Wesley Harding/M. Ward
Best Beer (draft): Stone/BrewDog Bashah
Best Beer (bottled): Pretty Things Saint Botolph’s Town
Best New Bar: Varga Bar
Best Album: John Wesley Harding: Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead
Best Concept Album: The Duckworth-Lewis Method: The Age of Revolution
Best Random Song: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Home
Best TV: How I Met Your Mother
Best Event TV: Doctor Who
Best Movie: (500) Days of Summer
Best Movie Franchise Reboot: Star Trek

Music Sweden – The Mountain Goats Laid – James The Life Pursuit – Belle & Sebastian Company – 2006 Broadway Revival Cast Recording Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters – The Twilight Sad

February Derby Picks Anak Nakal Court Vision Face the Cat Tale of [...]]]> The icy weather affords an opportunity to broadcast a few recent favorites, many of which admittedly have not changed much since November:

Music
Sweden – The Mountain Goats
Laid – James
The Life Pursuit – Belle & Sebastian
Company – 2006 Broadway Revival Cast Recording
Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters – The Twilight Sad

February Derby Picks
Anak Nakal
Court Vision
Face the Cat
Tale of Ekati
War Pass

Beer
Iron Hill Pilsner Barleywine (West Chester)
Stone XI Anniversary
Troubadour Obscura
Troegs Scratch #7
Victory

Crowded House – Farewell to the World, Time on Earth Eliza Carthy – Rough Music The Divine Comedy – Victory for the Comic Muse, Absent Friends Liam Finn - I’ll Be Lightning, Live@Spaceland Hoots and Hellmouth – Hoots and Hellmouth The Lucksmiths – Spring a Leak, Warmer Corners, Naturaliste Math and Physics Club - [...]]]>

This year, I have been mostly listening to:

Crowded House – Farewell to the World, Time on Earth
Eliza Carthy – Rough Music
The Divine Comedy – Victory for the Comic Muse, Absent Friends
Liam Finn - I’ll Be Lightning, Live@Spaceland
Hoots and Hellmouth – Hoots and Hellmouth
The Lucksmiths – Spring a Leak, Warmer Corners, Naturaliste
Math and Physics Club - Math and Physics Club
Kate Rusby – Awkward Annie
The Tallboys – Rubber Dolly
The Wedding Present – Take Fountain, Search for Paradise

Concerts attended in 2007:

Waterson: Carthy (minus Norma Waterson), Mandell Theater, Philadelphia
Crowded House (with Liam Finn opening), The Mann Center, Philadelphia (and also earlier in the day at World Cafe Live)
The Lucksmiths (with Ladybug Transistor and Still Flyin’ opening), DC9, Washington, DC
I suppose technically The Wiggles (The Spectrum, Philadelphia) counts as a concert too…