2015 was a pretty exciting year for pretty much everything. A lot happened personally, professionally and psychically, as I am now a certified medium and gypsy palm reader. A married, medium, gypsy palm reader. Though 2016 has started off with Oscar boycotts, Snowmaggedon, and the deaths of David Bowie, Lemmy, Glenn Frye and my uncle (all formidable rock stars in their own right), here’s to the year tapering off the negative for a positive upswing. In order for me to close the book on 2015, here’s a quick list of some of my favorite things of last year in film, TV, personal moments, music and other shit. There’s plenty that I’m sure I’m missing, but like the great Lipps Inc said, “gotta move on.” Yes, that’s a Funky Town reference, which is my own personal philosophy.

Ben Mendelsohn

Netflix’s original show “Bloodline” had great writing, a visually hypnotic look and talented cast. However, you’d be hard pressed to find a more antagonistic, menacing yet charming character than Danny Rayburn, played by the amazing Ben Mendelsohn. While the show, at times, lost me, I chalk that up to: 1) binge watching the entire season in a few days and 2) my interest waning when Mendelsohn was not on screen.

Check out: Animal Kingdom, Mississippi Grind

My Top Films of the Year

Check out: The BingeCast where Law, Ammon and myself give our favorites of the year as well as the worst movies of the year.

Jerseypalooza

For the second time in a year, I visited the tri-state area with my chick to drink like an asshole and get ink by PeteMC’s now wife, MC. We stayed for about four days and the trip provided a brief respite from planning a whole fucking wedding ourselves, as we were a month out from the big day. We met up with TM and KariTM and finally got to meet longtime friend Logan, who now does the timestamp for the BingeCast like a cocksucker. It can’t be repeated enough that the internet is an amazing way to connect with like-minded people who eventually become the closest people in your life. That, and of course, stealing movies and music and porn illegally.

Check out: My Jerseypalooza travelogue featured on Monday Morning Moreno.

Bucket List – Singing with a band in NYC

Earlier in 2015, I was up in New York’s guts for the first time ever. It was February, it was snowing, probably the worst time of the year to visit New York. But being a lifelong Chicagoan, the snow didn’t bother me and we braved some pretty gross weather to hit up our new favorite Midtown bar Rudy’s, MOMA (where I weeped in front of “The Starry Night”….I was hungover), and a NY slice of pizza and pretzel. As a music first fan, the topper of the trip was being brought up on stage to sing a few songs with TM and PeteMC’s band, Daddy NoBux. I cannot thank those assholes enough and I tried to not to take advantage of their generosity by demanding they play every sounder we’ve recorded.

Check out: A short video of me on stage with the boys.

A Kick in the Ass

Sometimes life dictates that you need a kick in the ass. I wasn’t particularly looking for a life change in 2015 (with a wedding and some other familial issues transpiring during the year) but the roots of it were buried within and pulled out from a good friend of mine. I met up with her in New York after not seeing her for a couple of years and we immediately picked up where we left off. When she asked what I’ve been doing for work, she was appalled that I wasn’t doing anything creative. The next hour, over brunch in the Jane Hotel, she proceeded to hand me my ass, not accepting any excuses and giving me the kick in the ass that I needed. It still took another 10 months to get my ass in gear, but I’m now on my way back into freelancing, and I couldn’t be happier.

Check out: The Tim Ferriss Podcast. Ferriss talks to top performers in various industries in order to deconstuct their methods of success. His book The Four Hour Work Week was/is a huge inspiration in transitioning from a soul sucking job into doing something more worthwhile.

TV

TV in 2015 had its fair share of highlights but what made it great was the diversity of shows.  Fargo returned with a wider scope and fantastic co-leads in Patrick Wilson and Kirsten Dunst, and while the show maintained its quality successfully, it fell just short of the brilliance of its first season.  HBO’s miniseries The Jinx and Show Me A Hero were stellar and have now become required viewing when suggesting shows, and their original programming remained solid with Game of Thrones, Veep and The Leftovers (still need to catch up on S2).  Netflix continued to impress me with their run of original series like the smartly written and funny Master of None, Narcos, Daredevil, Jessica Jones (both Marvel series were pleasant surprises), Bloodline and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, while the third season of Orange is the New Black felt flat, repetitive and underwhelming.  Amazon released the light comedy, Mozart in the Jungle, which was enjoyable.  Shows we said goodbye to were F/X’s Justified, a series that had its ups and downs but ended nicely, and network TV’s most consistently funny sitcom perhaps ever, Parks and Recreation, kept true to its roots and gave the fans the ending they deserved.  USA came to the table with Mr. Robot which wore its influences on its sleeve to the degree that by the end, it turned me off, and Better Call Saul premiered with a hint of Breaking Bad nostalgia yet original enough to not feel rehashed.  Kurt Sutter whined, took his ball (The Bastard Executioner) and went home after nobody watched it.

Some of the shows I did not see, so don’t bitch at me:  Mad Men, The Affair, The Walking Dead, Fear of the Walking Dead, You’re the Worst.

Check out: Mad Men, The Affair, The Walking Dead, Fear of the Walking Dead, You’re the Worst. 

Randomly meeting Jeff Tweedy

Jeff Tweedy is kind of a big deal, to not only me but to music and Chicagoans in general.  While not a native Chicagoan, we do consider him Chicago’s son.  After buying this hat (which I drunkenly lost in Mexico), my chick, her parents and my kid ended up at a burger joint on the northside of Chicago.  A guy walked in to pick up an order and I couldn’t help but notice a striking resemblance to the Wilco frontman.  He sat down at the table next to us and I couldn’t help but creepily stare at the menu while side eyeing like said creep.  After a few minutes, my inner nagging got to be too much and I asked him if he was indeed Jeffy Tweedy from Wilco, to which he replied in the affirmative.  We small talked about the local station WXRT, where he’s done plenty of local stuff with and where I used to work, all while completely ignoring my family.  Which is just fine with me.  He was nice enough to take a pic, which he really didn’t want to, and I immediately threw on Sky Blue Sky when we eventually got in the car.  It’s my favorite Wilco album, shut up.

Check out:  Jeff Tweedy at the Unity Concert in Parks and Rec.

Father John Misty

I don’t know how or where I first heard of Father John Misty, but I was immediately hooked.  His lyrics filled with sarcasm, humor, and contempt pulled me in, held me tight, and then kicked me to the curb.  But I was back for more.  J. Tillman mixes his sound with folk, gospel, 80s The Cure and even a bit of post 00s melodies and production.  It’s an album that I listen to constantly due to its nuanced and ethereal sound.  What am I saying?  It’s fucking good, shut up.

Check out:  The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment – The lyrics are as bitingly angry and sarcastic as the song is sweet. 

Stand Up Specials

To be fair, I didn’t watch many stand up specials this year, maybe a handful or so, but the two that really stick out in my mind is Anthony Jeselnik’s Thoughts and Prayers and Chelsea Peretti’s One of the Greats.  Both specials did something different in terms of stand up presentation that matched their comedy perfectly.  For the “offensive” and “line crossing” Jeselnik, the backdrop is textured with a hue of blue, giving an ice cold, villain-esque presence to Jeselnik, and the audience lit in a deep red giving the illusion that those laughing will be doing so in hell.  Peretti on the other hand plays with stand up convention by fucking with audiences expectations of reaction shots by editing in dogs and sleeping audience members into these shots, adding to the already silly, tongue in cheek idea that she is, in fact, one of the greats.

Check out:  

Weddingpalooza

Ah, what would a year be without a Bingeapalooza.  It’s that special time of year where the Chicago boys are met with Law (sometimes others) and we slap each other in the face with our penises and show our livers who’s boss.  This year, as you know, was much different being that my wedding was the center event and not Jim Law, despite his demands to officiate the wedding.  Because what we need is a big dumb Canadian saying, “You guys like each other, eh?  You’re married, brah.”  Good one.   Law, Supka, Luke, and Ammon all convened, took mushrooms, drank a lot of beer, and did irreparable damage to their bodies and souls while I drank a lot and danced a lot with my lovely bride.  It was literally one of the best days of my life and I can’t thank my chick enough, as well as the boys right here.  Also, my favorite part of the wedding was Law eating a tamale with the corn husk on and then yelling that there weren’t “eating tamale instructions.”  What an asshole.

Check out:  The Binge Facebook Weddingpalooza Album

And I’m spent…bring on 2016!