2022 :: Year In Review
Welcome to the 2022 Holiday at the Sea year in review. These are a few of my favorite things (from this year at least).
2022 :: Favorite Television
As I mentioned in my movie post, with 8 kids, a lot of my “watching time” is spent with my family including 8 kids. So most of what I watch is either repeats, kids/family things that aren’t that great, or both. But my wife and I were able to catch a few shows that really stood out.
The Bear:
Only Murders In The Building Season Two:
Loot:
Severance:
2022 :: Favorite Music
I hate ranking music. Music is not a competition. But I love year-end lists. It’s the most wonderful time of year when you get music recommendations that you might have missed from people you trust. And 2022 was a terrific year for music.
Here are 50 of my favorite music releases of 2022 (Find the list these were drawn from here). What did I miss? What do you recommend?
Ghosted by Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Shruti Dances by Auntie Flo and Sarathy Korwar (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Good and Green Again by Jake Xerxes Fussell (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar (WEB // AMZN)
A Light for Attracting Attention by the Smile (WEB // BC // AMZN)
For the Love of Tabla by Toronto Tabla Ensemble (WEB // BC // AMZN)
Ali by Vieux Farka Touré & Khruangbin (WEB // WEB // BC // AMZN)
2022 :: Favorite Book
Though I read quite a few books this year (not as many as I’d like), I only read one that was published in 2022:
Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
Purchase Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
2021 Wrap-Up :: This Is (sort of) About Jam Bands
The past couple of years have been hard for all of us. I started my Clinical Pastoral Education process in January of 2020 right before the Pandemic it. This was also right when I started working primarily as a Bereavement Counselor. As COVID tsunamied through our communities, I quickly transitioned to working from home. Normally, that’s fine. I have a big family, but I also have a private office, so I can actually focus on work.
But that also meant that my trips outside of the house greatly decreased. I have to go to my work office at least once a week to pick up and drop off mail, but other than that, I have to largely make excuses to get out of the house. And again, “normally", that’s fine for a home-body like me.
But I LOVE live music.
And, even with a large family, my wife and I make regular attempts to experience live. It is important to us. It is important to me. I can’t imagine life without it. Or at least I couldn’t. Until I had to. I saw two concerts in 2020, ending in February (TERRY RILEY!). I didn’t go to another live music experience until August of 2021 (NEKO CASE!). That’s a long time to go without live music; especially when (even as an Introvert), it’s something that energizes you.
And then, after seeing the terrific line-up of Lucinda Williams, Gov’t Mule, Avett Brothers, and and Willie Nelson, but before seeing Dead and Co., my wife and went to see Phish.
This post is not about what you think about “Jam Bands.” This post is about my experience at a Phish concert.
I love Phish. I love jambands. I love musical improvisation. I love being part of a group that is experiencing a once-in-a-life-time moment. The music will never be repeated again in that way. You can re-listen to it, but if you weren’t there, you weren’t there. It’s not the same. At least it doesn’t carry the same emotional weight. It might gain emotional weight as you re-listen in various stages of life, but if you weren’t there; you weren’t there.
My work as a pastor, a hospice chaplain, and as a bereavement counselor continually reminds me that life is fragile. It can’t be repeated. There are no do-overs (this is not about re-incarnation). One of the things I hear continually, time after time from the grievers I walk with is; I wish I’d spent more time with them; I wish I’d been more present.
In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
And seeing Phish live again for the first time in 20-something years forced this all upon me. There I was under the sunbaked stars with nearly 20,000 other people, most of all my wife, hearing music that would never be repeated the same way; experiencing a moment that was gone as soon as it was known. Such is life. Or, as Vonnegut might say, “So it goes,” or maybe “Hi Ho.” Whatever.
Live music, particularly any live music that incorporates improvisation is a reminder that life is about the here and now. If we spend all of our time focusing on the past, we will likely find ourselves bogged down with regret and sadness or glorifying our past; there’s no way I can ever live up to that again. Or, if we spend most our emotional time and energy thinking about the future, we (or at least I do) end up with nothing but anxiety.
But live music can help remind us that it doesn’t have to be that way. Whatever happened to us in the past; regardless of what we’ll experience once we exit the venue; there is the here and now. There is the band and the lights and the crowd and something special.
But that’s life, isn’t it? It might be a special moment, but it is special because it reminds us what is special about life. This is it. Do something. Do something for others. Create something. Protect something. Advocate for something. Get outside of yourself. Read. Write. Draw. Compose. Listen. Run. Hike. Explore.
“In a world gone mad a world gone mad There must be something more than this.”
Seeing Phish live again reminded me why I love live music. Because live music reminds me to love life.
FOOTNOTE (As it were):
This post is not about my favorite concert of 2021. I don’t generally like ranking things, but I’m comfortable pointing out if one stood out for me above others. So, if we’re talking about “that” concert for 2021, it was Erykah Badu. Seriously. If you haven’t had a chance to see her live, please do so as soon as you feel safe.
Browse my favorite albums of the year
Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish
Browse my favorite books of 2021
Browse my favorite movies of 2021
Browse my favorite television of 2021
Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”
2021 Year In Review :: Favorite Television
As I mentioned in my movie roundup, I have a lot of kids, so a lot of my time is spent with kids. That doesn’t always leave a lot of time for other watchings, but here are three televisionings that really stuck out to me this year.
Like last year, my “favorite television” list includes Ted Lasso and Joe Pera. As I wrote last year, both shows were (for me), a shot of much-needed positivity.
But, to be honest, the show that stood out the most for me this year was a bit darker. Midnight Mass on Netflix captivated me on so levels. Regardless of what you think of vampire stories (SPOILER), this is a powerful allegory about spiritual abuse which is unfortunately quite timely.
Ted Lasso:
Midnight Mass:
Joe Pera Talks With You:
Browse my favorite albums of the year
Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish
Browse my favorite books of 2021
Browse my favorite movies of 2021
Browse my favorite television of 2021
Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”
2021 Year In Review :: Favorite Books
At the time of this writing, I read 41 books in 2021. Not quite a book a week, but still a good pace. This year I finished the novels of Haruki Murakami in chronological order and started re-reading Kurt Vonnegut’s novels in chronological order. I read a lot about grief and grieving but I only had a chance to read a couple of books published in 2021. But two of them really stood out to me.
One about chewing gum, the creative process and the fight for survival. The other about a father’s love for his son and the desire for connection and the fight for survival. I’m sensing a theme.
Nina Simone’s Gum by Warren Ellis
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
Browse my favorite albums of the year
Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish
Browse my favorite books of 2021
Browse my favorite movies of 2021
Browse my favorite television of 2021
Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”
2021 Year In Review :: Favorite Movies
As you might imagine; for someone who has eight children, I don’t get to watch many movies for myself (and by that I don’t mean “by myself,” I just mean “Not Watching Movies With Kids.”). Most of the movies I have time for are somehow kid-centered.
But five movies really stuck out to me this year, and they run the gamut. 8 hours of the Beatles rehearsing and breaking up. Somehow it both normalizes and enchants the creative process. A movie about fish boy finding himself, and a great introduction to the Velvet Underground. Oh, and a super-fun Marvel movie which I thought was their best in years.
But one of the movies that stuck out above the others for me was Pig starring Nicolas Cage. It was recommended to me as a powerful meditation on grief and, as a Hospice Chaplain and Bereavement Counselor, I was hooked. It did not disappoint.
The Beatles: Get Back
Luca:
Pig:
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings:
The Velvet Underground:
Browse my favorite albums of the year
Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish
Browse my favorite books of 2021
Browse my favorite movies of 2021
Browse my favorite television of 2021
Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”
Wanda's Vision of Grief
Disney/Marvel’s WandaVision has cast the cultural spotlight on something we all experience but don’t want to talk about. The series takes place in the Marvel universe after the events of Endgame.
Wanda Maximoff’s brother has been killed in battle. Her Love, Vision (a synthezoid made from vibranium) is also gone. Through flashbacks we learn about the bombing-death of her parents as well as the traumatic experiences of her youth.
Without giving too much away, Wanda, like most of us, never has quite the time to process her trauma and go through her grief, you know, with saving the world and all. Each unresolved loss builds on the next until the heaviness feels suffocating. And in the last episode, we learn that Wanda’s grief exploded (literally) in an unconscious attempt to protect herself. As the episode unfolds, we are privileged to a conversation between Wanda and Vision. And everyone’s been talking about “that quote” from Vision. But before we get to that, let’s set some context.
Grief is our natural reaction to any significant loss or change. Grief is an emotional process; our emotional response to that loss or change. Since it is an emotional process, not an intellectual process, we can’t talk our way out of it and there are not “logical steps” to be done. Instead, we must go through it; we must allow those emotions to run their course. And we must remember that emotions are energy.
And, when we lose someone we love, we can narrow our definition of grief even further because grief is inextricably tied to love. Grief is evidence of love. Grief is that feeling we get when we reach out for a special person when we need them the most, only to find that they’re no longer there. Grief is that love for someone special with nowhere left to go.
Or, as Vision so eloquently puts it: “what is grief, if not love persevering?”
Our relationship with our loved one doesn’t end. It just changes. Our relationship doesn’t end because our love doesn’t end. And grief is the outworking of that love with nowhere left to go; it is our emotions trying to work themselves out. Grief is us trying to make sense of what do with that love since its object is gone, and how to work through the resulting emotions.
I am thankful that a show with such a large platform is willing to openly wrestle with grief. It is something we will all go through, but it is something our culture doesn’t talk about. We don’t know what to say to someone grieving, and their outpour of emotion, so we either try to avoid them, offer empty platitudes, offer them a “fix,” or decide that it’s a good time to talk about ourselves. But if grief is the outworking of love, then certainly we can love each other enough to create safe spaces for one another to work through our grief.
WandaVision reminds us that we are not alone in our grief; and forces us each to ask what lengths we would go to had we the powers. Thankfully, WandaVision has helped bring this discussion to the light. Now it’s up to us to continue the conversation.
The Year of Positivity? Joe Pera and Ted Lasso Were The Television We Needed In 2020
As I mentioned in my 2020 year-end wrap-up, my year in television was marked by two shows in particular: Joe Pera Talks With You, and Ted Lasso. The two shows are quite different; Pera is quiet, even somewhat subdued; quirky and endearing.
The awkward but sincere Pera makes his way through life and relationships as a Junior High School choir instructor. Pera’s sense of wonder and sincere niceness brought and endearing positivity to an otherwise oppressive year. I want that joy Joe finds at “discovering” The Who’s “Baba O'riley.” I want to think the best of people, which is the thread tying these two shows together.
Ted Lasso tells the tale of an American “football” coach who is brought to England to coach European football (soccer). An edgier, more foul-mouthed show, Lasso’s namesake character is definitely more animated that the subdued Pera, but Lasso shares Pera’s seemingly endless ability to not only think the best of people but to practice forgiveness.
It is striking to me that in a year as heavy as 2020 was, two of the best television shows trafficked in positivity, niceness and forgiveness. Both shows are not only genuinely funny and wore their positive outlooks without flinching from the sadness of life or becoming preachy.
Watch the Joe Pera Talks With You Season 2 trailer:
Watch the Ted Lasso series trailer: