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Books 2011

I got through a good varied crop of fiction and non-fiction this past year. Here are some of the highlights and other notables. Fiction The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes. This was my favourite...

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Roger Waters: The Wall Live, Vancouver BC, May 26 2012

I’m not really one for “classic rock.” The genre is still alive and, in 2012, producing music that at some point in the farther future may well considered “classic;” it seems a bit early to be...

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Prometheus

My father took me to see Alien when it came out in 1979. He had also introduced me to 2001: a space odyssey, which I consider one of the best movies ever made, and probably still the best science...

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Reading 2012

I read a few more books in 2012 than the year before, and started posting more consistently to Goodreads; you can follow me there if you like. Most of these books are fairly current; where they’re not,...

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Movies 2012

Here’s a list of the movies I saw this past year, sorted by rating (and within each rating, the chronological order in which I saw them). ★★★★ – Best movies I saw this year Piña (trailer): Stunning....

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Movies 2013

I didn’t see as many movies this year as I usually do (see 2010, 2011, 2012). The reason: Breaking Bad (see below) which, multiplying its 62 episodes by 48 minutes, is the equivalent of about...

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Reading 2013

Another year, some more great books (see also 2011, 2012). Fiction Cathedral, Raymond Carver – Always wanted to read Carver; Junot Díaz suggested this one in a recent interview. Some of the best short...

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Robin Williams

He’s been remembered in recent days for the obvious stuff: Mork; Good Will Hunting; Doubtfire; and so on. All great. But for me, and I think my daughter Karina, it’s his reading of “The Fool and the...

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Three Tracks: 2013

I had this in mind a year ago, but never got around to posting it (see Three Tracks: 2014). Three tracks that defined my year: Jon Hopkins, “Open Eye Signal” The track is a journey, a revelation (and...

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Three Tracks: 2014

Three tracks that defined my year: Sun Kil Moon, “Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes” Chilling, intense. One of the best-ever songs about death of all sorts. “And I remember just where I...

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Three Tracks: 2015

Better late that even later. Three tracks that defined my year in 2015: Beach House, “Space Song” It was a year of transition. At the tail end of summer, walking and biking Cannon Beach in Oregon, I...

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Three Tracks: 2016

Three tracks that defined my year in 2016 (I’m late again this year): David Bowie, “Lazarus” A brilliant swan song. “This way or no way / You know I’ll be free / Just like that bluebird / Now, ain’t...

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Three Tracks: 2017

Three tracks that defined my year in 2017. Big Thief, “Shark Smile” Ah, the sound of this track makes me move, makes me tear up. This is my music. “And she said woo, baby, take me. And I said woo,...

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Three Tracks: 2018

Three tracks that defined my year in 2018. Low, “Always Trying to Work It Out” Hard to pick a track from my favourite album of the year, but this is a standout. “Everybody says that the war is over /...

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Three Tracks: 2019

Three tracks that satisfied my ears in 2019. Sharon Van Etten, “No One’s Easy to Love” True. “Don’t look down, my dear, don’t be surprised […] Don’t look back, my dear, just say you tried.” Bonus...

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Three Albums: 2020

I’ve posted a “Three Tracks” list for a number of years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), but have always run into a bit of a problem: single cuts versus album tracks. A lot of the...

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Three Tracks: 2020

Three pieces that I kept coming back to in the (first) year of Covid-19. Nine Inch Nails: The Worriment Waltz Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross said “the current [pandemic] crisis was the reason they...

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CBC, HomePod, and Siri

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information available on how to access CBC content using Siri on HomePod, so I decided to put together a guide based on my experience and research. I’ve used HomePod...

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Three Tracks: 2021

Here are a few of my favourite tunes. Wet Leg: Chaise Longue Single of the year. “Excuse me.” “What.” Apple Music · Spotify Four Tet: Parallel 4 Apple Music · Spotify James Blake: Say What You Will “I...

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Three Albums: 2021

Three of my favourite albums from last year. Morly: ‘Til I Start Speaking One of those albums that I discovered at precisely the right moment, a solitary rainy night. “Sounds like my jazz angel.”...

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