Look what I found under the tree (AKA better late than never?)

A couple of shots of this year's Charlie Brown tree for you. 

The cats like to lurk under the tree.  If I could fit, I'd lurk under the tree too... 

Bunklelife - Top Albums 2009

I'll try once again to give a top 10 list of the year...acknowledging that there are going to be albums from 2009 I will discover 4 years from now and love more than any of those listed here.

1. Grizzly Bear -Veckatimest - the rest will be hard to rank, but this is comfortably #1 of the year for me.  Lush and dark and beautiful.  While you wait for the others is absolutely stunning.

and in no particular order....

2. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - YAY for this album!!  The gorgeous West African guitar and crazy vocal acrobatics from the women in the group balance out Dave Longstreth's unique vocal style to make something both wonderfully odd and surprisingly accessible.

3. Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light -  A strong album from beginning to end, and really, music doesn't get much more beautiful - or haunting. 

4. Dark Was the Night - Various Artists -  Absolutely fantastic compilation album in support of Red Hot, an international charitable HIV/AIDS awareness organization.  What I would have done to be at the live performance that went along with this release...

5. Akron/Family - Set 'em wild, set 'em free - It's Akron/Family.  Do I have to say more?  Perhaps not their most consistent album, but it's still great.

6. Noble Beast - Andrew Bird - Probably my favorite Andrew Bird album.  Enough said.   Watch and listen to Anonanimal, and be amazed.

7. Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice - And indeed, it is.  Not 100% consistent, but there are some fantastic tracks on here...and as I have spoken about him so often on this site, it would be wrong not to put this on the list.

8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels - I'm a sucker for banjo.  

9. Rock Plaza Central - At the moment of our most needing...  - I'm a sucker for banjo.  Still.

10. The Morning Benders - Talking Through Tin Cans - OK this is a bit of a ringer.  It is not from 2009, it's from 2008.  And at this point I don't know if I can honestly assess if it is good or not - all I know is that it has been on constant play in my car for over two months (I don't drive much) and I CAN'T take it off...but I CAN sing along, badly.  Extremely well written pop, that's for sure.

PHEW - done!

This isn't a real post - but...

Raunchier content than you will usually find on Bunklelife, but - I admit it, the Samberg/Timberlake Digital Shorts make me snort out loud. Dick in a Box was good, but the follow-up Mother Lover is oh so much more tasteless... and so much better, not only because Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson guest star.   You have to watch an ad prior to the short, but it's worth it.

This is all really to distract you from the fact I haven't posted anything in ages.  Soon, I promise, soon...
EMBED-Dick in a Box Sequal - Mother Lover - Watch more free videos

TO...or the T-dot...or Tawranna...

Yes, I'm in Toronto.

And I know I will get grief from my brother for saying anything nice about this city, but that's the price I have to pay I guess.  Few self respecting Westerners would be caught dead saying kind things about Toronto.  You just...don't.

And I am happy I left.  Really.

BUT...

I love coming back.  Even if it is for a short time, when I don't have time to see many pals (though that is what I love the most!), or do much other than try to work while feeling like a zombie from jet-lag induced lack of sleep.  It is funny how big and exciting a place it feels now.  How much more I appreciate the different neighborhoods.  And the crazy volume of (good) restaurants.  What seemed too much, too tedious before is FUN now - because all at once it feels new, and like home.  Kind of.  Strange, that.

The trip started with the top photo of Miss Mags.  She hates the suitcase.  Or rather, hates that she can't claim ownership of it.  This photo doesn't reflect how fiercely grumpy she looked.  Both cats know what the suitcase means I think, and they are none too pleased about it.  I had a real battle getting her out, then getting her off the top of it, then getting her off the suits I had put on the bed to pack - she hunkered down, growled like something out of Pet Cemetery, and wouldn't budge.  I had to bribe her off with food.  I think she slept on it all night.

And the second photo is outside my hotel window.  Not a great view this time around - I look straight on to another building, but oh well.

And I will be back on Saturday.  It's a short, short trip.

But I'll be back.  Soon.  I hope.