Then early year (January 2nd) I saw my cousin was using an app called My365. If there’s anything that will make it easier to complete project 365, it’s an iPhone:

• the camera is actually pretty good;
• My365, while not a great app, makes it easy to upload and keep track of daily photos;
• unlike my cameras, I actually have my iPhone with me almost all the time.

I’ve made it though January so far. Just 334 photos to go…

It’s now year seven of my annual soundtrack project. I ended up with a lot more new music (actually released in 2011) than in past years:

1. The Mills Brothers: “I Heard”
2. Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm: “Getting Nasty”
3. People Under The Stairs: “Gamin’ on Ya (Dub)”
4. Beastie Boys: “Make Some Noise”
5. Beck: “Qué Onda Guero (Remixed by Islands)”
6. The Voluntary Butler Scheme: “To the Height of a Frisbee”
7. Wire: “Adapt”
8. Simple Minds: “70 Cities As Love Brings the Fall”
9. Oingo Boingo: “Ain’t This the Life”
10. They Might Be Giants: “When Will You Die”
11. The Like: “Walk Of Shame”
12. Scott Reynolds: “Jesus, Satan, Gene Beeman, His Car, and Pizza Hut”
13. The Strokes: “Under Cover of Darkness”
14. Rival Schools: “Choose Your Adventure”
15. Forgetters: “Vampire Lessons”
16. The Pavers: “Emma Lee”
17. Rush: “Dreamline”
18. The Meters: “Hey! Last Minute”
19. Kanye West & Jay-Z: “Otis (featuring Otis Redding)”
20. Just-Ice: “Put That Record Back On”

You can listen to (most of) these songs on this Spotify playlist.

The fourth day’s gift is often stated as four “calling” birds but originally was four “colly” birds, this being another word for a blackbird. The fifth day’s gift of gold rings refers not to jewelry but to ring-necked birds such as the ring-necked pheasant or to “five goldspinks” — a goldspink being an old name for a Goldfinch. (Wikipedia)

Birds make great gifts!

Demetri Martin on WhoSay

A curious vocal pattern has crept into the speech of young adult women who speak American English: low, creaky vibrations, also called vocal fry. Pop singers, such as Britney Spears, slip vocal fry into their music as a way to reach low notes and add style. Now, a new study of young women in New York state shows that the same guttural vibration—once considered a speech disorder—has become a language fad.

Of course, if you listen to NPR you’ve been hearing this for years, which drives me nuts for the worst offenders (I’m looking your way, every female This American Life reporter). And of course, Liz Phair was doing it before Britney even released an album:

It’s interesting to see again the progression of videos from slick-but-soulless professionally-produced videos (like 101 Freestyle Tricks), to fun but ugly homemade videos that highlighted underground riding, to the more modern professional videos well-made by riders (including tons of Props and Road Fools). You can also watch the movie Rad, if you so choose. Not all videos are complete, but there’s definitely enough to keep you entertained for hours.

Related: you can watch “Wire: 1989-1995” here, which is a a compilation of the riding videos I made so very long ago…

John Lackey
Definitely not the worst guy of the list, but I couldn’t stand seeing his mouth-breathing face when he was an Angel; seeing it in Fenway isn’t any better. Signing a huge contract but pitching like a number-four starter isn’t winning me (or many other Sox fans) over. The best thing Lackey has going for him: (a) there’s still time to redeem himself, and (b) he’s not A.J. Burnett.

Shea Hillenbrand
Google’s suggestions for Shea Hillenbrand searches are “shea hillenbrand stats”, then “shea hillenbrand clubhouse cancer”, so it’s probably not just fans who dislike him. Something about him always rubbed me the wrong way, and his homophobic remarks when he was traded didn’t endear him to me.

Jeremy Giambi
Related to Jason Giambi, tested positive for steroids, and sucked as a DH. The only good thing is his bad hitting ended up getting David Ortiz his job.

Ugueth Urbina
Again, another guy who seemed “off” to me. He’s now in a Venezuelan prison for attempted murder, so there’s that.

Ramiro Mendoza
Mendoza is the only member of 2004 team on this list. He wasn’t a terrible player, but I think he just had too much “Yankee stink” still on him to truly root for him.

Eric Gagne
The steroid-powered ex-closer was supposed to be a sure-thing stopper. He was gasoline on a fire in almost every appearance. And he got a World Series ring for it.

Julio Lugo
So many reasons not to like him, from actual — he wasn’t a very good shortstop (especially after seeing what Alex Gonzalez could do on the field) or hitter — to petty (I hated how he touched his shoulder when he was at bat).

Jose Offerman
Bad in the field (“E-4 man”), wasn’t the hitter he was supposed to be (“0-4 man”). And apparently had anger issues, as he later assaulted a pitcher and an umpire (separate incidents).

Carl Everett
Angry, crazy, anti-science, anti-gay, arrested for assault, held a gun to his wife’s head. Just not a nice guy. The only good thing I can say about him: he broke up Mike Mussina’s perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning.

Darren Lewis
Probably unfair to include him on this list, but his annoying at-bat habit of always twitching his mouth bugged the heck out of me.

Jose Canseco
No explanation needed.