"Mike check! 1-2-1-2-1-2!" [UPDATED]*

Twelve-twelve-twelve is as good a time as any to write a wrap-up of the "year that was". This year I chose to stop drinking. Without a doubt, that is the smartest thing I've done all year. That choice may have cramped my social life, but I have to say it wasn't much of a social life if it required alcohol to keep it lubricated.

Other than that milestone, for most of 2012 I just coasted along. Still there are some highlights:

I went to see the Chesapeake Bayhawks - twice! This was my lacrosse year, and I enjoyed it. I got to see two Bayhawks games in Annapolis. (The Bayhawks went on to win the 2012 Steinfeld Cup, the Major League Lacrosse league championship.) Also, I finally got out and tossed some lacrosse balls with a friend, and went to see Crooked Arrows in the theater (cheesy, but sweet).

In April I downloaded Stereo Typical by Rizzle Kicks, and for the next four weeks that was all I listened to. It's an amazing album! I know hip-hop is not everyone's thing, but this album has a lot to give. "Mama Do the Hump" is a fun little knees-up, "Traveller's Chant" is beautifully meditative, and "When I Was a Youngster" is an antidote for the blues.

I bought Pierce the Veil's Collide with the Sky this past fall. I don't exaggerate when I say this album helped me get through the fall. The music is fun, and expresses everything from rage to sadness to hope. I felt some of my life in the lyrics, and to this day I still tear up listening to some of the songs. I obtained a lot of music in 2012, but these two albums by far outshine the rest.

I've read 39 books so far this year. The best of these, IMHO, were:

1.Damien Echols, Life After Death: this is the memoir of one of the falsely accused and imprisoned "West Memphis Three". The memoir is fascinating and inspiring.

2. Augusten Burroughs, This is How: An "anti-self-help self-help book", Burroughs engagingly presents down-to-earth advice on negotiating life's trials, dealing with such issues as sadness, addiction, love and suicidal thinking.

3. John Fox, The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game: A fun, fascinating and moving book about sports.

4. Ayad Akhtar, American Dervish: A surprisingly subtle novel about growing up Pakistani Muslim in the US. It's a beautiful, touching book.

5. Nick Harkaway, The Gone-Away World: A literary sci-fi novel involving ninjas, world war, and fallout from the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. The prose is fun, and the story is engaging.

6. Thomas Vennum, American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War: Vennum has created a fascinating exploration of the origins and meaning of what became lacrosse. He peppers the book with imaginative re-creations of events in history. An excellent companion volume to Fisher.

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*I forgot to mention Collide with the Sky. I cannot write about 2012 without mentioning Collide with the Sky.

Have You Heard This? V: Pierce the Veil, "Caraphernelia"

This is one of Pierce the Veil's best songs/videos. It features the guest raw vocals of Jeremy McKinnon.* As is usual for PTV, the song is all about the anguish of love. I've often wondered: if Vic Fuentes ever were to have a happy, fulfilling love relationship, would Pierce the Veil stop making music?

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*Whom you will remember from here.

Johnny Cash is a Sufi Saint

"Johnny Cash rules the world."

—Jehangir Tabari, The Taqwacores (film, 2010).

I grew up with Johnny Cash. My maternal grandfather, the grandparent whom I most resemble in personality and appearance*, was a big fan of country music, and Johnny Cash was one of the musicians he sang along with. Johnny Cash had an iconic status which I did not entirely understand at the time. I grew up to realize that his rebellion appealed to people least likely to rebel: the folks who only wanted to work, earn the fruits of their labors, and go to church on Sundays to praise the Lord. Most rebels were seen as trying to destroy the culture; he was trying to redeem it by re-infusing compassion for the common man into its heart.

A couple of years ago I read A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears by Antonino D'Ambrosio. The book relates the social milieu in which Johnny Cash chose to write and have produced Bitter Tears, an album entirely dedicated to the situation of indigenous North Americans, their strength, their betrayal by the US government, and their endurance. Finding myself with a free hour one afternoon this week I went to the NMAI, and bought a copy of Bitter Tears in the shop. I listened to it on my commute in this morning, and laughed out loud at the lyrics to "Custer". It's a really good album.

I've heard hiphop artists refer to Johnny Cash as an "original gangsta"; punk rockers praise him for being proto-punk. The man transcended his genre. In the film The Taqwacores, Muslim punk Jehangir Tabari goes on about how amazing Johnny Cash was, and how Jehangir wishes he could be Johnny Cash, but didn't feel adequate. Jehangir felt small in comparison to the man he admired, but didn't consider that Johnny Cash too had once been a frustrated, troubled 'punk' who'd found a way to move forward.

Johnny Cash lived hard, sinned greatly, prayed fervently, changed his life, loved deeply, and cared immensely for people, both those who were his friends, and human beings in general. He had a great heart. In his autobiography, he recounts how at the lowest point in his life he went deep inside a cave near his home and essentially asked God to end his life; and yet he survived, emerged and moved forward. The story haunts me still.

Johnny Cash transcended religious dogma. He was about love, forgiveness and justice. He had vision.

His cover of Trent Reznor's "Hurt" reveals this. I read that when the video was finished, his producers sent a copy to Trent Reznor for him to review. Reznor happened to be in the studio with Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine fame), and they played it. When the video was done, moist-eyed and speechless, the two of them silently went outside for a smoke break. He had taken Reznor's song and elevated it to a higher plain.

Johnny Cash rules the world.

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*Although I freely admit I exhibit personality traits of all my grandparents, e.g., maternal grandmother, a tendency to cry over anything sad and/or sweet, even if it's on tv; paternal grandmother, a tendency to talk to myself when working alone, so I can order my thoughts and processes; maternal grandfather, a love of telling stories and of chatting with animals directly; and paternal grandfather, a tendency to put a stoic, wry face on when confronted with human absurdity.

Have You Heard This? IV: A Day to Remember, "All I Want"

Not only is this an excellent song with meaningful lyrics, but the video is a who's who of post-hardcore.

Have You Heard This? III: Calle 13, "Latinoamérica"

Have You Heard This? II: Delta Heavy, "Hold Me"

A very good dubstep track:

Have You Heard This?: The Band Perry, "If I Die Young"

This is one of my favorite songs from last year. I've caught myself* singing it out loud while listening to it with the earphones on.



*Of course, it's a bit late for me to be singing the line "if I die young"—late by several decades, LOL.

Favorites of 2011

It's near enough to the end of 2011 that I want to go ahead and do my year-end review of favorites:

Favorite fiction: Annabel, by Kathleen Winter. The story of an intersex child growing up in rural Labrador; Winter explores not just gender, but how being different affects both the individual and the people around her. Annabel is a quietly moving novel of pain and self-discovery.

Favorite non-fiction (philosophy): Phenomenology of Perception, by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This was a philosophy-heavy year for me. Nevertheless, this book (which I've wanted to read for over a decade) stands out as profound, fascinating, revolutionary and necessary.

Favorite non-fiction (history): The Killing of Crazy Horse, by Thomas Powers. Crazy Horse is one of my few heroes; Powers's book is a worthy supplement to the magisterial Crazy Horse: A Life by Kingsley M. Bray. Powers's especially focuses on the last few months leading up to Crazy Horse's murder.

Favorite non-fiction (religion): Why I Am a Five Percenter, by Michael Muhammad Knight. Knight's book is part memoir, part survey of Islamic thought, and part polemic for the validity of the Five Percenter path. It is impossible to summarize, but it is so well thought out and so beautifully written, I recommend it to anyone interested in either Islam or the Five Percenters.

Favorite non-fiction (self-help or other general usefulness): The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. I've gone on and one about this one. If you want to lose weight, I recommend this book (get the 2011 edition).

Favorite album (rock): There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret., by Bring Me the Horizon. BMTH thrash hard, and write songs that seep into your soul.

Favorite album (country): The Band Perry, by The Band Perry. These siblings are quite talented, play multiple instruments, and write songs that bridge old bluegrass to 21st century sensibilities.

Favorite album (surprise): Dancin' 'Til Sunrise: Round Dance Songs Recorded "Live", Northern Cree and Friends (Vol. 7). One of the negatives of no longer having music stores around is missing out on the joy of randomly finding something on the shelves that you wouldn't begin to think of searching for online. I came across this album at a used CD store, bought it on a whim, and I adore it. There is energy, humor and ebullition on this album. I've used songs from it in my playlists. [Hint: give "C.M.T." or "Da Might As Well" a try.]

Favorite movie (in theaters) [tie]: Hanna, A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas. Hanna is a thrilling action film with a kick-ass female lead. Harold and Kumar 3 made me laugh like an idiot. 'Nuff said.

Favorite movie (rental): Attack the Block. A British sci-fi film which starts with thugs and ends with heroes, and along the way turns an improbable circumstance into something almost believable. I recommend it for the amazing cast alone, but the story is equally excellent.