Pithy Title Here

For all I talk about travel, let's look back at the year that was. Also, everything below is for calendar year 2010, but doesn't include flights to/from Portland this coming week and jetting off to Ireland on Dec. 30. Total flights: 73 of which 52 were on Star Alliance carriers Total miles: About 82,600 Places I went for the first time (a sampling): Paris, Warsaw, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Nashville, Eureka, Redmond, Ore., Salt Lake City, Kayenta , Ariz. Favorite airport: Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) I love any airport with a central terminal where all concourses are easy to get to. My new home airport qualifies, but it also has some local eating options and is mass-transit accessible. Takeoffs and landings are great because you either buzz the Seattle skyline or Mt. Rainier. And, of course, there's nothing like landing at home. Least Favorite Airport: Paris-Charles DeGaulle ( CDG ) What a god-awful mess. The interior architecture is pretty in parts of terminal 2F, which is where

Now that I've done mt top 10 albums, some other year-end retrospectives on the way. The last one will be an indulgent bit of self-reflection. This, however, isn't the last one. This is the year in pop culture! So... let's get to it! Favorite movie There are still plenty of Oscar-worthy films to see but, my movie-going 2010 is just about over. And my pick is for Inception . It may not win the big awards, though it should win some, but here was a movie that I didn't need to wear silly 3-D glasses to enjoy. A great concept, well-executed, buy a fantastic cast. Had no idea where it was going to end up. It felt fresh and didn't make me think as hard as Mission Impossible did all those years ago despite a much more complicated concept. Disturbing trend of the year Glee glorification. Seriously, this needs to stop. Rarely did anyone ever think a cover of an original song was superior to the original. Now, every week, someone in my Twitter feed has to tell me that some son

This blog has been updated less this year than last. Chalk it up to being busy. Truth be told, even when I have more time, I don't always have a topic ready to go. The one topic that I know will come every year, though? The 10 best albums of the year. The usual disclaimers apply. This is me ranking the music I managed to hear. We're not made of money and time here. The way I see it, if it was worth hearing, I'd have heard about it from someone at some point. So, sure, there may be an amazing album not on here. But an amazing album unheard probably doesn't make it rank among the best. I do listen to a lot of music. And to prove I'm not nuts, every pick here has a "second opinion" by someone who actually gets paid to listen to and discuss music. Let's begin, no? 2010 was a far better year for tunes than 2009. Many of last year's picks wouldn't have ranked with this year's crop, though looking back, I do still listen to most of l

Every year, as detailed last year , I put together a mix of holiday songs by rock bands. Let's face it, most holiday music lacks. If I'm going to have some holiday music in my home, I want it to be music I would invite in and offer a drink. But any scan of the usual holiday selections doesn't fit the bill. As a household that heartily celebrates Chrismukkah , I always try to mix it up. Christmas songs are easy to find. I try to supplement that with some general winter songs (not hard) and some Hanukkah songs. That is becoming a challenge. First of all, the idea here is to find bands people have heard of for the mix. There are plenty of Hanukkah rock songs, but many are by bands who no one knows. Also, and I'm allowed to say this because I'm Jewish... one would think with all the Levines and Schwartzs running around record label offices, we might have a decent new Hanukkah song every now and then. One would be wrong. But I digress... Anyhow, after trolling iTunes

Ever have something you don't believe in until you see it? I mean something you absolutely deny exists until it's handed to you on a platter? I always thought the "East Coast Bias" was a myth. It's not. By the time I had dinner last night, the news stories I was seeing linked to on Twitter (I didn't watch any TV coverage of the election as I don't want to support the blowhard pundits on either side) were speaking in broad strokes about the election results and what great changes were upon us and blah blah blah and... ...polls were still open here. And in Oregon. And in California. And in Colorado. And in Nevada... It warrants pointing out that democrats won Senate seats (or appear to have) in all of those states. Some of them heavily contested. But the news was all over the results on the East Coast first and painting trends in broad brushstrokes. I imagine someone on TV, at some point, had some throwaway line about "Well, we'll see what's goi

Fall has long been my favorite time of year. I love all seasons, but there's something about fall... maybe the invigorating crisp air. Maybe the sound of the band playing in the background during college football games. Maybe it's just the leaves turning. I'm extra excited this year because, for the first time since departing New York City in 2005, I have a real fall to enjoy. After five years of wondering if I need to put shorts on for Thanksgiving dinner in North Carolina, the weather in Seattle is gloriously stereotypical fall. The leaves are turning, I can see my breath the moment the sun goes away. Fall isn't a group of decorations here. I've already worn several sweaters this fall. Amazing. I think one reason I love the season, though, is the smells. This happens outside with the cool air, the wet fallen leaves and the like. But inside, especially in our home, is where things go to another level. My wife is a fantastic cook and this time of year means soups an

Several months ago, I wrote about the kinds of food we eat. Here we are in the waning days of October and I am proud to say six months later that Sarah and I made some changes... and observed some things along the way. Essentially, we decided that when cooking at home, we'd try to use whole foods as much as possible. The lower case whole foods, meaning foods that haven't been refined/processed as much as possible. We said we'd start one meal at a time. So breakfast is where things start. This turned out to be easy. It mainly involved ditching the store-bought cereals with all manner of additives, preservatives and other stuff that I cannot pronounce and, once a week, making our own oat-based granola cereal using unrefined ingredients. I was already baking my own bread, so shifting to whole wheat bread was a snap. For two people who enjoy baking and cooking, none of this seemed like a chore. And mt breakfast didn't really change. I always have cereal and toast. On weeke

Confession: I love the NFL. It's a perfect sport... a short season where every game is meaningful, where macho players sooner or later are felled by injury or failure, where nearly every game can turn on one great play. The funny thing, though, is that football has become much better to watch at home than in the stadium. Seeing a game in person is always fun, but you're often surrounded by strange drunken louts. At home, you can be around drunken louts you know, which is always a better option. Plus, at home the food/beer is much cheaper and there's no traffic to fight. Also: TV has football covered fantastically. Every camera angle in HD makes you feel like you've got a seat in every part of the stadium. And, with DVR , you can decide when you want a reply. The problem, friends, is a great deal of the announcers just plain stink. I'm not talking about the loudmouth studio shows. It goes without saying those are a waste of your time. I mean what we have to endure d

On Sept. 11, 2001, my train from Trenton, NJ to New York City was running early. I could barely believe it. I was in Penn Station around 8 a.m. and I walked into my office at 5 th Ave. and 26 th St. at about 8:20 a.m. When I crossed 6 th Ave. on my walk, I did my usual look down the street, my only view of the Twin Towers from Manhattan every day. It was a beautiful day. Sometime around 4 p.m., when my very-delayed train got back to Trenton, the board with the train schedule was flashing with an advisory that PATH service was suspended “due to fire at World Trade Center.” Oh, if it had only been a fire… I can remember a lot of things about that day. I remember standing on 6 th Ave. at about 9 a.m. with hundreds of others just staring in disbelief. I remember making a decision with my coworkers to leave the apartment we were in watching events unfold and walk to the Hudson River as there was nothing to blow up at the River. I remember someone announcing to a boat-full of pa

I had been pretty psyched all week for Bumbershoot . And, for once, it was something that lived up to the hype. Now, I've been to my share of outdoor concert festivals. But this one was different. First, most don't take place around a well-known landmark. Bumbershoot is set up in the Seattle Center, which, to all of you from outside the Puget Sound area, means the Space Needle. From many of the event's stages, you have a full view of the Space Needle. Which is cool. A few other things that make this unique: Re-entry privileges. I watched two bands this afternoon (more on that in a bit), got my ticket and hand stamped, and went home. Where I ate my food and drank my beer. Granted, if I didn't live a stone's throw from the Seattle Center, I couldn't have done this, but it made a gigantic difference. Instead of spending a day on my feet eating overpriced greasy food, I was able to go home and sit on a real couch in between bands I wanted to see. You can bring stu

No surprise here but in the six months I've had my Kindle, I hear the occasional argument of "Oh, well, I read real books," as though there is an intellectual preference to do so. You and I might both read Anna Karenina , in other words, but since you read a "real" book and I read it on my Kindle, somehow, your experience is superior to mine. This sort of thing has to stop. Unless Tolstoy intended for you to be taken by the sheer weight of the volume (dear lord, it is a bit long, no?), who cares how you read it? And fine, you read a "real" book. Let me go find someone who read a "real" copy of the book. In Cyrillic. Then, where are you, huh? The point is nowadays we all have different ways of consuming media. Is one so far superior to another? This is hardly a new issue. I spent many a day in high school in ridiculous conversations that went like this: Some guy: What are you listening to? Me: Smashing Pumpkins. Some guy: What album? Me: Siam

Almost without fail, when I check Twitter at night, I see one of my friends noting that they cannot sleep. I've noticed it even more since moving to the west coast since when I'm lounging on the couch, my east coast friends are already in bed. Or should be. And it's not me seeing them make updates and then interpreting it as insomnia. These folks actually discuss how they have insomnia. And I can't help but wonder... why? You have to understand that my average night involves me fading quickly into sleep once the 11 o'clock hour hits. I sleep like crazy. I sleep through just about anything. My wife stays up far later than me, but I would stay up later, too, if I had her schedule. I'm up at 6:15 every morning. She gets at least two more hours of sleep. Bottom line, though... neither of us are struggling to get our 40 winks. Many of our friends are, though. I am neither a doctor, nor a psychologist. But I don't think you need to be one to know that the inabili

I spend a lot of time on the road. And this leads to any number moments where I complain about clueless travelers, crowded airports and other hilarity. I realized I haven't relayed a lot of the things that can make your day of travel better... and maybe even help make those around you get where they're going more smoothly. I am hardly the be-all-end-all of travel advice, but I've found a few practical things to be very helpful. Packing - I have no major packing tips. I stuff socks in my shoes. I fold, but I know that anywhere I go will have an iron. And when my trip involves multiple cities, I totally recycle a shirt. I'm not some slob that gets every shirt dirty every day. Big ground rule... if I think I might need something, I usually don't pack it. For example, I might need my swim trunks. I can think of exactly one business trip in my life where they've been used. Leave 'em. Hanging at the pool with coworkers can be done in any attire. Check in the night

I drive a Camry. Probably will for a lot longer, too. You don't buy a Toyota because you want a four-year car. You buy a Toyota Camry because you want a reliable car. And you know, not only that, but my Camry is quiet. It has 6-cylinder giddyup in a 4-cylinder engine. It gets 600 miles to the damn tank at highway speed. The worst problem it ever had was needing a new battery. You could say I am not one to go overboard about a car. And then I got to LAX last night. I take whatever car Avis gives me on business trips unless it is an atrocity (looking at you PT Cruiser...). If asked, I prefer a car with satellite radio, sun roof and, if in the Northeast, EZPass . Last night, at LAX, I had a convertible Sebring waiting for me. Tonight, I decided to see what that was really like. After a looooong day of work throughout Southern California (picture filming, in the desert, in searing heat, in dress clothes and then still having to drive to LA), I met a friend for dinner downtown. A s

Since moving to the Northwest, Sarah and I have been doing all we to explore out new neck of the woods. We're trying to explore all Seattle has to offer (and maybe at least learn whether Spring St. or Seneca St. comes first when traveling through downtown). And, as you might expect, I've been trying to take advantage of hiking in this area since you can barely drive 10 miles without passing a trailhead . Sarah has been going with me on a few of them as we're both gearing up for an August trip up Mt. Katahdin back east. Knowing that Katahdin is a 4,000-foot ascent, I decided it would be wise of me to start going uphill on some hikes. Since moving to Seattle I've has some steep climbs up to the Rattlesnake Ledges and at Wallace Falls State Park . But I hadn't done anything that was a true mountain hike, going out above the timber line into exposed areas and all the trimmings. That changed today, when I walked up Bandera Mountain, a 5,100-foot mountain near Snoqua