On the End of the Year

It's December. Holidays are being celebrated. Families are sharing in wealth and happiness. Gifts are being exchanged, food is being consumed, communities are coming together, and A Christmas Story is like Jimmy Buffet's "Happy Hour"; it's always on somewhere.

Many people like to reflect on the year and create expectations of the one to come. Me? I really don't involve myself. I never really created "resolutions", or wrote down some list of goals that wouldn't be revisited, remembered, or seen again until the next December when I think to myself, "Hmmm.. I never did commit time to watching every documentary about marijuana on Netflix, did I? Where's the time gone?". That was always a bunch of hubbub that I never had interest in.

New Year's is to me what Christmas is to atheists; just another day. It's a time to start changing the last two digits in the date on all of my school papers. It's a time to recount how old I'll be turning on March 15th. It's a time to wait and see how many companies will be having a 10/25/50/75/100 year anniversary of being in business. It's a time to, well, do nothing really out of the ordinary.

On December 31st, 2010, I will be watching the Kentucky Wildcats/Louisville Cardinals college basketball game. I will be probably working sometime that day. And I will not be highly anticipating the night or morning to come.

I will be going home and playing video games. I will be eating the same dinner and cereal that my parents make or I buy. I will be laying down next to the same girl I do now. I will be drinking the same drinks, snacking the same snacks, listening to the same damn music. Hell, I may even be wearing the same clothes that I have on now.

It's not a rejuvenation of myself, my personality, my physique, or my outlook on life. It is, however, the end of something.

After the 25th, life for me is in limbo. The excitement of Christmas wears down. I make sure I visited all the relatives that are still relevant. I count the gift cards, try on the clothes, and test the gadgets. The leftovers of "Christmas Joy" are being consumed, and until January 1st of 2011, I feel like I'm walking along a cliff. On the plateau, I am still waking up thinking I have presents waiting or buffets of food to eat, or surprises waiting. I go to work expecting holiday greeting cards to be ordered, questions about picture mugs to be asked, and the general busy-ness of end-of-the-year retail. Over the edge, it all ends and the only Christmas left is snow on the ground or the decorations that my mom fails to put away until Valentine's Day. That six day period, from December 26th to 31st, is spent in an awkward dance, joyful from all of the eventful events that have happened and meek from just slowing down.

Then New Year's Eve, and it sinks in; tomorrow will be Day One of Two Thousand and Eleven, and this will all be put behind me. And on New Years Day, I'll wish customers a Happy New Years, I'll go to Wendy's and get my lunch, I'll go home after clocking out, and I'll start counting down the days before I go back to school. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The day Brandon Hite is really looking forward to is December 22nd, 2012. R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It" will be stuck in his head, all day, until the apocalypse.
Read more

A Firm Resolution

It's New Year's Evil! So metal!

Today, everybody will be making up stuff they need to "fix" in their lives, so they can tell their friends what their resolutions are. We've put together a list of things you can memorize, so that way if you're too lazy or apathetic to think up your own New Year's Eve resolutions, you're still covered. Service-y.

1. Become a cat.
2. Purchase more local music.
3. Don't get into a committed relationship, especially involving emotional attachment.
2. Don't be hermetic or monkish though. Get out there and get your lips kissed!
3. Get into a VERY SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH INTENT OF MARRIAGE. Don't kiss. Bad.
4. Have some fun, for heaven's sake! You're __ years old. Work less.
5. Be friendlier to people you don't know (pro-tip: this will help you get your lips touched by other lips).
6. Pack your bags, you're going on a trip!
7. Eat more cheese (??).
8. Listen to Wu-Tang Clan pretty loudly.
9. Listen to Wu-Tang Clan while driving past the Temple. Feel embarrassed but *ok* with that.
10. Buy more stuff...
11. ... To give to charity!!
12. Gain some weight. Y'all look anemic.
13. Love people with the intensity of a million hugs.
14. Learn to play an instrument.
15. Set more impossibly high goals for yourself. Goals which, at the outset, seem interesting or fun or helpful, but the execution of which involves changing basic, fundamental parts of your personality that you haven't felt comfortable with for years; parts which would involve either brain surgery or total emotional shock to alter. Feel the weight of your resolve approximately one hour after making the declaration to yourself and give up on it already. Eat a potato chip. Fall asleep.
16+. Email Bare Bones and become a staff columnist!

Hey 2010, you were A PLUS PLUS, would live it again. We're almost five months old you guys! Aren't we precious?? Get in contact and contribute! For the sanity of the editor-in-chief!

Love you,
Bare Bones
Read more

Music, Music, Music!

So, here's something we thought we'd give you all. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU. Here's over like 23293 million gigs worth of music. Hope your brains can handle it. [all of this music is safe and almost legal to download! A lot of it is also illegal to download. Don't download illegal music. It's *bad* for you. But all these links are safe]

100 Best Albums of the 1980s.
A real nice cross-section of the best music to come out of the 1980s that wasn't Thin Lizzy or Sammy Hagar (although Sammy Hagar is so metal it hurts). The author obviously has broad yet specific tastes. There is a lot of R.E.M., Pixies, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Cave throughout the list, not to mention a ton of hidden gems. Enjoy.

100 Best Albums Before the 1980s.
The selection here is kind of hilarious, but there are some great albums on here. I just like that all of Scott Walker's albums are on here but no Howlin' Wolf or Lightning Hopkins or Dusty Springfield or Elvis or ad nauseam. Still, highly addictive once you get into reading and downloading. If you aren't careful, you'll blow your computer to smithereens trying to cram it full of sweet jams. Oh, also: WIRE. DOWNLOAD EVERY WIRE ALBUM, EVER.

Said The Gramophone: Best Songs of 2010.
This was worth it just for the rattail song. A really great overview of the year.

Cocaine Blunts: Top 50 Hip Hop Songs of 2010

Poorly put together and labeled, this still has some bangers on it. Recommend if you want to "catch up" on "non-mainstream hip hop".

Fluxblog: 2010 Survey Mix
Eight discs of this year's tracks. PRETTY AWESOME. NGL (not gonna lie).

Pitchfork's Top 100 Songs
Man I hate Pitchfork but they're givin' out music so whatever.

Fuel Friend's Blog: Fall/Winter Mix
This is just a good fall/wintry mixtape.

Little Monsters: Christmas Mix
One of the best Christmas mixes ever. Seriously. HIGHLY. RECOMMEND.

Christmas Music That Doesn't Totally Suck.
That's the name of the tape and that's exactly what it is.

Orphan Elliott and the Lonesome Trio: Happy Christmas
Orphan Elliott has a great tumblr mostly and this Christmas mix is great and everything is great. I want to grow up to be a turkey. GOBBLE GOBBLE!

So there. Merry Christmas. Download some jams. Don't die on the roads. We'll see you soon!
Read more

Bare Bones Weighs in on Wikileaks

Well, basically, there are two game-changing responses to this whole thing.

The first is this really interesting and well thought-out Slate article called, "The Wikileaks Cables as Literature". Man I do so endorse that. It's all Roland Barthes and Baudrillard-like. I'm down.

But, truly, DJ Alligator already had this figured out back in the early 2000's. The editorial staff here sides with Assange and the 'Gator.

You guys could tell us what you think, but beware we'll probably just backtrace it and sick the cyber police on you.

#CURRENT ISSUES BLOGGIN
Read more