It’s right up there as a premium extreme sport, attracting fresh crowds and a new confident attitude.

Edition ten of the column is now up.

This time, I provide a slight subversion of the obligatory year-end list that celebrates something that may have gone uncelebrated otherwise.

(The title of this post comes from one of the quotes that didn't make the cut.)

Also, I did some research for a little story that has been making the rounds.

Update: And more research for another little story that made the rounds. And I made the list of lists.

Happy birthday to me.

In commemoration, I am giving away a hand-drawn wallpaper - and the drawing (preview below) it is derived from. But I humbly request that you conserve paper and not print the drawing out (the drawing itself was done on a previously used piece of paper).

(if you want the content on your computer, you might want to click download on these pages)
drawing
1920x1200
1600x1200
1440x900
1280x1024
1280x800
1024x768
800x600
iPhone
PSP

Anthems

Mixwit is shutting down in a few days, so I have decided to post the contents of all of the mix-related posts here.

VOLUME ONE
Without further ado, I present the raucous first of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions.

1. Swell Maps - "The Helicopter Spies"
2. Jonathan Fire Eater - "These Little Monkeys"
3. The Natural History - "Watching This House"
4. The Whitsundays - "Falling Over"
5. His Name Is Alive - "Summer Left Your Heart Behind"
6. The Child Ballads - "Cheekbone Hollows"
7. Walker Kong - "Andy Warhol & The Honey Bees"
8. Fog - "I Have Been Wronged"
9. David Vandervelde - "Nothin' No"
10. Restiform Bodies - "Bobby Trendy Addendum"

VOLUME TWO
If the first of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions was raucous, this is intended to be its melodious compliment.

Without further ado, here is the melodious second of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions.

1. Yo La Tengo - "Here Comes My Baby"
2. The Zombies - "Is This The Dream"
3. Bikeride - "A Dancer's Feet Are Not So Neat" (RIP Tony Carbone)
4. Aerovons - "Everything's Alright"
5. Chisel - "On Warmer Music"
6. Billy Nicholls - "Would You Believe?"
7. The High Dials - "Holy Ground"
8. Papas Fritas - "We've Got All Night"
9. The Free Design - "Umbrellas (Peter Butter Wolf Mix)"
10. Lavender Diamond - "You Broke My Heart"

VOLUME THREE
Apparently, there is a rule that anything you had planned for posting this weekend must go up today. I, reverer of reverence, obviously abide.

Without further ado, here is the third of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions, differing from the prior two in plenty of ways.

1. Uncut - "Intentions Change"
2. Shocking Pinks - "This Aching Deal"
3. Spoon - "I Can Feel It Fade Like An AM Single"
4. Subtle - "Middleclass Stomp"
5. Latyrx - "Latyrx"
6. Thee More Shallows - "Night at the Knight School (Meanest Man Contest remix)"
7. Blackalicious - "Blazing Arrow"
8. Cody Chesnutt - "5 On A Joyride"
9. Wild Beasts - "She Purred While I Grrred"
10. Richard Swift - "As I Go"

VOLUME FOUR
It's not the weekend, but it's almost been a week since the last one.

Without further ado, here is the fourth of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions; this time less arbitrary and features two different interpretations of essentially the same song at beginning and close.

1. The Mae Shi, Yea Big, Kid Static - "Run To The Facts"
2. Shugo Tokumaru - "Parachute"
3. Simian - "One Dimension"
4. Broadcast - "Come On Let's Go"
5. The Chap - "Fun And Interesting"
6. Fol Chen - "N Wddng Ck"
7. The Epochs - "Opposite Sides"
8. Moonrats - "FLM"
9. Working For A Nuclear Free City - "Sarah Dreams Of Summer"
10. Slow Club - "Run to Ur Grave"

VOLUME FIVE
It's been more than a week since the last one.

Without further ado, here is the fifth of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions; this time, featuring seventy percent singer-songwriters (Patrick Watson is actually a band) and some good advice from the Mael brothers.

1. Daniel Johnston - "Devil Town"
2. Ben Christophers - "Drifting Stone"
3. JF Robitaille - "New York"
4. Blair - "Hello Halo"
5. Patrick Watson - "Luscious Life"
6. Sparks - "Lighten Up, Morrissey"
7. Foreign Born - "It Grew on You"
8. Elvis Perkins - "While You Were Sleeping"
9. Neil McSweeney - "Postcards"
10. Scott Walker - "30 Century Man"

VOLUME SIX
Slightly less than a week.

Without further ado, here is the fifth of this infinite series of mostly arbitrary, not-so-fluid constructions; this time, featuring some of my favorites from 2008.

1. Women - "Lawncare"
2. Department Of Eagles - "Classical Records"
3. Earlimart - "Hymn and Her"
4. The Week That Was - "The Good Life"
5. The Dears - "Money Babies"
6. School Of Seven Bells - "Face To Face On High Places"
7. Nomo - "Brainwave"
8. The Mighty Underdogs - "War Walk (ft. Chali 2na, Raashan Ahmad, Tasio, Zion I)"
9. Fake Male Voice - "untitled"
10. Envelopes - "Party"

What deleted material looks like.

Electronic Arts to Go Rest of Year Without Issuing a Press Release
Industry leader yet again innovates

Electronic Arts today announced that it will not issue a single press release next week, coinciding with the Christmas vacation of its public relations team.

“A commitment to break away from the constant bombardment of trailers, screenshots, releases, updates, and announcements of announcements creates brand integrity in the minds of consumers,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer of EA. “Why distract someone from setting a Time Trial record in Mirror’s Edge or leveling-up in Warhammer Online? They are just going to look at your company as an evil empire with no regard for supporting product past release.”

In the first week of 2009, Electronic Arts will release original downloadable content of a new episode for Mirror’s Edge™ that allows players to continue their story past their release, as well as a content pack for Spore™.

Frank Gibeau, President of EA Games Label said, “They can take a breather for now, but we definitely have some exciting things in line for next year that will blow the hats out of gamers.”