2009 - Year in Review Pt. 2

Favorite Interviews of the Year

1. Cullen Jones - the Olympic gold medal swimmer

2. Stafon Johnson's father the day after Johnson's near fatal neck injury at USC

3. Lisa Leslie - an L.A. sports legend who waved goodbye to her career.

4. Juan Pierre - an almost forgotten man who became an inspiration after stepping in for Manny Ramirez.

Significant Moments for me

1. Waking up to watch Obama get inaugurated.

2. Crying the minute I heard Michael Jackson died and trying to write a story that day for the web.

3. Going to the NLCS and ALCS - seeing CC Sabathia and A-Rod show why the Yanks would win it all.

4. Joining Twitter.

5. Hearing the news my uncle passed. Never will forget the emotion I heard that day.

6. San Diego right afterwards...just showed me why I will love that city forever.

Favorite Moments

1. The Lakers winning the NBA title

2. Seeing the inside of my new house

3. Watching the Dodgers clinch the NL West title.

4. Taking a family picture at Christmas

5. Standing on the shores of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego before I flew to TX for my uncle's funeral.

I discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan more for the first time. I bought Jimi Hendrix's first and last albums with the Experience (had several Jimi jams in my I-pod already). I loved digging why they are both revered. Next year, Radiohead? Perhaps after I discovered "Paranoid Android" this year.

As a hip-hop fan, there's nothing better than discovering the samples behind your favorite hits. Thank you DJ Funktuall for doing that on Youtube and the good folks at Whosampled.com

Twitter was my favorite discovery. Through it, I got inspired to find blogging topics and meet great people around the country. It's further sign of the world getting smaller but yet staying so different.

Best Games of the Year

1. Boston-Chicago Game 6 Triple OT (NBA Playoffs)

2. Boston-Chicago Game 4 Double OT (NBA Playoffs - screw it the whole series)

3. Super Bowl 44

4. Syracuse-UConn in the Big East Tournament (6 OT)

5. ALCS Game 5 (Angels' last stand against the Yankees)

6. Federer-Roddick in Wimbledon final

7. Men's 100-meter Final at World Track Championships (Usain Bolt sets WR in fastest field ever)

Albums of the Year

Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night (Comeback of the Year and just great R&B)

Silversun Pickups - Swoon (great rock from my favorite band of the moment)

Method Man/Redman - Blackout 2 (Cheech and Chong back with a vengeance)

The Dream - Love vs. Money (this is huge b/c I'm a big critic of him. great spaced out R&B)

UGK - 4 Life (The Pimp and the Bun say goodbye with a final statement)

Blue Scholars - Oof! EP (Seattle's best hip-hop export in years drop a love letter to Hawaii)

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II (best rap album of the year, hands down)

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Lupe Fiasco - Enemy of the State mixtape

Drake - So Far Gone mixtape

Fashawn - Boy Meets World

Slaughterhouse - selftitled

Songs of the Year

Maxwell - Pretty Wings (My Personal Song of the Year...beautiful)

The Dream - Rockin That Thang (Hypnotic and Overwhelming)

Eminem - Beautiful (when introspective, few are better)

Eminem - Underground (this is how you murder a track, esp. Verse 1 and 3)

Ciara - Love Sex Magic (slept on but she and Justin Timberlake got funky on this)

UGK - Da Game Been Good To Me (the last UGK classic we'll hear)

Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch (Favorite Rock Song of the Year)

Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year

Jadakiss - What If (Why? five years later)

Clipse - Popular Demand

U2 - Moment of Surrender (we've all been at this point before)

Slaughterhouse - The One

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Rise Against - Audience of One (they are keeping hard punk alive)

Blue Scholars - Coo

Green Day - 21 Guns

Jay Electronica - Exhibit C (Hip hop's excited for him in 2010, this is why)

Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers

Drake - Houstatlantavegas (sidenote - Jojo killed this remix, go peep it)

Lupe Fiasco - Fire (Jimi would be proud of the wizardry on this)

Method Man/Redman/UGK - City Lights

Wale and J. Cole - Beautiful Bliss (J. Cole STEALS the show)

Third Eye Blind - Don't Believe Me

Third Eye Blind - Bonfire (a great comeback for them)

Wale - Hot Shyt (Curbstomping a beat at its finest - with help from Peedi Peedi, Black Thought, Young Chris and Tuphace)

Love or hate Drake, the kid made a big impact this year. He needs to step up his live game but he's got room to grow.

I didn't see many movies this year. "The Hangover" is the funniest film I've seen in years, "Sherlock Holmes" was wildly entertaining and "Avatar" reminded me of Ferngully/Pocohantas while being visually remarkable. Goal for 2010, see more flicks.

Rest in peace to the many we lost. Walter Cronkite, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Brittany Murphy, Steve McNair, Dannie Farber, Nick Adenhart, Jeremy Lusk, Chris Henry, Ted Kennedy, Patrick Swayze, John Hughes, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Chuck Daly, Ricardo Montalban and too many more to name.

2009 was a heavy year. Personally, publically and professionally. I feel like +44 when they said "I wake up at the end of a long, dark, lonely year, it's bringing out the worst in me." Except I'm not letting it conquer me. Share in the joys, remember the sorrows and make plans to make 2010 better. Cheers.