Ponytail Picks #47 - 2023
The year review cut short.
We’re quickly recapping the Year of Our Lord, Two-Thousand Twenty-Three, and choosing our favourite discoveries.
LISTENED TO
Andrew
Noname, Sundail. No punches pulled.
boygenius, the record. Better together.
Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy. A courageous collage.
Bombay Bicycle Club, My Big Day. The British band at their best.
Sufjan Stevens, Javelin. Sincere art through sincere suffering.
Joel
Van Morrison, “Warm Love.” Me and my wife Rachel’s August wedding song #1.
Leith Ross, “(You) On My Arm.” Wedding song #2.
Chris Staples, Cloud Souvenirs. Newest and best album by a longtime favourite.
Jonas Brothers, “Vacation Eyes.” Honeymoon turned marriage song anonymously suggested by someone at our wedding. Reveal yourself!
Hayden, “On a Beach (feat. Feist)”: Honeymoon turned marriage song #2. Repeat after me: “We’re on a beach, oh yeah, we’re on a beach…”
WATCHED
Andrew
The Bear, Season 2 (2023). Love is the answer.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Love is the answer.
The Patient (2022). Humor = survival.
Welcome to Wrexham, Seasons 1 & 2 (2022 & 2023). Community matters.
Leave the World Behind (2023). Be good to one another.
Joel
The Bear, Seasons 1-2 (still in process) (2022-). The most remarkable thing about this show (among many things) is how every episode has a distinct flavour. No formulas here.
The Holdovers (2023). Crossfades, folk music, spikes of profanity. Perfect Christmas movie.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989). Rewatch this year bumped it into my Favourite Four on Letterboxd. Passes the Bechdel test with flying and colours.
Women Talking (2022). Women talking, men listening. Watched this with a bunch of fellow Mennos at the Mennonite Heritage Museum and was encouraged by the great turnout.
A Knight’s Tale (2001). Rewatched this old favourite with my siblings a couple days before my wedding and we were crying laughing. Such an entertaining film.
READ
Andrew
Liberation Day by George Saunders. A “box of chocolates” collection of short stories.
The Will to Change by bell hooks. A stunningly accurate diagnosis.
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. A tornado of a story.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Our obsession with answers in book-form.
Bunny by Mona Awad. Part Catcher in the Rye, part Carrie.
Joel
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. A tough but immersive read.
Indians on Vacation by Thomas King. Not my favourite of his but still an engaging read in his usual circular storytelling style.
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel. My greatest reading experience of the year happened a few days ago when my daughter, my wife, and I sat down and read “Down the Hill” together before bedtime and were in tears from breathless laughter.
Zapta 2.1 - Fall 2023. A local DIY mag from Abbotsford with everything from poetry to political takedowns.
Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. Yes I know that as a podcast this should be under LISTEN but I didn’t have any room there and needed another one here so deal with it. This was my first podcast experience and man did Malcolm ever hook me in.
That’s it for this year—we’ll see you in the next! What did you listen to, watch, and read this year?