It’s always tough trying to pick my favorite albums of the year. The biggest problem is the sheer amount of music I listen to in a given year. By December it’s difficult to remember what I was listening to in January and February. This year it was even tougher since my main computer crashed over the summer and since then I haven’t listened to most of the stuff from the first half of the year, opting instead to only listen to newer albums for the most part. There were a few clear favorites this year, like any other year, and then some which got off to a fast start but quickly fell by the wayside.

What are the chances that the NY Times travel section would post 36 Hours in Rome this weekend, of all weekends? It’s kind of eerie, actually.

Anyone who knows me at all knows I don’t like combing my hair. In fact, I hate combing my hair. On most days I would spend maybe 30 to 45 seconds on it and that’s if I decide to put something in it. Like a gel of some sort or of late a pomade-like substance. Other times I just push it down with my fingers so it’s not looking all crazy looking. And then there are the times when I don’t even do that much and it IS all crazy looking. Especially after towel drying.

So I’ve been here in Basel for a little over a month now. Five weeks and a day to be exact. Pretty crazy, actually. This project has been in the works for something like a year and a half and now here I am sitting in my apartment in Switzerland! Wild.

I was bored last night so I decided to go back to the Bird’s Eye and catch the second set at 10:30pm. For some reason, as soon as I took a seat and the set started, I got really sleepy. I couldn’t stop yawning for about 3/4 of the hour long set even though I really enjoyed the music. The band this time was the Jürgen Seefelder - Ingrid Jensen Quintet and they were really quite sharp. Loud, energetic, and at times playful, it was a fantastic show. They really put the great acoustics of the Bird’s Eye to good use. ...

On Tuesday I went to see the Thermals and the Lords of Altamont in Zurich. Zurich is Switzerland’s largest city and cultural capital – and nothing screams culture like Iron Maiden and the Thermals playing shows on the same night! Luckily for me (and a whole lot of Maiden fans) it’s just an hour away by train. I actually saw them about a month ago at Fontana’s for the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ show but they only played a half-hour set and the place was so packed I could barely get in the room. They kicked ass, though, so there was no way I could pass up a chance to see em again.

A trio of foodie tidbits…

No, I’m not in Sweden. I don’t know why everyone keeps confusing the two. If anything, Switzerland should be more well known! Cuckoo clocks, watches, cheese (with holes in it), [hot] chocolate and, most important of all, Ricola!!

Standing on the platform at the Peter Merian stop near our (temporary) offices. Our building is the last building you just barely see on the left in the first picture.

I found the liner notes for Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday in Restaurant Gundeldinger-Casino. Pretty random. Wish I took a picture of it, laying there on top of the booth. I didn’t actually keep it, either, so if it’s yours and you want it back, you better hope it’s still there…