Eleven Months of Magic
Eight Amazing Quotes from Barbie (A Shlara Joint)
Seven Weeks of Sobriety*
"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride." Anthony Bourdain said that, and while he was ostensibly talking about food, I do believe there's universal wisdom in the sentiment. In our own little way, I hope G:TB tries at least some of the time to embody Bourdain's advice. 'Cept for the steak. I don't dig on the cow.
Seven Weeks of Sobriety*
"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride." Anthony Bourdain said that, and while he was ostensibly talking about food, I do believe there's universal wisdom in the sentiment. In our own little way, I hope G:TB tries at least some of the time to embody Bourdain's advice. 'Cept for the steak. I don't dig on the cow.
The critics have been unanimous in their assessment of this as objectively the finest Gheorghemas content in recorded history, and while this might be chalked off as recency bias, I'm here to support the contention. Every year, I reread the entire year's content for this post, and I gotta say that 2023 is likely the best we've ever done in terms of consistent quality. It's highly concentrated Gheorghieness, which makes 192 (and counting) posts pack as much or more impact as we managed when we dropped 402 posts in 2010 (how in the hell did we do that?). I blame OBX Dave for raising the bar.
Speaking of the bar, here's to all of you for being a part of this place. It's a special little corner of the world, online and otherwise. Happy Gheorghemas, and on with the year in review.
January
Squeaky was first in with the photos, so he and his get pride of place. I appreciate how he sent the last pic of his kid being shorter than him for inclusion in this august publication. Good man, the Squeak.
In what should (has?) become a tradition, Marls kicked us off with predictions for the coming year. He got five of nine correct. Not too shabby.
Four of our first five posts of the calendar year were Gheorghemas posts. From the previous year. Solid. First real post was about the sad state of Georgetown hoops.
Mr. Lee, droppin' guesties. Just one guestie, really.
The kids are alright, but they can't dress for shit.
The final day of the first month of 2023 gave us the final post of Gheorghemas 2022. The lunar calendar is a mess.
February
I dance, I (support) cheer, I coach, and I drink with my dog. There are worse lives.
The year's shortest month punched above its weight in terms of quantity and quality. With 19 posts, it trailed only November and July (20 each). It also gave us the calendar debuts for Wrenball, Gheorghasbord, We Defy Augury, Notify, and zShazams. If you don't think that's a way for me to take the easy road in terms of recapping things, you ain't really been paying attention.
We also wrote:
Thoughts from a hospital bed, moving and grateful.
The Kiwi accent is definitively the best in the English-speaking world.
Bold prediction by zman. Hope it's better than Marls'.
March
International man of mystery, Notre Dame offensive lineman, family man, cleans up nice. Yessir, Danimal.
Gotta be the first time we've used the 'bag of dicks' tag, no?
Z had been waiting for a long time to drop Fairleigh Dickinson knowledge. Protect tha Neck.
OBX Dave did some real sportswriting about Jim Larrañaga.
April
Marls contains multitudes. Of patterns, of beautiful women, of bluesky spectating.
With only 11 posts, April was the lightest load we carried since December 2006. Well done, boys and girls.
Kicked it off with a heck of a Travelogue from world-travelin' Whit. And just a few days later, I dropped part deux, which included my wife and me sipping painkillers in precisely the same bar (the Petite Pump Room Bar & Restaurant) Whit and his lady tippled just one day prior.
The rare G:TB/LinkedIn cross-promotion.
Also rare, a Mark post. With a critical exposition of Muppet Rap.
May
Simple man, Z. If a cat trusts you, gotta be a decent fella. And if a daughter smiles like that in your presence, you're a damn king.
Zed (and by extension G:TB) endorses Colin Allred.
Guess who's back? Ghooghles back!
Another G:TB take on reimagining college sports.
I don't think AI is gonna replace us any time soon.
June
No man is a failure who has friends. And this guy has 'em in wild abundance. Hair? Well, Clarence the angel didn't say much about that.
First zman bouillabaisse of the year? I think so.
Hip Hop turns 50. Whippersnapper.
Rick Astley, our kind of fella.
OBX Dave doubled down on the ways sports are trying to make even more money.
July
Kissin' dogs, catchin' the last of the rays, writin' smart stuff with a bunch of dipshits. The life of Riley for OBX Dave.
Kicked off the second half of the year with some new Les Coole and The Cukes.
We could (should?) make a pretty good anthology based on the stuff our Media Grump wrote about his profession this year.
Our preview of the Women's World Cup was pretty solid, as long as accurate predictions aren't your thing.
Little Danny Starfucker, out. Ding dong the witch is dead.
Whit made me a roadtrip playlist. It got some work.
August
Mark looks pretty tough, but catch those smiles and that doghug. Dude is a softie at heart, and we're here for it.
Zman and Marls finally dropped their Chinese Democracy.
Drove from Virginia to Colorado with my kid. 10/10, would do again.
College sports restructuring and the decline of the media were by far our two most-covered topics (other than dipshittery) this year. If we're not careful, people might start taking us seriously.
Our preview of the Women's World Cup Final was pretty solid, as long as accurate predictions aren't your thing. [With one sad exception, as we nailed this part: "The women's game is in excellent shape, and this World Cup has showcased its growth across the globe. There's still work to be done to root out misogynists and creeps, but I suppose that's true of a lot of domains."]
Whit and Ned wrote a great tune, and my kid made her poetry-reading debut.
September
Look at this guy! Entrepreneur, raconteur, musician, mustache-haver, bee pollen pimp and an all-around prince.
Godspeed John Isner, a pro's pro.
Our preview of the Rugby World Cup was pretty solid, as long as accurate predictions aren't your thing.
Godspeed, Bob Boilen, a musician's music guy.
I celebrated Whit's birthday by coming out. As a Luddite.
I also wrote a children's book. Coming soon to an Amazon near you.
The definitive college football pro/rel concept, courtesy of us.
October
Wearer of chapeaus, late-blooming gourmand, lover of the sublimely ridiculous, and family man extraordinaire. Ladies and gentlemen, The Teej!
Timmy Wake, making it flutter in heaven. Fuck Curt Schilling, on principle.
Tilting at windmills, man vs. church.
Masturbating fire chiefs, porn at Planning Board meetings. Just another week in the Dirty Jerz.
FIFA is gross, exhibit the infinite.
The Pac-12 picked the wrong time to stop sniffing glue.
The Rangers excised their own Bucknerian demons.
November
Educator, coach, dad, husband, absolute weirdo, possibly evidence that artificial intelligence has advanced further than we can imagine. It's Dave!
Louisville is a fun destination, if you're into that sort of thing.
20 years of G:TB. Ain't that something?
Let JMU play! (We jinxed JMU!)
Thanksgiving food, definitively ranked.
Jim Harbaugh miiiiight be a little bit crooked.
Godspeed, Shane MacGowan, you beauty. I'm sure you and Tim Wakefield will have a lot to discuss.
And to all in this glorious community, a wonderful Gheorghemas season, a prosperous 2024, and whimsy, joy, and friendship in equal measures for all the days of your lives. Love y'all.
Posts
20 comments:
Fantastic work wrangling all the Gheorghies, Roberto. Day 11 is always a fan favorite.
Whit is now on the clock with a week left in the year…
Everybody is taking Boxing Day off.
My fam was in DC for the weekend with my wife's peeps, and headed back late last night with plans to celebrate with my folks and brother today. My dad had a positive covid test this morning, so our christmas celebrations are going to stretch way out.
i did not do any boxing. couldn't find a gym that was open.
aaron rodgers is kind of an attention whore, no?
Those are actually two different zcats, Thurman (RIP) in the bottom photo and Ruby in the top photo. Ruby is one of two new zcats we got in August. We didn't know that the local animal shelter was giving pets away that week, so we were surprised when they charged us nothing to take two sister kittens home. I will pay you to take zwoman's dog off my hands so we can go back to being a cat-only household.
Yeah, Rodgers seems to think he's bigger than the team. Maybe he is. But it's ridiculous that he can go on some retired punter's show and shit on the Jets on a regular basis. Dude should wait until he's completed a pass for the Jets before he pulls this nonsense.
The son is not as vertically challenged as me, which is good for him. Glad to see all the Gheorghies.
When I was fifty-three... it was a very good year...
Nicely recapped, robert
Wonderful compendium, Rob. Thanks for the effort.
it’s a labor of love, my friend
So if anyone watched Chiefs-Raiders and saw the humorous non-event where the pick-6 Raider guy faked giving the ball to a Chief fan kid and then juked him… and landed amid a social media maelstrom of melodramatic proportions… we know the kid and the (way way too much) mom, they’re Norfolkers, and it’s all the local circle (whom Rob called Melrose Place for seniors) can possibly talk about, and I’m trying not to be a dick about the whole thing. And failing.
Is Heather Locklear involved?
That’d be way cooler
pour some out for our close brother herb kohl
Walking in with Tom Smothers, unless St. Peter sees it like the old TV censors.
The Holiday Bowl is not a “good” bowl but it consistently brings the fun.
"used to"
I still do, but I used to, too.
h/t Mitch Hedberg, one of the late greats
I celebrated my last work day of the year by getting a massive hand tattoo. That’s both hands now for anyone out there counting. Working my way toward unemployable.
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