Best And Worst Of 2023

It's time for my annual best and worst of the year in pop culture, entertainment, and more. As you'll see, there are not many "worst of" below. I have limited time, so I'm not watching or reading things I'm not interested in. Here we go:

Best TV Show: Shrinking

I loved this Apple+ show. Jason Segal plays a therapist struggling with the loss of his wife. While I like the storylines of Segal with his patients and his relationship with daughter, what really makes the show are his colleagues, Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford. They are fantastic. It's fun watching Harrison Ford be funny. This scene was the best thing I saw all year.

Honorable mention: Jury Duty

This was such a unique show. Everyone, meaning the lawyers, judge, jury members, etc. are actors...except for one jury member named Ronald who believes that this is a real case. Ronald is such a likable guy, and I don't think this show would work with a different lead. James Marsden playing a version of himself is also fun.

For no apparent reason, I tracked every TV show I watched this year, and I feel like sharing this. 

Better Call Saul (last season)

Party Down (original)

The Chair

Night Court

American Auto

Not Dead Yet

Quantum Leap

Abbott Elementary

Yellowjackets (season 1)

Ted Lasso (season 3)

Sprung

Welcome to Wrexham

Lucky Hank

The Big Door Prize

Mrs. Maisel (season 4)

The Afterparty (season 2)

Shrinking

Jury Duty

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

The Wonder Years

Miracle Workers

Barry (last season)

Succession (part of last season)

Yellowstone 

Lego Masters

The Bear (season 1)

Best Songs: HONEY (ARE YOU COMING?) by Maneskin and bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo

All caps and no capital letters at all? Can we please work on this! While I'm way out of her target audience, I am an Olivia Rodrigo fan, particularly with her up-tempo songs. bad idea right? gives me a vibe of  "Naked Eye" by Luscious Jackson. Oh, the song is definitely not suitable for work.

Meanwhile, I think Maneskin has the best guitar riff of the year with HONEY. 

Worst Song: Popular by The Weeknd, Playboi Cardi, and Madonna

Looking at my archives, I picked two songs by The Weeknd as the best of the year over the last few years. This is certainly not an anti The Weeknd post. While Popular isn't bad, I don't find it good either. It's repetitive and don't feel that Madonna adds anything to it.

Best Movie: Parasite

Parasite won the best picture Oscar a few years ago, so I'm a little late to this. The storyline is essentially a poor family scamming a rich family. I mean, there's definitely the message of class and the spoils of the rich. Definitely did not expect the ending.

Most Interesting Movie: The Menu

I can't put this as the worst movie since it's just so different from anything I've seen. I watched The Menu on an airplane and remember leaving the plane thinking "What the heck was that?" I really want to see this again.

And now, these are all of the movies I watched in 2023:

The Menu

Elvis

Rise (A movie about Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family)

Anchorman 2

Logan Lucky

Leo

Elemental

Homeward Bound: An Incredible Journey 

Parasite

Family Switch

Migration

My New Year's Resolution for 2024 is to watch more movies. Almost all of these are movies for kids/families. There's no Barbie or Oppenheimer. I mean, how can I get a media credential for The Oscars with this list?

Best Sports Moment: Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday completed the biggest comeback in English Football League playoff history back in May. Down 4-0 after the first leg, the team battled back to tie the overall score at 4-4 in the 90+7th minute. Peterborough, their opponent, got a goal in extra time, but Wednesday tied it again before advancing in penalty kicks. By far the best sports moment of 2023. (More about this game is available from my May post.)

Worst Sports Moment: Pittsburgh Sports

Although Pitt's men's basketball team returned to the NCAA tournament and the women's volleyball team is now a consistent power, the professional teams struggled. The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 season, the Steelers are an average NFL team, and the Pirates, though better in 2023 compared to 2022, still had a record under .500. While I don't have a specific moment for the worst sports moment, the Pirates were 20-8 after we attended the 16-1 victory over the Nationals, and several weeks later, the team's record was 35-42. Lots of losses. Actually, there is a worst moment. The Penguins, battling for a playoff spot in the next-to-last game of the season, lost at home to the worst team in the NHL.

Best Book: 12-way tie!

Okay, this definitely isn't true. I just wanted to share that I read 12 books this year, by far the most since the pandemic started. I was part of a book club in 2023, and book clubs are stressful! It's like high school all over again trying to finish a book in time for the discussion or test. At least we have snacks for book club! Here's what I read this year:

The Umpire Is Out by Dale Scott

How to be Perfect by Michael Schur

Raise a Fist, Take a Knee: Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports by John Feinstein

The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch 

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Just Like You by Nick Hornby

The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski

Best Live Concert: Pink

She's amazing.

Worst Live Concert: Bruce Springsteen

Before you freak out, this is the worst concert I attended because I didn't attend. Bruce postponed his concert from August to September and then to 2024. Hopefully he'll appear in my best live concert in my 2024 post.

Best Blog Post: Goodbye Ziggy

In May, we had to say goodbye to our cat Ziggy. I still miss him.

Worst Blog Post: Is Tim Tebow's Wife a Pirates Fan?

Since she wore a hat with a "P," I immediately thought it was a Pittsburgh Pirates hat. It was probably a Puma hat.

While this may or may not be my last post of 2023, have a Happy New Year!

Pink

On Sunday afternoon, I started hearing reports about the high potential for severe thunderstorms with an outside chance of a tornado on Monday afternoon and evening. This was very concerning since I had tickets to see Pink at Nationals Park at that exact time. The weather reports didn't change throughout Monday. Dangerous storms. Destructive winds. Torrential rain. Frequent lightning. I'm on an email list from someone at the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Center for Weather and Climate Prediction. He sends emails for possible snow storms, and Monday was the first time I ever received a message from him during the summer. As the afternoon progressed, the federal government announced that offices were closing at 3:00. Meanwhile, this is the message Nationals Park posted on social media.

With no further announcements, we decided to try to get near Nats Park before the storm arrived. We figured we could shelter in place in the underground parking garage or at a restaurant. Not ideal, but for a rain or shine event (and expensive tickets) and no updates, we figured we had to get close to the venue. While walking from the garage to the stadium, the downpour began. We were able to duck into a Cava restaurant about a block from the stadium and hunkered down for dinner. After about 30-45 in the restaurant and the rain stopped (and still no update from Nats Park), we entered the stadium. The concourses were packed since the stadium wasn't allowing people to their seats yet. We heard someone mention that Grouplove, the opening act, announced on social media that they weren't playing due to weather conditions. Again, no notice of this or anything else in the stadium or online. Finally, people were able to get to their seats, and a DJ named KidCutUp did his DJ thing (he was actually really good) before Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo played a shortened set.

As you can see from the videos in this post, there was definitely heavy rain throughout the night. I mean, it certainly seemed like the performers and most people in the audience were getting soaked. I don't actually know. Amazingly, our seats were under an overhang keeping us completely dry.

This is a very long introduction to the fact that Pink is awesome. The show is completely unlike anything I've seen before. It's a major artist playing her hits while essentially incorporating Cirque de Soleil into the act. What's amazing is that Pink still sings her songs while jumping and bouncing all over (and above) the stage. If you have a chance to see Pink live, I highly recommend that you go.

A few notes from the concert:

This was the first concert since seeing Christina Aguillera in 2000 where there were more women than men. No lines for the men's bathroom!

Speaking of bathrooms, during my first year at the Celebrate Fairfax festival, I ran into Neil Giraldo in the bathroom. I said hey as I was leaving, and he replied hey as he entered. We didn't see each other this year.

Lots of people wore pink to the concert. I don't remember many people wearing green when I saw Green Day. 

My only disappointment with the show (besides the lack of communication by Nats Park) was that Pink didn't perform U + Ur Hand. Such a good song.

Finally, while the weather wasn't as bad as predicted, don't tell that to the owner of this car in my neighborhood.

UPDATE: USA Today has a recap of the show here.

Running For Glory (Or Something)

What if I told you that someone completed a 5K without preparing (again) and got the motivation to finish by crushing a first grader. This is my 30 for 30 story.



It was a cold spring Sunday morning in Northern Virginia. The threat of rain had passed, but the ground was wet from an overnight storm. All of a sudden, I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder has taken over Sean's Ramblings. Anyway, remember last week when I asked if it was possible to prepare for a 5K in five days? Well, I did absolutely zero training in those five days unless you want to count eating pretzels as training. (Most "experts" probably don't, though I think more scientific study of this is warranted.)

Let's go to race day. Many runners have a pre-race routine. Maybe they eat certain foods or do elaborate stretches. For me, I started Sunday morning with a quick waffle and then took the family to the 5K and 1 mile fun run/walk. Once at the race site, I ended up holding and carrying around about 35 pounds worth of a shy 4 year-old. For a break, I swapped holding the 4 year-old with a 20-something pound 1 year-old. Then, the entire family participated in one mile fun walk. Pushing a stroller partially uphill is not exactly fun, but I had good company. When we returned to the starting line, I retied my shoes, stretched for about 30 seconds, kissed my family like I would be going on an epic quest that could last for months, and got set to run. And now I'm going into notes form.

- I have no idea how major races like the Boston Marathon start. While there are thousands of runners in major marathons and only about 300 at this 5K, I almost knocked over about 5 people and managed to dodge about a dozen others during the first block of the race while jockeying for position.

- I borrowed my wife's IPod for the race so I could listen to music to motivate me. These are some of the songs that played:

Say What You Need to Say - John Mayer
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat
Catch My Breath - Kelly Clarkson
Just Give Me a Reason - Pink featuring Nate Ruess

The perfect mix for any adult contemporary fan. Not the perfect running mix. Fortunately, about 23 minutes into the run this song appeared:



I played this a second time as I crossed the finish line.

- They had water at the mid-point for the runners. I have no idea of the proper way to drink water from a cup while trying to run and ended up getting more on me than in me.

- I also felt bad for dropping the cup on the ground. That seemed like the only option though.

- Throughout the race, I passed or got passed by the same kid numerous times. When he was near me, he seemed to run at a bit of an angle as if to cut me off. Several times, I let him pass me and then cut behind and around him. About 1/3 of a mile from the finish line, he was slightly ahead of me. My competitive nature kicked in, and like Drago, I decided that I must break him. I flew by him and never looked back. Later, I found out that he is a first grader. I don't feel bad for DESTROYING him.

- This is the picture of me crossing the finish line. I was so fast that I didn't even need to have feet on the ground.

- Time for the statistics:

• I completed the race in 29 minutes and 57 seconds. While this is much better than my 31:34 time from three years ago on the same course, I feel like 17 year-old me would laugh at this time. Of course, 17 year-old me might also laugh at my hairline.
• I finished 95th out of 279 racers. As a comparison, I finished #215 out of 351 three years.
• I finished 66th out of 138 males.
• I finished 13th in the male 30-39 division (though there were five other men that finished ahead of me that did not have their age listed on the website).
• I turn 40 next month, so if I went to the next division, I would have finished 13th in the 40-49 division (again, not counting those five guys). I thought you were supposed to be slower as you aged.

- Either I need new shoes or I don't know how to run properly. Partially through the race, my ankles started bothering me, and I still had discomfort with my left ankle on Monday. If you click on that link above, you can see that I also had ankle issues three years ago.

- Finally, if run again next year, I'm wearing this shirt made by my friend Doug.

You Know How I Know You're Gay? You Like Coldplay

Monday's Washington Post included a story that The Advocate named Washington D.C. the gayest city in America. Among the criteria to select the gayest cities in America, The Advocate looked at such things as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elected officials; bars on Out magazine’s list of the 200 greatest gay bars in the world (the Duplex Diner and JR’s both showed up on that list); and concerts performed by Mariah Carey, Pink, Lady Gaga or the Jonas Brothers.

I'm a little confused by the last sentence. How does concerts performed by Mariah Carey, Pink, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers make a city more gay than other cities? When Lady Gaga organizes an American tour, she goes to big cities with arenas. Basically, she's not going to play shows in Punxsutawney, Paducah, or Poughkeepsie even though they could be just as gay as the cities that made the list like DC, San Francisco and Atlanta. Besides, wouldn't a bigger indicator of a gay city be concerts performed by Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, The Indigo Girls or Right Said Fred?



Should I have posted the video for Come to My Window instead?

Major Announcement

Have you ever noticed that local news seems to have “Breaking News” nearly every day? It always seems to be a minor car accident or a cat stuck in a tree, but as soon as I hear breaking news, I stop what I’m doing and run to the television. I just hope that this major announcement lives up to the hype unlike the seemingly false alarms on local newscasts.



Over the past few weeks, Pink, Alanis Morissette and former Miss California Carrie Prejean all announced that they are pregnant. Well, I am proud to announce that I too am pregnant! No, that’s not right. I am going to be a father. To my knowledge, my pending fatherhood has nothing to do with Pink, Alanis Morissette or Carrie Prejean’s pregnancies.

So what does this mean for my blog? I can’t believe that you’re asking this! The birth of my child and the excitement of being father are much more important than this blog. What? You didn’t ask this question. Well, I’ll answer the question any way.

My wife isn’t due until early April, so I don’t anticipate any changes to the blog over the next few months. Once our child is born, I expect that my posts will be even more incoherent as I get less and less sleep. Otherwise, I may share some stories about being a new father (I can already see potential posts about the costs of certain baby products) and how or if I should hope that my kid becomes a Pittsburgh Pirates fan while living in DC. I'm sure that I'll still write about Pittsburgh sports and free food deals, so you may not even notice a difference.

So that’s my major announcement. Please drive through to the next window.

Sunday Notes

Between the Grammy Awards and the Penguins and Pitt games, Sunday was a good television day. Here are my notes from yesterday:

- Can the Penguins and Pitt play every Sunday until April? This will help get over the lack of Sunday football games.

- Actually, after watching Pitt lose to both Seton Hall and South Florida, perhaps we’ll just stick with the Penguins playing on Sunday afternoon.

- There were not one, but two television commercials during the Penguins-Red Wings game featuring racecar driver Danica Patrick. Does she have a big following among hockey fans that I am unaware of?

- "Have you heard about McDonalds new $1 menu at breakfast?" Has this sentence every actually worked as a pick-up line?

- Sidney Crosby’s 2nd period and shoot-out goals were sweet.

- South Florida’s Dominique Jones is the best college basketball player you’ve never heard of. I may also be the best college basketball player you’re heard of.

- The Grammys were kind enough to let us vote for one of three Bon Jovi songs for the band to perform. I think there should have been a write-in vote to have them cover a Barry Manilow tune.

- I think I liked Beyonce covering Alanis’ You Oughta Know.

- Pink is a professional. How else can you explain her singing while twirling round and round while wet.

- Speaking of the Pink performance, are the Grammy Awards now like Sea World where the first three rows are the splash zone?

- When did Lady Antebellum get big? I saw them perform during halftime of a Steelers game a few years ago.

- Ke$ha and Justin Bieber are available to present at Bar Mitzvahs, corporate events, and weddings!



- Is Kanye banned from all award shows? He should have been on stage for actually winning for Run This Town with Jay-Z and Rihanna.

This was about the time that I went to sleep.