The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

A new year is a good excuse to freshen up your music collection, and these two “best of 2013” lists are excellent — and better still, free — ways to do so. If your tastes run towards the alternative and indie, you’ll enjoy these picks; if they don’t, they might not work for you.

• Said the Gramophone’s best songs of 2013: Said the Gramophone is a blog with writers based in both Toronto and Montreal, and it’s one of the oldest still-running music blogs around. Their blog is about two things and two things only: finding good tunes, and writing about them. This collection features 100 songs, and while mostly indie and alt rock, they’re not afraid to throw in some top 40 as well.
• Rollo and Grady’s best songs of 2013: The L.A.-based music licensing, management and production company known as Rollo and Grady have also put together a “top 100 songs of 2013” list, which leans mostly towards guitar-based indie and alt rock.

Not only can you listen to these “best of 2013” selections online, you can also download and add them to your collections! I don’t know how long the songs will be available online, so give them a listen soon, and if you like them, download them immediately.

Steven Baker noted my absence from Twitter over the past few days:

No tweets from @AccordionGuy yet in 2014. Three day hangover! That must be a new record.

— Steven R. Baker (@srbaker) January 3, 2014

I’ve been busy, but not hung over. Although, I should be…

“Ah,” I said, picking up the bottle and looking at the label filled with Hebrew characters I couldn’t understand, “the drink of the people whom my people clean up after.”

“It’s supposed to be pear schnapps,” said my friend Paul, who pointed at the pear icon located dead-centre on the label. “But it’s much, much worse.”

“That,” I said in reply while pouring a couple of ounces into a red Solo cup, “sounds like an invitation or a challenge. Either way, it’s worth a try. New year, new things and all that.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I took a sniff of the clear liquid in my cup. It smelled like pear-infused cleaning solvent.

“L’chaim,” I said, raising my glass to Paul. I took a swig. It tasted like pear-infused cleaning solvent.

“I’ve had worse,” I said, finishing the drink. I’m a firm believer in that Irish myth that when you die, all the liquor you’ve ever spilled or wasted is collected in a barrel. You’re judged by being held upside-down in that barrel, and if you drown as a result, you go to Hell.

“Okay, I need a palate cleanser,” I said after finishing. I spotted the bottle of Jack Daniels that I brought to the party. “Perfect.”

It tasted fantastic.

It’s been a shade over three years since the “Great Reset” that changed just about everything in my life, and for the most part, it’s been quite good.

There’ve been rough moments, from the week nearly three years ago when I spent in the ICU shortly after my separation — dying of a broken heart is no longer an abstract concept to me — to the more recent challenges presented in my last business venture. However, the good outweighed the bad as it generally does for me, what with the travelling I’ve done all this time, the things I’ve been able to do, and the people I’ve been able to meet, especially Anitra. I’ve seen people turned into bitter, empty shells by their divorces, and I’m grateful that I didn’t undergo that transformation. I’m fortunate enough to wake up each morning and jokingly say “Best! Midlife crisis! Ever!”

2014 promises to be…interesting.

I’ve got some king-size changes coming up, and they’re equal parts scary and good. I’ll let you know as they happen, and I hope that you’ll find this blog to be rather interesting reading over the next couple of months. Stick around, because I think I can take you on an interesting ride.

Happy 2014! I salute all of you with a filet mignon on a flaming sword, in the hopes that your New Year goes well.

This is Erica Joy’s only resolution for 2014. I like the way she thinks:

Click to see the original post on Google+.

Click the ad to see it on Craigslist.

Your definition of “slightly used” and “spot cleaning” may differ from that of the chair’s current owner.

This is the Accordion Guy blog, it’s only fitting that I post a New Year’s greeting with accordion. Let’s go with a much better accordion player than I: Lillo Chiarenza, who recorded this for 2014 — Cuore e Fisarmonica, which means “Heart and Accordion” in English. Enjoy, and buon anno!

If you’d like to hear more of Lillo, check out his YouTube channel, Amarcodéon.

Set course for the New Year…engage!

Here’s a little bonus: Patrick Stewart doing a little tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry…

Like Santa, George R.R. “Game of Thrones” Martin will give you what you want. Unlike Santa, it comes at a price…