- love year-end reviews. It’s a convenient way to package and remember what went down, who did what, how we coped and triumphed. And in terms of arts and culture, year-end reviews let you go back and scoop up any gems you overlooked. The article over there on the left does that with the Weekly’s 2018 arts and culture coverage, and on the Weekly’s website you can click right on the headline links. Here are some more websites to check out for broader A&E round-ups. For films, Thrillist does a decent Top 50, but Vulture is good at finding obscure artistic films for film buffs. For long-form articles, Longreads’ Best of 2018: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks has tantalizing pieces like “My First Year Sober” and “How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story” (they even estimate how long it’ll take to read each piece). The New Yorker listed their 10 fave songs of 2018 on a newsletter, and I now know about jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s rumbling, 10-minute, Bruce Lee-movie-derived “Fists of Fury” (although it was Monterey Jazz Festival marketing/media associate Tim Orr who first turned me on to Kamasi – thanks, man); for hip, under-the-radar albums, Pitchfork. For TV shows/web series, check out list-crazy AV Club. For books… I don’t know, they’re kind of out of my reach right now… maybe Goodreads? Former rapper Joe Budden and three of his cohorts break down the year in black/urban culture and politics with smarts, spice and intimacy on their webcast show State of the Culture. See ya, 2018.
- Carmel Art Association is starting 2019 on an elegiac note with retrospective exhibits forDiane Wolcott, who painted children and animals and died last March at age 87, and Sam Hugh, who painted landscapes, portraits and mystical subjects and who died last January at age 98. Their work is showing Jan. 3-Feb. 5, with a public opening/memorial coming Jan. 12, 2-4pm. 624-6176, carmelart.org.
- This entry is just here to fill up space because, let’s face it, the main thing going down this week is New Year’s Eve (First Night Monterey Director Ellen Martin is excited about a guitarist playing FNM named Goh Kurosawa, while I’m eager to hear Salinas rapper Jota Effectus). But if you’ve read this far, thank you. To show my appreciation, send an email to walter@mcweekly.com or call 394-5656 x138, let me know that you read this, include your name and city you live in, and I’ll thank you by name in the first or second Artifacts column of 2019. Don’t tell your friends. And Happy New Year, dear reader.
“Self-portrait” by Sam Harris
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