Liner Notes (December 20th, 2019)

The Rise of Skywalker

In this week’s newsletter I share my first impressions on The Rise of Skywalker; I guess this is a Star Wars newsletter now. I also share a few things around the internet I found interesting this week and go through my usual weekly media diet rundown. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

Since we have the holidays coming up, I’m making this post free for all here on the website. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

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Liner Notes (December 13th, 2019)

In this week’s newsletter, I look at some of the holiday songs released this week, offer first thoughts on the new Brian Fallon song and Harry Styles album, and dive into my weekly media diet rundown. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved this week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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2019 Holiday Gift Guide

Gift

For the past few years, I’ve put together a little gift guide in December full of things that I think make great gifts and are a lot of fun to give or receive for the holidays. Everything on the list is something I’ve used and enjoyed and recommend. I have recommendations posts for movies, tv shows, books, software, podcasts, headphones, and miscellaneous stuff around the house, so the things on this list will be more focused on stuff not included in those posts and geared toward things I’ve come across in the past year or so and think would make good gifts.

I used my Amazon affiliate link when the product showed up there, which gives our website a slight percentage back if you make a purchase and therefore helps fund our continued existence.

If you’d like to get me a gift, becoming a supporting member or gifting another user a supporting membership for a year would mean the world to me. And, if you’re looking for something in just about any price range with a Chorus.fm or AbsolutePunk.net logo on it, check our merch shop.

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Jason Tate’s Top Albums of the Decade

new-best of the decade

Today we launched our best albums of the decade feature. Lists like these are really hard to make, and even after I finished my list I knew I was missing things. But, at some point hard cuts have to get made and you just have to accept that you’re not going to be able to put everything on and that you’re going to forget a few albums along the way.

Here’s what my final best of the decade, top 50, looked like:

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Liner Notes (December 6th, 2019)

This week’s newsletter looks at my plans for the website over the next twelve months, dives into some new music and news stories from this week (including my frustration with Blink-182), and goes through my usual media diet. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed this week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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Liner Notes (November 29th, 2019)

It’s the “still full from yesterday’s dinner” version of the newsletter. It’s a slow part of the year, so this week doesn’t have a whole lot of music to go through, but there is a bunch of movies and TV shows to make up for it. Also, since it’s Black Friday, I share a few of the sales around the internet that I recommend. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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And finally, as we end our relaxing post-Wedding week, and prepare to reenter the rest of the world, I’d like to thank all of our guests and friends that made the wedding what it was. Without all the family and friends that supported us to this moment, we wouldn’t be here. Especially Hannah’s parents and aunts and uncles for welcoming me into the family, and to the cousins that have made me feel so loved.
@drhannahtate, I can’t believe I get to spend forever with you! It’s been an incredible seven years, and thank you for loving me. (First photo by the incredible @jessicahillphoto.)

One week from the wedding and I don’t even know how to say thank you to my mom. She helped put together an incredible rehearsal dinner and let me dance awkwardly during our dance together. But more than that, she has been my rock my entire life. She taught me how to face challenges head on, always try and help where I can, and pushed me to be the man I am today. It was seeing her example of a strong, talented, and incredible woman, that I see reflected in so many of the traits that drew me to my now wife.
A thank you will never be enough for my mom. She’s the best and we love her very much.

There’s no other friend I wanted standing up next to me during my wedding, and no other friend I was excited to see dance on the dance floor after. 🤣 I’ve known Matt since high-school and have always been able to count on him to be there to discuss everything from life changes to the latest new music by a band we grew up with. He spent all day making sure I didn’t need anything, helped put out the mini-fire of the “table number three” fiasco, and is everything I could ask for in a friend. I feel amazingly blessed to have had three incredible grooms-people. (And his dog @camcamthegolden is awesome.)

Liner Notes (November 15th, 2019)

What a week. This week’s newsletter has me looking at music and entertainment released over the past two weeks. I finally get to dive into some of the Apple TV+ and Disney+ shows, plus give some updates on living the first week of married life. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed this week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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There was a moment right before Hannah walked down the aisle where I was feeling the nerves and I did what I usually do when nervous: made a joke. The only one that heard was the wedding officiant, who also happened to be one of our absolute best friends. Having her there in that moment helped calm me and prepare me for the entire ceremony. Then she proceeded to knock the entire ceremony out of the park and drew rave reviews from family and seasoned wedding vendors. The ceremony was elevated by having such a dear friend marry us and tell our story in such a sweet way.
We love you Jill. Thank you so much for everything.

The week of thank you continues! 18 years ago when I got randomly assigned a college roommate I had no idea it would end up being the most meaningful friendship of my life. All these years later and we’re still making the same face into the camera. I can’t thank Nick enough for standing up with me as a groomsmen last weekend, and for being an incredible friend.
And cause he has no social media I’ll just hope Jill shows him this post.