At the end of 2017 I revealed my Top 20 songs of the year, but before I did that I ran my annual contest giving the readers an opportunity to win some Amazon cash.
And without fail Shoshana Markowitz kept up her reign and won this year’s contest, correctly identifying all 20 songs! As part of her winnings, I present to you her Top 10 list from 2017, including some notes on her choices, and at the end, you can get a peek into her notes and thought process:
Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran — When I hear those first notes I instinctively start to dance, I just can’t help it! That, to me, is the making of a song of the year… It instantly transports me to my happy place, which Ed Sheeran’s music does in general. The whole album is fantastic, and a close second for a song of the year was Galway Girl. Bottom line: Anything Ed touches turns to gold.
Nothing Holding Me Back by Shawn Mendes — Another one that makes me want to dance! I generally like all of Shawn’s music but ultimately listened to this song most this year.
Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato — Demi Lovato’s whole album this year was fantastic and a FAR cry from her former Disney days.
Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith — Another winning album for me this year. Sam Smith has so many good songs which speak straight to the heart. A very close second was Pray. All his songs, musically and lyrically, are wonderful.
Sleep Without You by Brett Young — Couldn’t have a Top 10 list without some country now could I? Love this one.
Stay by Alessia Cara — I take credit for this one being on Avi’s list.
Crying In The Club by Camilla Cabella — This song is catchy.
Believer by Imagine Dragons — Although not as good as their first album, Imagine Dragons is still one of my favorite bands and Evolve is a solid album. Close seconds from the album: Whatever It Takes and Thunder.
I Did Something Bad by Taylor Swift — Not going to lie, I do not love Taylor’s reinvention every few years and this album is my least favorite that she has come out with so far. Taylor usually stands out, but this album makes her sound like everything else on the radio in 2017. That being said, there are a few songs which I enjoy, and she is still a talented lyricist and businesswoman. Honorable mention: Don’t Blame Me.
Despacito by Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee — YEEEEESSSSS. * Dances while Avi cringes in a corner *
Dunkirk has been named by many as the movie of the year, and after watching it I can understand why.
Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan, the movie is all historical fiction, based on the events that occurred on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, as the Germans invaded the land and the British tried to evacuate.
The storylines though are mostly made up, and the film focuses on three different stories, one each by land, sea, and air.
Each of these stories plays out over a different length of time (one hour, one day, and one week), joining together as the movie reaches its climax.
While the movie doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, instead it delivers the story with large scenic views and great music.
To top it off it has a great cast that includes Fionn Whitehead, James D’Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, and One Direction’s Harry Styles.
The visuals carry this movie along, and whilst I usually hate dramas and epics, this one is a great movie and really enjoyable, and gets a 9 out of 10.
Congrats to the University of Central Florida Knights (UCF), the 2018 NCAA Football Champions.
What’s that? You heard that the championship game is next Monday night between Georgia and Alabama? Well, that’s what the committee wants you to believe, but I’m on the Dan Le Batard bandwagon with this and believe that the champion has already been crowned.
UCF has the resume of a champion, and if the Championship committee chose their participants based on records, instead of favoritism, conference, and ratings, there would be no doubts that UCF would be there.
13-0 record at the end of the season — The only undefeated team in the Nation
Teams that made the playoffs had two losses or didn’t even make their conference championships
Beat Auburn in a Bowl game…a team that had beat two other playoff teams
UCFs Quarterback McKenzie Milton was 8th in Heisman voting
They have a player, Shaquem Griffin, who plays with one hand and still gets his share of sacks and interceptions
They added the playoffs a few years ago, which made it a little more fair…but the system clearly needs some more improvement.
Here is my list of Top Songs of 2017. And after last years terrible year of music, this year overflowed with good songs and I went with Top 20, so enjoy some good music from this year!
Thanks to all those that played our guessing game, with the winner correctly identifying all 20 songs, just not in their correct locations!!
The list is simple enough…the only restriction is that it needed to be released in 2017 and I generally won’t repeat an artist twice in the Top 10, although this year some were repeated as a featured artist.
20. Hard Times by Paramore
Hard times, gonna make you wonder why you even try
Hard times, gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
These lives, and I still don’t know how I even survive
Hard times, hard times
And I gotta get to rock bottom, oof!
19. Malibu by Miley Cyrus
We are just like the waves that flow back and forth
Sometimes I feel like I’m drowning
And you’re there to save me
And I wanna thank you with all of my heart
It’s a brand new start
A dream come true in Malibu
18. No Promises by Cheat Codes feat. Demi Lovato
Oh na na, just be careful, na na
Love ain’t simple, na na
Promise me no promises
17. Good Old Days by Macklemore feat. Kesha
I wish somebody would have told me, babe
That someday, these will be the good old days
All the love you won’t forget
And all these reckless nights you won’t regret
‘Cause someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change
You’ll miss the magic of the good old days
16. Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso feat. Florida Georgia Line
I’ve been hoping somebody loves you in the ways I couldn’t
Somebody’s taking care of all of the mess I’ve made
Someone you don’t have to change
I’ve been hoping
Someone will love you, let me go
15. Talking To Myself by Linkin Park
With the loss of Chester Bennington this year it would’ve been really hard to leave them completely off this list, and this song has made it’s way up the list slowly.
The truth is, you turn into someone else
You keep running like the sky is falling
I can whisper, I can yell
But I know, yeah I know, yeah I know
I’m just talking to myself
14. Don’t Blame Me by Taylor Swift
Don’t blame me, love made me crazy
If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right
Lord, save me, my drug is my baby
I’ll be usin’ for the rest of my life
13. Havana by Camila Cabello
I fully expect 2018 to be a huge year for Camila.
I knew it when I met him
I loved him when I left him
Got me feelin’ like
Oooh-oooh-ooh, and then I had to tell him
I had to go
12. Issues by Julia Michaels
‘Cause I got issues, but you got ’em too
So give ’em all to me and I’ll give mine to you
Bask in the glory, of all our problems
‘Cause we got the kind of love it takes to solve ’em
Yeah, I got issues
And one of them is how bad I need you
11. Legends by Kelsea Ballerini
We were crazy
Tragic and epic and so amazing
I’ll always wear the crown that you gave me
We will always stay lost in forever
And they’ll remember
We were legends
10. What About Us by Pink
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about all the broken happy ever afters?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
Oh, what about love? What about trust?
What about us?
9. The Cure by Lady Gaga
If I can’t find the cure, I’ll
I’ll fix you with my love
No matter what you know, I’ll
I’ll fix you with my love
And if you say you’re okay
I’m gonna heal you anyway
Promise I’ll always be there
Promise I’ll be the cure
8. Stay by Zedd feat. Alessia Cara
All you have to do is stay a minute
Just take your time
The clock is ticking, so stay
All you have to do is wait a second
Your hands on mine
The clock is ticking, so stay
7. Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
Baby, fineness is the way to kill
Tell me how it feel, bet it’s such a bitter pill
And yeah I know, you thought you had bigger, better things
Bet right now this stings
‘Cause the grass is greener under me
Bright as Technicolor, I can tell that you can see
And yeah, I know how bad it must hurt to see me like this
But it gets worse
6. It Ain’t Me by Kygo feat Selena Gomez
Who’s gonna walk you
Through the dark side of the morning?
Who’s gonna rock you
When the sun won’t let you sleep?
Who’s waking up to drive you home
When you’re drunk and all alone?
Who’s gonna walk you
Through the dark side of the morning?
5. Something Just Like This by Coldplay and The Chainsmokers
But she said, where’d you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss
4. Praying by Kesha
You brought the flames and you put me through hell
I had to learn how to fight for myself
And we both know all the truth I could tell
I’ll just say this is I wish you farewell
3. At My Best by Machine Gun Kelly feat. Hailee Steinfeld
I shout, I swear, I get angry, I get scared
I fall, I break, I mess up, I make mistakes
But if you can’t take me at my worst
You don’t deserve me at my best
2. Symphony by Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson
And now your song is on repeat
And I’m dancin’ on to your heartbeat
And when you’re gone, I feel incomplete
So, if you want the truth…
I just wanna be part of your symphony
Will you hold me tight and not let go?
Symphony
Like a love song on the radio
Will you hold me tight and not let go?
1. Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran
This song entered the “Top Songs” list on January 6th, and almost 360 days have passed since and no one was able to knock it off of it’s castle on the hill…although some have tried!
And I’m on my way, I still remember
These old country lanes
When we did not know the answers
And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Sports Illustrated is bowing to the weak-minded and dumb Americans that this country has become overrun with…or they are just using them as an excuse for budget cuts.
But regardless the real reason, the magazine will be switching to a bi-weekly publication in January, and will only publish 26-issues in 2018.
Their reasoning:
We’ve heard from many subscribers that it’s difficult to keep up with a weekly magazine, that you wouldn’t mind more time to absorb each issue.
Are you kidding me?! For 63 years the magazine came out every week, minus special issues and people read it from cover-to-cover. Now, thanks to budget cuts, suddenly the American people are too stupid to “absorb 50 pages of sports in a week”.
The magazine says that each issue will be using heavier/richer pages, giving it a more “Premium reading experience that you deserve”, and they will be focusing more on their double-issues, which include previews for sports seasons, and issues focusing on “food, fashion, and the future of sports”.
Food and fashion? Seems like a good internet topic where you can post lots of pictures…or turn your magazine into all pictures, so that Americans don’t need to absorb all those big words.
These lists are always subjective, but here are what I see as the Top Sports Moments of 2017:
11. Boxing vs UFC
Floyd Money Mayweather, the boxer, faced off and outlasted Conor McGregor, the UFC champion, in an epic fight that went exactly how everyone expected it would.
10. USMNT
For the first time since 1986, the US Men’s National Team failed to qualify for the World Cup.
A disappointing loss to Trinidad and Tobago capped off a poor showing by the US Men under coach Bruce Arena, who was promptly fired.
9. Aaron Judge
The New York Yankees weren’t supposed to do anything this year, as they were in a “rebuilding process”. But Home Run Derby champion Aaron Judge helped turn them around, breaking the record for most home runs by a rookie, and leading the American League in homers. He would also win the Rookie of the Year Award.
Before the year was out, the National League home run leader and MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, would head to the Bronx to try and team up for a World Series.
I spoke a bit about Judge earlier this year.
8. The Masters
Sergio Garcia picked up his first Green Jacket, and first major championship win, at Augusta National.
7. Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook may have been ditched by Kevin Durant, but he showed that he is the true star in Oklahoma City.
Westbrook won the MVP Award in a season that saw him average a triple-double (in Points, Rebounds, and Assists), and beat Oscar Robertson’s 55-year-old record of 41 triple-doubles in a season.
6. Clemson takes the Championship
Scoring in the final seconds was the theme of 2017, and Clemson started it off with a Touchdown to beat Alabama for the NCAA Championship.
5. NHL and NBA
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup, over the surprising Nashville Predators, and the Golden State Warriors won another championship over the Cleveland Cavaliers (deja vu), and Durant took home the MVP award.
4. The Opens
The Williams sisters have been fighting for Championships for years, and before Serena went on maternity leave, missing the rest of the 2017 Opens, she beat up on Venus for the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, at the French Open, Rafael Nadal won his 10th Open, becoming the first man to win double-digits.
And then to top it all off the US Women made up the final four at the US Open, even without Serena, as Sloane Stephens beat Madison Keys for the title.
Sept 9, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Sloan Stephens of the USA after beating Madison Keys of the USA in the Women’s Final in Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
3. Auto Racing
Kurt Busch won his first Daytona 500, but I think the bigger story was his crew chief, Tony Gibson. Gibson has been around the pits since the 1980s, but this was his first Daytona 500 win in what turned out to be his final season on the road.
Martin Truex Jr. would win the Monster Energy Cup on the year, which was Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final one on the track.
Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, Takuma Sato won the 101st Indy 500.
2. Super Bowl Epic Comeback
Down 28-3 the New England Patriots showed why they are the Dynasty that’s been ruling the NFL for the last 16 years, coming back and beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in Overtime of Super Bowl LI.
1. Astros Win the World Series
The Houston Astros winning the World Series for the first time in franchise history should be enough to have them on this list, as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in 7 Games.
But it was Game 5 that makes this the best sports moment of the year.
The Top 2 pitchers started this game, and both got roughed up early. And this game was back and forth the whole way.
The Astros were down 4-0 going into the bottom of the fourth, before tying it at 4 in that inning. Los Angeles scored 3 runs in the fifth, and the Astros got them back in the bottom of the inning.
Los Angeles took an 8-7 lead in the 7th, and Houston took their first lead in the bottom of that inning, scoring four and going up 11-8.
But after trading runs in the 8th, Los Angeles scored 3 more in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings, and the Astros finished it off in the 10th, winning 13-12. See the video and read all about it here.
2K has been working on the NBA for years, and despite a few years ago being a failure, the franchise has rebounded nicely, and this years MyCareer mode is truly one of the best that any sports franchise has done.
EA Sports, who recently rejuvenated their NBA Live series, has been delving into story modes with FIFA and Madden, and their story modes have been fairly scripted. While this is very enjoyable, and really changes the landscapes of sports games, 2K has kicked it up to another level.
For starters, they added a full Neighborhood for you to wander around, GTA style, and go about your NBA life in between games. Things included in the neighborhood:
My Court – This is your home, complete with a basketball court to invite your NBA friends over and shoot around
Team Practice Facility – Head here to practice with your teammates and run drills
Gatorade Training Facility – From bench presses to sprints you can do all sorts of workouts to help build up your player, and gain “Gatorade Power” to help with your stamina in upcoming games
VS Sports Management – Your agent’s office, which is where those fat paychecks and mega deals come rolling in
Mini Games – Little half courts throughout town for King of the Court and Dunk-offs
Stores – Need new gear for on and off the court? New looks from head to toe?
From tattoo parlors to barbershops and the NBA Store to Newsstands the town is full of ways to spend money
2K Store – Arcade hoops game, trivia, and a daily NBA Pick-Em all give you more ways to have in-game fun not playing NBA game
The Playground – Pickup ball with the internet…your old-school Multiplayer mode on the streets
And then there’s the story itself. From teaming up with “veteran Shammy Wells”, to dealing with your annoying roommate B-Fresh, your family and friends surround you the entire way as you go from the streets to an All-Star, and vying for those minutes on the floor.
One of the weird things I find is that while I am playing on 5-minute quarters, all the other rookies that I’m competing with for awards are playing full 48-minute games…and there’s no way that I can see to even that playing field.
Overall the MyCareer will get a 9 out of 10, and I’ve been playing this one for weeks already.
One of my favorite parts of driving in San Diego was the traffic patterns and the way their traffic lights flow. If NYC could implement some of these it would make driving just a tad easier in a city full of crazy TLC drivers.
Traffic lights that change for traffic – Between sensors in the streets and traffic cameras, the lights change when there are cars waiting and no one else is in sight.
Sitting at a light, and there’s no one coming in any direction is a real pain when driving around at 3AM…or even during the day…so when you pull up to the light, the sensors know you are there, and if there’s no traffic in any other direction, it’ll change the lights so that you can go.
The one downside to this method is when you are half a block away from a light that recently turned green, it may turn to red fairly quickly if cars are waiting to go in the other directions, leading you to have to wait long periods of times before the cycle comes back to you.
Despite this, I think the pros outweigh the cons.
Alternating lights at a merge — During heavy traffic times (such as rush hour) merge lanes can be a real pain to navigate, between cars that just won’t give an inch, and others that are just not pushy enough to get in causing everyone behind them to get stuck.
The solution is simple enough: Add a red/green light at the merge point, which allows one or two cars per green light before switching lanes. While this sounds like it would slow things down, it actually makes the merge much simpler, and when people obey the lights traffic flow is much better.
A few places in NYC that can use this:
Hugh L. Carey/Brooklyn Battery Tunnel entrance, where they merge right before the entrance
Prospect Expressway: Exit 1 for Hamilton Avenue
Brooklyn Bridge Exit to the BQE
The second of these ideas is fairly cheaper to implement, but both would help move NYC just a big faster.
I hate to say it, but Eminem’s newest album Revival came out this morning, and he sounds older and tired. Eminem is truly one of the greatest rappers in music history, with a long list of classics from Lose Yourself and Stan, to Not Afraid and Love The Way You Lie. But his smooth vocals of past appear to be over. I didn’t see it a few weeks ago on SNL, when everyone else noticed it, but with this album, you just hear him lag through it at times.
Yet despite all that negativity and shade I am throwing his way, there’s enough on the album to make Eminem a Top 40 artist again.
His first single Walk on Water, featuring Queen Bey herself, is a great start to the album, albeit it sounds better with the ever-talented Skylar Grey singing it with him during Live performances.
And really that is the common theme of the album. The songs that he sings with others are the ones that stand out from the pack.
Whether it’s Ed Sheeran on River or Pink’s Need Me, it’s the other voices that help lift him back to the levels he once was. He also gets a nice boost from up-and-comer Khelani in Nowhere Fast.
And of course he turns to one of his favorite past times: Redoing a classic with his own touch. In the past it was Sing For The Moment, and now it’s Joan Jett’s I Love Rock & Roll that’s sampled in Remind Me.
These days Eminem is best known for ripping on Trump, and he touches on that subject, as well as other 2017 going-ons like sitting through the National Anthem in Like Home with Alicia Keys.
One of the more popular posts from my trips is the cost of it, as it allows people to see what a similar vacation would cost them, should they take it.
San Diego was the first trip that I went by plane, so the prices are more volatile, and I’ll say it not based on what I paid, but rather what I saw and observed.
Obviously, you may find things at a much lower or higher rate…
Country Inn and Suites, booked a few months in advance (although prices stayed fairly flat) was $127/night.
I always look at Country Inn first, as their amenities outweigh all their competitors.
Free WiFi, free parking, and free breakfast, which when you price out can add upwards of $20 a day to your bill at other hotels.
Car Rental
Hertz. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it to anyone that asks, when you book Hertz with AAA you will save enough money to pay for AAA and still have savings.
I paid about $200 for a weeks rental of a Midsize SUV.
Attractions
The San Diego Go Card, regularly $279, was found at a discount for $240 and got me into just about every tourist site in the city.
But regardless what the costs of a vacation are, the end result is: Did you have a good time?
And if you did, then it is all worth it! And taking pictures with a dolphin? Priceless.
Aviously 