2009 is almost done with. Looking back, was there anything good? List your STUFF GOOD of 2009 in the comments. And don't be afraid to make some lists!
2 weeks ago
STUFF GOOD: 2009
2009 is almost done with. Looking back, was there anything good? List your STUFF GOOD of 2009 in the comments. And don't be afraid to make some lists!
8 comments:
STUFF GOOD of 2009? Okay. How about the LIFE SIZED GUNDAM in Tokyo Bay? Oh wait, I can top that: LIFE SIZED GIGANTOR!!!
Also, Mazinger Z returned to TV in 2009. That was pretty good, too.
K-ON! is good...
Taking a break from anime for a few months and finding it was still there when I got back...
Watching ADV finally implode and get it over with so the people there could just get with their lives...
Admitting defeat and giving up on watching Kimagure Orange Road. I'm sorry but it just broke me as a human being.
There was plenty of Good this year, and I'll start with beer.
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There were literally countless examples of Good Beer in 2009, but as for the Best I choose the August Schell Anniversary Series.
The New Ulm, Minnesota-based brewery will celebrate its 150th Anniversary in 2010, and although their draught-only Anniversary Series was released at the beginning of 2008, the 2009 releases stand out as among the most aggressive beers the brewery has ever produced.
Over half of the beers released as part of the Anniversary Series were traditional German styles and yet Schell is no stranger to American stylistic tendencies; the brewery has a long tradition of brewing American-style lagers and ales, both as part of the Schell Family of beers and as contract-produced brands.
But the 2009 releases included a traditional German rye ale called *Roggenbier*, a dunkeles Bock named "Vaccum Tonic", and a hop-driven pale lager named "Hopfenmalz" which started out the year.
"Hopfenmalz" married German Noble hops and base malts with copious Cascade hops grown in America's Pacific Northwest. When fermented using Schell's in-house lager yeast strain, this true stylistic hybrid most closely resembles Schell's original "German Pale Ale" (albeit with a lager yeast) and was ultimately chosen by Schell's customer base as the best offering of the Anniversary Series.
After its initial January 2010 release, Hopfenmalz will become a year-round beer in the spring, and will replace the brewery's "Pale Ale" (note: Pale Ale was originally named "German Pale Ale", but the beer was stripped of its unique stylistic identity after being re-branded in 2001, at which time its 'tweaked' recipe made it almost indistinguishable from the dozens of American Pale Ales that have come in the wake of the industry-leading Pale Ale from Chico, California's Sierra Nevada Brewing Company).
I'll admit a personal bias, here: I'm friendly with both the people at Schell and the people of New Ulm, but frankly, America's second oldest family-owned brewery receives very little appreciation from the youngest generation of America's notoriously finicky beer hobbyists. These 'beer otaku' (and especially those in the Twin Cities) have for years ignored the August Schell family of beers and the effect of this has been most evident with the Anniversary Series; the bulk of these kegs shipped to wholesalers' warehouses only to be shipped back to Schell for credit and/or dumping.
It's a crying shame, and if I had to posit a corollary, the Beer Geeks have easily ranked among my personal 'Stuff Bad' of 2009.
-DVC
More here:
http://www.schellsbrewery.com/ourbeers_info.php?id=24
Anime from '09 (No US release yet)
Bakemonogatari (odd), Canaan (good gunplay), Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (I like ghost stories), Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (dove into the entire franchise. I like the Del-Rey manga too.) Still need to finish Sora no Manimani and Sacred Blacksmith, but I like what I've seen so far.
US Anime Industry Beat Down
I think this is a good thing in the long term. Hopefully a few people in the industry have smelled the coffee and woke up. Seeing some good moves (more online content, season releases, etc.) and I hope they continue. Now, homebase Japan needs to pull their head out of the sand. Or something like that.
The "Oishinbo" manga getting a US release is pretty high on my list of "stuff good". I second Maz getting back on the air as pretty damn cool. A new Yamato movie (not that I've seen it, yet) sounds good, on the surface.
Not sure if it came out in 2009, but this one made up for the weap-fest that was 2006's 'Control': http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1097239/
Related:
Bad Lieutenant debut CD
'Never Cry Another Tear'
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