2024 Album Playthrough Project

I was having a conversation with my daughters (12 and 16) about popular music.  I asked them about what artists they enjoyed and what kind of music they liked.  Taylor Swift, Olivio Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, and Noah Kahn were named, but after that, the general response was, "I don't know.  I listen to stuff I like."  I asked, aren't there any other artists that you can name?  "No."  

I felt I had one more question before I turned the conversation into an investigation.  So, I asked if they listened to the albums of Taylor, Olivio, Dua, and Noah.  The response, "No, who does that?"  

This conversation led me to reflect on my own listening habits versus my listening habits as a teenager and college student.  Today, I, like my daughters, listen to music on streaming apps or satellite radio, which presents an artist's hits and not usually in an album format.  Music is often introduced to my children and most others through clips on TicTok, Instagram Reels or other social media snippets.  No wonder why they don't have a deep knowledge of who they listen to; they focus on what they like.  An artist is less important than a genre or style of music.  

In contrast, as I continued my reflection, growing up I listened to music on the radio.  Even though music on radio stations like The Loop, WLS, and WXRT generally only played the hits of artists, they discussed and highlighted artists on the radio.  This led me and other fans to the music store or K-Mart to look for albums of our favorite artists, so we could enjoy more of their music.  It was great!  I loved Jack and Diane by John Cougar, so I grabbed the album so I could discover more music like Jack and Diane.  We were album listeners in the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.  I fell in love with Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Van Halen, John Cougar Mellencamp, The Cars, and Dave Matthews Band.  I loved these artists not because of one song but because of albums of songs.  

After visiting with my daughters and this self-reflection on my own listening habits, I really started missing album listening.  I started wondering what it would be like to revisit the albums of my childhood and young adulthood, or even more, what would it be like to start listening to the albums of today's artists like the Black Keys, George Ezra, Noah Kahn, and Taylor Swift.  Would artists of today live up to the album collections of the artists of the past, or are they one-hit wonders?  

In November of 2023, I started my Album Playthrough Project.  I started listening to the albums of artists with as much intentionality as I possibly could.  My discretionary time isn't quite the same as my younger days, but I could still take time to listen to albums.  I plan to share my album lists through 2024 here on Seeking Positivity in the Galaxy.  I hope to get the lists out monthly with a little bit of commentary on my reflections on the experience month-to-month.  

Here are the albums I listened to in January 2024: 

B-Movie Matinee (1985) Nile Rogers 1/1/24
Wet Leg (2022) Wet Leg 1/1/24
Joshua Tree (1987) U2 1/2/24
Remain in Light (1980) Talking Heads 1/3/24
Electric Ladyland (1968) Jimi Hendrix 1/3/24
Turnstiles (1976) Billy Joel 1/4/24
Let's Rock (2019) The Black Keys 1/5/24
Bad 25th Anniversary (2012) Michael Jackson 1/5/24
Father of the Bride (2019) Vampire Weekend 1/5/24
Breathe In (2024) Armin Van Buren 1/12/24
Live from Llamaland Studios (2022) Younger 1/13/24
Murmur (1983) REM 1/15/24
Various artists (2024) Echo Disney+ Soundtrack 1/17/24
The Who By Numbers (1975) The Who 1/17/24
Sleepwalker (1977) The Kinks 1/17/24
Love&Hope&Sex&Dreams (1986) Bodeans 1/29/24

After the first month of listening, I realized that it is so easy to go back to playlist listening or my favorite Sirus/XM station the Dave Matthews Channel; however, I was pretty happy with the listening I completed.  I found that most of my desire was to go back to my younger days and enjoy albums I used to own or albums I always wish I had.  

Here are a few notes: 

Better than I remembered: Murmur, REM

First time listening to this artist: Nile Rogers and Wet Leg

Best album this month: Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix

I listened to all the albums on Spotify.  Have an album recommendation from today or back-in-the-day?  Leave a comment here or leave one for me on X @draftline

Coca Cola Kids - Fantasy Football Champs!!

Now that we have cleaned up all the confetti, we can finally sit down and reflect on the 23/24 Fantasy Football season.  It was a season that started in a pedestrian sort of way for the Coca-Cola Kids with a 3-4 record by week 7.  But then the kids went on a 5-game win streak and found themselves in the hunt with an 8-4 record then ending the regular season at 9-5.  

After that slow start, the Kids' manager started making some tremendous waiver wire pick-ups and seemed to play the hot players at the right time.  It was masterful managing (luck) to earn the five-game win streak as players like Sean Howell emerged mid-season.  When the Kids' manager realized that he had squeezed all he could out of the Miami Dolphins' defense, he swiftly turned to the Buffalo Bills defense which really brought the points the last several weeks of the season.  

Throughout the season Dak Prescott, Stefon Diggs, Amon-Ra St.Brown were stalwarts whom the Kids could count on every weekend.  Genius waiver wire pickups like Najee Harris, Howell, and late-season pickups of Isaiah Likely and Jake Browning kept the winning ways through the end of the season and playoffs.  

The Kids had a playoff run like no other season winning in the following ways: 

Quarterfinals: Bye

Semifinals: 216.70 - 198.26 over Roll Tide (8-6) the 2020 champions

Final: 207.48 - 149.41 over The Watergirl (12-2) the regular season champions. 

The season was topped with raising the Last Murray Standing Fantasy Football League Champion trophy.  The Kids become one of two teams to win the league since 2013 with their second league championship.  To their credit, the other multi-league winning team, LukeIAmYourFather has won the league six times.  

But, the Coca Cola Kids are the 2024 League Champions!

Top 5 Star Wars Card Trader Cards of 2023

I am really happy that this list has become an annual item that I have the opportunity to share.  These 2023 Star Wars Card Trader cards all come from the rare variant and are, in my opinion, the Top 5 of my collection.  There are many, many more insert sets that I don't have that might very well be much more interesting or coveted, but I am only going with what I've collected.  That said, I may not have succeeded in completing the set, but they are cards that I pulled from those sets.  

Here is my Top 5:  

5. Original Art: Pulp Covers by Robert Jimenez, Icebound Invasion, Wave 3 Red Variant, 4,379 Card Count

I loved this entire set of Pulp Covers, but I, as a librarian, really enjoy a digital trading card of a book cover.  Icebound Invasion depicts one of the most epic battles of the Star Wars original trilogy.  It really captures the imagination and reminds me of some of the great pulp book covers.  

4. Character of the Month - 2023, Darth Maul - six, October - Darth Maul - Red 6564 Card Count

I really liked the look of the Character of the Month set in 2023, but I especially like that they find images of the characters that aren't on other card sets.  Darth Maul just happens to be one of the coolest and most interesting characters from the Star Wars saga, so he receives #4 on my Top 5 of 2023 list.  

3. Featured Creature - 2023, Loth-Wolf, Series 1 - Red, 5184 Card Count

Well, the Loth-Wolf holds a soft spot around our house, so it should be no surprise that they would show up on this list.  Besides that, the Loth-Wolf is shy to the digital cards, so any sighting definitely puts that card on the shortlist.

2.  Classic Card Art - 8th Anniversary, The Mandalorian & Grogu, Wave 1 - Green Card Count

I loved the look of these cards in 2016, and I think they still look great today with our new Star Wars characters from the Mandalorian.  I am old fashioned, so of course the title Classic Card Art would be something that I would absolutely love.  

1.  Topps' Choice - 2023, The Colossus, Series 1 - Cards, 3328 Card Count

Over the years, the Topps' Choice may be my favorite set because of the originality of the images and topics.  Many times the cards are quite scenic as is this particular card with a rare, like the Loth-Wolf, sighting of the Colossus on digital cards.  This is an absolutely beautiful card.  

I appreciate you taking a look at this year's SWCT Top 5 from the collection of JEDIGROSS.  I do have duplicates of some of these top 5 cards if you are interested in acquiring any of them.  I don't trade singles, so hands off if it isn't a dupe.  

I also have a collection that goes back to the beginning in 2015.  I will never forget standing in line at the Indiana Comic Con with Coffee with Kenobi co-hosts, Dan Zehr and Cory Clubb, as we downloaded the app and started building our collections.  The rest is history;  I was hooked. 

Give me a follow on the SWCT app as well as here on Seeking Positivity in the Galaxy.  Also, consider following the Rebel Basecard Podcast hosted by Greg McLaughlin and join his #CardSquadron group on X for some fun trading card discussion.  

My 2023 Reading and Viewing Stats

Happy New Year and welcome 2024!  The new year leads us to reflect back on the past year, and once again, I am grateful to @eyeoncanon who at the end of 2020 shared a short list of personal reading and viewing stats for the year.  I took his idea, which I wrote about here, and have kept my yearly stats since 2021.  Over the last few years, I have modified what I keep track of and added a few categories myself.  

                                                2023        2022            2021

Movies watched:              26            21              31
Rewatch:                         10             13             16
First time:                        16              8              15
Viewed in a theater:                 8                N/A            N/A

TV series (streamed):
Episodes:                      149            111            86
Rewatch:                        90              25            40
First time:                        59              86            46

Books read:                    18               13            21
Graphic Novels:                2                 4            6
Fiction:                           12                  8            12
Nonfiction:                        4                 0              3
Pages read:              4,703           2,895        4195

Books abandoned:            1                  2            0
Pages read:                  154               N/A

Podcast Episodes:          N/A              N/A        N/A
Fiction:                            
Nonfiction:
Time listened:              

Audiobooks:                     1                     1            3
Fiction:                                                    1            3
Nonfiction:                         1                    0            0

Short Stories:                                                         8
Pages read:                                                        244

Comic books read:          94                 142         164
Digital:                             30                   42           64
Print:                                64                 100         100

Book Titles:
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs
The Loop by Ben Oliver
Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves The Road to Neverwinter by Jaleigh Johnson
Dragons of Winter Night: Dragonlance Chronicles Book II by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Astral Adventurers Guide
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
High Republic: The Edge of Balance Vol. 1 (graphic novel)
High Republic: the Edge of Balance Vol. 2
Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Christopher Adam
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
Cleric Quintet: Book 3 The Night Masks by R.A. Salvatore
DragonLance: Dragons of Fate by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist
The Legends of Drizzt Visual Dictionary by Michael Witwer
Vivian Van Tassel and the Secret of Midnight Lake by Michael Witwer
Being Henry by Henry Winkler (audiobook)

Movie Titles:
Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Super Mario Bros.
Murder Mystery 2
The Speed Cubers
Inside the Mind of a Cat
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Air
The Little Mermaid
Across the Spider-verse
Glass Onion Knives Out
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Star Wars The Phantom Menace
Star Wars The Clone Wars
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
A Few Good Men
The Barbie Movie
Galaxy Quest
The Haunted Mansion
Aladdin
Miracle on 34th Street
Home Alone
Elf
Disney's A Christmas Carol

TV Streaming Series:
The Bad Batch Season 2
The Crown Season 1
The Crown Season 2
The Book of Boba Fett
Mandalorian season 2
Tales of the Jedi Season 1
Mandalorian season 3
Visions Season 2
Rebels Season 1
Rebels Season 2
Rebels Season 3
Secret Invasion
The Crown Season 3
Rebels Season 4
Ahsoka
X-Men 92 animated
Loki season 2
Marvel's What If... Season 2
The Crown Season 4

So, one day I will find a cleaner way to display the stats, but I think this shows them well enough to discover there are some interesting details in the numbers above.  My TV streaming and comic book reading seem to show an interesting trend over the three years.  

My TV streaming in 2023 has a sizeable jump.  My rewatches increased and I believe that is a result of rewatches to prepare for a new series.  For example, I rewatched the entire Rebels series to prepare for viewing Ahsoka.  Will this rewatch trend continue?  Hard to tell, but I am gearing up for a Bad Batch rewatch this summer in anticipation of season 3, so the magic 8 ball says "It is decidedly so."  

Comic book reading went down considerably.  It is true; I do not subscribe to as many print comics these days, but my subscription to Marvel Unlimited (not subscribed yet?  Read this) gives me easy access to over 10,000 issues!  What gives?  I suspect time.  I will say though, that the accuracy of reporting may be at fault here.  There are times I binge 10-15 comics (yes, that is a binge for me) over a weekend and I can't remember if I recorded them or not.  To not over-inflate numbers, I error on not reporting rather than double reporting.  I need to do better.  

Being a podcaster (CWK Pourover and Teachers in the Dungeon), I don't listen to nearly enough podcast episodes, so this year I added a podcast listening category to attempt to motivate me to do more listening to my peers.  There are some amazing podcasts out there, and I need to do a better job of listening.  

I also added in the movie category a place to record how many of the movies I watch in theaters.  After the pandemic it was really hard for me to want to return to the theaters.  I found myself just waiting for it to come out on a streaming service.  In 2023, I think I found the love of returning to the theater, but I am interested to see if I continue that trend.  Last year I even considered subscribing to a customer loyalty program at our local theater.  Maybe this is the year.  

To conclude, here are my 2023 favorites as heard on the podcast The Colby Cast where my good friend Colby and I talk about our favorites of 2023 among other topics.  Colby is great and so is his show.  These are all chosen from material I actually watched and read: 

Favorite Book:  Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs

Favorite Star Wars Disney + show:  Bad Batch season 2

Favorite Marvel Disney + show: Loki season 2

Favorite Marvel film:  Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Favorite Non-MCU film:  Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Favorite Non-MCU/Star Wars show:  The Crown season 4

Top 5 Marvel Collect Digital Cards of 2023

It is time to continue looking at the top 5 digital cards from Topps.  Marvel Collect is up and there were some really great sets and cards this year that it was difficult to keep up and not completely run out of credits.  These 2023 Marvel Collect cards all come from the rare variant and are, in my opinion, the Top 5 of my collection.  There are many, many more insert sets that I don't have that might very well be much more interesting or coveted, but I am only going with what I've collected.  That said, I may not have succeeded in completing the set, but they are cards that I pulled from those sets.  You might recognize those last three sentences because they came right off the post from last week when I looked at the Top 5 Star Wars Card Trader 2023 cards.  If you didn't get a look at that post, you can click right here and then come back for the Marvel Top 5.  

Here are the Top 5 Marvel Collect cards from the account of CYCLELIBRARIAN: 

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Collection, Major Victory, Series 1 - Galactic Heroes - Static 10,083 Global Count

Okay, so right out of the gate I did a little cheating.  This card is actually from the Uncommon variant, but I knew I had a Major Victory card.  Major Victory is a really cool character with lots of interesting history, and he doesn't make many appearances in the digital card world.  He had to be on my Top 5.  

4. Collector' Reserve '23, Moon Knight, Volume 1 - Across the Universe - Silver, 12,823 Global  Count

Why did this card make my top 4?  Take a minute to look at the art on this card.  It comes right off of the cover of a book or off of a framed picture on the wall.  It is beautiful artwork.  On top of the realism of the card, it has great action where we can guess where he is coming from and where he is going.  What is his next move?  You tell me!  

3.  Avengers/X-Men 60th Anniversary Box, X-Men #6, Series 1 - Anniversary Varients - Group 1 - Red, 12,223 Global Count

I had this cover back in the day, and it is a classic.  It is an appropriate card image for an Anniversary set.  I love the action of the X-Men as they move from left to right on the page with classic poses from Cyclops, Psylocke, and Wolverine front and center.  In the background, the title of the team and book are carved into the mountain, rock solid.  Just awesome!  

2. Artist Spotlight 2023, Cable, Kael Ngu - White - Volume 1, N/A Global Count

First, thank you, Marvel Collect, for this set highlighting the awesome artists of the cards which we love.  Second, thanks for the Cable card.  It is no secret that Cable is my favorite X-Men character, but Kael Ngu pulled the image of how I see Cable right out of my head and put it on this card.  This is why it is number 2 on my Top 5.  

1. Women of Marvel 2023, Elektra, Series 2 - Silver, 8,865 Global Count

This may be more of a tip of the hat to the series than necessarily this card, but I don't think many could argue that this isn't a great card.  That is really the standard of this set that highlights many women of Marvel like Ghost Spider, She-Hulk, Black Cat, Wasp, Magik, and so many more.  Anyway, this card of Electra is just, well, electric.  

I decided to highlight one more card.  It is more of a gold star of my collection as it comes from the highest variant that I have, Epic, and it is the lowest Global Count card in my 2023 collection.  

Artist Spotlight 2023, Spider-man, Gabrielle Dell'Otto - Gold Motion - Volume 1, 127 Global Count

Thanks for taking a look at what I think are the Top 5 Marvel Collect digital cards from 2023 in my collection.  What do you think?  Would you have chosen these cards too?  Do you collect Marvel Collect too?  Give me a follow on the app CYCLELIBRARIAN and give me a follow right here on Seeking Positivity in the Galaxy.  

2023 Reading and Viewing Stats First Quarter

The first three months of 2023 have moved along and there has been some really great content to devour! The following are my reading and viewing stats and note below that I have included the book, movie, and T.V. Series titles that I have consumed at the bottom. I will give a comparison to 2022 and 2021 in the second quarter (June) report to check my progress or regression from past years. Until then, I am looking forward to the Disney+ shows coming out and some theater shows like Guardians of the Galaxy, Air, and Indiana Jones. Every day, I look at the stack of books next to my recliner. I am currently reading the second Dragonlance book, Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Next up is Shadows of the Sith by Adam Christopher, book three of the Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore and I will probably get a few Y.A. books in there too.

Holy Cow! I haven't read a graphic novel in 2023, yet? That's going to change in the second quarter! Anyway, here you go, my first quarter of 2023 Reading and Viewing Stats!

Movies Watched: 5

Rewatch: 1

First Time: 4

TV series (streamed):
Episodes: 45
Rewatch: 16
First time: 29

Books read: 4
Graphic Novels:
Fiction: 3
Nonfiction: 1
Pages read: 1404

Books abandoned: 0
Graphic Novels:
Fiction:
Nonfiction:
Pages read:

Audiobooks: 0
Fiction:
Nonfiction:

Short Stories: 0
Pages read:

Comic books read: 23
Digital: 2
Print: 21

Book Titles:
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs
The Loop by Ben Oliver
Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves by Jaleigh Johnson

Movies:
Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Super Mario Bros.
Murder Mystery 2

Series:
The Bad Batch Season 2
The Crown
The Book of Boba Fett
Mandalorian season 2
Tales of the Jedi
Mandalorian season 3

Plan 99: Tech's Sacrifice - a reflection

Note: I wrote this immediately after I finished watching Episode 16 of The Bad Batch after clearing my eyes.  

I don't know what I expected would become of Clone Force 99.  Did I think they would find themselves retiring on a tropical island on Scarif or opening a hunting lodge on Endor?  I don't know.  After Episode 13, Pabu, I actually thought the tropical island might become a reality.  Heck, in episode 16, Plan 99, it was a dream just steps away.  

The final two episodes of The Bad Batch season two, The Summit and Plan 99, left me emotionally drained and feeling quite miserable.  I suppose this is just good storytelling.  This truly feels like that moment when we finish the last page of a book and immediately miss the characters.  

I found a connection to all the characters in the Bad Batch, but Tech is a character I seem to have the strongest connection.  Season two has strengthened those connections as many of the episodes seem to place a focus on him and his difficulties understanding human behavior and emotional connection.  This is shown in his growing relationship with Phee Genoa.  She challenges him to see things through different eyes, and it seems to be catching on when we see him pause to look after Phee before they leave on their final mission.  We can almost see the gears turning in his head as he wrestles with the logical and emotional side of relationships.  Tech has also become more connected with Omega in season two as well.  He is seen teaching her the art of flying the Maurader with so much patience and understanding.  He seems to also be taking on the role of the teacher in other areas as well allowing Hunter to become more the father.  In the final, heart-wrenching episode when Tech, in his dire situation, declares Plan 99, it holds much weight because of the growth and relationships we see Tech build.   

This dire situation is when Tech hangs by a single cable as the Imperial forces hammer the cable runner Clone Force 99 is in hanging over the deep, foggy chasm.  Tech finds himself in this position as he goes to restore power to the cable car by running along the cable cog back to the last tower where the power was shorted out by Saw Guerrera's terrorist bombing of  Tarkin's Imperial Base.  There is a lot going on here that adds to the tension of the scene.  As Tech hangs, it becomes clear that if he doesn't release the crumbling cable car that is holding back the rest of the car Clone Force 99 is on, everyone will perish.   They don't have time as Imperial fighters are coming around for another run to blast the car off the cables.  Tech declares a code they apparently were given, Plan 99.  When that becomes clear to Wrecker and Omega, they yell desperately for him not to follow through.  In fact, Wrecker orders Tech not to follow Plan 99.  Tech says, "When have we ever followed orders?"  He fires his pistol to break the final cable holding the damaged section of the car, including himself, away causing him to fall to his end.  

Source: The Bad Batch Episode 16 Disney Plus

This image and moment are frozen in my mind.  

I couldn't believe that someone or something wouldn't swoop in to save Tech and the Bad Batch.  How could this happen?  I honestly thought somehow that Saw  Guerrera's team might be the ones to come to the rescue. No one came, no solutions were presented, Tech made his sacrifice to save his friends.

I.was.stunned.  

How is it that animation can have such an impact?  These are characters drawn in a fictional story played out on a screen!  Isn't animation storytelling just stories that are presented like Saturday morning cartoons of my childhood?  When and how did animation start to hit me so hard emotionally?  Not just in Tech's instance, but over and over again: Ahsoka walking away from the Jedi Order, Maul's final ending at the blade of Obi-wan Kenobi on Tattooine, and Kanan's sacrifice.  

It seems that the format isn't as important to the message as the message itself.  Sure, the animation draws and colors the pictures and that has a visual impact on us, but the story is the key.  Whether it is animation, live action, pictures on a page, words in a book, or orally shared, what makes the emotional connections and draws the reader or viewer is simply the story.  An amazingly well-written story with compelling characters and meaningful conflict can make the listener, reader, or viewer sink into and buy into the story.  

Understandingly, everything falls apart for the Bad Batch after this event.  One might ask was Tech's sacrifice in vain?  The Bad Batch is eventually captured after betrayal from Sid. Right before this betrayal, Hunter and Omega talk about life on Pabu.  They talk about hanging up the weapons and adventure, so Omega can be a child and Hunter can rest and be a father.  The season ends with Omega in the hands of the Empire, and the remaining Bad Batch members (Hunter, Wrecker, Echo) fiercely resolved to fight to get Omega back.  

Happily ever after?  Probably not for Clone Force 99. I don't know what I expected of the Bad Batch. 

Update: We learned at the Star Wars Celebration Europe Bad Batch panel, that there will be a third and final season of the Bad Batch. Stay Tuned! 
.