Mike Gordon

Phish

Best Album(s) of 2008

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Mike Gordon – The Green Sparrow (It's okay for me to like my own album, right?)

Favorite Song(s) of 2008

Can we count "Going Up Home To Live In Green Pastures" by Ralph [Stanley] and maybe Carter Stanley as a 2008 song even though it's 50 years old?

Your Personal Favorite On-stage Moment/Show of 2008

For my own shows - perhaps getting into a deep jam with my new band in Charleston, South Carolina. [08/08/08 Music Farm]

Others' shows:
Dumpstaphunk at Tippitina's during JazzFest when we were in the 4th row at 4am
Widespread at Allgood
Loved Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl - especially when those tubes over the stage started flashing with red streaks while a vivid screen strobed with blue streaks behind them.

Classic Album or Artist You Discovered This Year

Mose Allison - http://www.myspace.com/moseallisonofficial

Best Film You Saw This Year

Burn After Reading - Coen Brothers

Favorite new gadget, technology, site or application you can't live without

My new iPod Touch (I like Koi pond, Wings, Bedrum...). http://www.iphonedevcentral.org/bedrum/

I couldn't live without this baby swing either.

I like "WriteRoom" too, in terms of an app for your computer, for those who just want to type like computers typed thirty years ago, without all the extra crap on the screen. Just black background and green letters.  http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom

Artist You Are Most Excited About In 2009 (any medium)

Tara Donovan. Sculptures made from manmade stuff stuck together without glue - like a half million toothpicks.  http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=8

Your Latest Guilty Pleasure

Swaddling

What should President Obama change first in 2009?

I like the way he's promised to make The White House decision making somewhat open to the public via the web. Contrast that to the current president, who discourages his own cabinet from offering opposing viewpoints.

A Memorable/Humorous/Classic Moment on the tour bus/road in 2008

We'd been doing a lot of jamming and I decided I just wanted to learn a simple song, and I learned that song "On A Bad Day" by Kasey Chambers. Scott Murawski sang the harmony in the back lounge of the tourbus in Richmond, Virginia. To remember the words, I decided to go for a walk with the song, and they had built all these canals and sidewalks down below, near the venue. So I brought the lyric sheet and sang the song about fifty times in a row. I had wandered further away and found myself under an abandoned railroad bridge. The sun set, off between wires and concrete, and suddenly the inner sadness of the song hit me and I broke down.

*Bonus question – great YouTube or viral video you saw this year

Laughing Baby - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFHcFGKPMQ4
Nora the piano playing cat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zgQAp7EYw