All in all, it was a fairly decent year. I didn't have to scrape to find things I liked in most categories like I may have in the past. I think the only slight disappointment this year was in TV. While there were some great shows, there were no new "must watch" shows that emerged in 2012--though there were a lot of great short runs.
Music
Music
For 2012 in music, there were a lot at the start of the year and a lot on the back half-especially at the end of August when I found myself with more albums than I could listen to properly. Then it was just finding a hidden gem or two along the way. While new music is still very important to me, with most of my commuting and exercise time spent listening to podcasts, my music listening time descreased dramatically this year.
As far as trends, there were a lot of progressive/classic rock comebacks this year and a lot of "supergroups" or members from other bands combining to make new projects.
Here are my favorite albums. I started to add pictures, but then eventually gave up as this new blogger composer seems to just mess everything up. So there's a few, but I gave up after six:
Gotye - Making Mirrors -Technically this came out in 2011, but the song "Somebody That I Used To Know" really hit it big this year. This was probably the most listened to album by the entire family this year, along with Gotye's previous album "Like Drawing Blood." Gotye now has the sole distinction of being the first and only artist I have ever seen perform on Saturday Night Live that actually convinced me to seek out the rest of his work. He reminds me of a cross between Sting and Peter Gabriel and his album carries a really strong mid-80s vibe of both those artists. Good stuff.
Muse - The 2nd Law - I've always been a big fan of Muse's crazier stuff, and this album has more of that than their previous albums, making this my new favorite Muse album. It starts off with what should have been the newest Bond movie theme and keeps going from there through five tracks to the 2012 London Olympics theme. The rest is a little more typical Muse until the end when it gets interesting again.
Darkness - Hot Cakes/Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll - This is sort of a 2 for one. The Foxy Shazam album came out early this year and it seemed like it was essentially a preview for the Darkness album that was coming later in the year. "Hot Cakes" itself was a great return from the Darkness. With the exception of the awful opening track, the rest of the album is really good. Nothing quite as good as the best stuff on their previous albums, but nothing as bad as the worst stuff on those either. 
The Producers - Made In Basing Street (Deluxe Edition) - This was the album I was looking forward to the most this year. It is Trevor Howe (Buggles, Yes) teaming up with some other famous producer friends for a sort of supergroup album. They released the song "Freeway" early which is probably my favorite track of the year and got me really excited for the rest. The rest was good, but not as great as the first track. I was initially disappointed in the rest of the album; however, after finding the extra tracks on the 2nd bonus disc, adding them to the first disc, and then rearranging the track order (the original track listing makes for a slow album) it actually turns into a great album.
Faded Paper Figures - The Matter - My high school friend and former Narrow Escape bandmate R. John Williams with his current band released their third and best Faded Paper Figures album. It's still weird hearing a "real" album and recognizing the voice singing and thinking "Hey, I know that guy!" The album gets my seal of approval purely from all cool synth stuff throughout.
ミラクルミュージカル - Hawaii: Part II. Joe Hawley with a few cameos from from other Tally Hall guys made this album. The band name means "Miracle Musical" in Japanese (supposedly). And though it is super difficult to do Google searching for, the album is a lot of fun. Everything one might like from the Joe Hawley songs on the other Tally Hall albums is here. It also reminds me a bit of a Gorillaz album in that it can be a bit experimental and weird in places, but the overall experience is great.
Squackett - A Life Within A Day. Steve Hackett (Genesis) and Chris Squire (Yes) formed their own little supergroup and put together this progressive album that I quite enjoyed.
Django Django - s/t - One I've just discovered here at the end of the year on someone else's top of the year list. I'm still in my early listening stage, but I really like the pscyhedelic-style crossed with the Association-esque harmonies.
Stefan Zuner - Zeigefuehl - The lead singer of the German band Freiheit apparently left the band this year and put out his own solo album. It pretty much sounds just like Freiheit, but that's a good thing.
The Prog Collective - s/t - Another supergroup with members from Yes, Asia, XTC, and many others put out this album that sounds just like a progressive rock album!
Some other albums I listened to this year, some were good, some were bad, and some I just wanted to mention: Jackdaw4 - Dissectacide, Kidsof88 - Modern Love, Ben Folds Five - The Sound of the Love of the Mind (very disappointed this wasn't better), Mika - Origin of Love, Adam Lambert - Trespassing, Scissor Sisters - Magic Hour (almost unlistenable), Gaz Coombes (Supergrass) - Presents Here Come The Bombs, Ian Anderson - Thick as a Brick 2, Ladyhawke - Anxiety, Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune, Bryan Scary - Daffy's Elixir (was on last year's list, but officially came out this year.)
Movies
Movies in 2012 were about par for the course. Some good. Some bad. A few great starts to some new franchises, and few ends of others. Here's some of my favorites for the year:
The Hunger Games - This was my favorite movie-going experience of the year. My wife was supposed to go with a group of other girlfriends to see this as a girl's night out, but she got sick. Since she prepurchased the ticket, I took it in her place intending to go alone to the screening. When the other women arrived, they accepted me as one of their own and let me invade their girl's night out. The movie itself was really fascinating and a great start to what I fear will be a progressively worse franchise. We'll see.
The Avengers - This was my second favorite movie-going experience of the year because I ended up getting early passes to see this a week before it was officially released--for free! One of two amazing movies by Joss Whedon this year. It had just about everything one could want from the guy who made Buffy.
Cabin in the Woods - The other movie from Joss Whedon. Essentially this is his answer to the question: If you could make only one horror movie, what would you do? Answer: put everything in one movie. Scary, funny, and completely original while being completely derivative.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - We were very much looking forward to this while wondering how Peter Jackson could turn one book into three movies. Seeing this, I can understand. Also, it's Peter Jackson--he can make anything lengthy. Not sure why critics were so harsh on it; I mean it could have definitely used some editing, but it was still entertaining.
Dark Knight Rises - Speaking of needing some editing...This was long, with surprisingly little Batman. And there were way too many plotholes. But in the end, I liked how it wrapped up many of the elements from the previous two Batman movies.
Wreck It Ralph - This was my favorite animated movie of the year. Loved all the video game in-jokes.
Brave - Beautiful. Story was surprising, but it seemed to be missing a final act.
The Amazing Spider-Man - I like this new Peter Parker way better than the last. I liked how he actually still looked like the same guy when he was wearing the Spider-man costume. I hated the villain and the promise that we'd learn more about Peter Parker and his family's back story but didn't. I wish I could combine elements from the previous series with this and make a really good movie.
Skyfall (Bond 23) - I watched every single Bond film leading up to this film. Many for the first time ever. Overall, I'd say it was really good for a Bond film. Parts were absolutely beautiful, and some of the action scenes were amazing. However, I still don't care for Daniel Craig as a Bond. I liked him better in this than his last two, though. I also loved how they pulled together a lot of the history of Bond for this on his 50th anniversary.
Les Miserables - Maria and I were both crying at the end of this film. It was very powerful. I just wish they did more with the camera than leave it sitting close-up on the actor's faces while they sang. Except for the few musical numbers where they went too overboard ("Lovely Ladies" in particular.)
Men in Black 3 - Good enough that I've watched it three times and totally makes up for Men In Black 2. However, the inconsistent use of time-travel--particularly at a key scene at the end--drove me crazy!
TV
As I said up top, TV was a bit disappointing this year. First, there were no new "must-watch" shows. We tried a few like "Once Upon a Time" and "Awake" but we lost interest in most. Secondly, the best series of the year was over almost before the year began!
Sherlock - The second series of the BBC show consisted of three episodes that started on January 1 and was finished two weeks later with a cliff hanger that won't be resolved until maybe 2014. Benedict Cumberbatch is our new favorite actor, and I've liked almost everything Martin Freeman has done since the British Office. Looking forward to Star Trek and the next Hobbit movies to fill the gap.
Comedy Bang Bang - Derived from the podcast, this surreal comedy talk show was a lot of fun while very random.
Adventure Time - We finally discovered this series this year even though it's been out for a few years now. Also very surreal and random. Much of what I like about this series is the surprise. The outcomes of the situations the characters find themselves in are almost never what you would ever guess.
Legend of Korra - This sequel animated series to the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was the perfect example of how to do a sequel follow up in a fantasy world (take note Star Wars!): Evolve everything, bring in new characters, pay homage to the old--but not slavishly. If they hadn't resolved what was looking to be a fairly serious cliff-hanger at the last moment of the series, it would have been nearly perfect.
Red Dwarf X - I was shocked that a real old-fashioned Red Dwarf sitcom actually came out this year. After the disappointing last mini-series, this is back to the studio with a live audience and just the core group. I don't think any of the episodes measured up to Red Dwarf's best, but it was still nice to revisit.
QI - The British panel show is still one of my favorite shows. I have to hunt them down on YouTube to watch.
Go On/Neighbors - These are the only two new shows of the fall season that I'm watching. Matthew Perry has always been a favorite, but I've never enjoyed anything past Friends. This one is works and is funny, but I'm not sure where they plan on taking it in the long run. "Neighbors" is about a normal family living in a community of aliens. It's very lightweight and often dumb, but it feels like a nice return to simpler sitcoms of the past with silly premises.
Halloween Wars/Stephen Fry Gadget Man/Heston's Fanstastical Food/United Stats of America/Penn and Teller Tell a Lie/Unchained Reaction - A bunch of quick documentary or reality game based series that I enjoyed. Most were only six episodes long. Just enough to get a nice snack, and to want more later.
Derren Brown - Always entertaining, the mentalist/illusionist/trickster Derren Brown staged an apocalypse among other things. The premise was a bit better than the execution, but it was still fairly entertaining.
Other shows I watched: America's Got Talent, Community, Office, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who (still catching up, not quite current yet), SNL, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead.
Podcast/Internet
This year there seemed to be an explosion of Internet-based shows, while a few big shows came to an end or changed format.
Movie B.S. with Bayer and Snider - My favorite podcast with Eric D. Snider and Jeff Bayer. I save this one for my running as incentive to go out.
Totally Rad Show - My favorite geek internet show ended it's run this year. I was very sad.
Nerdist/Nerdist YouTube Channel - Nerdist always has interesting guests on their podcasts. This year they launched a YouTube channel with daily content from people like Weird Al, Kids in the Hall, Alex Albrecht (from Totally Rad Show), and many others. Some were more entertaining than others, but I really enjoy having a little something every day to watch--especially since work hasn't blocked YouTube!
Comedy Bang Bang - Already mentioned in TV, the regular podcast can get very silly but still entertaining.
Empire - British movie podcast. It's been interesting listening to the UK point of view.
Games
I'm cooling a bit on console games. Most of my game playing continues to be on my iPhone, and there's a brand new Nintendo console that just came out and I barely care. The kids and I all got 3DS handhelds for Christmas and it's been fun playing some of those Nintendo games again, but the 3D doesn't work for very long without giving you a headache. Here's a few of my favorite games for the year:
Angry Birds Star Wars/Angry Birds Space/Bad Piggies (iPhone) - Three spin-offs from Angry Birds this year and all of them were great. Particularly the Star Wars one which managed to twist the formula just enough to fit with the Star Wars theme and still provide something new.
Lego Batman 2/Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7/Lego Lord of the Rings (Wii/Xbox) - Three Lego games, all stuck to the basic formula, but they continue to be fun.
Batman Arkham City (Xbox) - I had a blast running around this large open world as Batman, finding all the riddles and beating up bad guys.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox) - Second sequel to one of my all-time favorite games. Better than the first sequel. Sadly I usually had to play with the sound off due to the language. It seems harder and harder to play serious games without them being full of bad language.
Rayman Origins (Wii/iPhone) - We had this game for quite a while, but I after an iPhone version of the game went really cheap, I dusted off the Wii version we had and found a really fun platformer that I had overlooked.
Behind the back runners (iPhone) - The new craze this year in the app store are behind the back runners. It started off with "Temple Run." Then more and more showed up that I've played including "Temple Run: Brave," "Pitfall," "Subway Surfers," "Agent Dash," and my personal favorite "One Angry Knight."
Zombies, Run! (iPhone) - Combines an exercise tool for running with an audio game where you are a runner tasked with finding supplies for an outpost in a zombie apocalypse. Makes running from zombies fun and healthy!
Other games I really enjoyed this year: Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox), Super Hexagon (iPhone), 10000000 (iPhone), Ticket To Ride (iPhone), Settlers of Catan (iPhone), and Draw Something (iPhone).
Books
I didn't read very much this year, which isn't much of a change. However I did read a couple books that I really enjoyed.
Ready Player One - A story set in the future where the world spends most of its time in an faux online world. It's a really great blend of sci-fi, 80s nostalgia, video games, and a fun treasure hunt. Looking forward to the eventual movie.
World War Z - I read this because of hearing about the upcoming movie. It's essentially an oral history of a future zombie war as an interviewer gets the stories from all sorts of random people and their small stories in a larger event. It's a fairly ingenious format that takes the whole idea of a zombie apocalypse seriously while analyzing what types of things would or could actually happen should it ever occur. Many things I'd never even thought of such as zombies attacking submarines, make this a really interessting read. Unlike "Ready Player One", though, I am not looking forward to the movie as it seems to have nothing to do with the book.
2013
I don't think I've done a look forward before, so I'll try something new this year. Things I'm looking forward to in 2013:
Music: A full album by Chateau Marmont: "The Maze", maybe new stuff from The Feeling, The Hoosiers, Delays, maybe Josh Fix?
Movies: Ender's Game, Star Trek Into Darkness, Pacific Rim, Hunger Games - Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
TV: Interested to see the return of "Community" after they fired the person who ran it. "Arrested Development" returns to Netflix.
Games: Nothing specific, I'll just have to wait and see. I wish there was something I was looking forward too--especially with the new WiiU, but nothing at the moment. Maybe GDC in March will reveal some titles.
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