iTunes Oracle: 2012 Edition

Well, it's Friday December 30th, but I am going to be gaming tomorrow night, so I'll write this blog entry now. What I really ought to do right now is work on a grant proposal (due imminently) or read the draft of a chapter of my student's Ph.D. thesis (on which feedback is needed immediately), but I'm not in the mood right now. Sorry. And it's already December 31st in the UK anyway---so there!

It's almost the end of the year, and it's time to once again bring out the iTunes Oracle, because I have to figure out somehow what 2012 has in store for me. You can take a look here to see the predictions for 2011 and links to the predictions for 2006-2009 (I skipped 2010).

The iTunes Oracle ambiguously predicted "One Hit" for 2011, and we'll see what the future says about whether that is indeed the case. I think I had my share of both hits and misses in 2011; happily some of the hits were big; some of the misses were big, too, but I have fought through some and will fight through others. Such is life. So what did this year have in store for me? Well, 2011 included a new friend, one new niece (that I know of), the usual academic adventures, a trip to Korea, some professional and (now-resolved, thankfully!) personal hiccups, lots of gaming, movies, baseball, Glee, occasional reminders that I am human (in both good and bad forms), and [most importantly!] plenty of good times with good friends (old and new). And did I mention gaming? And I'm sure there was other stuff that I am forgetting. Perhaps gaming?

Before I get into what the Oracle has to say, perhaps it's worth mentioning that I should just make my usual New Year's resolution: be a little bit less neurotic than the year before. [I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to ponder whether this is a 2-step recursion or a 1-step recursion.]

Here is what the iTunes Oracle has to say about my 2012:

1. The Covering: A-Ha, There's a Reason For It
2. The Crossing: The Smithereens, Cigarette
3. The Crown: Simple Minds, New Gold Dream
4. The Root: Rammstein & Wolfsheim, Die Flut
5. The Past: R.E.M., Mine Smell Like Honey
6. The Future: Nouvelle Vague, Friday Night Saturday Morning
7. The Questioner: Enrique Iglesias, Solo Pienso En Ti
8. The House: The Rosebuds, Leaves Do Fall
9. The Inside: ABBA, Take A Chance On Me
10. The Outcome: Gipsy Kings, Pide Me La

Bonus Track: Oingo Boingo, Goodbye-Goodbye

Well, The Covering is nicely telling me that there is a reason for the reason. Isn't it supposed to actually give me a reason. Seriously, I should get my money back. The Crossing makes no sense. Usually things are ambiguous enough that I can at least fake a hokey interpretation. Come on, Oracle. The Crown seems to be rather positive, at least---or maybe it just refers to getting access to the gold luxury in my current Civ V game? I might well understand The Root, except I don't speak German and am too lazy to look up a translation. I think there is no comment that I could make about The Past that wouldn't sound really bad. The Future, however, is so bright (if short term) that I gotta' wear shades. Actually, given what that song is about, things really don't seem to be very promising at all. The Questioner seems to be heading in the direction of OCD. Or something. I suppose that The House can be construed to make some sort of sense in some sort of highly generic sense. (Does it even make sense to be "highly generic"?) The Inside could mean a lot of interesting things, and it has the right level of ambiguity for a fortune. And, yes, please do ask me about The Outcome. This whole thing is like answering a question with another question. Not that I would ever do such a thing.

And, finally, the Bonus Track is practically an ideal way to end things in this kind of blog entry. So, Happy New Year to all of you. And to those friends of mine who are reading this, drop me a line if we haven't talked in a while---or even if we have---and I hope to see you soon!

And in the end, I think there's really only one thing to say about 2012: Bring it on.

Play Ball!

Opening Day for the 2011 Major League Baseball season is tomorrow (March 31st) --- as opposed to Tomorrow --- and I'll be watching the Dodgers-Giants game. Kershaw versus Lincecum: Hell yes!

Anyway, here are some predictions for the 2011 seasons. Let's see if I fail as spectacular in my prognostications as I have in the past.

National League

National League West: Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres, Diamondbacks

National League Central: Brewers, Reds, Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, Pirates

National League East: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Mets

Wild Card: Braves

NLCS: Phillies versus Brewers [Phillies win 4-1; Roy Halladay gets LCS MVP]

MVP: Ryan Braun

Cy Young Award: Roy Halladay [Tim Lincecum is my top non-Phillie]

Rookie of the Year: Brandon Belt

Manager of the Year: Ron Roenicke

Comeback Player of the Year: Matt Kemp

Team on the rise: Milwaukee Brewers

Team on the decline: St. Louis Cardinals


American League

American League West: Athletics, Rangers, Angels, Mariners

American League Central: Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Royals

American League East: Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Orioles

Wild Card: Yankees

ALCS: Athletics versus Red Sox (Athletics win 4-3; ALCS MVP is Josh Willingham)

MVP: Adrian Gonzalez

Cy Young Award: CC Sabathia

Rookie of the Year: Mike Moustakas

Manager of the Year: Bob Geren

Comeback Player of the Year: Manny Ramirez

Team on the rise: Oakland Athletics

Team on the decline: Tampa Bay Rays



World Series: Oakland versus Philadelphia. Philadelphia wins 4-2 (and Roy Halladay gets the World Series MVP award)



I'm sure that most of my predictions will be wrong. Here are some predictions from ESPN's "experts".

iTunes Oracle: 2011 Edition

After skipping last year (which turned out alright anyway), it's time to use the iTunes Oracle to see what 2011 has in store for me. I might have asked Paul the Octopus, but it's too early in the morning in Pasadena to have a seance, so we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. You can take a look here to see the predictions for 2009 and links to the predictions for 2008, 2007, and 2006.

My first attempt to use iTunes for 2011 divination caused iTunes to crash. Perhaps that's not such a good sign of the future, but nevertheless let's carry on!

Here is what the iTunes Oracle has to say about my 2011:

1. The Covering: Nirvana, The Man Who Sold The World (Unplugged)
2. The Crossing: Flamin' Grooves, Paint It Black
3. The Crown: The Cure, Love Will Tear Us Apart (Live)
4. The Root: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Walls
5. The Past: Celtic Woman, Fields of Gold
6. The Future: Visage, Pleasure Boys
7. The Questioner: Erasure, Piano Song (Instrumental)
8. The House: Soft Cell, The Art of Falling Apart
9. The Inside: New Order, Blue Monday (1988)
10. The Outcome: The Knife, One Hit

Bonus Song: Depeche Mode, Dreaming Of Me


Hmmm... My divination for 2011 started out a bit oddly, as four of the first five songs are covers. The Covering concerns important things regarding the situation, so something about somebody selling the world. It could be serious, or perhaps it could be whoever sells Civilization V to me or otherwise provides some mechanism for me to get it? It's not clear. The Crossing refers to current obstacles, which might refer to the rather annoying but harmless 'black line' that I first noticed I had in last March. The Crown refers to the best that can be achieved by the current situation, which seems rather bleak, given that it's a band that sings dark songs covering a group whose lead singer committed suicide. The Root refers to things from the past that played a role in bringing about this situation. As usual, that could be anything---especially given that walls could be either literal or figurative. The Past manages to be a song about the past, and I'm having trouble even coming up with a hokey interpretation for this one. Maybe fields that workers of mine have tended in older versions of Civilization? That seems rather dubious. The Future, on the other hand, seems rather disturbing. Let us speak no more of this. The Questioner seems to suggest that I'm not actually asking any questions. And after that recent glimpse of the future, I think should probably be afraid to ask anything. The House clearly evinces the confidence that other people have in me. Right. According to The Inside, my expectations are apparently that Mondays will be bad (or at least sad). Well, given that I don't like Mondays, I didn't exactly need an oracle for this. The eventual Outcome is one hit. Maybe that means I'll have one really big success in 2011 (my preferred option) or that I will be hit really hard once in 2011? As usual, it could be anything. The bonus song isn't actually part of the divination, but many other Top N lists (such as the "Top 5 Modern English songs" that KROQ once famously played) include a bonus song, so why not? And it was Depeche Mode, so that's always good.

As always, the iTunes Oracle doesn't make any sense, but it's fun, I skipped last year, and Paul the Octopus put me back in the divinatory mood, so it's a nice exercise. Have a Happy 2011!

As for what resolution should come out of this divination, I could always do my usual one to be less neurotic than the previous year, but I think this time I'll go for being more patient and understanding instead. Happy New Year!