Lost Albatross year in review

In the grand tradition of navel-gazing, end-of-year posts, I offer you now the Lost Albatross anno mundi 2008! Here's wishing you all a festive and safe New Years Eve, and a good new year. And as always, thanks so much for reading.

Total posts in 2008:
307 (counting this one)

Posts with most comments:

• (16) No notes on a scandal
• (14) Vaudeville and politics
• (13) Misleading absentee ballots sent by McCain campaign
• (13) Chosen by God
• (12) Blogger in Fleischman case issues strange retraction
• (12) You're so vain
• (11) This woman won't vote for the woman

Posts with most hits:

• (1,479) Misleading absentee ballots sent by McCain campaign
  
• (681) Pizza Brutta is, uh, very good-ah
• (485) What rights for illegal immigrants?
• (319) Madison handgun laws

Top keywords:

• (353) lost albatross
• (343) pizza brutta
• (139) rights of illegal immigrants
• (126) the lost albatross
• (109) emily mills

Weirdest/most random keywords:

• albatross plastic
• obama babies
• the gutter post blogspot
• naughty nurses
• ron paul nutter
• techno emo bands

Most hits on the blog in one day:

• 249 on Sept. 16 - presumably in response to one of these posts.

Most fascinating series of rant-like comments from, one can only assume, the subject of the post himself:

• "Blogger in Fleischman case issues strange retraction"

(Current status of the case.)

Personal favorites:

• Thanks, Sarah
• Traveling tales: Stumbling onto the ultimate pizza
• The tree forts of our lives
• How to become an overnight rock star
• Recollecting my punk, jam band, emo, techno, rock-and-roll past
  

Here are some photos I took, by month:

February

We really did get an awful lot of snow last winter.

...which worked out fine for this guy, at the Madison Winter Festival.

The snow didn't keep then candidate Barack Obama, or the crowd of 70,000+, away from the Kohl center, either.

April

The Human Rights Torch, a protest against the Olympics being held in China, came through Madison in April.

May

Art Bike Rally!

Tegan and Sara performing at the Barrymore Theatre.

A trip to visit friends and nightmarish, post-apocalyptic landscapes in the Bay Area, CA.

June

Louisville, Kentucky, for their Kino chapter's 48-hour film Kabaret.

July

My first Madison Flickr group photo walk.

August

Ah, memories. The Civil War Experience up at Wade House.
I got to cover the National Poetry Slam finals, which was a lot of fun.

September

Monotonix performing at the first-ever Forward Music Fest. One of the best live shows I saw all year.
The Willy Street Fair! Always a good time.

October

The tenth annual International Drag King Extravaganza, in Columbus, Ohio.

November

Protesting the passage of Prop 8 in California, right here in Wisconsin.

My Brightest Diamond performing at the Orpheum Stage Door Theatre.

December

The Chin in person!

And last but not least, my sister's adorable chihuahua, taking a nap post Christmas festivities.