Those Are People Who Died, Died

With the dawn of the new year, it's interesting to look back and see who has passed on in 2015. Some of these names have been very recently in the news; others have been gone for what feels like several years. Some belonged to the higher circles of art, some less so. Some will be missed, again, others less so. The one thing they all have in common; they've started the journey each of us will one day take, alone. For that, if nothing else, I salute you:

Jerry Tarkanian

Leonard Nimoy

Sam Simon

Sir Terry Pratchett

Gunther Grass

Andrew Lesnie

B B King

Sir Christopher Lee

Dusty Rhodes

Dick Van Patten

Omar Sharif

Vic Firth

Roddy Piper

Frank Gifford

Fred Eckhardt

Wes Craven

Yogi Berra

Paul Prudhomme

Fred Thompson

Scott Weiland

Nicholas Smith

Chris Squier

James Horner

Dave Henderson

Lemmy Kilmister

Natalie Cole

On a lighter note, here are some albums that came out 20 years ago.

Better Than Ezra - Deluxe
Jewel - Pieces of You
Radiohead - The Bends
Mad Season - Above
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
Death - Symbolic
Strapping Young Lad - Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing
Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut
Opeth - Orchid
Primus - Tales From The Punchbowl
Pink Floyd - Pulse
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
In Flames - Subterranean
Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters
MxPx - Teenage Politics
Kyuss - ...And The Circus Leaves Town
Ani DiFranco - Not A Pretty Girl
Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith
The Presidents Of The United States Of America - The Presidents Of The United States Of America
311 - 311
Garbage - Garbage
Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves
Jawbreaker - Dear You
Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute
AC/DC - Ballbreaker
Lisa Loeb - Tails
Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
Poe - Hello
Green Day - Insomniac
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
Spacehog - Resident Alien
Marilyn Manson - Smells Like Children
Aimee Mann - I'm With Stupid
Alice In Chains - Alice In Chains
At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul
Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane
dc Talk - Jesus Freak
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery
In Flames - The Jester Race

Of course, this list makes me feel older, which of course leads to more serious contemplation of the first list. 

Next up is a list of albums (LP or CD) I've purchased in the last year. These next two lists are mostly for my own record (ha ha) keeping: 

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse

Slowdive - Souvlaki

Zombi - Surface To Air

Deafheaven - Roads to Judah

Inter Arma - The Cavern EP

King Diamond - "Them"/Conspiracy

Television - Marquee Moon

Subrosa - More Constant Than the Gods

Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

Morphine - Cure For Pain

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

Coliseum - No Salvation

Neil Young - Dead Man Soundtrack

Steely Dan - Aja (LP)

Dire Straits - Dire Straits (LP)

Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon (LP)

Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

The Devil Makes Three - S/T

The Who - The Who Sell Out (LP)

Finally, a list of books I've completed in the last year. This was fairly heavy on graphic novels as I worked my way through best of lists and generally followed my own meandering trails of influence: 

Art Spiegelman - Maus I & II 

ed. Harvey Pekar - Best American Comics 2006 

Stan Lee - The Amazing Spider Man Vol 2 

Lew Wallace - Ben-Hur 

Rick Remender - Black Science Vol. 1 

Lynd Ward - Woodcut Novels Vol. 2 

Gustavo Duarte - Monsters! 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 3 

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 

Bob Gale - Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 1 

Alan Moore - The Killing Joke 

Ed Brubaker - The Man Who Laughs 

Grant Morrison - Arkham Asylum 

Grant Morrison - Batman R.I.P 

Jules Verne - A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 

Jeph Loeb - Batman: Hush 

Doug Moench - Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1 

Bob Gale et al. - Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 2 

Bob Gale et al. - Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 3 

Bob Gale et al. - Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 4 

Doug Moench - Batman Knightfall Vol. 2 

Doug Moench - Batman Knightfall Vol. 2 

Jeph Loeb - Batman: The Long Halloween 

Jeph Loeb - Batman: Dark Victory 

Salman Rushdie - The Ground Beneath Her Feet 

Jeph Loeb - Batman: Haunted Knight 

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Death 

Adrian Tomine - Summer Blonde 

Ovid - The Metamorphoses 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 4 

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Sandman Vol. 2 

Alan Moore - Swamp Thing Vol. 1 

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Sandman Vol. 3 

Tom Robbins - Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates 

Willa Cather - The Song of the Lark 

Neil Gaiman - Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? 

H P Lovecraft, illus. Jason Thompson - The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 5 

George R R Martin - A Feast For Crows 

Alan Moore - Swamp Thing Vol. 2 

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 

Robert Jordan - The Eye of the World 

Robert Penn Warren - All The King's Men 

Lev Grossman - The Magicians 

Lev Grossman - The Magician King 

Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 

Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 6 

Lev Grossman - The Magician's Land 

Esther Kellner - Moonshine 

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prarie 

Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings 

Henryk Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 7 

Andrew Lang ed. - The Blue Fairy Book 

Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance 

Nicolai Gogol - Diary Of A Madman and Other Stories 

Maxim Gorky - 26 And 1 and Other Stories 

O Henry - The Four Million 

Garth Ennis - Preacher Book 1 

Stan Lee - Spider-Man Masterworks Vol 8 

Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon - Daytripper 

Victor Hugo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon 

Wendy and Richard Pini - Elfquest Vol 1 

Rudyard Kipling - The Light That Failed 

Allie Brosh - Hyperbole and A Half 

Wendy and Richard Pini - Elfquest Vol 2 

H A Guerber - Legends of the Middle Ages 

Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows 

David L Hough - Proficient Motorcycling 

Garth Ennis - Preacher Book 2 

Jeffrey Morgenthaler - The Bar Book 

Washington Irving - The Works of 

Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind 

Alison Bechdel - Fun Home 

Chris Ware - Jimmy Corrigan 

Jeph Loeb - Hush 

Alan Moore - Watchmen 

M M Kaye - The Far Pavilions 

Clifton Fadiman - The Lifetime Reading Plan