OK, so I liked the TV show "Ed" when it was on, which predisposes me to enjoying Tom Cavanagh. And I'm in my 30s. And I live in New York City. And I love music. Obviously, that means I should like Love Monkey, Cavanagh's new show about all of the above. And I absolutely do like it: from the obvious but enjoyable boy-girl interplay to the four-friends underpinnings to the theme of having and pursuing a passion (and also to Cavanagh's trademark rambling soliloquies, which seem to have rubbed off on me). I don't know that it has the broad appeal to become a mainstay of CBS's otherwise bread-and-butter lineup, but I sure hope it does. I may even discover some good new music while I'm at it.

As if the show weren't appealing enough, its theme song is "Someone Who's Cool," one of the better tracks by the Odds, a little-known Beatlesque power-pop band from Canada that I have come to adore over the years. Having one's song become a TV theme is hardly the road to fame—ask The Rembrandts, Mach Five and countless others—but the recognition is fun.

Also fun is that three of the four main characters of "Ed" have returned to substantial television roles this season. Ah, Stuckey Bowl, we hardly knew you.

Jumping on the meme, here's my 2005 list (one or more nights in each location, * indicates multiple nonconsecutive visits):

New York, NY
Paris, France
Livingston, NJ *
New City, NY *
Palm Beach, FL
Schroon Lake, NY
Rockport, MA
Cape May, NJ
London, England
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Lancaster, PA
Longboat Key, FL
Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Pretty thin year for me, in the scheme of things (hey, I did this in 2004 too).

This year promises to be more exciting: already on my agenda are Honolulu, Maui, and Lanai, Hawaii; Santa Barbara, CA; Rio Grande, Puerto Rico; and Edgartown, MA, plus several repeats from 2005.

My favorite new Internet read is economists' blogs. Short-term, off-the-cuff analysis of current events and trends by people whose discipline is to do just that. Often, economics articles come in conjunction with other editorial features; economist blogs give me lots of present-tense economic theory without waiting for a particular contextual frame.

Some of the blogs I'm reading:
The Big Picture
Freakonomics
The Sports Economist (particularly entertaining)
Marginal Revolution

Funniest thing I've heard all year, and perhaps my favorite download ever: People, Let Me Get This Off My Chest, 70 tracks of Paul Stanley's onstage banter from assorted Kiss concerts.

Now, I've been a Kiss fan for a long time, and I still love the songs I grew up listening to. But a big turning point for me was paying attention to Paul's chatter on "Alive III," where I realized just how much he reminded me of Kevin Cronin. It's been downhill from there. This is the final, glorious, undeniably terrific nail in the coffin. (Tremble.com has a few tracks posted.)

Pete Townshend has warned iPod users to watch their volume. This is of monumental importance, and I'm glad Townshend is speaking out. His was the first case of tinnitus I knew of, and ten years into my own case, I can testify to the value—and necessity—of monitoring the volume knob. Note to all: please heed this advice.