Top Selling Artists Of 2012

(Via Boy Culture)

National Geographic's Photo Of 2012

National Geographic has announced the winners in their annual photography contest. The photo above took the grand prize; more are at the link.

Dan Savage Thanks Straight Allies

Happy New Year!

Yet another eventful year has come and gone for this here website thingy. In 2012 we saw about 23 million pageviews on just over 11,000 posts on which you crazy kids left over a million comments.  As I mentioned in this post last year, blogging is like a homework assignment that is never done, but is always due. Nevertheless, you all make it a lot easier with your emails, your story tips, and your encouragement.

I traveled a bit more than usual in 2012, covering various LGBT and progressive events around the nation. But as you can tell by the photo above,  the highlight of the year was attending the Democratic National Convention where I got to meet and share the messages of so many of the heroes of our movement, not the least of whom were the hundreds of openly LGBT state caucus members, folks who are truly doing the unsung heavy lifting for us in their home communities. Another very memorable 2012 day was sharing the stage with Dan Savage for some lovely recognition from the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.  And hey, I also got sainted!

I'm grateful to all of you for continuing readership, for your unflagging commitment to equality, and for your, ahem, vociferous participation here in the JMG community. Tonight, I'll be raising my glass to each and every one of you. I'll be raising it a lot! The last year was surely one of the best in the history of our movement. I look forward to working with all of you to make 2013 even bigger and better!  Thank you, everybody!

SPECIAL THANKS: Extra gratitude goes out to JMG's behind-the-scenes copy editor Betty (AKA Birdie) who corrects my inelegant syntax, careless typos, and brain-freeze misspellings. Mwah!

2012 In Four Minutes

This might cause you to have a seizure.

(Via Andrew Belonsky)

Matt Baume: 2012 Marriage News Recap

Billboard Posts Pop Music Obit Slideshow

Click over to Billboard for their photo essay on this year's passings in the pop music world.  Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Adam Yauch, Don Cornelius, Davy Jones, Robin Gibb, Etta James, Dick Clark...and on and on. I can't remember the last time so many huge names died in the same year.

Michael Musto As Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie's bare leg was a hot internet meme for a second or two in 2012. Inside the year-end issue of Village Voice, you'll also find Musto as the Tan Mom. Read his 2012-in-review essay at the link.

Andrew Sullivan's 2012 Yglesias Award

Our own Father Tony Adams is among Andrew Sullivan's 2012 finalists in his annual Yglesias Award, which is granted to "writers, politicians, columnists or pundits who actually criticize their own side, make enemies among political allies, and generally risk something for the sake of saying what they believe."  Hit the link for the quotes from all of this year's finalists. Vote for your choice at the link.

DISCLOSURE: Father Tony's quote comes from his article in the 2012 issue of the national Pride Magazine, of which I was senior editor.

JMG Top Ten Tracks For 2012

Here's my annual roundup of the tracks that got the most play at Casa JMG. A few of them appeared here on the blog over the year, but most did not.  A couple of them aren't even originally from this year, but became unexpected 2012 hits due to remix treatments.  Clickety on the unfamiliar ones and tell us what you think.

1. Scissor Sisters - Let's Have A Kiki
(Tired of it now, but the song of the summer)
2. Pet Shop Boys - Leaving
(Plus the Side-By-Side Remix)
3. Hot Chip - How Do You Do?
(The Todd Terje Remix)
4. Crystal Ark - We Came To
(Groovy retro deep house)
5. Gardens & Villa - Gypsy
(Yes, the Fleetwood Mac classic)
6. Frankie Knuckles - You Make Feel (Mighty Real)
(Yes, the Sylvester classic)
7. Asaf Avidan - One Day/Reckoning Song
(2012 smash remix of 2008 release)
8. SOHN - The Wheel
 (Gorgeous and hard to categorize)
9. Luke Potter - We're Alive
(Lenny B Extended Remix)
10. The Rapture - Sail Away
(Digitalism 2012 Remix)

MORE FAVORITES:
Kolombo - Don't Be Shy 
Poolside - Why You Wanna
Slowdance - Boyfriend

Here's the radio mix of Luke Potter track, the extended version of which I can only find on Spotify. It was the song of Key West this week.

Warmest Year Ever For New York City

Via Wall Street Journal:

New York City is poised to finish its warmest year since modern record-keeping began, with an average temperature projected to top 57.2 degrees. A Wall Street Journal analysis of federal temperature data from an observation station at Central Park puts 2012 on course to surpass the three-way tie for the city's warmest year, which is currently shared by 1990, 1991 and 1998. Temperature records at Central Park date back to 1869, the longest-running set of government weather data in the five boroughs. Eight of the 10 warmest years in that span have occurred since 1990. Tree-ring analysis and other proxy data compiled by climate scientists suggest 2012 might be the warmest since the Dutch opened the trading post of New Amsterdam in 1624, said William Solecki, director of the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities at Hunter College. "I think it is entirely possible that 2012 might be the warmest year for the city since its founding," he said.

"It snowed a few times in 2012, therefore climate change is a communist conspiracy concocted by leftists to destroy American capitalism," said every wingnut in Teabagistan.

Another 2012 In Review Clip

There have been a lot of these, of course, but this one I quite like.

Photo Of The Year?

Discuss.

Madge Tops 2012 Tour Grosses

From Billboard's year-end ranking of tour grosses:

1. Madonna - $228M
2. Bruce Springsteen - $199M
3. Roger Waters - $168M
4. Cirque Du Soleil "Michael Jackson Immortal" - $147M
5. Coldplay - $147M
6. Lady Gaga - $125M
7. Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw - $96M
8. Van Halen - $57M
9. Jay-Z & Kayne West - $47M
10. Andre Rieu - $46M

All of Madonna's 72 shows were sellouts.

Open Thread Thursday

What were you favorite songs of 2012? I'll post my own top ten later today.

TIME's Person Of The Year: Barack Obama

President Obama has been named TIME Magazine's Person Of 2012.

The selection was announced Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. The short list for the honor included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head for advocating for girls' education. It also included Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Obama also received the honor in 2008, when he was President-elect. Last year, "The Protester" got the honor. Time's "Person of the Year" is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg received the honor. Other previous winners have included Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Bono and President George W. Bush.

The wingnut wailing will be delicious.

YouTube Rewinds 2012's Viral Stars

I must not be as plugged in as I'd imagined because I don't recognize half of these people.

The United State Of Pop 2012

Here's DJ Earworm's annual mash-up of this year's biggest pop hits. I've posted these for the last five years, here are the previous ones.

Billboard's Song Of The Year

The rest of the Top 100 songs of 2012 is here.

Turner Classic Movies Remembers 2012

Here's this year's Hollywood obituary reel.