And so, here’s my very own top ten, a list culled from a glance at my Last.fm charts from 2011, from the playlists I made on Spotify, from my MP3 purchases here and there, and from my own spotty memory.

1. Mutemath – Odd Soul – This one caught me by surprise. I suppose I’d heard of Mutemath, but filed them away under “Yeah, I don’t think that’s my thing.” Turns out, it’s kind of my thing.
2. Adele – 21 – Yes, I know. She’s on everybody’s list. And maybe it’s time to give 21 a rest, but when we all come back to this album in a year or so, it’ll still be really damn good.
3. Phonte – Charity Starts At Home – One of these days, the stars will align and I’ll make it out to a Phonte show. I’ve an almost blind admiration for this profane and talented Renaissance man from North Carolina.
4. Joan As Police Woman – The Deep Field – Not a week goes by without me listening to “Magic” at least once. It’s kind of like therapy.
5. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones – Thorin Hanson sent me a few tracks on Spotify and I was done and well. It’s punk, it’s acoustic, it’s folk, it’s something that Turner just owns and sells so well. Also, such a great concert.
6. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake – Looking for the soundtrack for the story of 2011? This is it.
7. St Vincent – Strange Mercy – Strange and good music from a strange girl. If you told me that St Vincent was an alien from some small planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, I’d just nod and say, “That makes sense.”
8. James Blake – James Blake – A spare, lonely little album of electronic longing.
9. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar – Such a brash, noisy, wonderful thing. If you pick just one album from this list to pursue, let it be this one.
10. The Roots – Undun – The best band working today. Still.
11. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 – I love this album like bacon loves eggs.
12. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest – If you need to take a little roadtrip along the two-lane highways of North Georgia, let this be your accompaniment.
13. Lady Gaga – Born This Way – Shut up. You listened to it just as much.
14. Idle Warship – Habits of the Heart – Ten years ago, Res released an album called How I Do. I adored it, every second of it, right down to the hidden jam at the end. I’ve been waiting on a follow-up since. This collaboration with Talib Kweli is the closest yet and while not perfect, it’ll do just fine.

Did I say top ten? I meant top fourteen. If you’d like to take a tour, fire up Spotify and steal this playlist.* (Note: The playlist is missing Adele’s 21, because Columbia is being a touch stingy.)

As usual, if I missed your favorite, let me know. That’s what comments are for.

In 2003, I beta-tested Star Wars Galaxies, the first MMO set in the Lucas-built world of my youth’s fascination. Set in a period between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, players could make their way in various worlds as pistoleers, as crafters, even as entertainers.

While the game proved disappointing in retail, the beta was one of the most rewarding I’ve ever known. Included in this Flickr set are shots from the final hours of the beta. There were fireworks. Well deserved fireworks.

With the release of the newest Star Wars MMO underway, it seems fitting to look back and remember.

However, you can use Spotify on your Kindle Fire. See?

Now, how did I make this miracle happen? Simple.

1. From the main screen, tap the tiny gear in the upper right to access Settings > More > Device > Allow installation of Applications (from unknown devices)> select “ON”
2. From the main screen, select Web and browse to http://m.spotify.com/us/ — from there, select the link to “manually download the application.”
3. It will appear that nothing has happened, but not so fast. Look in the upper left and select the circled number next to the name of your Kindle Fire to access “Notifications” and monitor your download. Once the download is complete, double-tap the APK file, select “Install” and press “Open” when the installation is complete.

Voila. Now you’re Spotify-ing on your Kindle Fire.

UPDATE: Aye, but here’s the rub. Once you start playing, can you stop? Take a look at the photo above. Do you see what I just noticed? The progress bar for the track is at the bottom of the screen, but controls for Play/Pause, Forward and Reverse appear to be hidden behind the seemingly non-dismissable soft-keys (Home, Back, Menu, Search) built in to the Kindle Fire UI. As with the iPhone incarnation of the Spotify app, you can swipe left or right through your queue, but pausing …

Can’t be done? (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

UPDATED UPDATE: You can pause your current Spotify app by unplugging your headphones. Now, if you want to start it up again, you’ll need to swipe to the next track and back.

I suppose the lesson to this is: While Spotify will run and run well on your Kindle Fire, the Spotify app needs to be updated to accommodate the peculiar tenacity of the Kindle Fire’s ever-present softkeys.

Well played, Amazon. Between this move and the new Flow app, you just keep making shopping (and spending) easier and easier …

(Damn you.)

Often, I’m just too busy with another of these, another production of an out-of-the-ordinary Shakespearean play. So in light of a stack of five to ten paragraphs, here’s the video record of one such night of performance. I’m not in it, but I directed it, and I couldn’t be prouder.

The play? William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1. The setting we chose for this one is the mid 1950s, a choice that should become evident in the second scene.

The show done, we gave the prop a fiery funeral on an aluminum pan pyre. What was it? A gummy ear. Used as a prop. It was a foul thing that deserved nothing less than this fate.

So with no further ado, this is how the farewell went:

You resisted him for years. You’re no fanboy, never a fangirl. Computers are tools, devices are merely those things that get you through the day. There is no place in your busy, very practical life for frippery. And yet …

Look in your purse, there’s an iPod. Buzzing in your pocket is an iPhone. You desk is home to a MacBook, perhaps. And what’s that? You’re reading Goodnight, Moon to your 2.6 children … on an iPad. Oh, you tried to resist, but it was all for naught. And if you think you’ve escaped by leaping into the arms of Android, think (different) again. Without Apple, we’d all be stuck with candybar-shaped Nokias and smartphones would still be the Blackberry-esque anchors of white-collared businessmen.

So stop avoiding and just embrace it. Steve has done you a solid and it is time to give him some props. On October 14, 2011, celebrate Steve Jobs Day. Step your game up and assemble a wardrobe that only a retiring Cupertino CEO could wear.

The Mock Turtleneck. The ultimate in dress-up leisure wear, favored the world over by laid-back security guards, late-middle-aged golfers and junior high boys who want to wear something fancy for school portrait day. It’s a top that says, “Turtlenecks are just too restrictive, but I like a little fabric creeping up my neck and threatening my respiration in a non-committal fashion.” St Croix is Steve’s brand of choice, but you can probably grab a Faded Glory knockoff from Wal-Mart for a tenth the price.

Levi’s Button-fly 501 Jeans. You’ve just got to stop, stand and salute Levi’s for this singular achievement. It’s one thing to get a generation of teenagers to ask their parents for a pair of jeans that scoff at the innovative convenience of zippers, but quite another to grab and retain the brand loyalty of the ultimate brand-builder himself. Maybe he likes the buttons. Maybe they fit his posterior unlike any other jean. Maybe it is just easier to scream into an intercom. “Lackey Number One! New 501s! Stat!”

New Balance 991s. With black socks. Again, Steve is leaning into the Sunday afternoon wear of the busy church-going pre-teen. Home from morning worship, eager to get out of those dress shoes, he throws on his sneakers with total disregard for his man-hosiery. While not as egregious as sandals-with-black-socks, the look is a statement that one much needs rock with confidence … or with a substantial bankroll that leads naysayers to disregard and carry on. Why the New Balance? Had anyone ever seen Steve run from anything or anyone? Perhaps he’s like a cheetah, ready to sprint at a moment’s notice. Or maybe he’s The Flash … no. Scratch that.

Optional opportunities for assembling the Steve Jobs Look include wire-rim glasses (round for Early Steve, more rectangular for Recent Steve), a four-day growth of sage-like gray stubble and — of course — an iPhone for demonstration purposes.

Now you’re ready.

On October 14, show Steve how much you love Steve by being Steve. (RSVP on Facebook, follow the Day on Twitter and rock the #SteveJobsDay hashtag.)

I’ve promoted Kickstarters before, but this is the first time I’m speaking up for a project that involves me directly. I’ll be playing Marty in an upcoming production of The House of Yes with Flickering Productions.

So if you’ve got some extra cash, slip some under the door …