My Best of 2008: Pop Culture Awards December 22, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in Big in 2008 Awards, baseball, dexter.Tags: awards, best movie, best of 2008, best tv show, chris cagle, darius rucker, denard span, dexter, michael c. hall, milk, minnesota twins, pop culture, sean penn
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Best TV Show: Dexter
Honorable Mentions: 30 Rock, The Office, Jeopardy!, Always Sunny
Oh Michael C. Hall, you slay me!
The best TV show in 2008 was the kind of show I never thought I’d like–a suspenseful crime drama. After a recommendation by Bradley Feeney (the King of TV suggestions), I purchased Season 1 on DVD. It took a couple episodes to get into it, but soon I was completely enthralled with Dexter.
Lauren and I watched all of the first season on DVD, then watched all of Season 2 online. I think I’d go so far as to say Season 2 was the best single season of a TV show in recent memory. The build-up to the finale was the most entertaining and suspenseful TV I’ve seen. Season 3 was different, but also good. Not quite as good as the other seasons, but still the best show of the year.
Best Movie: Milk
Honorable Mentions: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Tropic Thunder, Dark Knight
Milk wins for best movie kinda by default. The reason is, I simply didn’t see many movies in 2008. I tried to count all the movies I went to in ‘08, and all I could remember were the movies mentioned above. I bet I’m forgetting a couple… not to take anything away from Milk.
I saw Milk very recently, with Travis, Feeney, and Brad Gausman here in Uptown. The movie is about the first openly gay man to win a seat in a public office. Sean Penn gives another outstanding performance, but I’d bet Josh Brolin and James Franco are more likely to win an Oscar for their supporting roles.
Best Music Artist: Darius Rucker
Honorable Mentions: Weezer, Supersuckers, Travis & Jonny, Tuesdays Robot
Darius Rucker
Man, come to think of it, I didn’t really get very interested in a music performer this year. Usually there’s one artist who sweeps me away for a while, like Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, and Smashing Pumpkins. But this year, I can’t think of any such artist.
So, in a year when America elected its first black president, I will award this honor to the rare black country artist. I really did like Darius Rucker’s new country album, Learn to Live. Lauren and I listened to that CD on the way home from work for weeks, singing along to hits like “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” and “All I Want.”
Along with Weezer’s self-titled red album and Tuesdays Robot’s Peace Sing-a-Long, this was one of three albums I paid money for in 2008. And I must say, well worth it!
Best Song: “What Kinda Gone,” Chris Cagle
Honorable Mentions: “It’s Good to Be Us,” Bucky Covington; “Just Got Started Loving You,” James Otto, “Lookin’ for a Good Time,” Lady Antebellum; “Country Fried,” Zac Brown Band; “Heart Songs,” Weezer
In my opinion, 2008 was a great year for country music. The problem I had between this category and the last one is a ton of artists had one good song, not multiple good songs. So it was easy to pick a good song over an artist.
The one song that sums up 2008 best is undoubtedly Chris Cagle’s “What Kinda Gone.” It may never be remembered as a great song (in fact, I don’t believe it ever hit #1). But we sure listened to it and sang along with it a lot this summer. I think when I look back on ‘08, this (and perhaps Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”) will stick out the most.
Outstanding Sports Moment: Twins 7, White Sox 6 (10)
Honorable Mentions: Chargers beat Colts in AFC playoffs, Timberwolves almost winning a game
Mauer and Punto, only after a win like this is this excusable.
Oh, what a game it was in late September. The White Sox came to town, leading the Twins by 2.5 games in the AL Central with just six games to play. The Twins needed a sweep to stay alive. They took the first two games to get to within a half-game, and then came the greatest baseball game I’ve ever seen in person.
The Metrodome was packed for a Thursday night game that had the season on the line. Unfortunately the White Sox capitalized on some sloppy play and took an early 6-1 lead. But the Twins kept chipping away white holding the Sox’ bats in check. When Denard Span tripled in the tying run in the eighth, the Metrodome was absolutely rocking. I was screaming, jumping, and cheering. Then some strange Chinese man leaped into my arms.
In extra innings, Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run with two outs, sending the crowd into a frenzy. It was crazier than any playoff game I’ve been to. It certainly looked then like the Twins would win the division, but KC came to town and took 2 of 3, sending the Twins to a 1-game playoff in Chicago, where they lost 1-0. Talk about deflating.
Overall Award for Most Oustanding Pop Culture Icon of 2008: Michael C. Hall
Honorable Mentions: Denard Span, Darius Rucker, Chris Cagle, James Franco, Alex Trebek, Charlie Day (Always Sunny), Nick Blackburn, Tina Fey, Rainn Wilson, Barack Obama, Jennifer Carpenter, John Gordon, Sid Hartman, Al Franken, Tom Petty
And, the best of 2008 in pop culture goes to none other than Dexter actor Michael C. Hall, for his role as Dexter Morgan, blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department. Congrats, MCH!
RG.com Big in 2008 Awards: Part III of III December 21, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in Big in 2008 Awards.Tags: awards, jeff laplant, lauren poulter, marcie glanzer
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To finish things up for the fan-voted awards for the best of 2008, here are the three most prestigious awards!
Award for Oustanding Achievements in the Field of Excellence: Lauren Poulter
Runner-Up: Jason LaPlant
Lauren at the bat
Eligible for the first time in this category, Lauren Poulter easily defeated imcumbent Jason LaPlant to win the year’s top honor.
It was quite the year for Lauren, as she found a fantastic new job at Supervalu HQ while becoming engaged to me. Not only that, but she also knitted a lot of things!
The voters spoke out very clearly: Lauren Poulter is our favorite. But Jason LaPlant earned a good share of votes as well. Nick, Sarah, and Walsh were a little outnumbered, but their nominations alone made them proud.
Outstanding Friend in a Supporting Role: Jeff LaPlant
Runners Up: Liz Burke, Kate Rosok, Tim Rosok
There was no clear-cut runaway winner in this category, but Jeff LaPlant, with just six votes, was the highest vote-getter. Coming in second place with Elizabeth Burke, followed by the Rosoks with three votes apiece. This was the only category where every nominee received at least one vote.
Jeff, for the second consecutive year, showed excellence in many areas, but 2008 was a bit different than in the past. Jeff gave up on his hard-partying ways and instead hit the gym, gaining the support and admiration of everyone.
Outstanding Family Member: Marcie Glanzer
For the first time, Mom won the award for Outstanding Family Member. Now, everyone has won the award at least once. While Alex was off getting married and Jordan was off giving birth, it was Mom who prevailed, quietly hauling mail and decorating the house.
Some Marcie Glanzer highlights of the year were mentioned in a recent column she wrote on my website. Her trip to the .38 Special concert in Huron, the big Willow Lake Alumni 4th of July celebration, and of course wedding planning were among her biggest achievements of the year.
What does 2009 hold in store for Grandma Marcie? Time shall tell.
And there you have it, the 2008 award winners! I intend to announce a few more awards of my own this week, including my favorites of the year in pop culture!
RG.com Big in 2008 Awards: Part II of III December 20, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in Best Picture Winners.Tags: 2008, aaron pratt, awards, beagle, chris ahrendt, josh kleve, roscoe, ryan glanzer
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Last night, I handed out the first handful of awards. Today, I give out a few more to some more very deserving people, and even a canine.
Rookie of the Year: Roscoe Domenichetti
Runners Up: Sarah Domenichetti, Josh Kleve
Roscoe Domenichetti, Minnesota Viking fanatic
In a bit of a surprise, a beagle defeated a strong group of human rookies. Roscoe, the family pooch, emerged on the scene in early 2008 when he moved with Sarah and the rest of us to our Uptown residence. Here, Roscoe basically fell in love with me, as I fed him lots more food than his mom would normally allow.
Roscoe, who was trained by Sarah as a pup to do several basic tricks and commands, entertained guests by begging on his hind legs for treats, rolling over, playing dead, bowing, and of course sitting. The snuggly pooch even slept in our bed many times, burrowing himself under our covers.
Yes, Roscoe truly earned Rookie of the Year honors.
Outstanding Cameo Appearances: Chris Ahrendt
Runners-Up: Brad Gausman, David Becker
The award for friends who made limited appearances (in my presence) this year goes to old college roommate Chris Ahrendt.
Chris and wife Carol came to Minneapolis this summer with the Ahrendt family and attended a Twins game. Lauren and I went to the game as well and hung out, and afterwards, we all got together for drinks at Black Forest Inn.
I expect we’ll see Mr. Ahrendt more in the coming year as he finally finishes up with grad school at Nebraska, and serves as a groomsman in the wedding. And perhaps there could be an addition to the Ahrendt family?
Outstanding Co-Worker: Aaron Pratt
Runners Up: Mike Laven, Josh Kleve
Aaron Pratt
The year’s most outstanding co-worker was once again, for the third straight year, Aaron H. Pratt, the Director of Marketing at our company. This year, Aaron took his show on the road, traveling to China, Japan, and the UK in hopes of spreading the word about low-cost, effective disc duplication and printing.
Rumors early in 2008 were bandied about that this could finally be Mike Laven’s year to win the award, but Pratt made a strong comeback in the fall and earned the voters’ support.
Stay tuned, as I will shortly reveal the winners for Friend in a Supporting Role, Outstanding Family Member, and Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Excellence.
RyanGlanzer.com Big in 2008 Award Winners, Part I of III December 19, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in Big in 2008 Awards.Tags: awards, hudson krogman, jesse cooney, lauren poulter, nick sandbulte, ryan glanzer
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Jesse Cooney
Most Attractive Person: Jesse Cooney
Runners-Up: Lauren Poulter, Aaron Pratt
Surprise, surprise! For the third year in a row, Jesse Cooney was named the year’s most attractive person. Cooney’s good looks have greatly impacted his daily life, as he continues to set new JC Penney shoe sales records. This year, Cooney celebrated his 25th birthday, and let me tell you, he doesn’t look a day over 23.
Also receiving votes in this write-in category were Lauren Poulter, Aaron Pratt, Hudson Krogman, Travis Bolton, Jordan Krogman, Alex Glanzer, Sarah Domenichetti, Jason LaPlant, Roscoe, Kate Rosok, Michelle Barnes, Jeff LaPlant, and C. Mangold.
Moment of the Year: Lauren and Ryan Get Engaged, September 12
In a close vote, it was decided that the best overall moment of the year was when Lauren said “yes” to my marriage proposal, beating out Hudson’s birth, Abby’s birth, and Alex and Ann’s wedding.
I remember it like it was just a few short months ago. I took the afternoon off work and went to pick up all sorts of goodies for the night, then checked into our luxurious suite at the downtown Marriott in Minneapolis, where Luke Katuin had secured a room for me. I told Lauren there was a surprise trip that night, and as soon as I returned home, supposedly from work, we left on a ten-minute ride, where I unveiled our secret location and popped the big question. Clearly, this was a bigger deal than Alex’s wedding or the births of two new babies.
Nick Sandbulte
Tony Batista Award for Outstanding Athletic Achievement: Nick Sandbulte
Runner-Up: Patrick Lynch
Nick Sandbulte, for the second straight year, won honors for the top athlete, narrowly beating out Patrick, with Steve Carlson and Lauren close behind.
In 2008, Nick played one game for our Chaska men’s basketball team, and if I recall correctly, he even made a basket… or at least shot once or twice. Nick also played on our Minneapolis co-ed softball team to some acclaim, usually playing outfield. Nick’s knack for diving for balls and hustle earned him a reputation in the clubhouse as a team player.
But, like years past, it was Nick’s continuing excellence in racquet sports that likely earned him the voters’ selection. While we didn’t play much racquetball this year, Nick did play Jason a lot in tennis.
Outstanding Extended Family Member: Hudson Krogman
Runners Up: Peyton Krogman, Katie Wilkins
In a bit of a shocker, Peyton Krogman’s five-year stranglehold on Extended Family Member came to an abrupt end when baby brother Hudson beat her out by a single vote. The question that comes to mind now is where’s the love for Emmy, who received just two votes!
Hudson entered the world in May, and his short life to this point has been well-documented by his mother, Jordan. From what I can tell in my limited experience around Hudson, he seems like a very happy baby who likes eating things and rarely cries. I think if I had to take care of any of the Krogmans for a day, Hudson would be the easiest.
Also a bit of a surprise was darkhorse candidate, cousin Katie Wilkins, who finished just two votes shy of her first ever award win.
Hottest Little Couple: Ryan Glanzer and Lauren Poulter
Runner-Up: C. M. Walsh and Sarah Domenichetti
Ryan and Lauren
Wow, what can I say? I didn’t expect to win my own award, but if that’s what the fans say, then who am I to turn it down! Alex and Ann had previously taken this award in fairly convincing fashion, but this year it came down to the Big Four: me and Lauren; Walsh and Sarah.
When asked if she had anything to say to the dozens of fans who voted, Lauren replied “I want to thank [Ryan], for being so cute! And nice! And thanks to everyone who voted for us. Excellent judgment. We were obviously the most deserving.”
While the criteria to be nominated for this award remains a little vague, I did declare that it is only open for non-married couples.
Check back next time, when I unveil the next few winners!
Faribault Fest! December 6, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: awards, christmas, faribault, indian food, pub crawl
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Today, in a matter of an hour or two, Lauren, Nick, and I are packing up and venturing 49 miles south to Faribault, Minnesota, home of dear friend C. M. Walsh. Since Walsh got his new job south of the metro, we’ve been trying to plan a weekend to go crash at his house and hit up the small-town bars. Sarah is already there, and I’m sure as soon as we arrive, the party will get started.
Faribault, (pronounced fair-i-BOH), is home to a crazy escapade from the summer of 2002, when Luke Katuin, Nick Olson, and I took a day off work to go get tattoos. I had planned on getting the bat from the Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell album cover, but when I saw the look of remorse on Nick’s face after getting an evil clown tattoo on his leg, I backed down and settled for a Chargers lightning bolt on my right arm.
Yesterday after work, Lauren and I revisited the site of our first date, Chapati Indian Restaurant in Edina. I told the server we were celebrating our anniversary in hopes of getting something free, but I don’t think she understood what I was getting at! We ordered the “dinner for two,” which was so much food that we took half of it home and ate it for lunch today. We also purchased a fake 7′ Christmas tree, which we set up and decorated. We’re pretty festive around these parts!
This week, we get even more festive. Friday evening is the company Christmas party in Chaska. Lauren and I will go for dinner, but we’ve gotta break out early and head to downtown Minneapolis to be on hand for the second half of the 12 Bars of Christmas charitable pub crawl. Last year we had a ton of fun, but we still only made it to half the bars. Once 10:00 rolled around, the 250 people on the tour were so intoxicated that the group has kinda gone their own ways. So if we don’t even start until Bar #6, we should be all set to make it to #12.
And if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to vote for the Ryan Glanzer Big in 2008 Awards! I’m only going to keep the polling open for another week or so. So far, I’ve only recevied a disappointing 15 votes!
Vote Now in the Big in 2008 Awards! December 3, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: achievements, awards, jesse cooney, ryan glanzer, vote
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Each year since 2003, I’ve held public voting for my annual awards, and this year is no exception. This year, vote for awards in 11 categories. There are fewer categories this year due in part to my laziness and in part to my lack of remembering enough about the year!
The year’s highest honor is the Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Excellence (yes, taken from an early episode of The Simpsons). The nominees are Lauren, Walsh, Jason, Sarah, and Nick. These were the five most prominent friends of the year. I don’t want anyone to think I’m ranking them ahead of those up for Outstanding Friend in a Supporting Role or Outstanding Cameo Appearances by a Friend! They were simply the ones I spent the most time with and saw the most in 2008. Well, with the obvious exception of Lauren who I do like best and am marrying in 2009.
There are 13 people up for Outstanding Friend in a Supporting Role, and 11 up for the Cameo Appearances award. For these awards, I did not include co-workers or family members. As usual, they have their own awards. I hope no one important was forgotten, but I’m sure there were a few.
Some intriguing storylines in this year’s awards include Peyton Krogman’s stranglehold on Extended Family Member of the Year, which she has won five straight times. Can little sister Emmy or newborn Hudson pull an upset? Or could darkhorse Stuart Bell figure into the mix?
Another interesting subplot will be the award for Most Attractive Person, recently dominated by Jesse Cooney. Cooney disappointingly has stopped exclusively wearing dress clothes and ties in public settings—could this have an effect on a possible repeat?
Well, we’ll see how everything plays itself out this year. Vote now, and recruit your friends to vote!
MLB Pick’em Game Comes to Close November 17, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: awards, baseball, mets, minnesota twins, mvp, phillies, predictions, rays, red sox, seth stohs, tigers, world series
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It took eleven whole months after the RyanGlanzer.com MLB Pick’em Game began, but today, after the announcement of the National League MVP, a winner has come forth. (A couple people could move around a little after tomorrow’s AL MVP announcement, however.) The 2008 champion, knocking off ‘07 champ Josh Pomplun, is popular Twins blogger Seth Stohs, who is the only person out of 32 to pick even one of the two World Series teams. Stohs’ prediction of a Red Sox-Phillies World Series earned him the extra points needed to win the game.
My scoring system was a bit odd.
- 1 point for each correct division winner or wild card winner
- 1/2 point if you picked the playoff team, but not the correct spot (i.e. Brewers winning Central)
- 3 points for a correct World Series team representation
- 1 additional point for picking the World Series champion
- 1 point each for AL MVP, NL MVP, AL Cy Young, NL Cy Young, and AL and NL home run leaders.
- In the event of a tiebreaker, Nick Punto’s batting average was predicted
Here are the final standings. Tiebreakers based on the Punto average. I’ll also include everyone’s World Series predictions!
- Seth Stohs, 6.5, Red Sox over Phillies
- Gil from San Diego, 5.5, Dodgers over Red Sox
- Eric Olson, 5, Angels over Brewers
- Alex Glanzer, 4.5, Tigers over Mets
- Brian Lemke, 4.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Josh from Burnsville, 4, Tigers over Mets
- Calvin Krogman, 3.5, Mets over Tigers
- Brian Giggee, 3.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Dusty Hovde, 3.5, Indians over Mets
- Steve Ellingson, 3.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Aaron Pratt, 3, Red Sox over Mets
- Dan Virchow, 3, Angels over Mets
- Chris Walsh, 3, Mets over Tigers
- Craig from Moorhead, 3, Red Sox over Diamondbacks
- Jon Mueller, 3, Mets over Red Sox
- Josh Pomplun, 3, Red Sox over Braves
- Greg Dean, 3, Red Sox over Mets
- Charlie Ahern, 3, Royals over Mets
- Tovar Creole, 3, Pirates over Rangers
- Jeff LaPlant, 3, Reds over Red Sox
- Jason LaPlant, 2.5, Twins over Dodgers
- Colin Goldman, 2.5, Mariners over Diamondbacks
- Josh Krueger, 2.5, Mets over Tigers
- Matt Hanson, 2.5, Twins over Mets
- Kyle Henning, 2.5, Mets over Tigers
- Ryan Glanzer, 2.5, Tigers over Diamondbacks
- Justin Korbel, 2.5, Tigers over Mets
- Lauren Poulter, 2, Tigers over Cubs
- Chris Ahrendt, 2, Mets over Tigers
- Bryan Hagen, 2, Tigers over Brewers
- AJ Sabako, 1, Yankees over Marlins
- Marcie Glanzer, 0.5, Yankees over Reds
Interesting to note that the only person to pick the Rays to make the playoffs was 19th place winner Tovar Creole, who also picked the White Sox to win the Central. Unfortunately, that’s about all he got right, as he picked the Pirates to win it all.
Go here to see everyone’s complete preseason picks.
Big in ‘08 Awards? Thoughts? October 29, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in Uncategorized.Tags: blog, jordan krogman, world series, cbs, youtube, awards
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Every year since 2003 I’ve held the RyanGlanzer.com Big in 200X Awards (ripoff of VH1’s Big in 200X Awards). This year, my website was replaced by this blog after 37 too many incidents at work. If you want to blame someone for the disappearance of the website, blame my employers! So anyway, I’m debating whether or not I should even do the awards, a very popular feature, this year. There seemed to be some actual hard feelings last year among those that either lost or weren’t nominated at all.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think I should do this year!
In other news… I use Google Reader to read up on my websites every day. They came out with this new feature which shows the details of each of the websites for which I receive feeds, and you can tell how many people subscribe to them using Google Reader. This brought out an amazing statistic.
5 people subscribe to this blog’s feed, which accounts for only about 10% of my daily traffic of about 50 visitors, so it’s safe to assume that the same ratio would be true for other sites. A bit startling to me, I discovered Jordan’s photography blog has 98 Google Reader subscribers, meaning her blog likely has a daily devoted readership of around 980 people! Jordan could probably earn some money by advertising on that blog!
Also, I have one more tidbit of news that is exciting to me but I guarantee no one else would ever care about. I found the theme song to CBS’s World Series telecasts from 1990-1993 on YouTube and converted it to an MP3 at this website. Tell me that’s not a beautiful song! Now I can play that dramatic 2-minute song in my car and announce fake events over the top of it to entertain myself while driving. Seriously, I find this exciting. It may even be the basis for a new video project someday!
