Fight.Boredom's Best of 2008

Since 2002, we've done our best to use Fight.Boredom as a vehicle for discussion and critique of creativity, pop culture, and graphic design in and outside of the workplace. And over the course of all that time, the website has changed shape several times – from a monthly to an annual newsletter, both in service of Cloudjammer Studio, before finally transforming into the blog you read today.

In all that time, we've always been thrilled by the feedback we've gotten from clients, friends, and casual readers who've either subscribed to or stumbled upon our site. And we've always been surprised by the amount of web traffic Fight.Boredom receives – especially now, more than a year after Cloudjammer Studio's official dissolution and the end of Fight.Boredom's email subscriptions.

Between March 1 and Dec 31, 2008 – corresponding to the date we installed Google Analytics and the end of the calendar year – Fight.Boredom received over 13,000 unique pageviews (over 17,000 total) with an average time on page of 1:43. And in that time, a few articles in particular really stand out.

Thanks in large part to an appearance on Stumbleupon.com, our March pop-culture post "I Think Star Wars is Turning Japanese" rocketed to the top of Fight.Boredom's metrics, scoring almost 6,000 unique pageviews – almost 900 in one day alone. Other favorite articles included our 2005 piece "SCAD Comes to Atlanta", personal favorite "Arabic in Graphic Design: Al Jazeera's Cartouche", and longtime fan favorites "Cursing Like A Sailor In Primetime" and "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker".

Much to our surprise, the majority of visitors were Firefox users (53%). But, to be expected, most were Americans (66%), PC users (78%), and almost all were new visitors (94%) who found us through Google (56%) of Stumbleupon (22%).

And in the past year, we have, as in years past, kept our ears open, listening to a wide variety of the best music available both at home at in the workplace. In addition to reviewing the best and most popular of the website's articles, we wanted to share with you, as we have in years past, the best of our annual playlist:

Adele's "Cold Shoulder"
From the album "19"
Listen to or buy this song on iTunes
Hopefully this soulful British songstress will serve a much needed antidote to Amy Winehouse.

Coldplay's "Lost?"
From the album "Viva la Vida"
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A softer, more sentimental acoustic version of the heavily played Lost! that feels like a perfect anthem for a bittersweet year.

Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into The Dark"
From the album "Plans"
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A touching, darkly romantic track that calmed our frazzled nerves while Ann and I drove to the hospital to have our son.

Flight Of The Conchords' "Ladies Of The World"
From the album "Flight Of The Conchords"
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We were late comers to this show – especially since we don't have HBO – but we've fallen in love with their hilarious music.

Iron & Wine's "Carousel"
From the album "The Shepard's Dog"
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Hands down, one of the best albums we've come across in recent years.

Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around"
From the album "American IV: The Man Comes Around"
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If you haven't seen the explosive season 1 finale to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, masterfully set to this apocalyptic track, then you need to.

My Morning Jacket's "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2"
From the album "Evil Urges"
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While none of MMJ's album cuts compare to their live performances, this fantastic track caps a great release.

Radiohead's "Reckoner"
From the album "In Rainbows"
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A fantastic album, from beginning to end – and, if you got it during Radiohead's online sales experiment, at a great price, to boot.

Snow Patrol's "Shut Your Eyes"
From the album "Eyes Open"
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Another track that soothed Ann and me on our way to the hospital to have Jack.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps"
From the album "Fever To Tell"
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Ever since we rocked out to this song while playing Rock Band, we've been addicted to its hypnotic rhythm and vocals.

Thanks for a great 2008! FB