Simple and easy to read here're my top picks of 2005. Little or no explanations, but feel free to ask for more details. I may or may not choose to answer them, and should I choose, there's no promise that I'll follow through with my choice to do so...or not
Top Album: "Playing the Angel" by Depeche Mode
They still got it...oh, and btw, this decision took me about a half hour to make. This means I'm gonna make a Top 10 albums because I feel really bad for not mentioning a lot of other albums.
Top Music Video that makes me smile: "Glosoli" by Sigur Ros
Words can't express its magic
Top Film: Capote
Top Video Game: Star Wars Episode III LEGO!
I don't play video games too often, but this one was real fun.
Top New Music Artist: Gogol Bordello
Who knew such good punk/gypsy music could spring from the Balkans! You can see the lead singer in the film "Everything Is Illuminated", he has some of the best lines ever.
Top Movie Poster: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (Teaser Poster)
Top Holiday: Halloween
I saw Bauhaus at the Fillmore...yeah
Top Book: "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey
Because it made even bigger fools out of Oprah's sheep/neglected housewife fans.
Top Ruined Surprise: King Kong dies! What!?
Top DVD: Batman Begins
Although I hear the Sin City DVD is quite nice
Top TV Show: "Smallville" is gettin' to turn into a show with more substance...plus Clark's dad is about to die, that'll make things more interesting.
Top Company Event: FREE TRIP TO THE ZOO! Granted, it was the only one, and the monkeys weren't there, but it was cool...right?
Top annoying Scientologist couple: "TomKat"
Top Annoying Celebrity: Ashlee Simpson
This will be the last time I ever mention her name, she shouldn't even be a subject of discussion.
Top Athlete: Peyton Manning
13 straight wins for the Colts, not bad at all
Top Line not Worth Waiting In: Any concert you already have tickets for.
Doesn't matter if it's General Admission or Assigned Seating, go out and do something else with your time instead of waiting outside the venue for an hour before the doors even open. It's kids stuff
Top Line Worth Waiting In: BEST BUY after Christmas Sale
Top Blog: Did you repose well? (Oct. 20)
I clearly need to sleep well...(time I finished this blog, 2:27 AM)
(Most of this was stolen from Gus)
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Foxy BLOG on the run...
...you scream and everybody, reads?
For whatever reason I've been listening to a lot of what would be considered as "Glam Rock". A lot of Bowie, T.Rex, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, New York Dolls, Sweet, etc. I can't really explain why I'm suddenly drawn to listen to this guitar heavy, hard hitting and larynx thrashing music. There has been a revival of sorts in the past couple years with bands like The Darkness emerging with their retro sound, and I think my desire to know the original source of things is what draws me more than anything to this style of music...either that or it just rocks and I just like it, as always, the simplest explanation seems to be the correct one.
School starts again next week. I'm taking two classes, each bound to work both of my cerebral lobes, respectively. Econ 5 (aka Statistics) and Cinematography, it should be a fun yet boring semester, I'm just glad to finally be able to work with film and get some actual training in the medium. Soon to come, my first Super8 film.
Stay tuned
For whatever reason I've been listening to a lot of what would be considered as "Glam Rock". A lot of Bowie, T.Rex, Mott the Hoople, Sweet, New York Dolls, Sweet, etc. I can't really explain why I'm suddenly drawn to listen to this guitar heavy, hard hitting and larynx thrashing music. There has been a revival of sorts in the past couple years with bands like The Darkness emerging with their retro sound, and I think my desire to know the original source of things is what draws me more than anything to this style of music...either that or it just rocks and I just like it, as always, the simplest explanation seems to be the correct one.
School starts again next week. I'm taking two classes, each bound to work both of my cerebral lobes, respectively. Econ 5 (aka Statistics) and Cinematography, it should be a fun yet boring semester, I'm just glad to finally be able to work with film and get some actual training in the medium. Soon to come, my first Super8 film.
Stay tuned
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Never has nostalgia hit me so hard...
Who here remembers Mortimer from Bill Cosby's "Picture Pages"?
If you do, we can be best friends
Also, remember the cool sound the pen would make when Cosby would write on the board?
If you do, we can be best friends
Also, remember the cool sound the pen would make when Cosby would write on the board?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
"Christmahanukwanzakah"...stop it!
It might have been funny about 3 years ago when I first heard it, but seriously, once Old Navy starts using it in their TV commercials it's no longer okay to use in normal everyday conversation, attempting to get a laugh.
And btw...why does Hanukah get an extra share in said "consolidated holiday word"? I'm pretty sure that "kah" wasn't there originally, either it's just a case of one person accidentally saying it that way and spreading or perhaps the Jews DO own the media! ha ha
Well, I only have to endure the word for a few more days, thankfully. But please, for my sake, stop saying it. Just stick to the PC term "Happy Holidays", or say "Merry Christmas" 'cause that's what I'm celebratin'.
Peace
And btw...why does Hanukah get an extra share in said "consolidated holiday word"? I'm pretty sure that "kah" wasn't there originally, either it's just a case of one person accidentally saying it that way and spreading or perhaps the Jews DO own the media! ha ha
Well, I only have to endure the word for a few more days, thankfully. But please, for my sake, stop saying it. Just stick to the PC term "Happy Holidays", or say "Merry Christmas" 'cause that's what I'm celebratin'.
Peace
Monday, December 19, 2005
Back to the grindstone...
It's both comforting and slightly disturbing when you can take a 2 week vacation from work and come back only find everything is exactly the same as when you left it. I don't know why I expected any change, 'cause usually if there's ever any change in the office I'm the one to blame. But I discovered today something worse than going 3 years without a REAL vacation, it's that first day BACK from vacation. It's so hard to work today, I wanna be outside, I wanna take the train to the beach, I wanna drive down to Fort Point or have some chowder at the wharf. Well, at least I get 3 extra days off next week for Christmas and New Years, maybe I'll satisfy my fix enough then to last me until my next vacation.
I wish I could say that my vacation was totally relaxing, but honestly it wasn't. Despite any goals I might have set to get some rest and do nothing for 2 weeks, "life" always seemed to step in and give me something new to deal with each day. I guess I should be thankful for the "Jon Time" that I was allotted, but I really needed more than I was able to squander out of those 2 weeks. There's no doubt I'll be a little reserved and detached for the next few days as I put some finishing touches on some of the projects that I should have finished, but it's something that must be done.
Tonight's my last final, no big whoop, just gotta show my portfolio in my drawing class. Should go well, I got kinda lazy towards the end of the semester and my teacher noticed, but I still got enough work done so hopefully I'll get at least a B in the class...as if a grade in an Art class really matters anyway.
OK, I'm going to try and work now. Don't wish me luck, I don't need the distraction.
I wish I could say that my vacation was totally relaxing, but honestly it wasn't. Despite any goals I might have set to get some rest and do nothing for 2 weeks, "life" always seemed to step in and give me something new to deal with each day. I guess I should be thankful for the "Jon Time" that I was allotted, but I really needed more than I was able to squander out of those 2 weeks. There's no doubt I'll be a little reserved and detached for the next few days as I put some finishing touches on some of the projects that I should have finished, but it's something that must be done.
Tonight's my last final, no big whoop, just gotta show my portfolio in my drawing class. Should go well, I got kinda lazy towards the end of the semester and my teacher noticed, but I still got enough work done so hopefully I'll get at least a B in the class...as if a grade in an Art class really matters anyway.
OK, I'm going to try and work now. Don't wish me luck, I don't need the distraction.
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Dear creepy Scientologist...
I'm not "stressed", I'm not "looking pretty dark there" and I've never "contemplated suicide" like you have, although I'll admit you really should have spared us. So stop trying to work an angle with me thinking your Jedi scientologist mind tricks are actually going to work. Good luck with your self-indulgent, science fictionitive, anti-depressant reliance life. Your repulsed acquaintance, Jon B.
Need some background on the matter? I was sitting in the hallway at school waiting for my Art class teacher to show up when this bearded, middle aged, tapered jeans wearing dude walked past me saying "You look really stressed! Yep, lookin' pretty dark there." I thought, who the hell is this guy? Then a couple minutes later I was still sitting in the same spot when he came out of his classroom and said "Yeah...you know, I contemplated suicide once, but decided it wasn't worth it." To which I replied, "Ha ha, well, I'm not quite there yet buddy, but death is overrated anyway." He looked at me, puzzled and probably without a way to approach me for a Scientologist "stress clearing". Which leads me to wonder, why do child molesters start fake churches?
Need some background on the matter? I was sitting in the hallway at school waiting for my Art class teacher to show up when this bearded, middle aged, tapered jeans wearing dude walked past me saying "You look really stressed! Yep, lookin' pretty dark there." I thought, who the hell is this guy? Then a couple minutes later I was still sitting in the same spot when he came out of his classroom and said "Yeah...you know, I contemplated suicide once, but decided it wasn't worth it." To which I replied, "Ha ha, well, I'm not quite there yet buddy, but death is overrated anyway." He looked at me, puzzled and probably without a way to approach me for a Scientologist "stress clearing". Which leads me to wonder, why do child molesters start fake churches?
Monday, November 21, 2005
Fat girls sure can dance...but should they?
Saturday night I went to one of best concerts I've ever been to. NINE INCH NAILS at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
We had OK seats, 2nd row in the upper reserve with a nice complete view of the stage. Binocs would have been nice to have, but we really weren't THAT far away. We got there about a half hour late so we missed the first group "Autolux", but that's OK, we saw them a couple years ago and they sucked. Then Queens of the Stone Age came on. They were OK, they played a good mix of their older stuff with a few songs from their latest album. "Burn the Witch" was the highlight of their set.
Then it came time for Mr. Reznor and NIN. I have this to say, Trent Reznor is as big a rock god now as he's ever been. With an elaborate yet simplistic stage design, a translucent projection screen that drops down in front and possibly the best lighting design I've seen in a while his performance was nothing less than amazing. I just awed at how much energy is in his voice and how he's able to maintain that vocal strength throughout the show.
The entrancing "Right Beside You in Time" and Joy Division's "Dead Souls" were the most surprising songs to hear in the set. There were a couple songs that I didn't recognize and supposedly he's been playing songs from his future second part to "With Teeth", so it's possible that either those songs were new or I just need to educate myself better in the NIN catalog. But may I just say that "Head Like a Hole" is probably the best song to end a show with, it really brought everything to a climactic and satisfying close as we bid farewell to Trent and NIN until next time.
My only complaint about the show, which finally explains the title of this "blog", is since we were in the second row, that means that there was a row of people in front of us, obviously. And wouldn't know it, there were about 4 chubby girls in black t-shirts and wearing thick black eyeliner who just couldn't resist the temptation to get up and dance along with the music. After about the second song from NIN, we couldn't take it anymore and moved one section over to where for some reason the entire front row was empty. So we sat, put our feet up and enjoyed the show comfortably, which I think is the best and most effective way to take in a NIN show. The dancing chubbers reminded me of an old SNL sketch where they were at a Phil Collins concert and this one fat and drunk chick kept dancing while all the adult contemporaries were sitting and trying to enjoy the show. Now, don't get me wrong, I love seeing people dance at concerts, just don't stand right in people's line of sight to the stage. For example, I could see across the arena a pair of girls dancing (quite provocatively, might I ad) in an entry way. And it looked cool because the light behind them created a sexy kind of silhouette, like an opening sequence from a Bond film. So please, girls, fat, average or thin as a toothpick, please dance in more open areas where you're not going to annoy people.
After the concert we went to Mel's with our friends Ben & Leila who just happened to run into us at the BART station afterwards. A word to the wise, never go to a Mel's Diner at 2am...apparently that's when the start doing things like serving wilted/brown green salads, waffles with green onions mixed in the batter and nearly rare burgers even though you requested it to be well-done.
We had OK seats, 2nd row in the upper reserve with a nice complete view of the stage. Binocs would have been nice to have, but we really weren't THAT far away. We got there about a half hour late so we missed the first group "Autolux", but that's OK, we saw them a couple years ago and they sucked. Then Queens of the Stone Age came on. They were OK, they played a good mix of their older stuff with a few songs from their latest album. "Burn the Witch" was the highlight of their set.
Then it came time for Mr. Reznor and NIN. I have this to say, Trent Reznor is as big a rock god now as he's ever been. With an elaborate yet simplistic stage design, a translucent projection screen that drops down in front and possibly the best lighting design I've seen in a while his performance was nothing less than amazing. I just awed at how much energy is in his voice and how he's able to maintain that vocal strength throughout the show.
The entrancing "Right Beside You in Time" and Joy Division's "Dead Souls" were the most surprising songs to hear in the set. There were a couple songs that I didn't recognize and supposedly he's been playing songs from his future second part to "With Teeth", so it's possible that either those songs were new or I just need to educate myself better in the NIN catalog. But may I just say that "Head Like a Hole" is probably the best song to end a show with, it really brought everything to a climactic and satisfying close as we bid farewell to Trent and NIN until next time.
My only complaint about the show, which finally explains the title of this "blog", is since we were in the second row, that means that there was a row of people in front of us, obviously. And wouldn't know it, there were about 4 chubby girls in black t-shirts and wearing thick black eyeliner who just couldn't resist the temptation to get up and dance along with the music. After about the second song from NIN, we couldn't take it anymore and moved one section over to where for some reason the entire front row was empty. So we sat, put our feet up and enjoyed the show comfortably, which I think is the best and most effective way to take in a NIN show. The dancing chubbers reminded me of an old SNL sketch where they were at a Phil Collins concert and this one fat and drunk chick kept dancing while all the adult contemporaries were sitting and trying to enjoy the show. Now, don't get me wrong, I love seeing people dance at concerts, just don't stand right in people's line of sight to the stage. For example, I could see across the arena a pair of girls dancing (quite provocatively, might I ad) in an entry way. And it looked cool because the light behind them created a sexy kind of silhouette, like an opening sequence from a Bond film. So please, girls, fat, average or thin as a toothpick, please dance in more open areas where you're not going to annoy people.
After the concert we went to Mel's with our friends Ben & Leila who just happened to run into us at the BART station afterwards. A word to the wise, never go to a Mel's Diner at 2am...apparently that's when the start doing things like serving wilted/brown green salads, waffles with green onions mixed in the batter and nearly rare burgers even though you requested it to be well-done.
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