so sunday i finally got around to buying a new car stereo with some serious help from the holiday gift card action (thanks to my overly generous parents), and now i’m dying to go on a long car ride and just soak in several hours of crisply reproduced music while driving down a freeway. i mean, it’s got an auxillary input for top-notch ipod hookups and even a remote control for some reason! who wants to go on an adventure? if nothing else it’ll be great for the vegas trip we’re planning for the beginning of next month. you better believe i am driving.
Author: brian
driving back from lunch today, i passed a bus stop poster for a new harrison ford vehicle entitled firewall. i immediately thought to myself: have we reached the point of desperation where hollywood writers are basing suspense thrillers on the premise of spyware-blocking software? certainly this must be about firefighting or volcanos instead. i was wrong.
speaking of which, top fives coming for all media next week. luckily, none are based on computer security (this year!!!).
the only way to get over the immediate depression that fell over the house full of trojan fans, once those final minutes of last night’s rose bowl winded down, was to try our best with beer and laughter to put it out of our heads as quickly as possible. if you’re one of the few who haven’t yet seen thelazy sunday short from SNL where they rap about going to see the chronicles of narnia (not the movie itself, just the process of going to see it), check it out and you’ll see why we felt better pretty quickly after watching it twice more in our time of need. the clip of letterman smacking down bill o’reilly the other night was great too for a little boost this morning. ahh, web video, my comforting friend.
but how about those new years resolutions, then? let’s make 2006 as great as 2005 in 7 easy steps:
–be smart
read at least as many books as last year, do more and better writing, renew my subscription to harpers at some point, keep notes on all the crap i read and the ideas it’s (supposed to be) inspiring. dig deeper.
–be social
get outside of my comfortable circle of friends more, but not at the expense of spending time with the people i love. talk more to people i don’t know already. stay in better touch with the ones i’ve known for ages.
–be active
keep playing lots of volleyball when it’s nice at the beach. ride my bike to work once a week. stay trim.
–be adventurous
go to some new restuarants. switch apartments. go on spontaneous outings. use those frequent flier miles to go somewhere i’ve never been. take a road trip in a new direction.
–be better
move up in the ranks at work because i’m doing great and deserve it, not just because another year’s gone by. push myself to contribute more at this place i spend five days a week.
–be romantic
the girl i like is not just a female buddy that spends the night. more surprises and special moments this year, i say!
–TOP PRIORITY: DON’T SLOW DOWN.
continue going out a lot. keep having parties. have the most fun possible. make every night count, not just weekends. stay up late. crack lots of jokes. 25 is not even close to time to settle down, so don’t.
man, if i can fully do all those things it ought to be another great year, huh?
well folks, we done finished aught five real good now, didn’t we? i’m back from a stupendous christmas with family and old friends in the midwest. if you’re ever hurting for something to do in chicago, by the way, check out kingston mines on halsted for an unbelievable live blues bar; i enjoyed that place more than any club-going experience i’ve had in ages… sitting around drinking beers and listening to old black guys wail on guitars and harmonicas. man, that was a night.
matched only, of course, by our fabulous new years excursion to SF for a little popscene new years with almost every good friend i have in california, and most importantly my lovely girl as well. the drinks were plenty and the dancing was continuous and i couldn’t have been happier transitioning into this year.
of course now we’re back to work, back to LA, and back to the blog, so let’s get down to the year in review, shall we? just humor me, it’s tradition. today it’s time to go over last year’s resolutions and see how i did, which ones to renew for this year, and hopefully tomorrow lay down some new ones for aught six.
— read more and talk more about it; i.e. don’t get dumber
this i think i’ve done for sure, if only because of my new job title which is very “research” heavy (translation: i read a lot of magazines and look at the web hours per day). number of books read this year is about the same as last, so at least i’m not dropping the ball there. could probably stand a little more discussion still, so i’ll have to keep pushing that one. it’s sort of a lifelong goal though, so it’s not like i could say, “okay, i’m complete now”.
— write more and better; i.e. don’t get lazy
well, this one i’m hoping i’ve done to some degree but not so sure. may need more work this year, cause i know there were some stagnant periods in there… and that other site section i put up died awfully quickly. still deciding on whether to take it back up or let it go.
— start more conversations; i.e. don’t get boring
definitely getting somewhere on this one, although it’s funny how this one changes once you’re not single any more. would love to get even better at talking to and learning interesting things from strangers though, since i at least have the girl situation well sorted out at the moment.
— get a raise, promotion, or just feel like i’m doing a better job at advancing my career; i.e. don’t get complacent
TOTALLY done. probably the accomplishment of the year, my late-spring horizontal job move has made my life much cooler, and should lead to further advancement too. in this area, i definitely believe i ruled in ’05.
— stay informed and participate somehow in the progressive political arena; i.e. don’t get apathetic
umm, does listening to more NPR count? yeah, haven’t done much here other than click on a larger number of online petitions by moveon, but i’m waiting for inspiration to strike on this one.
— go at least one place i’ve never been; i.e. don’t get settled
well, i went to tahoe snowboarding, and to sequoia national forest and death valley on camping trips, but those are all california places. this year i have to push it a little past the golden state i think.
— maintain or increase level of fitness; i.e. don’t get fat
i weighed myself for the first time in ages over thanksgiving and was surprised i could possibly weigh that much. i’m at an all time high but still looking totally hot (obviously), so i’m hoping it’s a bit muscle gain and a bit just not being as skinny. it’s mostly a matter of staying healthy and trim at this point, then, and so far, so good.
— enjoy, enjoy, enjoy; i.e. don’t get old
oh man, this was the most important one and easily the most fully followed through on this year. i started the year in vegas, ended it in san francisco, and in between had more barbeques, road trips, drinking parties, dance parties, bar-hopping, beach-vollyeballing, beer-ponging, football-watching, cigarrette-smoking, gambling, laughing, making out and other general fun-having than probably any year so far. i’d like to think we really hit our post-college stride this year in terms of making good times for ourselves, and my only wish is for it to continue.
happy new year, collapsing, let’s come back tomorrow and outline how we’ll continue to kick ass in ’06.
little tough to get on a computer here in illinois hopping from one family function to another, but today i’m out with the old high school crew and having a hell of a time. drunken bowling rarely disappoints, no matter how you feel the next day. although i think the highlight so far was christmas day, where a great holiday wrapped up with some family beer pong. that’s right, it sounds too good to be true but look how far my little cousins have come, and how quickly the uncles jump on when there’s fun to be had.
if you miss me the rest of the week check out my guest post over at jame’s great mp3 blog. i may not be on the level of his usual grean pea-ness, but i try and the song picks are solid.
hope your break is as good as mine!
i’ve been on two plane trips since i last wrote and am of course going on one more to head home for christmas in a couple days. that’s three round trips in seven days. i’m a flying machine! that is, i wish i was, so i wouldn’t have to keep taking airplanes, which are a hassle.
this weekend past i went to three christmas parties in only two days, with others last night and tonight. i am also a party machine, which i have no problems at all with except that i don’t get to do enough sleeping the morning after, so i feel somewhat spent. can someone get me ‘energy for partying purposes’ for christmas? do they sell that anywhere?
looking very forward to the holidays that are practically upon me. can’t wait to do the illinois family thing then the san fran new years thing in a quick, fun-filled succession. if i won’t be seeing you any time in the next few days before then (come ooooon, FRIDAY!), then consider yourself merry xmas-ed and happy new yeared.
slow day at work so though i’d jump on for a minute.
partially because of the fact that it’s popping up on 9 out of 10 best of ’06 lists i’ve seen so far this year, but also because the song “black” kicks all kinds of ass, i recently picked up the okkervil river album black sheep boy, and i’m still working on digesting it enough to decide if it’s worth all the hype. however, their video “for real” is sure worth the time. probably the second best song off the album, at least as of my first half-dozen listens.
also, holiday fever has hit me full on in the last few days. i don’t say ‘holiday’ because of that war on christmas crap, either. i mean i’m now officially super-excited about the two coming holidays, each on their own. first my initial wave of christmas presents came in the mail monday, so i wrapped them that night and put up my little tree with lights to place them around, then went off last night to buy another armful of gifts. now i’m close to done with my shopping and getting that warm feeling of generosity that comes from knowing you’re giving fun stuff to a bunch of people you love. on top of that, we’re planning our new years revelry and it sounds like everyone is in and ready to go for the gold. watch out san francisco, a large group of drunk and clever kids will be wandering the streets yelling at strangers in just a couple weeks now…
good night, and good luck – 5 stars
watch the trailer. again, if you’ve seen it already. i wanted to myself, to get a taste and help me remember the feeling i got watching the whole thing over thanksgiving weekend. and the only reason i’m still bothering to write anything about it now is because i realized it came out over a month ago and if i don’t act quickly, my millions of readers might miss out on the opportunity to catch this in a theatre.
because it really deserves to be seen that way, for several reasons. one is that black and white was absolutely the only way this film should have been put on a screen, because it’s full of light and dark and fantastic in its contrast (not in a stark sin city kind of way, but in a great, rich, textured way that gives it character and seriousness), and those silhouetted shots pop so much better in a big, dark auditorium. another, because in a way it’s a quiet movie. they didn’t soundtrack the hell out of it to give it weight, but let the silence of certain moments speak its own piece; let the sounds of the newsroom be its own music when things get singing in those halls. sure there was some excellent period music used appropriately, but the kind of stillness you need to get the most from certain scenes is only possible in the wide open blackness of a theatre.
and most of all is murrow’s voice. if david strathairn — who’s been in a ton of movies but may as well have been debuting in this role — doesn’t win an oscar nomination for this i’ll eat this keyboard i’m typing on. his steel expression and confident monotone give murrow’s eloquent newscasting a quality someone my age probably can’t even fathom from a televised broadcast: unshakable integrity. i walked out of that theatre wanting to be that man.
most of all, though, i have to hand it to clooney and the writers and producers (mark cuban? nice!) for making a movie that doesn’t feel it has to slow down for an audience that isn’t smart enough to follow. i haven’t been so stimulated by dialogue all year. a room full of crack newsmen, whipping ideas back and forth, overlapping, intertwining, and not stopping to breathe or crack a joke for our benefit, finally got me excited to be watching six people talking in a room. can there be more movies like this, please? ones that challenge me to follow them instead of leading me down a gentlly padded path to an obvious conclusion?
overall this film will almost certainly be one of my top two of the year (move over wedding crashers!…i kid), and i just couldn’t wait for that wrap-up list to make it known — so that hopefully someone else might benefit from my boredom one afternoon in texas as much as i have.
i’m going to blog more this week. it makes me happy to write to the imaginary people that read this (plus my 10 friends and mother who i know for a fact do because they regularly start conversations with, ‘i saw on your blog that…’). two days in a row shouldn’t be such a freak occurrence if i have my way.
a quick shoutout from yesterday’s post: check out james’ blog, green pea-ness. he was with me on saturday at club bootie when we heard the white stripes vs. jay-z mix, and as soon as we both vocalized our agreement that it was fairly kickass, i felt confident it would reside shortly on his mp3 blog. which it does, along with a jillion other good songs such as a taste of the new strokes album, a new song by the futureheads, soon-to-be-released belle and sebastian, and tons of killer brit-pop i never will understand how he keeps track of.
referring back to that mashup again though real quick — how killer would it be for dangermouse to learn nothing from his past exploits and take on another full-album mix project that could easily be called the red, white, and blueprint… or alternately, get behind me, hova? i’m telling you, if i were a better man (or, for example, had protools), i might even try it myself.
even though it’s monday i’m feeling pretty good. it seems like the kind of busy day where i feel charged up by it instead of dragged down. besides, there’s a lot i’m excited about today all up and down the board. not least of all that USC finished a perfect season and beat our rivals for the seventh straight year. they get to go to the rose bowl, we got to gather in my crowded apartment and eat nachos. a victory all around.
the same night, and still riding the afternoon beer buzz, we ventured out to bootie LA for shaun’s birthday. it was my first time to the now-monthly night, and i’m totally sold on it. i had a blast and the music was consistently great. say what you will about mashup music, but that was a hell of a dance party, and isn’t that what counts? like some of my friends are fond of saying, maybe it’s better to listen to the original songs instead of two classics (sometimes more or less skillfully) layered on top of eachother, but in the club the mixes were tons of fun. i especially loved the a white stripes ‘doorbell’ vs. jay-z ‘encore’ bit they pulled fairly early on. also really digging this breeders vs. kelly clarkson mix which was on the free cd they handed out at the door, done by one of the night’s hosts. i think somewhere in my deep subconscious there is a kelly fan trying to get out because i’ve always really liked that ‘since u been gone’ song too, covered by ted leo or otherwise…
elsewhere musically, i just found out about pandora today, or rather actually went there and played with it, and it’s brilliant. probably the whole world has already blogged this and i just don’t know that because i haven’t had time for writing or reading the web lately and when stumbling upon some minutes today i chose the former. but how can you not love a web-bot that picks out music you’ll like based on broken down analysis of your favorite bands’ musical qualities? i’ve only used it a little so maybe it takes the spontaneity out of loving a random band, but it sure seems smart.
and so does this movie brick. i heard great things back around sundance time and i guess it got picked up by focus and now they have a trailer finally. check it out — how can a high school noir film not be at least worth checking out just to see if they can pull it off or not?
[oh yeah, last edit to this post: this video of some kids performing super mario themes makes me very happy. i want to play the marimba too now.]