2009 Wrap Up
This has been a varied year.
I spent the past hour reading through the past year of livejournal entries, and that is what I have come up with. Varied.
On one hand I went on a holiday for two months with the girl that I love, which was one of the greatest things I have ever done, and was relaxing and fun. Because of that trip I have a few new anecdotes to share wtih you all. On the other hand I worked for about 3 months on one of the most stressful work projects that I ever have undertaken. I worked late every day, and worked every saturday morning for about two months. But they sent me to Sydney and I saw the red haze over the city, and the Kanye West/Taylor Swift MTV thing on my hotel room TV. So it wasn't all bad.
I have had tons of fun at various concerts and movies, but I have missed the consistent hangouts of the past. When hangouts with any of my various crews has happened, I have been almost deliriously happy. For example, the impromptu John Barrowman appreciation night that happened at Anneke's place was a highlight.
I started going to Tony's Boot Camp again, in an attempt to spend more time hanging out with Sean and Ricky. It also had the nice side effect of making me feel fitter. Another side effect of this was that I separated my shoulder at basketball because my arms were so tired that my shoulder couldn't hold itself together when I got slammed by an immense dude, and have an even more protruding collar bone than I ever had before. I worked through that and went back, but eventually quit when Ricky dropped me on my head - leading to head-aches for two weeks and neck pain until today. Luckily we started doing DnD and other less injury-filled hangouts more often.
I fell behind massively in terms of TV watching, and music listening, which was disappointing. I had tons of fun playing basketball, ate mexican food in california (it's almost mexico), and I had a lot of fun playing the guitar. At one point ferg said that I had "chops". This may have been the highlight of my year.
I think that the year was alternately awesome and terrible for my friends, and I hope that I was there to celebrate the good times and help them through the bad. One of the most awesome and fun good times came when Dave and Amy got hitched! The wedding itself was awesome, with the 5 meats, but Buck's Day, and West Coast Dave hangouts were also incredible.
So now we get to the part that I generally spend an entire year obsessing over.
The Lists!!!. This year, however I haven't really given my top 5 anything much thought. Let's have a crack though.
Top 5 Movies of the YearI have seen a lot of movies in the past year, and it is somewhat hard to figure out which ones were the best. I'll give it a shot though.
1. The Hangover - This was an incredibly funny movie, which I saw with my sister. Needless to say, we L'dOL.
1a. District 9 - Really interesting thoughtful movie. Amazing for something with such wicked special effects.
2. Frost/Nixon - I saw this on the plane and didn't think it would be that great, but it really was great.
3. Whip It - A fun Ellen Page movie about roller derby, which may have influenced my decision to go see roller derby in person.
4. Slumdog Millionaire - Really uplifting story. Well told.(Came out at the very end of 2008.
4. Watchmen - A gret comic book movie. Wowzers.
5. Avatar - Visually stunning, well acted, stor may be a tad simplistic.
I am sure there is probably some movie that I super-duper-loved that I cannot think of right now, feel free to let me know about it in the comments.
Top 5 Albums of the YearThis is one that I have struggled with. Musically I basically regressed into Nostalgia this year. I spent a good month coming up with my top 500 songs (of all time, of ALL time) early in the year, put them on my iPOD shuffle, and then listened to them all around the world and for the greater part of the rest of the year. In fact yesterday I bought three albums (Camera Obscura, Yo La Tengo and Grizzly Bear) in an effort to find something that I absolutely LOVED. But I think I left it too late. Any way, here is my list, please put no stock in it.
1. Philadelphia Grand Jury - Hope Is For Hopers
2. Flight Of The Conchords - I told You I was Freaky
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. The Dead Weather - Horehound
5. The Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Top 5 Songs of The YearI have struggled a little bit less with this one, but it is still tough.
1. Bluejuice - Broken Leg
2. Philadelphia Grand Jury - The Good News
3. Weezer - (If you're wondering if I want you to) I Want You To
4. Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning
5. N*E*R*D - Sooner or Later
Missing Out: Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair, and The Rentals - Getting By. Neither came out this year, but they distinguished themselves on my iPOD this year.
Top 5 TV Shows Of The Year1. Dexter - Always Brilliant.
2. OneHD's NBA Basketball coverage.
3. Friday Night Lights
4. Dr Who - But it would have been so much better to have had more of it.
5. Curb Your Enthusiasm
I normally do a top 5 gigs of the year too, but right now I can't even think of five. OK, I'll give it a shot
Top 5 Gigs of the Year1. Southbound
2. The Philly Jay's at Amplifier bar
3. Jebediah at The Rocket Room
4. Good Little Fox at the Norfolk Basement
5. The Chemist at the Ellington
Missing out: Steve Parkin at the Freo Arts Center, Tim from Work and His Band at The Rosemount
I assume that I have forgotten a few, or this is the lest gig filled year I have had in quite a while.
I may do one of these rambly, listy posts for the decade too, but it might require too much effort.
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