Just Saw This

And my exact words were, "Oh, that's fucking cool..."

Yes, I'm quite the wordsmith at times - I'm aware.

Don't Change That Channel...

...because starting tomorrow night, TV is back, baby!

Okay, sure... a few things started trickling in this week.  We had the return of Gossip Girl and 90210.  Plus, there was the long-awaited premiere of Scrubs on NBC [and no, I haven't seen any of it yet as I've been too busy trying to clear old stuff off the DVR before tomorrow night.]

But the real burst of TV returns starts tomorrow night.  Get your DVRs to do some deep-knee bends because it's heading straight for a world-class workout.

Tomorrow night, my DVR faces the brutal challenge of trying to find a way to get the usual recording of Desperate Housewives while three powerhouses of television compete for the other slot in my viewing schedule.  The Golden Globes are on and while I'm usually pretty fond of checking them out, I'm going to have to take a pass this year.  Why?

Because Jack Bauer is back!  24 returns with a vengeance with two hours on Sunday night and two hours on Monday night [a different problem altogether!]  I'm super-stoked about this and can't wait to hear that countdown clock tomorrow night.

Oh, and the Battlestar Galactica Season 4 marathon wraps up on Universal HD tomorrow night which will have me fully caught up on BSG and ready and waiting for the second half of the season to premiere soon.  After staying up til 2 AM to catch the first half of the marathon last weekend, I'm expecting to have to do the same tomorrow - thank God I have Monday off.

And speaking of Monday...

Raw?  Check.
Gossip Girl?  Check.
How I Met Your Mother return?  Check.
Night 2 of the 24 premiere?  Check.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

And to think, Heroes doesn't even come back until February!  Looks like iTunes may be getting more of my money or the NBC website will get a very loyal Tuesday viewer.

For a TV fan, it's an exciting couple of days.  And for those of you who aren't?

Go enjoy your "real lives," frackholes.

Ongoing 2009 Match Of The Year Blog

I've always been jealous of those pro wrestling writer/fans that seem to have total recall over every match they've seen in a year when it comes time to pick the Match of the Year. And last year, I saw a great idea where someone actually kept an ongoing post where they picked their top matches of the year in order as they saw them.

Thus, I shall attempt to do the same this year.

So, I watched the January 2nd Smackdown and saw nothing that was horribly offensive yet nothing that was really MOTY-worthy either. I started watching Raw from 1/5 a couple of days ago and set out to finish it this morning.

To me, to be considered for this list, it has to meet two requirements:
1] I have to feel immediately after the match is over like I would really want to watch the match again in the future. I have to feel the motivation to drag a blank DVD out and record the match for my future viewing.
2] I have to feel like I'll remember the match in a week.

I went into Raw with some high hopes as they had announced Punk vs Regal and Kofi/Rey vs Miz/Morrison. Punk/Regal turned into a screwjob for the angle's sake to set up a rematch next week - I'm cool with that. The tag match was a lot of fun with a great extended beatdown on Kofi's leg. Kofi played a great face in peril but the hot tag left a lot to be desired to me although I dug Rey's moonsault armdrag muchly. The finish was awesome even though it was botched a bit and had to have Morrison crawl across the ring to put himself in 619 position. But Rey Rey going for the springboard and getting hit with the move Morrison calls the "Chuck Norris?" Golden.

Unfortunately though, I think I'm likely to forget the match very quickly. And to be honest, I'm not sure I'd actually want to rewatch it at some point either. So, while a solid TV match that I enjoyed, it's not making the list.

The Main Event did absolutely nothing for me. The intrigue over what HBK would do tried to carry it but I just wasn't feeling it.

So, we're 0 for 2009 so far with viewings of ECW and TNA still on deck.

Writing For Writing's Sake

So, I foolishly gave in to the temptation to make a New Year's Resolution this year... sorta.  I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was pondering making one about writing every day for at least one hour per day. That mention kinda evolved into me actually doing it - then me modifying it to say that if I did something creative for one hour per day, I'd be happy.  That gave me a loophole in case I wanted to do some video editing or photography or what have you.  Last night, I got to work on the template for this page to fill my creative need.

It's a Resolution that is quite the double-edged sword.  On the one hand, it's a fantastic idea for an aspiring writer to set aside 1/24th of every day to their craft.  On the other, it really, really sucks because it's a bitch to try and find that hour.  Let's look at this from a realistic point of view...

We start with the 24 hours...

Let's take out 8 that hopefully is spent sleeping every day.  We're down to 16.

Now, we're going to consider this hypothetical day a work day since those days will be the hardest to live up to this lofty goal.  Assuming an eight hour shift with an hour for lunch... we're down to 7 potential hours to work with.

7 hours minus let's go with 90 minutes for getting ready for work, driving to work, and driving home from work - assuming I don't have to stop anywhere on the drive to and from work which is also quite the assumption to make.  We're down to 5.5 hours.

Knock out a half hour to an hour for dinner.  We'll split the difference.

4.75 hours remaining.

Damn.  You'd think I could find an hour out of nearly five hours a day.

This really didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.  I need some of that fuzzy math to work with.

No, no - what I really need is a new laptop so that I can multitask and write while watching TV.  That oughta produce some stellar work.  Yeah!  That's the ticket!

I actually did get pretty excited earlier this week about a new screenplay idea that I think I could actually self-produce.  One of the guys at work thinks I should not only shoot it myself - but act in it myself as well to see if I can actually put together a full feature length film on my own.  As someone who is "in the industry," he believes that if I can do it, I can sell it - and myself - to the highest bidder.  We shot some ideas back and forth for a few minutes the other night and it was as creatively alive as I've felt since I was in the middle of writing my first screenplay.

There's something that really is quite magical about working in a creative environment and being able to share that with other people who know what you're  going through.  People who understand the difficulties involved in every aspect of the creative process.

The world seems to be filled with two types of people at times - people who think screenwriting sounds almost impossible to do and are quite in awe of people who are actually able to do it and then there's the others who think it's simple and even if they can't do it, they think it should be absolutely a cinch for someone else to do so.  So, when you run across those rare few who can understand just how difficult it is to get your mind on paper at times... well, those are people to treasure a bit.

This week, I've been reading all of these various writing exercises that they encourage writers to do when they're stuck.  It's really some ridiculous stuff that - while probably useful in some situations - seems like a waste of time for the most part.  Here's some samples...

Try this challenge: pull out something you're been writing (a poem, a journal entry, a novel) and put an orange in it. Make the orange part of the thing you're writing, but keep in mind that the orange might appear in a painting or a dream. Remember a particular orange you once encountered-- saw squashed in a gutter or sitting perfect and fragrant on someone's dining room table.

Seriously? Can someone tell me the point of that? I guess it explores your creativity but... well, it's a fucking orange. I don't want to write about a fucking orange. I don't want to read about a fucking orange either.

I took a playwriting class in college once. The most awkward part of it was when they wanted us to read our work out loud to the class. I was terrified. The author is always their biggest critic but... in a way, that's a lot easier than having to see/hear someone else's reaction to your work. Because you can lie to yourself. Don't listen to those people who tell you that you can't because you absolutely can. I can convince myself that I wrote the greatest screenplay since INSERT CLASSIC SCREENPLAY I HAVEN'T READ HERE but if someone else reads it and thinks it's trash, well... I think I'd have a hard time dealing with that. It's one of those things you try not to take personally but I don't know if you really can ever be successful at that. I've had a few people ask to read my screenplay (not many lately thankfully) but most of them got ignored for that very reason. There seems to be very few good things that can result from that and a whole lot of bad things. The only good outcome would be someone thinking it was even better than aforementioned CLASSIC SCREENPLAY and that I'm the best writer since Shakespeare's heyday. But bad outcomes? Mockery? Ridicule? Boredom? The worst would be someone having to lie about how great they thought it was and you being able to read the real truth on their face. It's one of those things I know I have to get past at some point but for someone who has been at times a ruthlessly harsh critic to others, let's just say I'm a little nervous that karma's a bigger bitch than I imagined.

If you haven't been able to tell yet, this is a bit of a free write so I'm all over the place. "Harry In Winter" off the Goblet Of Fire soundtrack just popped up on Shuffle. Just managed to piss me off all over again that Half-Blood Prince got a PG rating. That movie is going to obliterate that movie franchise for me. There were things I didn't like about GOF and OOTP - which is my favorite of the books - but I stuck with it and thought they did a decent job. But Half-Blood Prince sounds like it's heading for worse and worse disaster every time I read news about it.

Speaking of sequels... I'm not sure why but there seems to be a lot of talk about what will happen to the Star Wars empire (no pun intended) after George Lucas lets it go lately. First off, I think you'll have to pry control of it out of his cold, dead hands but even then... I don't know. Will my grandkids be waiting in line someday wondering what's going to happen to Luke in Episode 7? And if so, will they hate the Ewoks? You read so many Lucas/Star Wars comments lately talking about how horrible the Ewoks were but I just can't remember people complaining about them back when Jedi came out. I mean, I guess I was just a kid so I thought they were funny but... I just don't remember it. Is it a case of something not aging well?

I'm only at about the forty minute mark, I think... but I'm running out of steam.  And I'm getting sleepy.

Oh well.  I must have done something creative for twenty minutes earlier today, right?  I have no idea what it would be... but I'm betting I did.

This was a really dumb idea.  How the hell did I talk myself into this?  I hate New Year's Resolutions.

And the Dodgers lost out on a free agent to the Brewers?  What kind of weird fucking world are we living in?

But I digress...

Under Construction

Sorry for the mess, kids. I've been a bit undecided over the past couple days about what template I wanted to use... and then I had problems with the template... and now I'm still having problems with the template... and.... yeah.

So, bear with me a few days please until I get all this worked out.

Thanks!

2008: TV Year End Awards!

I stumbled upon IGN's Year End Awards yesterday while doing mine and really liked the way they  broke down the categories for the TV section. 

So, I'm stealing them.

SPOILER ALERT!  I very well may discuss stuff that you haven't seen so be advised.

Best Drama
     The Shield
            How could I really pick anything else?  One of my favorite shows EVER went out in a big way with one of the best seasons of television that I've ever seen.  The final fates of Vic, Shane, Ronnie, and all the rest were some of the most gutwrenching and thrilling moments put on television in recent memory.
Honorable Mentions:  Lost, Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica, Gossip Girl

Best Comedy
     30 Rock
          I had a hard time picking one.  I could really go towards any of the five at any given moment but 30 Rock seemed like the right answer for right now.  Lots of quotable moments.  Lots of completely insane moments that were fantastic.
Honorable Mention:  The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Pushing Daisies, Flight Of The Conchords

Best Sci-Fi Series
     Lost
          It could have very easily been my pick for Best Drama if it wasn't for the amazing final season of The Shield so at very minimum, it should get this one. 

Honorable Mention:  Battlestar Galactica, Heroes

Best Show That Was Cancelled Too Soon
     Pushing Daisies
         Duh.  If you didn't know my answer to this one, you haven't been reading this site very long.

Biggest Shocker
     Vic Mackey betrays Ronnie
          I never really thought it would happen.  I thought Ronnie might turn on Vic - that crossed my mind.  But I never thought Vic would sell out the last friend he had left - no matter the reason.  This one action made the last couple episodes absolutely heartwrenching to watch at times.
Honorable Mention:  The Final 4 Cylons revealed - BSG, THE ISLAND MOVED! - Lost

Best Storyline
      The Search For Shane - The Shield
            Again, it can't be anything else.  Those episodes with Vic and Ronnie trying to hunt down Shane before Shane turned them in... man.  Compelling stuff.  That kind of stuff that makes you sad if you're a writer because you can't get yourself to produce the same thing.
Honorable Mention:  The Oceanic Six - Lost,  Pam/Jim - The Office

Couple I Rooted For The Most
      Pam/Jim - The Office
            Oh, come on.  How hard was this one?
Honorable Mention:  Jack/Kate - Lost, Sylar/Elle - Heroes, Ned/Chuck - Pushing Daisies, Chuck/Blair - Gossip Girl


And that's pretty much that!  Thanks for playing!

2008: You're My Boy, Blue! Year End Awards!

Hey, everyone else gets to do it, right? Since this is the first year doing it, I'm just going to hit the basics and hope I don't miss anything that I really, really wanted to write about.

So, let's just get right down to business!

Favorite Movie of 2008
     THE DARK KNIGHT
Duh.  Did you really expect something else to take the prize?  I saw some really great movies in '08 but none was I looking forward to more than this one.  From the incredible viral campaign they put together to get the positive buzz going to the first batch of trailers, this movie had the entire world waiting for it to arrive and it did not disappoint.  It truly redefined the term "comic book movie" to suddenly mean something that could actually be considered for an Oscar.  The acting was great, the action was outstanding, and despite the recent batch of backlash, the plot was dead-on.  While most people are chomping at the bit to see a third Batman flick, I'm not sure I do.  I might be happy with letting this one stand alone for a long time to come.  Now I know what it must have felt like when The Empire Strikes Back came out.
Honorable Mention:  Iron Man, Wall-E, Juno


Favorite Song Of 2008
      Foundations - Kate Nash
If I did this list a week from now, a month from now, or possibly even a day from now, I might have a completely different answer.  But for right now, I'm picking the lovely Ms. Nash and her song about a relationship horrifically broken and the two people too stubborn to give up on it.  Seeing this live earlier in the year was definitely one of my highlights of 2008.
Honorable Mention:  The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf, Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend, and many other Kate Nash songs




Favorite Album of 2008
     Made Of Bricks - Kate Nash
This was a pretty close category even though I didn't buy a ton of albums in '08.  I've been just as guilty as anyone of going for one or two songs at $1 each and missing out on the rest of the album but I'm hoping to change that in '09.  I bought Made Of Bricks in April and have been in love with the damn thing ever since.  It's rare that I make it out to a concert anymore - even more rare when it's to see someone with one album to their name.  But the lovely Ms. Nash made me do both in '08 - and she didn't disappoint at all at the show.
Honorable Mention:  Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend, Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The Conchords, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog soundtrack, Dreamgirls soundtrack


Let's switch gears here for a second and look at the sporting world...

Favorite MMA Fight Of The Year
     Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir - UFC
I know, I know.  It's an odd pick.  It was exactly a back-and-forth action-packed war or some fantastic submission battle but it had atmosphere.  It had the "big match" feel that a lot of your standard FOTY candidates are lacking.  I missed a lot of MMA stuff this year and didn't see hardly anything outside of the UFC but Lesnar walking into the cage had that crowd electrified.  I was right there with them, living and dying with every big punch or near submission.  Personally, I can't wait for this rematch.
Honorable Mention:  Frank Shamrock/Cung Le - Strike Force, Forrest Griffin/Quinton Jackson - UFC

Favorite MMA Fighter Of The Year
     Anderson Silva
There's only one fighter in the game that has that Mike Tyson mystique around him - that you're paying to see him fuck up someone's world and look awesome while doing it.  Even in lopsided fights, Silva is easily the most entertaining fighter to watch.  If GSP gets past BJ Penn (and I wouldn't count on it), I hope a showdown with Silva is next because I'd pay very good money to see Silva kick Frenchy's nose down his throat.
Honorable Mention:  Wanderlei Silva. Quinton Jackson, Brock Lesnar

Favorite Laker Moment Of The Year
     The Pau Gasol Trade
Moreso than any on the court moment, I can remember this one very vividly.  I woke up in the morning to find some random chitchat about it online and I remember thinking how completely unlikely it was that it would happen.  A shower later and I emerged to find a text message telling me it was official.  And official it was.  That cemented the Lakers as a serious contender for the NBA Title - a title they came oh-so-close to winning.

Favorite Dodger Moment Of The Year
     Acquiring Angel Berroa... yeah, right.   Take a guess.
Ahhh, Mannymania.  I can't pick out a specific moment in the last portion of the season that stands above them all.  From the day it was first rumored to it becoming reality to his first game as a Dodger to my first home game witnessing Mannymania in person to the sweep of the Cubs to... okay, I take it back.  I'm going to pick Game 4 of the NLCS against the Phillies - and yes, you're correct.  The Dodgers lost that game.  However, the atmosphere was so electric - unlike anything I've ever seen in all my years of going to games.  Entire half innings with the crowd on their feet.  Deafening chants for Manny as rally towels created a blizzard over the top deck.  It was a magical night no matter the outcome.

Favorite Non-Laker/Dodger Sports Moment
     Michael F'n Phelps
How can you pick anything else?  The whole chase for the record was just so amazing to watch - the sheer number of times he had to swim, the near-loss in the relay race... it was all so dramatically perfect, it couldn't have been scripted any better.

I would drop in a Best Book here but I really failed miserably in the amount of reading I did last year so I'm going to skip that category.

To the world of professional wrestling...

Favorite Match of 2008
     Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels - Wrestlemania 24
Duh.  I didn't even have to think about this one which is probably a good thing because I can't really remember a lot of other matches that made an impact on my conscious in '08.  This one certainly did.  The drama, the action, the emotion - all played perfectly by two of the very best in the history of the game.  I really hope Flair never makes a comeback to the ring because there has never been an exit from the business as good as that one.

Favorite Wrestler Of 2008
     Chris Jericho
From the moment of Jericho's heel turn on, he was THE MAN in '08.  He carried his end of the Shawn Michaels' feud to perfection and was amazing as the World Champion until Cena returned to end it.  He says he was inspired for his character by No Country For Old Men.  Hey, if you're going to be inspired to be a cruel and evil villain, I guess that's a good place to draw your inspiration from.

Favorite Event Attended Of 2008
     Dodgers vs Phillies - NLCS Game 4
See above.
Honorable Mention:  R.E.M. at the Hollywood Bowl, Kate Nash at The Music Box, Wicked at Pantages, PWG: All Star Weekend Night 2

And lastly...

I was going to do a blanket "Best TV Show" right here but... well, something else came to mind.  I think I'll have a separate Year End Awards! for TV.  Stay tuned!

2008: The Year In Music

It wouldn't be a Year In Review without a countdown of the year's best music, right? Well, since I'm a horrible critic, I instead decided to present a countdown of the year's Most Played Music by the Missus and myself. It's essential that I include her in this since:

a] We share an iTunes library so the play counts are as much hers as mine

AND

b] It gives me someone convenient to blame if an embarrassing song makes the list.

I originally was writing this up as a Top 40 - Rick Dees style - but the Missus said that a Top 50 would be better. I decided to one-up here and in honor of the iTunes Music Store that gets at least $20 from me every month, I present:

The Blues' Top 100 Played Songs Of 2008
Qualifying statement: To make the list, the song had to be added to the iTunes library in 2008 which will explain if you see a song from 1960 or what have you that made the list.

Here we go...

100. Listen - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Ahhh - and so it begins. With my admitted love of musicals, you will soon notice a trend of songs from musicals being all over this list. However, don't blame me for the Mamma Mia stuff. That's all her. Side note: It took 16 plays throughout the year to make the #100 slot on the list. That really doesn't seem like much actually.

99. Dance With Me - Old 97s
98. Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
97. Home - Foo Fighters
96. Fake Your Way To The Top - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
95. A Bitchslap - Sebastian Bach feat. Axl Rose

<

(Love Is) A Bitchslap (Featuring Axl Rose) - Sebastian Bach
I still really like this song but nowhere near as much as I did when I first bought it. I think there was a novelty involved of hearing Sebastian Bach belt out a serious hard rock song in 2008 - plus the awesomeness of having Axl on backing vocals. If you're a fan of either, check this one out.

94. I've Been High - R.E.M. (Live from the Hollywood Bowl)
I'm glad this one made the list since we were at the show. Still wishing I had a better mix of this though because the bass makes it absolutely unlistenable in my car.

93. Come Alive - Foo Fighters
92. Erase/Replace - Foo Fighters
91. The Fighter - Ferraby Lionheart
90. American Boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was added to my iTunes back in Feb. before any of you fuckers had heard it on your local pop radio yet so bite me.

89. The Score - Chris Walla
88. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
87. Nicest Thing - Kate Nash
86. Fallen - Bret Michaels
You've gotta love when your music library becomes littered with songs you heard on reality television - especially when it's trainwreck reality television. Rock Of Love was one of my guilty pleasures on television this year and Bret Michaels kickin' out the slow jam is one of my musical highlights of the year.

85. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
84. Ladies of Cambridge - Vampire Weekend
83. Time To Pretend - MGMT (Live)
82. Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash
81. Mariella - Kate Nash
80. Take A Chance On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
I told you! Blame her!

79. Beautiful Ride - Walk Hard soundtrack
78. I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson
High Fidelity rears it's beautiful, sweet head. One of my favorite movies delivers this one into the iTunes library which made one of my Mixtapes of the Month earlier in the year before they were discontinued due to time constraints.

77. Body MMMBoppin' - Hanson vs The Beastie Boys
I'm not a huge mash-up fan but every once in a while I find one that is just absolutely perfect together. This would be one of them. I mentioned this one at work a couple weeks ago and was met with stares of derision. Fuck the haters.

76. Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners - Foo Fighters
75. Not While I'm Around - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
74. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Mamma Mia soundtrack
73. Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
72. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
The lyrics have the Contra Code in them. 'Nuff said.

71. Leave The Memories Alone - Fuel
The farewell to Ric Flair promos were filled with this song and it stays among my favorites of the year. It's one of the few songs from earlier in the year that I'll still listen to almost every time it pops up on shuffle.

70. Stranger Things Have Happened - Foo Fighters
69. The Ballad Of Gus And Sam - Ferraby Lionheart
68. World Shut Your Mouth - Death Cab For Cutie
67. Does Your Mother Know - Mamma Mia soundtrack
66. Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
65. Three Wishes - The Pierces
64. Love Story - Katharine McPhee
63. Play - Kate Nash
62. Summer's End - Foo Fighters
61. Won't Be Long - Ferraby Lionheart
60. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
And yes, I had this before it was on all the Pineapple Express commercials too. Oooh! Sick burn!

59. Long Road To Ruin - Foo Fighters
58. The Pretender - Foo Fighters
57. A Kiss Is Not A Contract - Flight Of The Conchords

A Kiss Is Not A Contract (Album Version) - Flight of the Conchords
How this didn't end up higher, I don't understand. Conchords are the pre-eminent comedy musical act in the world - Weird Al be damned.

56. Something To Love - Ferraby Lionheart
55. Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
54. Atom - British Sea Power
53. Rich Girls - The Virgins
52. Coconut - The Sea And Cake
51. By The Sea - Sweeney Todd soundtrack

TOP 50!!!
50. Foux De Fafa - Flight Of The Conchords
49. Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists
48. Care Of Cell 44 - The Zombies
47. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
From one of my favorite new bands of the year, this song is actually my ringtone currently. The album also was cool enough to inspire me to buy my first album on vinyl in decades.

46. Accidents Can Happen - Sixx A.M.
45. Birds - Kate Nash
44. Tickets To Crickets - Ferraby Lionheart
43. Love Is A Battlefield - Brooke White (American Idol)
42. Believe - The Bravery
41. SOS - Mamma Mia soundtrack

TOP 40!!!!
40. Come Home - OneRepublic
39. Mamma Mia - Mamma Mia soundtrack
38. No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
37. Take Me To The Riot - Stars
36. Secret - The Pierces
Okay, it made it because it played on Gossip Girl. I'll admit it.

35. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
One of my favorite songs of the year. I'm disappointed it finished this low actually.

34. Dancing Queen - Mamma Mia soundtrack
33. Slipping Through My Fingers - Mamma Mia soundtrack
32. Think About It - Flight of the Conchords
31. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens
The end credits music on Extras. We got into an Extras obsession for a while leading up to the finale so that explains that. Also, since it's barely over a minute long, there's not much time for you to skip it before it's notched another mark in your musical bedpost.

30. The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind - Griffin House
29. Leggy Blonde - Flight of the Conchords
28. A Crack In Time - Ferraby Lionheart
27. When All Is Said And Done - Mamma Mia soundtrack
26. The Winner Takes It All - Mamma Mia soundtrack
25. I Have A Dream - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Sensing a pattern yet? And she didn't even see this til late in the year!

24. M79 - Vampire Weekend
23. Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
This might have stood a better chance if they didn't make it the first song on the playlist every morning at work. Hearing it seemingly every day from July 1st until November will sour you a bit on a song.

22. Super Trouper - Mamma Mia soundtrack
21. We Get On - Kate Nash

TOP 20!!!!!!!!

20. Bubbly - Colbie Callat
This is one of those songs that you really want to hate. It's just so sickly sugary sweet but it gets stuck in your head and it won't leave. It's like a musical version of genital warts... or something. This one made the playlist at work late in the year so it'll soon make me want to slit my wrists as well but for now, it makes the Top 20 by a hair.

19. My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget

My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget
Ugh! This one's so sugary sickly sweet too! Well, no - not really. But it is a love song about a boy and his dog. It's touching in a way. It'll tug at your heartstrings and beat the living fuck out of your funnybone.

18. Thank You For The Music - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Whatever. I'm not dignifying this with comments!

17. Pull Shapes - The Pipettes

Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
Aww yeah! I love this song too - another of my favorites from the year. It has a classic 50's/60's bubblegum pop type sound to it. You could easily imagine it on one of those Time Life "Songs Of Your Life" type commercials. Only $19.95 if you order now!

16. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Kate Nash (Black Kids live cover)
15. Tattoo - Jordin Sparks
14. I Wana Love You - The Maine (Akon cover)
One of my favorite covers of the year - the inspiration for the Cover Song Challenge mix from early '08.

13. All That I Want - The Weeples
12. The Name Of The Game - Mamma Mia soundtrack
11. Now That We're Done - Metro Station

And without further adieu... THE TOP TEN OF 2008!!

10. Our Last Summer - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Odds are high that the Missus is responsible for every single one of the plays of this song. I really can't stand it. From time to time, the beginning will stick in my head but never enough that I want to listen to it. And whoever decided to let Pierce Brosnan sing on camera and on recorded musical media should be dragged out into a field and shot.

9. How Many Words - Blake Lewis
I think most people that liked Blake on Idol were concerned that the record labels would destroy the guy who wanted to perform with Doug E. Fresh at the Idol finale. But there was just enough beatbox in this song to make it sound like Blake Lewis and just enough slick production to make it very cool. It's completely not the type of song that I usually like but dammit, American Idol tends to do that to me.

8. Break The Ice - Britney Spears
Sadly, this may be all me. When everyone was trashing Miss Britney before her big comeback, I was actually finding her music to be a bit better than it had been in a while. I haven't listened to anything from the "comeback" album but I'm betting I won't like it anywhere near as well.

7. This Woman's Work - Kate Bush
Oh my god. The scene in the Extras finale where they played this song was absolutely tear-your-soul-out-of-your-gut-and-stomp-on-it-with-golf-spikes levels of painful to watch. The song fit the scene perfectly for the one of the dramatic, emotional moments in what was often a show best known for Kate Winslet talking dirty. For shame. If you haven't seen it, now's a good time to blow through the entire Extras series on your media of choice.

6. Unbroken - Jessica Sierra
Remember what I said waaaaay back under Bret Michaels' name? That goes double here. A song heard from someone checked into Celebrity Rehab kicked the fucking door down into our Top Ten. We both just couldn't get enough of it.

5. I Was Made For You - Rivers Cuomo
2008 saw the lead singer of Weezer release an album of demos, rarities, and outtakes done in his garage. This was the absolute highlight of that album from what I heard.

4. Foundations - Kate Nash
Kate Nash was one of my favorite artists of the year - someone I liked enough to subject myself to going to a show where odds were very high that I was among the oldest people in the audience easily. You've seen her name littered up and down this list (with one more still to come.)

3. Honey Honey - Mamma Mia soundtrack
The ONLY song on the Mamma Mia soundtrack that you can partially blame me for appearing this high on the list. I liked this one... what can I say?

2. Apologize - OneRepublic & Timbaland
No idea how this ended up here. Absolutely no idea. There's no fucking possible way that I listened to this song that many times. It's an okay song but... yeah, not #2 on my list.

And the #1 song of 2008...

1. Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Now THAT I can live with. An absolutely fitting choice for the #1 most played song of 2008.

And now? We begin all over again. What will be the #1 song of 2009? Stay tuned!

i'm A Mac: Prepare To Die

On the eve of Macworld, this seems appropriate. Much thanks to Phil for the linkage.

Mac vs PC - Transformers @ Yahoo! Video

It's A Brand New Day

What do you think of the new digs?

In the spirit of New Years and new beginnings, I decided to do a little housecleaning around here. New format, new design, and I removed some of the features that weren't being used and were doing little but slow down load times. Hopefully you'll all like this one a little better. If there's something missing from the old format that you REALLY, REALLY want back, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do.

And no, I haven't forgotten about the You're My Boy, Blue! Year End Awards. They should be coming today or tomorrow so keep your shorts on, bucko!