Year In Review

listening Suggestion: Your Favorites of '08


So here is a few lists from me to retrospect the year that was 2008.

First off is a list for My top 20 of 2008. It contains movies, tv shows, concerts, albums, and books that were unleashed throughout the year. They are in no particular order (except the last few, as they'll be designated Guilty Pleasures):



1. Watching the Watchmen by Dave Gibbons - For those of you who don't know, this is a comprehensive look at the making of the seminal comic series Watchmen, told primarily by it's artist Dave Gibbons. It is a seminal piece when it comes to test pictures and previously unpublished Watchemn art, but unfortunately we only have the one side of the story, as Alan Moore did not co-operate. It is a must for any Watchmen fan.



2. Wall-e - In my opinon, one of the finest animated sci-fi pictures ever made. The wonderful tale about the forgotten robot Wall-e and his search for love is not only heart-lifting, it's utterly magical. Pixar has outdone themselves again with this masterpiece.



3. Pushing Daisies Season 2 - This show has easily moved into the top 5 all-time TV shows in my opinon. Everything about the show is mindblowingly good. The dialouge is smart, funny, and whimsical. The visuals are like candy for your brain, and the concept is one of the most original and daring in television history. Too bad ABC is too blind to see it, or too greedy to care.



4. Third by Portishead- Been waiting for this to be released for a very long time, and boy was it worth the wait. One of the most amazing albums in a long time, let alone the year. I can't recomend it enough. Especially "Machine Gun" and "The Rip"



5. Caribou at the Crowbar - 04/06/2008 - Seeing Caribou was close to a religous experience. It was the first show I had been to in a VERY long time, and I was not exactly feeling up to par that night. The opening act (The Fuckbuttons) were ok, but not really my thing. Then Caribou hit the stage, and I was forever sold into the genius that is Dan Snaith. It was the most rockin'est show I have ever been too. If they ever come toy your town, DO NOT HESITATE, trust me, you'll not regret it.



6. The Dark Knight- This is on the top of everyone's "best of" lists this year, and with good reason. It is a fantastic look at crime and how it affects our society in the community. It also tacles the subjects of fear played in the media, and the lengths people are willing to go to do what is right. It is an absolutely fantastic film. in every right, and deserves every accolade it recieves.



7. Fringe - The best new show of the season. In my opion, picks up where The X-Files left off, and runs full force with it. Hopefully soon we see some serious shit go down, and this son of a bitch gets blown wide open, and we get more details at what exactly is going on with the "Pattern". Also includes one of my favorite characters put on the small screen in Walter Bishop.



8. Dexter Season 3 - It's hard to imagine and believe that the first season that Showtime's Dexter veers off course from the source material that it would become it's finest season yet. Then again, this is the show that is able to continuously top itself season after season, so it's not much of a shock that this season would show us the potential of this amazing show. Dex and Rita getting married, Rita's pregnanc, Miguel and his secrets. PURE ENJOYMENT OF EVERY MINUTE!!



9. Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket - This album was a complete surprise. When it first hit my CD player, and I heard the album in it's entirety, I was left scratchi ng my head, and thing that MMJ has pulled the best joke ever. I was just dumbfounded that what I believe to be the best american rock band would be releasing an album so....Fun? I was just confused, but after time, this album has absolutely grown on me. The Majority of the tracks are unbeatable, and some are even dancible. It is a joy to see the boys in this whole completely new direction. Hopefully we'll see alot more from them in the future.



10. The Fall - Film director Tarsem gets a realy bad rep, for his previous work "The Cell" with Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio. People say that the visuals were absolutely gorgeous, but the story was almost totally without any real substance. I don't blame Tarsem for that. He didn't write the story, and Jennifer lopez is as lively as a loaf of bread, so when I heard that Tarsem was releasing a new movie that he wrote and directed, I was already on board. Then throw in the mix of Lee Pace as the lead, well then I HAD to be there. And what a wonderful and beautiful and tragic movie it is. I don't want to give anything away about it, but easily my favorite movie released this year.



11. Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (Mass Market) - Now, I know what you're thinking, "Hey Jon, you silly ass, the Incredible Shrinking Man was originally published in 1956, you can't add that to your best of 2008 list!". And you may be right, but only in 2008 has Mass Market made this, and other Richard Matheson classics available for only 4.99!!! That in itself makes it to my list, but the book is also absolutely fantastic, posing the most important question of all, the importance of pushing forward when the end result will be the same, death. If you have never read any Richard Matheson, this is a good place to start as any (as I had not when I read this book). It also includes other classic shorts like "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Duel", it's a must for anyone who remotely calls themself a fan of Sci-fi- lit.



12. Stanley Kubrick's Boxes - I recorded this documentary on IFC earlier this year, and as a Kubrick nut, it was absolutely astounding. Here's a small synopsis "When filmaker Ronson is invited to Kubrick's estate after the reclusive director's untimely death, Ronson becomes captivated by the thousands of boxes stacked and stored throughout Kubrick's stately home. The boxes (and their contents) become the subject of his documentary." Held within the boxes are endless amounts of preproduction research for all of his films. Kubrick kept meticulous records of his work, even keeping all of the fan mail that he recieved and filing it accordingly. It is an absolutely facinating documentary on how this film master became who he was.



13. Maybe Foreign at the Brass Mug - 11/22/2008 - Ok, so I'm not just including this show because my best friend Ryan Guy is in the band. I am including this because it truly was a wonderful time, and live music at it's finest. Looking forward to see these guys again real soon.



14. Step Brothers - This movie was a bit of a surprise. I love Will Ferrell. I think anything that comes out of his mout or brain is comedy gold (with the exception of Semi-Pro, that was a stinker). But this movie caught me off gaurd with how irreverant and downright silly it was. For him anf John C. Reily to play live at home adults as crude adolescants is a stroke of brilliance and absurdity that had me laughing EVERY MINUTE of this movie.



15. Attack and Release by The Black Keys - This is gold. With Danger Mouse providing just the right amount of production value to the normally very diy lo-fi duo, they have created an essential for any fan of "Dirty ass" rock. This album is gorgeous and moving.



16. Watchmen (Hardback) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - I'm gonna keep this one a little short, and it's a bit of cheat to be on this list. You see, I actually don't own this, but I will shortly. The reason that this is on the list is simple, who doesn't want an aboslutely gorgeous digitally recolored and smoothed out pimped out edition of THE BEST COMIC BOOK EVER WRITTEN? Anyone? That's what I thought.



17. Rambo- I am a self proclaimed Sly junkie. I love it all. Cobra? Yep!. Over the Top? You're goddamned right it was! But when Sly announced a few years ago that he was going to not only re-visit the Rocky franchise (with the absolutely perfect Rocky Balboa), but also re-visit the vietnam vet super-baddass muthafucker that is Rambo, I needed to change the whites. And boy did he ever deliver!!!! With some of the best action violence and gore that I've seen in mainstream action in a very long time, Sly also brought forward the serious atrocities that were happening in Darfur. It is a head-exploding, Bullet ripping you in half great time.



18. True Blood - I was a little skeptical of how good this show was going to be at first. HBO was running these promotional shorts for the show called "Bloodcopy" which had an internet news show feel to it, and I knew that the show was not going to follow that format, so for some reason that made me a little uneasy going into the first episode. But my apprehensions were soon dissolved, and soon I was totally invested in the story of Sookie Stackhouse and Bill. Cannot wait for season 2.



19. Supreme Genius of King Khan by King Khan and The Shrines - So this album came into my awareness from out of the blue. Jeremy had found a used vinyl copy of it for 3.99 having no idea what it was. He took it home and it instantly blew him away. The songs are silly, raucous, and down right rocking. Old school funk mixed with some dirty garage rock, and you got some real supreme genuis with this record.



20. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - In my opinon, this was the most underrated comedy of the year. I've loved jason segal since I saw slackers, and then when I was finally able to catch all of Freaks and Geeks on dvd, that just sealed the deal. He is hilarious, and has an uncanny resemblance to a young Judge Reinhold (think Fast Times at Ridgemont High era). With this movie, you get everything, numerous full frontal nudity shots of Jason Segal crying, which is hilarious, as well as a puppet musical about dracula, which actually landed Jason Segal and Nick Stoller (who both wrote marshall and the dracula musical within) a job writing the next full length muppet musical! A must, especially if you're an Apatow fiend like me.

Lately

Suggested Listening: anything by the Black Keys

So, Haven't written anything in a little while, because flow at work has changed and haven't really had a chance to chime in about anything. Since I have a few minutes today, I thought I'd do a quick runthrough of different Misc items that have caught my attention lately

1. So, Pushing Daisies was cancelled, which totally sucks balls. I don't want to get into it too much (it makes me sick to my stomach that ABC has no sense of originality and consider themselves in the entrtainment business, but have cancelled the most entertaning and unique program currently on tv) , but all I know is that ABC is gonna be getting all kinds of different stuff in the mail for a long time on that one. I hope they like pies.

2. Interesting interview on AICN about Spike Jonze making the feature film adaptaion of "Where The Wild Things Are", which is totally awesome. For anyone not in the know, it's going to be amazing. Here's a link to that interview: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39145

3. Saw the new Bond movie. Totally Awesome. The new bond movies are so on top of any Bond movies of the past. I'm glad that they are being smart about such a great character that's been given such a lackluster cover in the past. Daniel Craig totally kicks ass.

4. And finally, I bought Wall-e on DVD. One of the best movies of the year, and my favorite from Pixar. Genius

Anyways, That's all for now. More to come on some of these topics, just not motivated enough right now to realy elaborate further.

You can't "Beat It" (I know, I know)

Suggested Listening: Well, I think this one will be obvious



Okay, so recently I realized something that was so common knowledge, that it's ridiculous.


Let me rephrase that. I knew this bit of knowledge practically my entire life, but now I understand it on an entirely new level.


This bit of knowledge? Well, it's that Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is an absolutely genius album. I mean GENIUS.











First off, now a days, if the name Michael Jackson is mentioned, it is 99% of the time preceded or followed by a tasteless joke, smirk, or snicker. That to me is an absolute shame. The man is definately eccentric beyond belief, and may, MAY, have some small sexual indescretions, but let's put that aside.




I wanna talk about 1983 Michael Jackson. Billie Jean Michael Jackson, you know, the one who absolutely blew everyone away on the Motown 25th Anniversary special by doing what seemed physically impossible. The one who, with one album was able to not only make himself the biggest superstar in the world, but also set about creating a mythos about himself that for the most part stands today around the world.

Some of you out there, I'm sure, are saying, "Now, where in the hell did all this sudden admiration for the great gloved one come from?". Well, I've been a MJ fan my entire life (I'm not gonna lie, I hid it when it wasn't cool), but it was reignited when I recently was able to get my hands on a copy of Captain EO on dvd, through an unnamed source.

For those of you unfortunately unaware of this little gem, Captain EO was a 3-D movie made in 1986 (in between Thriller and Bad) that stars Michael Jackson as the title character, and his band of puppet/muppet ragtag crew of misfits and screwballs. EO is sent on a mission to deliver a "gift" to the Supreme Being (Angelica Houston) on a far away planet, in a last ditch effort to save EO's name in the vaugely named "Federation" that he is a part of. Did I mention that it was directed by Frances Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas?

Hyginks ensue, as does dancing and singing.

I would say that if you haven't seen it, you really should run to Disney world to check it out, but unfortunately they stopped running it in 1994. (If your desparate and know me, I would be more than happy to hold a screening for you).

Seeing this wonderful jewel from my childhood again filled me with Michael Jackson nostalgia. I, of course, had a copy of Thriller on CD for the title track on various occasions, not really giving the rest of the tracks on the album it's proper due. I decided to start listening to it again while I was still floating on my Captain EO high.

Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

The thing that caught me off gaurd is really how fresh the album still is as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I still have an instinct to skip the track when "Beat It" starts due to the immense amount of overexposure the track has recieved over the years, but as a whole, it's like a dance-pop filled breath of fresh air.

I could go on and on, but more than likely you "know" all of the wonderfullness that is "Thriller", but if you're reading this post and thinking "Honestly???", all I can do, is put it on, and give it a fresh listen with new ears, you'll be glad you did. (especially for the non singles "Baby Be Mine" and "Human Nature")

UFO's and YOU

Ok, this is going to be a short one. As many of you know, I am very interested in the possiblity of life outside of our planet, and i read a really interesting article that led me to this really amazing site that has copies of very recent de-classified ufo reports from the uk government. Start yer speculating Here

Escargot and the mysteries of worldwide cuisine

Suggested Listening : Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg

First off, let me Address something here. My good friend Dallas has a blog that he is writing. He has entries EVERYDAY that are new. It is massively impressive. Anyways, in his blog, Dallas mentioned that he wishes that I posted more frequently, because as he puts it, my blog "Could only benefit" from more posts. I assume he means that as a compliment, so thank you Dallas. I will take it as a challenge, and will certainly try to up my contributions to the Blogiverse that is blogger.

Dallas, I am sure I will see you sometime again. Soon, I hope.

So, this weekend I had the pleasure of doing something that I've never done before, and after having done it, I really look forward to doing it again.

Now, I know what you pervs are thinking. I was referring to attending the International Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT. It was amazing!

I would not say that I am someone who is well versed in world cuisine. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy different ethnic foods if you will. I enjoy Japanese food (even though I'm sure it's Americanized), and of course German food, Chinese food, Mexican, but once again, usually all Americanized.

I would say that my first true venture into International food was when I went to a Thai restaurant recently with my better half Hillary and her family. I had previously dabbled in Indian food with them previously, but it was nothing that I would feel like revisiting. The Thai restaurant, on the other hand was very enjoyable, and opened my eyes to what my taste buds were possibly missing.

For the most part, I feel like I am willing to try any sort of food at least once. Heck, that's what got me to love calamari. I just wanted to eat something that had tentacles!

So, with this new passion for delving into new adventures for my palate, Hillary and I decided to venture to EPCOT for the festivities. The one thing Hillary was most adamant about that we try is Escargot. That's right folks, snails. Slimy snails. Livin' in a seashell snails. Like this one:

Now, like I stated before, I am willing to try anything once, but eating snails never crossed my mind. scratch that, it crossed my mind like how a rattlesnake might taste, or poop. I had made myself a commitment though, and even though the classic scene from "The Jerk" (First they didn't have the bamboo umbrellas for the drinks, and now snails on the plate!).

Let me tell you....Delicious! absolutely wonderful. They were served in a garlic butter sauce in a mini bread bowl, and that with the side of milk chocolate Creme Brulee, just absolute heaven. France was the absolute best country when it came to food (yeah I know, of course it was!)


I also had some mint tea and Baklava Morocco, some pistachio Baklava from Istanbul (not Constantinople), and some great Pork Pot stickers and Ginger Ice Cream from Shanghai that would Knock your socks off!

All in all, if you're a fan of international cuisine or even curious about it, and have a chance to go, I can highly recommend it.

Is it just me, or.....

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........Say hi to your mom for me.

All Hallow's Eve

Suggested Listening for this post: Broken EP by Nine Inch Nails


Man, it's that time of year again.

Ghosts, Goblins, Boogiemen, Zombies, and countless other ghouls will be roaming the street soon. They'll be interested in only one thing. BRAINS!!

No, actually, probably just candy, and some good old fashion scarin'.

I love Halloween, as do all the raindogs and co-horts. I love the idea of people enjoying getting the crap scared out of them. I love the idea that we still celebrate a dark pagan ritual in this time that which blatant Christian Idealism and conservatism is upheld so dearly.

Most of all, I love getting scared. I love seeing other people getting scared. I love the Horror.

Horror movies haven't always been something that I've loved. I actually made myself love them. See, when I was younger, I was interested in horror movies. I always wanted to know what vile things happened in these movies that no doubt crossed all lines of decency and taste. I remember clearly walking through the video store with my parents on numerous occasions and seeing the covers for movies like "The Thing", "Evil Dead II", and of course, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and wondered what lied behind the covers that riveted me and scared me when I was younger.

Then one Friday the 13th, my parents decided to go out to dinner, and My loving, wonderful older brother, Jeff, was watching us.

Jeff loved to scare me and Jeremy, my twin. I remember he used to have this E.T. doll that used to scare the living hell out of me when I was younger. Then there was always him turning off all the lights and dancing to Thriller (which scared me, I'll admit it.)

Well, this particular night, There was a Friday the 13th marathon on, as was a standard when i was younger. I was not a stranger to these movies, as a matter of fact, my Grandfather, Jerry, loved the first Friday the 13th, and would always make the Jason breathing noise when he watched it. For some reason though, this particular night, It scared the living crap out of me. Jeff, being a typical big brother, sensed that it was getting to me, and when we I went to bed, turned the volume up in the living room as loud as it would go.

I didn't sleep a wink. As a matter of fact, from that night forward, I slept on my parents floor.

For almost 3 Years.

Now, when it started, I was probably 6 or seven. My parents were besides them selves. They tried everything to get me to sleep in my bed. I just couldn't take sleeping in a room where something could happen to me or them. It was a very traumatic period. Then eventually, my parents upgraded our beds, and all of a sudden, I laid in bed and was comfortable, but still needed the closeness of my parents. They explained that nothing was going to happen to them, and I listened. And slept in my own room.

So, as this happened, something else changed in my life, my Saturday morning programming. Cartoons were out, and Dr. Paul Bearer was in. (For those of you unfamiliar, shame on you!! follow this link, and O'D will so wonderfully enlighten you: http://straightfromthedogsass.blogspot.com/2008/09/greater-tampa-part-2-wtog.html
I could talk for ages about the man and his show) He made horror fun. He introduced me to some of my favorites to this day. Wonderful horror greats like Phantasm, night of the living dead, invasion of the body snatchers, and too many others to name.

Then a few years later, came Jonathan O'Donnell and Ryan Guy.

All I have to say, is that without Jonathan O'Donnell, I wouldn't be the absolute gore hound I am today, and without Ryan,(and of course Jeremy) I wouldn't have had some else going through the intense education of Horror.

Sitting in our undies, watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time, all with baseball bats in our hands.

watching a Clockwork Orange, and "Passing the Hat". Buying the Nightmare DVD box set and watching things on it for what seemed like 16 hrs straight. Me and O'Ds countless Phantastic Phantasm Marathons. Going to Movie Masters and being awed by the wonderful B-movie selection.

It's really turned me into a lover of everything gore.

Which is one of the reasons I love Halloween.

There are more to come, Stay Tuned