MY BEST OF 2008 List!!!

Its that time of the year again...the end. 2008 is coming to an end. I have graduated from law school been admitted as a lawyer in Pennsylvania and have come leaps forward in becoming a married man. Yes 2008 has majorly changed me. I have gone from having little to no responsibility to having serious stress fueled responsibility. Sucks... So here is my list of things I thought of in the last ten minutes as the best of 2008, so this really has no thought put into it and could change at any moment. Basically it is the best most important list you should read.

BEST BLOG: The Secret Art of Snark. Come on, would it be anything else? NO! Honorable mentions are Dlisted, FAIL, and Best Week Ever.

BEST ALBUM: M83 Saturdays=Flowers. Any music that invoke such an emotional response when the music is not telling you what to feel, is something incredible. This album reminds me of Donnie Darko for some reason. Don't ask. Just buy it. Honorable mention - Cut Copy

MOST OVER RATED ALBUM: Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes. I just don't see what the fuss is about. The melodies are good, but I don't see this being any better than the rest of the folky beach boys inspired 60's atmospheric music that has been having a major resurgence in indie rock lately. Sorry...


BIGGEST SPLASH IN POP CULTURE: This award goes to someone, something, or basically any noun that has become huge in pop culture making its mark in a way that we will never forget. Its something that made great strides in popular culture establishing itself as a person place or thing to be reckoned with. For 2008 it is TRANNIES!!! Trannies have been everywhere. There presence was felt so strongly in 2008 that even women are picking up on their look and trends mimicking their hotness. Aubrey Odey, Kim Kardashian, and Tyra Banks are leading the movement. We saw trannies all over reality TV and even saw one become the mayor of a town. It looks like 2009 will be another great year for then with the Real World jumping on the band wagon after Puffy's show and Top Model. To Trannies!!!

BEST REALTY TV MOMENT: This is without a doubt the hardest award to give and there were so many it is really impossible to come up with the best as in entertainment value. I am going with my personal favorite. Unfortunately there is no video on the net, so try to think of this genius moment. It was when Vicki from the Real Housewives of Orange County was smashed in the face with a football on a boat at Lake Havasu. just picture her doing her stupid screaming thing when a foot ball comes flying onto the screen an nails her in the face.... awesome...

MOST INSANE ENTERTAINING CRIMINAL: There was OJ Simpson, The Santa Flame Thrower murderer, and money flushing down the toileter Bernard Madoff. I am going with Casey Anthony on this one because the sheer idiocy of this lying dumb bitch just continues on and on. After coming up with lie after lie when confronted with why she didn't report her daughter missing after a month, we come to find out stupid Casey searched the Internet for the 100th episode of One Tree Hill. Why you ask? Well because the 100th episode of that show was about a baby being kidnapped by her nanny (no not Zanni the Nanny...I know) and being held in an apartment somewhere. The fact that Casey Anthony tried to come up with an Alibi by using a plot line from one of the most ridiculous unrealistic teen dramas gives us a glimpse of how insane she is. I would not be surprised if she tries some Days of Our Lives shit and blames all of this on Steffano Demira or argues Little Callie is coming back from the dead and it was her unknown twin that died.

BEST SHOW OF 2008: TRUE BLOOD. I struggled over this. I liked Summer Heights High and Damages, 30 Rock , and Gossip Girl ( don't judge), but True Blood was the most refreshing change of pace and has that incredible normal closest thing to real life feel that Alan Ball does so well all while being deeply rooted in fantasy. It also does a great job of translating pretty crappy books into great television.

BEST FAIL OF 2008: SARAH PALIN. need I say more?

BEST WIN OF 2008: Barak Obama. Same

2008 Mashup Video by Dj Earthworm

It is closely approaching the end of 2008. It has been a great year for good music (cut copy, M83) but an only mediocre one for pop music. Above is a video/ mash up of all the songs from 2008 that were in the top 25 created by San Francisco artist Dj Earthworm. Its no Girl Talk, but worth the listen. I have been looking for the Mp3 download because i think that it would be cool to play at a party or before going out for the night. Anyone who has access to the MP3 let me know. Thaaaaaaaaaaaanks

Below is last years mix from 2007. I think I like this years better. The Viva la Vida theme works pretty good.

Another Best of 2008

I have talked about music (Bloc Party/ TVOTR) and videos (MIA BURAKA SOM SISTEMA) not I am adding TV to the mix. I am nominating/ deciding that Sunday night TV more specifically True Blood and Summer Heights High are the best TV of 2008.

I know that True Blood is based on the Sookie Stackhouse books and Summer Heights High was already on in Australia, but 2008 is when Americans audiences was treated to ground breaking entertainment. The two shows are completely different, but both highly addictive and entertaining. I thank Summer Heights High for introducing me to the term Ranga ( Orangutan slang for a Ginger) and Ranga Homo as a more pointed insult. I thank True Blood for introducing me to Anna Paquins boobs and Deep South Vampires. BTW I read all the books and this show is capable of going in crazy directions the next season ( werewolfs, werepanthers, orgies, and anti-vampire terrorists... and just wait till you see what hurricane Katrina does to vampire politics). 

So lets all toast to Miss Annabel Dixon and Miss Sookie Stackhouse for making the tail end of 2008 a little less mind numbing!!!

And to hold you over till next season here is a scene from the pilot of True blood with a character that was taken out when it aired on MTV. SPOILER!!!!!!!!! That women in the blue dress is Sookies Fairy Godmother.

I LIKE BLOC PARTY

So Silent Alarm was without a doubt one of the best albums of the 21st century. It was the soundtrack to many peoples "hip" life, and broke new ground in music. I remember hearing the album around the same time MIA Arular came out. I thought to myself that these are two musical artists recreating what is capable with sound. I hadn't been excited about music like I was in 2004/2005 in a long time. Ad the Knife- Heartbeats to that and I was on cloud nine.

Then Bloc Parties second album came out. I liked it, but in all seriousness it was a bit of a let down. The band was going in a different direction, and strayed from that raw dance punk euphoria. Well, Intimacy, the new album is awesome and very much a reminder of what Bloc Party is capable of. Some of the songs on this album are not only incredible songs, but may be the best work Bloc Party has ever written (Ion Square, Better Than heaven, Your Visits Are Getting Shorter). It is almost like Bloc Party is saying "yeah we can writes songs like songs on Silent Alarm, but that doesn't mean we are going to." Luckily they do, and boy are those songs worth the wait. I highly recommend this album, and although it came out near the end of 08, I am including it on my best of 2008 list. Tv on the Radio May Get the bulk of the attention this year, but Intimacy is an album that reminds everyone why Bloc Party made a mark on modern music that will never be forgottten.

Talons video


Flux Video

Im Back!!!!

I gave up blogging for a while for a number of reasons. First I am now a busy lawyer, so i don't have the time. Second, I was having trouble with the blog and wrote two really intricate well written posts that were lost by blogger. After getting frustrated I gave up blogging. Well, I have decided to try it again. I know no one actually reads this blog, but just for feeling like i am sharing fun stuff with people I am going to try it again. 

I return to you with some of my favorite things of 2008. You know like Oprah, but not at all.

First off is my favorite video of 08. Dancing styles always start in the underground and creep up to the mainstream in Britney Spears or Rihanna videos. Check out this MIA Buraka Som Sistema video with dancers from Angola and Senegal. The song is sick, but pay attention because you will see this style on this summers So You Think You Can Dance and you can act all Hipsterish by saying " yeah been there done that!"