Saturday, December 30, 2006

2006 At A Glance

10 Best Albums of 2006:

1: Cat Power – The greatest
2: Tom Waits – Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards
3: Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
4: Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
5: Bob Dylan – Modern Times
6: My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
7: Rise Against – The Sufferer and The Witness
8: The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
9: Dirty Pretty Things – Waterloo To Anywhere
10: Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

5 Best Album Runner Up’s of 2006:

1: The Decemberists –The Crane Wife
2: The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
3: The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
4: Built To Spill – You In Reverse
5: The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics

10 Best Songs of 2006:

1: Cat Power – Lived In Bars
2: Tom Waits – Road To Peace
3: Pearl Jam – Marker In The Sand
4: Incubus – Anna Molly
5: Rise Against – Prayer For A Refugee
6: Drive-By Truckers – Gravity’s Gone
7: The Fray – How To Save A Life
8: Wolfmother – Joker & The Thief
9: Cat Power – Living Proof
10: My Chemical Romance – Disenchanted

5 Best Song Runner Up’s of 2006:

1: Pearl Jam – World Wide Suicide
2: Cat Power – The Greatest
3: My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade
4: Drive-By Truckers – Wednesday
5: Muse – Starlight

10 Most Overrated Shit of 2006:

1: Gnarls Barkley – Album, Songs, Videos, Talent
2: The Killers – Album, Songs, Videos, Talent, Attitude
3: The Microsoft Zune
4: Podcasts
5: George W. Bush
6: Anything To Do With Britney Spears
7: Borat
8: Pitchfork
9: Spin Magazine
10: Justin Timberlake – Music, The Fact That He Supposedly “Brought Sexy Back”

10 Best Movies of 2006:

1: The Departed
2: Brick
3: Blood Diamond
4: Hard Candy
5: V For Vendetta
6: Little Miss Sunshine
7: Thank You For Smoking
8: The Proposition
9: Inside Man
10: A Scanner Darkly

5 Best Movies Runner Up’s of 2006

1: All The Kings Men
2: An Inconvenient Truth
3: Casino Royale
4: Lucky Number Slevin
5: The Good Shepard – Even Though I Have Yet To See It

That’s all for 2006, here’s to hoping for a better 2007!

-B
Lived in bars and danced on tables

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Happy Holidays

So I just spent the last week in the hospital with pancreatitis. That was not a good way to spend the week leading up to Christmas. I did my shopping today. Surprisingly enough there were no long lines. Anyway, this is just a short post to say merry Christmas or whatever holiday it is you happen to celebrate. See you all later.

-B
I sometimes wonder if they know that I’m gone

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Colors Are Delicious

Is the new dance-pop-punk craze annoying you as much as it is me? I am currently listening to HelloGoodbye, one of the many new dance punk bands that is currently polluting the airwaves, and I have to say, I feel like I should be getting’ my shimmy on down at Studio 54 with a glow stick and some cocaine. This is the kind of shit that makes people like Tom Araya want to stab a knife in someone’s back and carve the word “SLAYER” into their funky fresh beat dancin’ skin. I can’t tell if I hate this as much as the new Panic! At The Fallout Boy Disco crap they’re serving up on Fuse, but its close.

Anyway, I get the feeling that this is the “new thing” for the next 12 to 18 months. It is kind of like the resurgence of swing music back in ’98; it sucks, but its ok to pretend you like it if you are either a hipster and/or gay. Oh well, I guess it’s better than a new album by Ace of Base. So I am now changing my play list from dance crap to Electric Six…that’s better.

So apparently the committee that tells us if the war in Iraq is going our way or not (apparently Americans are not smart enough to make that decision themselves) is now saying that, and I quote, “President Bush’s war policies have failed in almost every regard”. What has two thumbs and is not surprised at this news at all? Here’s a hint; I am currently pointing my thumbs back at myself in a condescending and narcissistic manner and shouting “This guy!”

Anyway, for those of you who remember The Atari’s, they are finally releasing their latest record, which has been on the shelves for over two years. That’s nothing in comparison to Axl Rose, but still, I have kind of been looking forward to it. Apparently the band, which now consists of Chris Roe and five other dudes, is taking a different route than previously. Now I am ok with this, as expansion and experimentation is something I encourage and admire in music, but I think they (ok, Chris Roe) are doing it for the wrong reasons. Just because that part of your life is over, does not mean you stop playing the tunes that got you to where you are right now. But I am done whining for now, so go listen to some Jeff Buckley.

-B
You’re a few years overdue. I spent them waiting here for you.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The Midnight Disease

As you may have noticed, I have a problem with writing consistency. I will write everyday for two weeks, then maybe once a week for another three weeks. I will freely admit that I suffer from hypergraphia (the medical term for an overpowering desire to write), but what I did not know is that hypergraphia also leads to writers block. I have recently acquired a marvelous book on writing and hypergraphia titled The Midnight Disease, by Alice W. Flaherty. This is a very interesting read not only for writers, but for those who enjoy books but constantly find themselves picking up and putting down a book over a long period of time. We are driven to write or read something, but are unable to keep an attention span towards the subject for very long. It sucks, trust me.

Anyway, when I finish the book I plan on doing an essay on the subject. I know, right now you are probably asking yourself “well if he just admitted that he is inconsistent, will he actually write an essay on hypergraphia or will he have a mental block because of it?” Well I can assure you, I will (write it, not have a mental block). And if you doubt my claim, pick up the book and you will soon understand why I am not only inconsistent, but why I cannot avoid writing for very long.

Anyway, I went to the Primus show Sunday night. Primus always puts on an amazing display, but they dragged out their songs so long that it felt like they wanted to be Pink Floyd, and their song selection was mediocre, at best. I still think they are great, and Les Claypool is the greatest bass player to ever live, but it could have been a better show. So, that is all for now, I am going to go get Scrubs on, stay classy Sacramento.

-B
If Heaven is for real, I wish you’d send me on my way

Sunday, December 03, 2006

This Is Why I Am Single

10 things I never want to hear a woman say:

  1. Um, we need to talk.

  2. It burns when I pee.

  3. I think my boyfriend knows.

  4. Have you accepted our lord Jesus Christ as your savior?

  5. I just got my drivers license!

  6. I don’t think it’s loaded…

  7. Have you met your son?

  8. Relax, I know exactly where we’re going.

  9. I don’t think that was apple juice…

  10. My dads a cop.

-B
Do you feel like a man when you push her around?