A world in white gets underway

Addendum

I think since it hasn't been on for a few month, I forgot my other favorite show, which is probably tied with Lost.

24.

Duh.

Best of T.V. 2005

Todays end-of-the-year list is my top-ten T.V. shows of 2005.

1. LOST (ABC) - I'm a late comer to the Lost crazy and man, am I pissed that I missed out from the beginning. I got the DVD from my friend Dave of Season one and I'm currently 12 or so episodes in (Boone just died). Melissa and I watched the Pilot and we couldn't get into it because the whole "monster in the jungle" aspect seemed too crazy. I'm glad I gave this show a second-chance, to realize that the "monster" isn't a big focal point, only something that is sort of an undercurrent, running throughout. I absolutely love the mystery, the character development and the twists and turns along the way. There have been a lot that I could see coming (or I knew were coming because I'm late to the prom, like Hurley's Lottery win and the numbers. There have also been some things that I could have never seen coming. It's such a freaking fantastic show. It's just too bad that I'm playing catch up. Hopefully I'll be all the way through season-2 before season three starts.

2. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - I think this is the best Sitcom on TV right now. It has incredible smart writing and a unique premise and setup, which is what you need to survive as a sitcom these days. The cast is perfect.

3. My Name is Earl (NBC) - The only other solid sitcom on television. Jason Lee makes this show work. He is a perfect actor for the role. This again is a well-written show with a unique premise.

4. Survivor: Guatemala (CBS) - Not the strongest season of the show, but it was a pretty darn good one. I'm still bitter about the ending and I will be for a long time, but regardless, this is still the best reality show on T.V.

5. CBS Crime Dramas (CBS) - There are four shows on CBS that all come in collectively at #5. On Thursday nights we get CSI and Without a Trace. I love CSI because they are sticking to the crime drama aspect each week and focusing the "human drama" involved in the case. For a while I was worried they were heading to soapy territory, but they continue to only involve the lives of the characters in small doses. Without a Trace has a heavier level of the personal side of the characters, but they do it in a good way. Usually the dealings of the characters lives are in direct relation to the crime/disappearances at hand and they are interwoven in a strong way.

On Friday nights we get Close to Home and Numbers. Close to Home is a good mix of a crime/courtroom drama and it involves a little more suds than Without a Trace, but that's the premise of the show and again, it works here. And my new "Bono" is star Jennifer Finnigan (right). Numbers involves a heavy dose of Irish Spring, specifically between the brothers (and dad and love interests occasionally), but for this show, it is what you need. With CSI, all of the different ways of solving crimes in the lab keep things dramatic and interesting on thier own. On Numbers, the "math" in and of itself is interesting, but can get extremely boring standing alone.

6. The Amazing Race - Family Edition (CBS) - While not nearly as good as the regular pairs style of this show, it is still one of the best reality shows on TV and it does the best job of showing the interpersonal drama. Where Survivor is entertaining because all of the stars are characters and the drama, games, voting, are sort of cartoonish (in it's own good way), Amazing Race shows a more "realistic" version of reality in that these are families that have to work/play/fight together to get through to the end of the season.

7. The Simpsons (Fox) - Probably only as low as it is because I've only actually seen a handful of episodes this season. It's on at the same time as #9 on the list and while I TiVo it upstairs, it rarely gets watched. Since this is the only show that I'm collecting each season of on DVD, I've slacked off on watching only because I know I'll own them all eventually anyway.

8. Saturday Night Live (NBC) - Not nearly the show it was five years ago, but the cast continues to evolve and get better. The setup of having a new host and musical guest every week keeps it extremely watchable, becuase you always want to see how so-and-so will do. Also, weekend update continues to be appointment TV.

9. Extreme Makeover - Home Edition (ABC) - Love this show. Love to get my weekly cry in from 8-9 (sometimes 7-9) on Sunday nights. What I don't like are the silly little "acting" routines that the designers do for entertainment sake. They come off as very staged and the detract from what makes the show good: helping people and showing radical new homes.

10. Gilmore Girls (WB) - My televised guilty pleasure. My weekly estro-fix. I have grown to love this show. I only started watching it because Melissa does, but now I'm as hooked as she is. The writing for this show is some of the quickest, smartest dialogue on TV.

10.5 The Ellen Degeneres Show (Syndication) - Ellen is the funniest woman on earth. What makes her talk show great are all the silly little segments (Madonna, is that you?) and quirky things that make it fun to watch (the smiley faced chip, send-in-your-bad-drivers-licsence photo). It's a lot more "real" than the silly sketches and characters that Jay, Dave and Conan use.

Worst of the Year

Sadly I only saw 19 movies this year and by my count, only 14 in an actual theatre (or drive-in). Thats barely more than one per month. Things sure have changed since the days of 150 movies a year (every other day) back at Biola!

That said, my rankings only include movies that I've actually seen (which will appear to be even more pathetic when you see my top-ten list).

For now, here are the Worst Three Movies of the Year


#1 - Son of the Mask (part of a double-feature with something we actually wanted to see at the drive-in)
#2 - Miss Congeniality 2 (Netflix)
#3 - Bewitched

And here are the six movies that I am indifferent about. Not bad enough to make the "Worst" list, not good enough to crack the top ten. Some of them I liked, others I didn't. In no particular order:

Sky High - C
Hide & Seek - C
Must Love Dogs - C
Because of Winn-Dixie - B-
Ice Princess - D+
Pooh's Heffalump Movie - B (for what it is)

Next up - The "Top Ten"...

Goober Lickin'Head

---Blatantly stolen from Cate---
The following in excerpted from a children's book, "Captain Underpants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants" by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names...

Here are some interesting ones:

My family is : Goober Lickinhead, Boobie Lickinhead and our children, Dorky Lickinhead, Cheesy Lickinhead and our rock star baby is "Sleazy Lickinhead. Greaaaaat.

My favorite Band is "Dispy2"

Their lead singer is Dipsy Chickensquirt, but he goes by his famous nickname "sloppy"
The guitar player is Sneezy Picklebutt, but he goes by "The Dumbo"
On Bass is Snickle Frickenbutt
The drummer is Dorfus Chuckletush.

Our president is Fluffy Chucklefanny

Snooty Waffledoodle dies on the cross for our sins.

Sloopy Frickinbutt brings presents to the kids on Christmas.

My inlaws are the "frickinnoses"

Man, I could have fun for hours with this.... Thanks, Cate!!!


1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your new first name:
a = snickle
b = doombah
c = goober
d = cheesey
e = crusty
f = greasy
g = dumbo
h = farcus
i =dorky
j = doofus
k = funky
l = boobie
m = sleezy
n = sloppy
o = fluffy
p = stinky
q = slimy
r = dorfus
s = snooty
t = tootsie
u = dipsy
v = sneezy
w = liver
x = skippy
y = dinky
z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:
a = dippin
b = feather
c = batty
d = burger
e = chicken
f = barffy
g = lizard
h =waffle
i = farkle
j = monkey
k = flippin
l = fricken
m = bubble
n = rhino
o = potty
p = hamster
q = buckle
r = gizzard
s = lickin
t = snickle
u = chuckle
v = pickle
w = hubble
x = dingle
y = gorilla
z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:
a = butt
b = boob
c = face
d = nose
e = hump
f = breath
g =pants
h = shorts
i = lips
j = honker
k = head
l = tush
m = chunks
n = dunkin
o = brains
p = biscuits
q = toes
r = doodle
s = fanny
t = sniffer
u = sprinkles
v = frack
w = squirt
x = humperdink
y = hiney
z = juice

Globe Nominations

The Hollywood Foreign Press did some crazy things this year.

HERE are the full nominations. I haven't seen too many movies this year, so my comments will be few for those categories. I have more to say regarding the TV categories.

The Good:
* Johnny Depp got nominated for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
* Will Farrell got nominated for the Producers! (haven't seen it)
* Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti got nominations for Cinderella Man.
* Lost got a nod for TV show - Drama! (My new favorite show, more to follow on that)
* Jason Lee and My Name is Earl both grabbed nominations!
* Other great nominations: Kiefer, Matthew Fox, Zach Braff, Naveen Andrews
* Only ONE HBO show up for best Drama (Although there were three for Comedy). This is great for those of us who only have basic cable!

The Bad:
* Since I don't watch Desperate Housewives, I don't like seeing 4-of-5 actress nominations going there.
* Nothing for CSI or Without a Trace
* Nothing for Elfman from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

The Ugly:
* Spielberg (Munich) and Pete Jackson (King Kong) got Best Director nods, but the movies were widely ignored.
* Renee Zellweger was PHENOMENAL in Cinderella Man, but no nomination.

I need to see more movies....

It was 25 years ago today....

He may not have ever been as big as Jesus, but he was pretty damn big. And pretty darn important to this thing we call rock and roll music. And after all, Bono is his son.

Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on

Grammy Nominations

We all know that the Grammies are a big load of heaping dog crap, but you still want your favorite artists to get the recognition they deserve. The boys did this year and it was about what was expected. Five Nominations:

Album of the Year: Atomic Bomb
Song of the Year (for songwriting): Sometimes You Can't Make it...
Rock Album
Rock Performance: Sometimes (how this is a "rock" song I'll never know)
Rock Song: City of Blinding Lights

Outside of that, it was a little good, a little bad and a lot of ugly.

The Good:
* Arcade Fire got nominated for Alternative Album
* Danny Elfman got a Grammy nomination: Stop the presses! No nomination for the score or for the soundtrack, but Wonka's Welcome Song picked up a nomination opposite Aracade Fire, Wyclef Jean, Tom Petty and Josh Groban for movie or television original song.
* Beck got nominated for Alternative Album
* Fiona got a nod for Extraordinary machine (but in the "pop" category?)
* Steve Lilliwhite is nominated for Producer of the Year.
* Boulevard of Broken Dreams got a record of the year nom.
* Keane got a best new artist nomination
* Pop performance by duo or group includes Mr. Brightside - The Killers, My Doorbell - White Stripes and This Love - Maroon Five.
* Record of the year, which is supposed to be go to a fun, good, overplayed song, actually has a strong nomination list (Kanye's Gold Digga, Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl and Boulevard of Broken dreams). I guess Kanye got the token rap nomination, because 50 Cent is absent from this list.
* Michael Buble got a nom for traditional pop!
No major nominations wasted on Country Crap.

The Bad:
* Kanye West got a slew of nominations (which he deserved), and this could be the redemption year to make up for him not winning last year when he should have. This could hurt Atomic Bomb in the Album category, which is the most important one.
* Arcade Fire didn't get a best new artist nomination or any recognition for "Wake Up"
* Kelly Clarkson's stronger pop album got appropriate nominations but was far outshined by Ms. Mimi (see the ugly below).
* Sometimes... didn't crossover into the pop category to give U2 a wider range of nominations.
* Why are there FIVE latin categories, when they have their own separate LATIN GRAMMYS?
* Bruce's Devil & Dust is up for the Folk Album. Kinda wierd, but ok. Where is Amos Lee?!!?
* No nomination for Dane Cook's comedy album.

The Ugly:
* Two words: Mariah Carey. WTF?!?!?!?!?! This is proof positive that the grammies are full of crap.
* The GREAT GRAMMY HYPOCRACY: How can an album be up for the BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR, if it isn't even nominated for the best album IN IT'S OWN FIELD?!?!? Such is the case with Mariah Carey. No Pop Album nomination. If there are five POP albums better than hers, why aren't THEY up for album of the year. IT'S SO RETARDED!!!!!
* The album of the year award includes Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ABOUT SALES?!?!?!? Sales, Schmales. Why not focus on music that is actually innovative and important. U2 and Kanye made the cut, fine. But where are The White Stripes, Coldplay or Bruce Springsteen. McCartney got the "maybe we'll pay tribute to his career" nomination instead of the Boss, I guess.

Let the lists begin!

It's December, which means it's time for the lists to roll out. I'll begin with the easiest, but biggest list. Top-Ten Albums of 2005. I should note that I am poor and I don't list any albums that I haven't bought or listened to all the way through. Most notably, that includes Fiona's Extraordinary Machine and the new Franz Ferdinand album, which I think I'll love. I should also note that not all of these came out in 2005, but they were new to ME this year.

Top Ten Albums of 2005

10.5. Ashlee Simpson - I Am Me
There goes my street cred, throwing my big guilty pleasure out there at the beginning. I think I only had eleven new albums this year, so this had to get on the list. I love the album. It isn't going to win any songwriting awards, but it's fun. I also liked her first album a little better, but this one has some fun catchy tunes. When she actually sings, I love her voice. (key tracks for the Itunes person who doesn't want to fork out $10 for the whole album: Boyfriend, L.O.V.E., Burning Up.)

10. Michael Buble - It's Time
This isn't the best big-band/crooner album of all time or anything, but of the contemporary crooners, Buble is one of the finest. His voice is solid and the music is pretty good. There are a few fast forward moments on his original stuff, but the covers are all strong. (key tracks: You Don't Know Me, Can't Buy My Love, Save the Last Dance For Me)

9. Doris Henson - Give Me All Your Money
Saw them open for Billy Corgan earlier this year and they were fun live. Something about a horn in a rock band that harks back to my Ska days, I guess. This is a very strong full album, easy to put it on in the car and get lost into the music. Helpful for my commutes. (key track: Dark time for the light side of Earth)

8. Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Great double album. Great music. I like the heavier album better. The Best of You is one of my favourite songs of the year. (Key tracks: Best of You, The Last Song, Cold Day in the Sun)

7. Beck - Guero

I love Beck, which makes this an automatic top-ten album in any year. Most Beck fans love this album. I'm not one of them. I've tried repeatedly to get into it and I just can't. It's a boring album to me. I think he tried to hard to capture the Odelay era sound and it just doesn't work for me. I should do a list ranking the Beck albums.... (Key tracks: E-Pro, Hell Yes)

6. Coldplay - X&Y
I don't like it as much as A Rush of Blood or Parachutes, but anything they touch is solid gold. I just haven't caught myself listening to this as often as the rest of the top ten. Coldplay has been called the "Next U2" and if that is the case, than this is one of those albums that, while strong in it's time, will only grow stronger with time. In 20 years, if Coldplay is still selling out world tours and producing amazing albums, this will be one in a series of classic albums by the band. Sort of another Unforgettable Fire (minus "Pride"). (Key track: What If?)

5. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
I love listening to this album. It's the first of the top five, which are the five albums I listen to most often in my car. (Key tracks: My Doorbell, Blue Orchid)

4. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
This album could have one song on it (Wake Up) and it would be in the top five of the year. One of the best songs to come out in a long time for more reasons than just being the opener for U2 shows. More on Wake Up when I do me top songs of the year. This entire album, much like Doris Henson, is good cruising music. I can put the album in at 4:30 in Glendora and all of a sudden it's 5:45 and I'm in Riverside. Listening to this music is a trip all in itself. (Key tracks: Wake Up, Une Annee Sans Lumiere)

3. Amos Lee - Amos Lee
I first heard of Amos Lee when he opened the Merle Haggard/Bob Dylan show at the Pantages, which I saw with my pops. He has been compared alot to Norah Jones. I like the comparison, but I don't think it full embodies who Lee is. He is more folky where Jones is more bluesy. This album is one of the most solid musically, and yet it has extremely catchy tunes. There are a few songs on this album that can get stuck in your head for hours, for better or worse. Each song feels like an event. It just grabs you and pulls you in and captivates your attention. The opening track "Keep it loose, keep it tight" pulls you into a visual landscape and you never leave until the final track finishes. It's almost like you "watch" this album while you listen to it. I seem to create my own long-form music video as I listen to it. Hard to explain, I guess. Just go out and get the album. (Key tracks: Bottom of the Barrel, Arms of a Woman, Soul Suckers)

2. Green Day - American Idiot
The first of two that weren't really 2005, but I discovered them this year. Politics aside (if it's possible with this album), this is one of the strongest albums of the last ten years. I have always liked Green Day as a novelty punk act, no different from Sum 41, Blink, MxPx, etc. They elevated themselves to legitimate rock & roll with this album, the first punk opera. Musically and lyrically, this is an intense, exhausting listen, but one that you want to do over and over again. I've probably listened to this album more than any other this year (even more than Atomic Bomb). I look forward to getting Bullet in a Bible (the live CD) as well as the concert DVD that they put out. They would have been on the top of my list of live acts to see if it weren't for the whole being an adult thing. (Key tracks: ALL OF THEM, especially Boulevard of Broken Dreams, When September Ends and Are We the Waiting)

1. The Killers - Hot Fuss
In Nick's automobile, this is second in airplay to Green Day, in heavy rotation. The best rock album of the year, period. Other than Atomic Bomb, the best rock album in the last three years. Not a single song to skip on the album. Anthemic in nature, this band is begging to be seen live. If only they had opened for U2 in the states...If you don't own this album, you are nuts. (Key tracks other than Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me: Jenny was a Friend of Mine, Believe Me Natalie, Smile Like You Mean It)