Random Umbrella
Twitter Trends of 2009 (link)
Best Viral Videos Of 2009: A Retrospective (video)
Top 10 Flash Mobs of 2009 (video)
The top 10 tech ‘fails’ of 2009 (link)
Digg’s Top 10 Most Popular Stories of 2009 (link)
2009 in photos (pix)
Billboard.com best of 2009 in music (link)
Rottentomatoes editors’ fav films of 2009 (link)
10 Biggest Movie Surprises of 2009 (link)
Top 20 Internet Lists of 2009 (link)
Time’s Top 10 Everything of 2009 (link)
Inside MMA’s “Bazzie Awards” for 2009 (video)
If the 70′s plus the 80′s were my years developing what I could be, and the 90′s was the decade where I started expanding who I could be, then the 00′s was the decade where I cemented what defines who I really am. The 2000s have been a good decade for me, and it is because this was the time I really felt confident that I finally know who I am as a person. I now truly know what my strengths and weaknesses were, and that’s an important knowledge to have. What’s nice is that I still have room to grow, and I’m still experiencing new things to refine the person that I am.
One of the the first and foremost things I should point out is that this is the decade I got married to my long-time girlfriend of 10 years (by that time). That’s definitely a sign of me going “oh wait, I’m an adult now.” In terms of friends, I actually gained a lot more; much more than I thought I would, due to my workplace and the concerts I attend. By the way, with the end of this decade I’ve reached 11 years at my job, which is a big achievement.
This was also the decade that I decided to actually take advantage of seeing live music much more often, which is something I regret not doing in the ’90s when I was a teenager. From concerts, I ended up becoming huge fans to certain musical acts such as Meg & Dia, The Swell Season, and Marie Digby, to go along with the many other bands that I grew attached to throughout the years. Metallica for example is a band that I was “just a fan of” in the ’90s, but for whatever reason I actually became a huge dedicated fan this decade (ironically considered the worst time to be a Metallica fan). On another audio related note, I became a HUGE fan of The Kevin & Bean Show and podcasts in general (awesome stuff).
My love for the movies only got stronger this decade, as I finally started taking more initiative in watching movies by myself, which exposed me to so many films that I ended up loving. I’ve seen so many films this decade alone, more so than the past two decades combined. I have to also say that TV programming this decade has been phenomenal, with shows like LOST and Firefly being one of my many highlights. Oh, VCR Timer Recordings < the DVR. The other visual medium I enjoy; gaming, is still a part of my life this decade (Dreamcast, xbox, xbox 360), although I officially gave up on handheld gaming systems, and have pretty much gradually become a “casual” gamer. Speaking of going casual… I’ve lost a lot of interest with anime compared to last decade, and it’s now just something I occasionally watch.
One of the most significant things to happen to me, is that the internet and the computer is now something I really can’t live without. The 90s only really brought me Duke Nukem 3D gaming, e-mail, and minor web browsing, but the 00s added pocket PCs, smart phones, social networking, google, and youtube to the mix. Most importantly however, is that I started this xanga blog in 2004, which has become a very integral part of my life and who I am. The ability to do this online journal about my life has proven to be a very useful tool, and allows me to relive my adventures in life.
Did I miss anything else? Meeting celebrities, seeing myself on TV a couple of times during some broadcasts? Yeah, I guess those count too.
Overall, this decade really has been very good to me, and I dare even say that this is what I’ll be looking back as my “golden years” in my life.
Now, for some random links from other recaps of this decade…
40 Things That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Popular Anymore (link)
NPR Music Timeline: The Decade In Music (link)
The best TV series of the ’00s (link)
15 Biggest Internet Controversies Of The Decade (link)
Most Memorable Amateur Music Videos Of The 2000s (video)
The 40 Hottest Female Athletes Of The Decade (pix)
The 15 Most Influential Games of the Decade (link)
The Most Infamous Celebrity Sex Tapes of the Last Quarter Century (link)
| What Should You Resolve to Change Next Year? You Should Make 3 Resolutions |
 Lose Weight
Save Money Eat Right |
What I’m listening to this week…
1) Filmspotting – #285
2) Slayer – world painted blood
3) Strung Out – agents of the underground
4) Tori Amos – midwinter graces
5) Alicia Keys – the element of freedom
6) Metallica – death magnetic
Unfold Random
Possible new TSA rules in effect after terror attempt (link)
POV: New Year’s Eve (video)
Worst Plot Twist of the Year (video)
Cat is Possessed (video)
Kid Stuck Behind Couch (video)
Actually Ironic (video)
Holy, Holy, Holy Batman! (video)
Infographic of the Day: Is College Really Worth It? (link)
why it’s better to pretend you don’t know anything about computers (pix)
Top 10 Famous Real Ghosts (link)
Avatar: The Making of the Bootleg (video)
Owl City – “Fireflies” – Parody-Ikea (video)
The evolution of distributing music in this decade has changed dramatically, with the internet and mp3 players becoming a huge impact on society. For somebody like me who doesn’t own an mp3 player like in iPod, or use online service models like iTunes, this is a reality that I haven’t really taken advantage of too much (I still primarily buy CDs). I have had experience spending some money on music purchased via traditional online means, and I have taken advantage of music that are available to listen to online for free, but you know where I’ve really been spending my music money on that isn’t from a CD? The music video game franchise, Rock Band! More specifically it’s for Rock Band 2, which is the sequel that came out over a year ago, and I still actively play it.
Just recently I went to check and see how many songs I have for the game, and to my surprise my total number of songs now playable for Rock Band 2 is 615! According to the game’s song list, it broke down to 54 Rock Band 1 songs, 84 Rock Band 2 songs, and 477 downloadable content songs. That’s a lot of songs I’ve purchased for a video game in a span of two years, and I don’t really want to do the math in how much I spent on all that…
From listening to music on a physical device, to singing along Karaoke style, now we live in a day and age where we can participate with the song by playing it with fake instruments. This is a great time to be a huge fan of music.
I love this day and age of technology! With the use of Skype, I was able to do a video chat with my wife, who is 16 hours away from me as she is in Taiwan and I’m in California. Her connection wasn’t that strong, so it was like looking at her with a mosaic filter, but the audio came out loud and clear. No more long distance international calls and it’s an awesome thing.
So with just me and my dogs at home, what am I going to do without my wife? I suppose everything else I normally do when she’s at work and I’m at home. Originally I wasn’t going to take advantage of a free Saturday by myself and movie hop, because normally I don’t do that when I’m with her. That didn’t happen though, as I ended up sleeping most of the morning away. I decided that I’m going to try and watch everything saved up on my DVR, as this is the best time to catch up on my recorded shows. I also need to make room on my DVR of about 8 hours for “Dynamite! 2009,” which is a kick-boxing and MMA Japanese event that’ll be aired on New Year’s Eve on HDNet.
I am also going to try and watch a few movies before the end of the year; like Sherlock Holmes for example, and what ever else I can squeeze in. My car needs it’s scheduled maintenance too, but I think I’ll have to wait until January 2, Saturday, for that.
Definitely miss my wife here at home, but I think I’ll keep myself pretty occupied. Take care and have fun in Taiwan honey! Can’t wait to have you back home again.
So how was your Christmas?
Mine actually started out on a down note during Christmas eve. It started when I told my wife to open my gift for her early, right before I leave for work that night. Well it turns out that my gift for her is missing a very important part! I just so happen to have the number of the sales person with me, and called him. Store is closed, and short of me going to his place of residence (he had extra parts at his home), I’ll have to wait until Saturday morning to get it from the store. I was mere minutes away from needing to leave for work so my options were kinda thin. Bleah, fail on my part, but at least my wife was very understanding.
Christmas Eve, and I needed to go to work because I wasn’t willing to take the day off (Holiday pay). Yeah, it was my choice, but it still sucks. Then at work I learn that there is a new change in the operation that’s going to impact the way I work there, so that’s a little bit of a bummer as well.
Once I got home, I was wondering if the rest of the day was going to get any better. Thankfully, it did! I woke up early enough to go that salesperson’s house and got the component I needed. My wife got to try the gift I gave her and seemed impressed at what she can do with it. I then spent time with my family at my parent’s house and that was fun. Watching my nieces and nephew opening their gifts was just happy times.
Then at night I took my wife to the Airport, as she had an international flight to Taiwan to spend the holidays with her parents there.
BTW, people saying their season greetings via Twitter and Facebook is IMHO a huge improvement over getting it over text messaging. One big general “Merry Christmas” to our friends and families via those social networks works really well. Now as I say that, I did text message actor Jason Segel a greeting, just on a whim and since I had his personal number. The funny thing is that I got a quick “wait, who is this?” as a response. I reminded him who I was and he responded back with a “Merry Christmas Bro!” Nice.
That was the extent of my Christmas. Not too bad at all I guess.
Random Beauty In Walking Away
Vincent Price Christmas (video)
Santa’s Nice, But His European Sidekick Is Naughty (video)
Mom is Santa! (video)
Romano Sings: A Ray Romano Christmas (video)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (video)
The Dark Knight Kills Christmas (video)
The Dark Knight Kills Christmas 2 (video)
funny santa claymation (video)
The Santa Speedo Run of 2009 Fulfills Expections (pix)
Crazy Finnish Christmas Stunt (video)
Christmas Card Takes Weird Turn (video)
my 10 songs for Christmas (video)
What’s Christmas to you? For many people I think it comes down to five different things, gift shopping/receiving, vacation time, representations of this holiday season (Santa, lights, trees), get togethers, and the religion aspect of this time of year.
Throughout the years, I believe gift shopping/receiving has been the primary thing that people associate Christmas with. It’s always fun to receive gifts, and although there’s no limit to how young or old you have to be to get gifts, I don’t see it as a necessity anymore at my current age (unless it’s from my parents?). When you are a child (or a teen) the focus is on receiving gifts; which is understandable, but as an adult the focus is more on buying presents for people (primarily kids). Buying presents can be somewhat of a pain to do though, especially when you have no idea what to get for certain people. It also pays to know if that person is willing to receive a gift card or money, because some people don’t want those and want a “tangible well thought out” gift. Me personally, I don’t see what the big deal is about gift cards / money, as I find that to be a gift I know I can definitely use, as opposed to a gift that I know I’ll never use.
Kids and teens who go to school full time, you get your winter vacation. I’m sure it’s great, but I guess us full-time working class folks can count this part out of what makes Christmas to us.
Things that I will never get tired of, are the images of Santa Claus, Christmas decorations, and the songs for this holidays. Admittedly I do not put up decorations at my household, but I do enjoy seeing other people put them up. Out of all the Christmas representations though, I think it’s the songs that ground me of this time of year.
When it comes to family and friends get togethers, I think Christmas trumps Thanksgiving. I find it more of a joyous occasion to meet with family and friends in the Christmas holiday, and I admit that the gift giving/receiving part has something to do with that. Combine that with all the holiday images and songs, then we got ourselves a fun positive time to be merry with our friends and families.
Back when I used to live in the Philippines (the northern part), Christmas was so much more about the birth of Jesus Christ more than anything. I did live in a predominantly Catholic society, so when this holiday season comes around, just about everybody is out celebrating the holiday. Christmas in the Philippines trumps any place I’ve been to, because it’s nothing like having what is essentially a huge get together that involves the whole city. Festivals, parties all over the place, congregating at Church, etc… it was simply hard to avoid the Christmas spirit back in the home country, and I actually do miss that. It is different here in the States, a lot more subdued, but I’m okay with that I suppose.
All in all, Christmas is still my favorite time of year, and with that I’d like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! AND MAY YOU HAVE A JOYOUS HOLIDAY!
| The Santa Hat Quiz You Would Be a Conventional Santa |
 Traditions are traditions for a reason. And you’re happy to participate in all of them. You even believe in Santa a little. You think that old fashioned holidays with old time values are nice. It’s all about family and togetherness. |
What I’m listening to this week…
1) The Game Show – the must and busts of 09
2) Rihanna – rated r
3) The Bravery – stir the blood
4) Namie Amuro – past < future
5) Norah Jones – the fall
6) Metallica – st.anger
