Pep!

It's grey here and I have to write computer programs. blargh, I need peppy music. Here are some songs that fit the bill:

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4 -

Sashaism

"It makes me very sad when I can out-drink a full bloodied Latin American male."
- Sasha, who always gets bummed out hanging around bars with defeated Chilean UFC competitors.

Mad Men - Season 3 - 8.5

(Oops, meant to put this in the quick reviews as well.)

So, Mad Men season 3 finished up another great season last night. The finale was wonderful, and it largely redeemed what was (for me) a lackluster penultimate episode and points the show in a good direction for the next season. That said, Mad Men remains just a tad too uneven to approach the great HBO shows of the last decade at their best. This year there were 2 classic episodes (Lawnmower + Finale), a handful of really good episodes (the build-up to lawnmower + the episode before JFK) and a rough patch in the middle third where it felt like they were treading water Sopranos-style. In my book, that adds up to a great season that doesn't quite cross the line and become elite.

The show still has the best production on TV hands down and that amazing craftmanship allows me forgive a lot. The sets and costumes are so beautiful and the characters are so enveloped in the time and place they reside, that the even the dud episodes are fun to watch on a visceral level. Mad Men has to be considered the best show on TV right now, but I'd say the door is open just a crack for a show like Lost to claim best show of the season when everything wraps up next spring.

Quick Reviews

Up - 8.5 - What a great, fun, devastatingly sad movie. I watched it twice in the first week I had it. It's a bit too formulaic to be considered "The Best", but it's right there with Wall-E, Nemo and Ratatouille towards the top of the Pixar canon.

Zombieland - 7.5 - I didn't love Shaun of the Dead, but this more earnest approach to zombies as comedy worked a lot better for me. Zombieland didn't quite have as much meat on the bone as something like District 9, but it was still lots of fun. Zombieland adds to what has already been a great year for mainstream movies: Star Trek, District 9, Harry Potter, Watchmen, The Hangover, I Love You Man and Funny People have all really been quite good. If the artsy-fartsy films this fall and winter come through - and it looks like they might - it could be a great year for movies in general.

Moon - 7.0 - The first hour was a tad too slow to let me give Moon more than a "standard seven", but I really did like the movie. It's the smartest, best-scripted science fiction movie I've seen in some time and a strong ending makes up for the slow start. Sam Rockwell gives a performance that is worthy of an Oscar nomination, but probably won't get one. 

*** Brace yourselves - Dorky statistical aside coming at you;

So far, I've seen 18 movies from 2009 and 13 (72%) of them have gotten a seven or higher. I'm probably getting soft in my old age, but that still compares favorably to last year when only 13 out of 28 (46%) got at least a seven. In fact, that's a Chi-squared of 2.97 and a p-value of 0.085 --- two more good movies and this year will officially be statistically superior to last. Exciting. Heh.

*** End of Stat Dork Blogging;

I also want to throw a book and album recommendation out there. The book is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. If you run at all, it is an absolute must read. If you don't run, it's just a run-of-the-mill great book well worth reading. It's hands down the best thing I've read this year.

The album is "I and Love and You" by the Avett Brothers. The Avetts are a NC band that my friends have been talking about (and I have been ignoring) for years. Well, per usual*, they were right and I was dumb. The album is absolutely great and is making a late surge in my album of the year rankings. Here's a video for the wonderfully melancholy title song:


* - This doesn't apply to Animal Collective, which shall always remain noise pollution.

Grr. Meat.

I'm swamped with work so pictures from recent trips are being neglected, but this one was too perfect not to post ASAP. More later. Promise. 

Happy 30th, Jonny Cakes

So, although we are quickly approaching 30, my friends and I have the minds (and the associated sense of humor) of 14 year old boys. In fact, as many of you know, there is a special gift that we pass around the group --- it's a, uhm, rather large, rather black, elongated column of latex --- we'll call it the BBD for short. We've had quite a few surprising moments with our friend the BBD in the past (anyone care to summarize in comments?), but this one, occurring just a few hours ago, on Jon's 30th birthday might take the cake. I'll now turn this post over to Jon, who just sent this email summary of his flight back to the US.

I got on the airplane last night and unpacked the usual items from my carry-on: book, DS, word puzzle mag, travel pillow. Little did I know I was also unpacking an unwelcomed guest that flopped into my lap after unrolling my pillow. I'm not sure if the slackjawed Chilean man in 23B next to me noticed.  Next time I think my pillow is a little heavier and thicker than normal you can be sure I will certainly take additional precautions when opening it.  The latex smell next to my face all night was a nice bonus. 

It doesn't stop there. I wasn't about to leave the [bbd] behind (how else to exact my revenge?) so I packed it back in my bag (while the cabin was dark and Mr. 23B went to the bathroom). Being preoccupied with the customs/immigration process the next morning (where I was spared a bag search thankfully) I forgot to put it in my checked bag before going through security for my flight to Durham so it stayed in my carry-on. Oops.  At security, the x-ray machine attendant proceeded to call over two other security personnel, point to the screen, and yell, "Bag check!" before saying more quietly, and with a grin (but not so quietly that I couldn't hear), "If that's what I think it is... I gotta find out."

Thankfully, the woman who checked my bag had little interest in pursuing the matter after I said, "It is what he thinks it is. My friends got me good this time." She did a quick chemical test and spared me the indignity of 'whipping it out'. Her only comment was about her coworker, "He's such a child..."

A tip of the hat to our hosts. I never saw it coming and they got me fucking good. I had completely forgotten I'd mailed it to them with a bow on top as part of a recent care package. 

Happy Birthday, Buddy.

Sashaisms

"Ah! Four wheels driving!"
-Sasha, not on a tricyle.

"What are you talking about? Hasta la vista?"
-Sasha just after ignoring the conversation about Jeremy's sub par tour guide skills. 

"My phone is my cell phone. No wait. My watch is my cell phone."
-Sasha on the finer points of Chilean technology.

"Be Sigmund or Freud."
-Sasha on dancing/tiger training.

"Nadav and I have the complexion of gymnasts."
- Sasha who always has his Clarisil handy in case of an unexpected Olympic tryout.

Top 10 minus 3

Nate D's tweet got me thinking about my favorite albums of the year. I must say the cupboard is a little bit barren so far. In no particular order*, here are the albums I like enough to think about putting on a top 10 list. Is it a bad sign that there are only 7 of them?

We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
Volcano Choir - Unmap
The Thermals - Now We Can See
Sunset Rubdown - Dragon Slayer
Passion Pit - Manners
Florence and the Machines - Lungs
Discovery - LP

* - Actually it's reverse alphabetical order, but you know what I mean. 

Knowing - 4.0

I'd never heard of "Knowing", a Nicolas Cage science fiction movie from earlier this year, when I read Ebert's 4 star review last week. Ebert led off his review by saying, "'Knowing' is among the best science-fiction films I've seen" and I generally agree with his opinion, so I thought I would watch. After finishing the movie (somewhat confused by Ebert's quote), I checked Rotten Tomatoes and discovered why I had never heard of the movie. It was roundly panned, and only had 33% positive reviews.

While I see what Ebert liked about the movie, I'm going to have to go with the consensus on this one. The problem was that, even though there were some interesting ideas and some really cool scenes (the final sequence in particular), the movie as a whole was just such a mess of ideas and themes that I was fairly bewildered by the end. The first 3rd of the movie (horror-tinged mystery) is completely different from the middle section (paranoid detective story) which, in turn, is completely different from the final third (hard-core scifi). Put it all together and the movie is a mess. A sometimes interesting mess, but a mess.

Oh and Nicolas Cage plays an MIT astrophysics professor. A drunk MIT astrophysics professor, but still ... really?

Schools you want to make sure you include.

If you ever need to rekindle the fire of Duke hatred that lives in side of you ... I present, this.

The Duke people are so much fun. There’s just some schools you want to make sure you include.

I just threw up in my mouth. Oh wait ...

“I have high standards. I’ve met people who are really smart but don’t have it together socially, and people who are fun but may not offer more mentally.” The total package, he explained, is tough to find.

(Via Anisa)

The Lost Symbol - Wrap Up

So, I zipped through the last 100 chapters of the Lost Symbol last weekend. My final spoiler-rific thoughts are below the fold.

Top Movies of the 2000s - The Contenders

I've been thinking a little bit about my favorite movies of the decade, but after the top 2, the list blurs in to a bunch of stuff I really really like, but don't necessarily love. At any rate, here is a list of movies that I am considering for the top 10 (or 20 or whatever). Let me know if you think I left anything obvious off.

Almost Famous (2000)
Amores Perros (2000)
LOTR Trilogy (2001-2003)
Amelie (2001)
Memento (2001)
Pianist (2002)
City of God (2003)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Sideways (2004)
Aviator (2004)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Crash (2005)
40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Children of Men (2006)
United 93 (2006)
Lives of Others (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Knocked up (2007)
Diving Bell and Butterfly (2007)
Ratatouille (2007)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Wall-E (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
District 9 (2009)
Hurt Locker (2009)

Top Albums of the 1990s

James asked about my top albums of the 90s. I haven't thought about it much, but here's an off-the-top-of-my-head list for you to berate. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to keep my 1 album per band rule in place, but if there are other really good albums I'll put them in parenthesis.

Top Albums of the 1990s

1. Radiohead - OK Computer (The Bends)
   
2. Pearl Jam - Vs. (Ten, Vitalogy, No Code)
   
3. Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
4. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Fugees - The Score)
5. Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On (Keep it Like a Secret, There's Nothing Wrong with Love)
6. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane ... (On Avery Island)
7. Dismemberment Plan - Emergency and I
8. Elliot Smith - XO (Either/Or)
   
9. Archers of Loaf - Vee Vee (All other albums as well)
   
10. Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk (If You're Feeling Sinister)
    
11. Weezer - Pinkerton (Blue Album)
    
12. Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
13. REM - Automatic for the People
14. Counting Crows - August and Everything After (Recovering the Satellites)
    
15. Wilco - Summerteeth
16. The Pixies - Tromp le Monde (Bossanova, Doolittle - '89)
    
17. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (Wowee Zowee, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
18. Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (Low End Theory)
    
19. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
    
20. Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (Core)

Albums I didn't listen to until after 2000: 3, 4, 6, 12 and 15.
Would've been higher in 2000: 5, 7, 8, 9, 17 and 20.
Would've been lower in 2000: 11, 14, 19 and 20.

Twitter, As It Should Be

No offense to you other tweeters, but now that I've retired from posting, these two are the reason my twitter bookmark keeps getting used.

The Goat's Mustache is Cameron Diaz

I've got a call in 10 minutes, but thought I'd throw out a few links real fast. See if you can guess which on the title relates to before clicking the links:

• This article on lucid dreaming is interesting ... and a little creepy. I always wake up when I realize I'm dreaming, but this says you can either make your dream-self spin in place or rub your hands together to prevent that. 
• I'd never heard the term Canadian Tuxedo before today, but I think it's great. 
  
• Community continues to be funny. The Spanish rap from the end of last nights episode was great.