2009

If 2009 were a person I would have severed all ties with it a long time ago due to the way it has treated me and the people I know.

I also probably would have punched 2009 square in the face if it were possible.

As it stands, I'll just be content to let it fade away like the years before it.

New Years even means nothing to me, as such I will be working and not caring. That's life.

I was sort of in the mood to write up a long and pointless edition of my year end awards shit, but I don't know if I am now.

I'm gonna try though:

Best Film: An extremely close tie between District 9 and Moon. I could not pick one over the other and will not even debate it further. Both films will be favourites of mine for as long as I live.

EDIT: Oh shit, and The Road. Goddamn!

"I'm on the moon and I am sad" :(

Best Album: Usually it's hard to try and recall all the stuff I've listened to, but in this case it doesn't matter because "The ressurectionists/Night Raider" by Crippled Black Phoenix tops the list easily. A double album that is solid the entire way though and an incredible experience everytime.

Best Wii game: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories edges out Little King's Story and Muramasa, but just barely...and perhaps only because I have not finished the other two...regardless, I have a lot to say about the game that I won't get into here, but it was a far, far better experience than I was expecting.

They mostly come out at night...mostly.

Best Xbox 360 game: I cannot really recall any 360 only games that I played. I know there were some, but I'm drawing a blank. I guess Batman Arkham Asylum would get a vote as would Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands, though I don't particularly feel as blown away by the last two as I expected. Still solid experiences.

Best PC game: Again, I'm drawing a blank so I'll just throw out some games I've enjoyed such as Fallen Earth, Machinarium and Left 4 dead 2. Shit, you know what, I might have to give the award to Torchlight for being more like Diablo than Diablo itself. And for costing me only $10.

seriously.

Best Game nobody played: Anything resembling a REAL GAME on the Wii. People bitch and complain that it's not a gamers system, but pass up so many awesome experiences that it boggles my mind.

biggest things I didn't "get" in 2009:

- Lady Gaga: this creature has produced some of the most annoying and awful music I've ever heard, but is so immensely popular for some reason and I DON'T GET IT. People try and tell me it is because she/he is innovative but why? because she dresses like she's mentally retarded? fuck that shit. Terrible, awful music and makes me realize people are morons.

my nightmares are made of things like this

- Reality TV/shows about singers/dancers/celebrites: All your American Idols and dancing with the stars bullshit. Fuck off already, people. Jesus fucking christ, I weep for humanity.


You know what? I planned to go on and on with really random things from this point just to annoy people, but I've lost interest. So let's leave it at awards for trivial things like games and movies as well as stuff that I hate.

I don't do resolutions anymore and if I did I probably wouldn't share them here.

Fuck you, 2009.

See ya, Christmas.

That time has come and gone, and I'm glad.

As I said in a previous post, Christmas for my family was to be significantly "scaled back" and it certainly was.

we still went to my grandmas in Toefield on Christmas eve and my aunts on Christmas day. I ate far too much at both places.

It's always good to see the extended family even though I tend to start looking for an escape after about 3 hours. Sometimes you just want some quiet, is all.

My family talked to each other about not buying gifts, but I obviously still ended up with a few things, because that's how parents are.

I got:

- A Garmin GPS navigator that I'll probably mount on my bike this summer for some exploring. I thought about trading it up for one with bluetooth so I could use it "in helmet" but then realized I don't really care and for a first GPS, it'll probably do all I want it to do and more.

- some sweet Oilers slippers with $100 crammed inside.

- A sandwich maker/toaster. I have made numerous grilled cheeses already.

Of course I also got some gift cards and money.

Considering I asked for nothing, it was a nice surprise to get anything.

I bought myself Silent Hill: Shattered memories on the Wii as a gift for myself and it is great so far.

Overall it was a good few days more about family and being together than anything else and I am glad for it.

I was still sort of stuck with that disconnected feeling though. I guess that's natural as you grow up and begin to realize it's just another day (in reality, let's be honest) and that you could really just celebrate it whenever you wanted and however you wanted and it would be just as "special"

See you next year, Christmas.

BONER

Oh man:



Mickey Rourke as Whiplash? yes please
Scarlett Johansson with red hair in a skin tight suit? yes please
Sam Rockwell is in the movie now? yes please

WAR MACHINE kicking ass with Iron Man? FUCKING YES PLEASE

Christmas post. With other thoughts.

Before I start, I'm well aware that I make a post around this time every year where I go on about how I am not in the "Christmas spirit" and the like. So if you want to skip ahead, go for it.

This year is unlike any others before it though.

I guess the simple truth is that my family has had a terrible bit of luck with the fire and honestly, Christmas and gifts and decorating the house all feel so immensely trivial, that I cannot even begin to describe it.

There are those who will say "well, you have to have a Christmas!" but I don't buy it.

I'm sure we'll all still do the getting together with the extended family bit, and for that I am thankful.

They've also had a shitty run of things lately.

My Grandma (dad's mom) had a real bad heart attack weeks ago. She nearly died and if I'm not mistaken, she's still in the hospital. No serious complications, but, well, she's old and they need to be careful, I guess.

A week or so later my Grandpa (Mom's dad) fell and broke his ankle. Being his age, it's not something to just sort of roll your eyes at.

And of course there was the terrible car accident my uncles and aunts got in during the summer.

So perhaps now more than ever, Christmas should simply be about appreciating the people around me since one day, they just won't be here.

And I'm not getting sappy. I'm not a people person full of love for everyone, I'm just saying I see these people so rarely, that it might actually feel good this time.

Nobody around here has asked each other what we desire for Christmas. Well, my mom brought it up yesterday and I simply stared at her because those words strung together sounded alien to me.

I didn't answer her.

So no. It doesn't feel like the Christmas season to me in the least, and I'm not sure that it will.

And you know, I'm not at all bothered by it.

Related:

There's so much talk over the commercialism of Christmas from everyone and the media...but you know what? nobody does shit about it. The people ranting and raving on the news (I just watched a piece about this) about how it is all getting out of hand are the same ones who go out shopping, filling the malls and spending wads of cash (credit cards, actually) every damn year. I guarantee it.

Try changing your own Christmas habits first before you try and fix everyone else.

Or shut up and keep spending the money. That is what Christmas is about, after all.

On a more playful and disgusting note, I am really wishing I could shave my retarded looking beard. I know I COULD, but I've gone this long and it's just a stupid thing that I don't want to wimp out on.

Friends and family and people who know me sort of get it, but sometimes I wonder what strangers must think of a guy who has a beard but can't really grow one and has no business trying. They might think I'm retarded. I don't really mind.

Here I am in deep thought wondering when the madness will end. Contrast makes things more dramatic, obviously.

Goodnight moon.

Carrying the fire.

Well, since the novel was one of the best I've read, I figured it would make sense to say a little about the film adaptation of "The Road"

What I dread is the fact that there are going to be so many dickholes trying to compare the two mediums like one has to be exactly like the other. There will also be those who just won't even give it a chance because all movies based off of a book must suck, right?

The simple version of my review of The Road would read like this:

"It is a great film version of an incredible novel"

Simple as that.

Based on some of the trailers it looked like they were trying to make this feel like an epic action disaster movie, and I had lowered my expectations because of it. Turns out the trailers are just trying to sell people on the film (which is why they are made) but it bothers me because the film is much more than that.

So anyone who has read the book and was turned off by the previews needs to give it a go. Same for anyone who doesn't know shit about it.

The fact is, this is a movie that could never compare to the novel. That is a ridiculous task to try and accomplish, but somehow what I watched last night comes closer than I ever thought possible.

I'm not talking about word for word parts or anything like that. I mean the overall feel of needing to survive at all costs and never giving up.

I'm talking about the relationship between the boy and the father. That's what it is all about.

I'm also talking about how bleak and depressing feeling it is. I love how dark the film was. Visually. It really was dark, like the contrast was fucked with or the film was bleached causing all the colours to dull significantly. This is exactly how I imagined the world would look as it was described in the book.

I was really impressed with that part of it.

Forget all the mongoloids who feel they are above watching a movie based on a book they love because it will "ruin" it. They'll dump all over this for years to come without even understanding why.

This movie was fantastic in pretty much every area. Viggo Mortensen is a great actor and showed that this movie was perfectly cast.

One of the best films I've seen all year.