Bowling

Frazier lanes is home to some of the best Strike and Split graphics I have seen at bowling alleys. Definitely proud my fire breathing dragon simulation I got for one of my strikes. Makes it all the more worth it.

Mike is in town!

Sixers tomorrow night. Why? - #3. That's why.

The first of many, I suppose

Today it was announced that Netflix and Warner Brothers have signed a deal that will create a 28 day hold on all new Warner Brother releases before allowing them to appear for rent through netflix. The goal here is obvious - force people who really want to see the movie to buy it. You know what is easier and less costly - downloading. No, I do not download movies. However, decisions like this one that show a company unwilling to embrace or use the current digital age to their advantage are reasons why more and more people are getting fed up with hollywood corporations and as such - feel less guilty about taking what they want.

I think it is time that the movie studios stop pretending like they are short on cash. It was recently reported that ticket sales at the theater are on the rise over the past few years and 2009 was no different seeing the most ticket sales ever in a year. So while some people might try to spin the other statistic that box office sales finally out-performed DVD sales for the year as being a result of less DVD sales from downloading and that no more tickets are being sold - when combined with the previous year end statement you can see through this. The hollywood box office took in more money than ever this year, a year that we are supposedly in a recession - so stop giving us, the consumers, more reasons to want to find less than legal ways of viewing your films.

/end rant.

Early to bed...

So it is 10:10 pm and I am getting in bed. We are presenting our website that we have been building since before I started working for ASPA to the company tomorrow. The presentation comes in the middle of a period where users (employees) are being asked to use the site and complete a feedback survey in order for us to better shape the site before it goes before the board and potentially will be purchased and moved from a demo site to its own site and own URL. The point of the presentation is to show the employees the general navigation and organization of the site so that when, if they have not already, go on the site - they know where they can find everything they will need.

It is both exciting to be apart of this site which may become a major tool for this company and a drag because we have to be at the hospital for the presentation at 6:30 am which means I am currently setting my alarm for 4:50 am. Awful. Wish me luck.

Caught in a bad romance

I don't even want to classify Lady Gaga as a guilty pleasure. I do not, nor should I, feel guilt for enjoying her music. She is really intelligent when it comes to music and music theory and each one of her singles is more brilliant than the next. I will absolutely admit to being a blind hater at first. As with anything in the entertainment business - when something is hot - it is easy to become skeptical and sometimes it extends to strongly disliking something without having a clue about it.

Luckily, I did myself a favor and gave Gaga a chance and was an instant convert. I don't know The Fame Monster well enough to include it on my top 10 of 2009 but it has been enjoyable enough to land in the honorable mentions.

Without further ado - here is my top 10 albums of 2009

1.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
2.) Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing
3.) Regina Spektor - Far
4.) Karen O And The Kids - Where The Wild Things Are OST
5.) Little Brazil - Son
6.) Thrice - Beggars
7.) The Takeover UK - Running With The Wasters
8.) Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
9.) The Used - Artwork
10.) The Decemberists - Hazards Of Love

Honorable Mentions:
The Almost - Monster Monster; 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War; Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix; Coconut Records - Davy

Albums I Need to Hear:
Wale - Attention Deficit; Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon;

*My top 10 was compiled by sorting out all of the albums I have gotten that were released in 2009. I then narrowed it down to ones I had listened to, and from there - ones I could recall enough to know they made an impression. This gave me a list of 27 albums. From there I picked the ones that I enjoyed the most, found my self listening to the most, or was generally impressed by more than others. This is not a 'best of 09' as much as a 'favorites of 09'.

Picture today is of an altered nerf gun. I made/altered this nerf gun back in my early high school career as part of the 'nerf club'. This club lasted about 3 meetings, but it was enough to get 2 well altered nerf guns out of it. The club was headed by and attended by some people who I would later become really close with as we ended up on our schools frisbee team, but that is for another time. I found the guns while in my attic tonight, and in finding them still fully functional - they will be coming back to NY with me.

It might be time to start making to-do lists.

I had the intention of writing a full entry tonight. Had some stuff on my mind. Recently I have been thinking about how even when I have nothing obvious or immediate to do I still always feel busy. I don't know why that is but even the simplest of tasks seems to just be one more time consuming event that I can't seem to fit in. And it is not like I don't have down time because I do, and yet these things seem to pile up. I want to apply for a job, work on my resume, figure out dinner for this weekend, order a part for my record player, etc etc. I am not saying my life is just dreadful or anything - I am sure you have a running list of small tasks you need to get done as well that while you probably have the time for them, they just never seem to get done.

I'd continue but for both my internet troubles and for your sake I will not.

Pictured below is a piece of art I bought this past semester at a little art gallery on W4 street heading towards High Line park. One of my goals for this week is to get a frame for it so I can hang it up. Let's see if by Friday I can come on here and say that I have completed this task.

Baby steps.

Surprise!

Tonight we celebrated my Dad's 51st birthday with a surprise party. Want to know how to make sure the person wouldn't think a surprise party is in the works? Wait until the year after the landmark 50th and then wait another month after that, having still had a normal celebration of the birthday (dinner, cake, presents). There is very little chance, unless someone spills the beans, that anyone would expect a surprise party then.

If you are successful it will go something likes did tonight. Everyone, "Surprise!" *pauses/freezes in place* then - Angelo, "Oh shit."

To boot - my dad was into the whole disco thing, and thanks to one of the people invited a suggestion was made to have it disco themed. No only did we have cutouts of disco silhouettes on the walls, disco balls, but we also had my dad's white platform shoes on display. He also wanted to, maybe secretly maybe not, be Michael Jackson - or at least in the group. As such, he had quite the afro. He still will only comb his hair with a pick. A bunch of his friends and our relatives bought and wore afros. The picture below is how a lot of people looked tonight. If you were wondering which one my dad is - hes in the front, slightly right center and probably the only one who looks like it might be his actual hair.

Movie Week: Three for Three

I completed my movie goal. I will be honest, I really thought it was all just talk and I'd only end up seeing Avatar (which I had purchased tickets for in advance - sealing that one as a definite).

I still have a few films that I have recently purchased that I want to get to in the next few days before making my year end list(s). I feel as though there are movies I'd like to include that when compared with other genres/styles they might get bumped so I might do like a top 3 or 4 of a few major genres. This then gets complicated when you try to classify certain movies.

I also am going to do a top trailers. It's an amazing thing - the movie trailer. It can convince you of a film you were anticipating or reafirm your disinterest in a clunker. But what is really magical is when a trailer can cement your interest in a movie that you were anywhere from unsure or apprehensive to actively avoiding it. These trailers - the right cuts and shots mixed with the right music can sometimes outshine the final product of the movie, or in other cases totally underrepresent the film (State of Play). I got the idea from SlashFilm and will be posting 3-5 trailers for 2009 as well.

I think the best way to do these lists is to spread them out, so in the next day or two I am going to post my Best of 09 list for music.

I have some thoughts about the past year or decade as I have noticed some people are writing about. I have not decided if I will write one of these as it could get super long and be super tedious, but we shall see. For now let's say that the past decade was almost half my life and spanned the latter years of my grade school career to reaching adulthood and being on the verge of graduating college. A lot has happened both to me, around me, and in the world and it has been interesting. That said - on the whole 2009 was underwhelming as a year. Here is hoping the new decade kicks off with a great year. It will definitely be interesting.