I wish I had done this for past years, but I guess there’s no better time than the present to start!

Movies
Movies I saw in the theatre: Shutter Island, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Social Network, Tangled, Tron: Legacy 3D, Black Swan
Movie that made me cry the most: Toy Story 3
Favorite movie of the year: Black Swan
Still want to catch in the theatre: I Love You Phillip Morris, Blue Valentine
Waiting for Netflix: Love and Other Drugs, The Kids are All Right, Nowhere Boy, Paranormal Activity 2, Let Me In

Music
CDs I received/bought this year: She & Him - Volume 2
Concerts I attended: Julian Casablancas, Imogen Heap, She & Him
Favorite live performance of the year: Imogen Heap, although She & Him are very, very close behind

Travel
Places I visited this year: Las Vegas, Gatlinburg, Atlanta

Games
Games I received/bought this year: Final Fantasy XIII, Just Dance 2
Games I beat this year: Dragon Age: Origins
Older games that I tried to pick up again this year: Lost Odyssey, The Sims 3
Favorite console game of the year: Dragon Age: Origins
Favorite iPhone game of the year: Angry Birds

Dining
New local restaurants I tried this year: Bosco’s, Sweet Cece’s, Allium, McDougal’s, Grilled Cheese and Crab Cake Co., Chuy’s, Pizza Perfect, Diana’s, Pfunky Griddle, Five Guys, Swanky’s Taco Shop, Cafe Coco, Rita’s
Favorite new eatery of the year: Sweet Cece’s
Coolest new dining experience: Pfunky Griddle
Current food-related mayorships on foursquare: Cheeseburger Charley’s, Chick-fil-A, Little Caesar’s, Manny’s House of Pizza [recently lost SATCO and another Little Caesar's...]
Number of times I ate at Melting Pot: four

News
Biggest local news event of the year: the flood!
Where I was when the rains came: at the Sheraton Music City, attending MTAC

Clearly the theme for 2010 was “dinner and a movie”! Any other categories you can think of?

We are going to ignore the fact that I still haven’t written my Europe recaps. I’m about halfway done with Paris. (Which means, I’ve covered the first 2-3 days of the 14 day trip.)

Instead I’m going to talk about all the fun stuff I have planned next month! Which may not be all that interesting to you, but I feel like I’ve been neglecting my blog.

First up, on August 3, The Crystal Method is going to be in town performing at Limelight. I’ve never been there. Or even heard of it before I found out about this. But it should be a good show. Although, it doesn’t start till 10pm, so I’m fully prepared to be a zombie at work on Tuesday.

Here’s something cool that you don’t have to be local to enjoy: The MST3K crew (now known as Rifftrax) will be riffing “Plan 9 from Outer Space” on August 20. I first saw this movie at the Belcourt a few years ago, and I’ll be returning there to see them riff it LIVE. Yes, somehow they (along with Veronica Belmont, Lowtax, and Jonathan Coulton) are all going to be in Nashville for this one-time-only event. But! If you don’t live in Nashville or were not lucky enough to get the Belcourt tickets (they sold out in about an hour or so), they will be broadcasting it nationwide to about 400 theatres. So check Fandango. And if they happen to show any shots of the Belcourt crowd, look for me.

Then, if you are a long-time blog-reader (or a stalker who happened to read all 6 years of my blogging recently), you may remember a time when I was trying to get Nine Inch Nails tickets but they kept selling out too quickly. And then the next few local shows I had to miss because I had previous engagements. Well, NIN are performing just a few more shows EVER (supposedly but doubtful) in New York, LA, and Chicago. So, a few of us lucked out and got some Chicago tickets for the August 29 show. Yay, weekend in Chicago!

So that’s what I’ll be up to over the next month. And board game party at my place tomorrow for anyone who can make it!

On Friday night, we went and saw the Blue Man Group again. Ben and I were in the second row on the floor, which was really cool. It’s amazing how they always have the same look of confusion/wonder on their faces and never falter. We got to go to the meet and greet after the show, where we got our pictures taken with each of them. One of them even kissed my cheek to mark me with blue lip prints. After the concert, we went out to the Big Bang down the road to drink and sing along. It was pretty fun. I wish that even one of my good friends (besides Ben) would have been able to come out, but c’est la vie. Though I don’t really understand how it happens every year that the planets will align in such a way to cause all of my friends to be busy on the one day of the year that I really need them.

Saturday, I pulled myself out of bed and spent most of the morning cleaning. The housewarming went well, and several people stopped by. The after party was also fun, and I got to see my friend Michele for the first time in over 3 years, which was really cool. We played Scene It and our team came in a very close second to Ben and Wayne.

So, overall, I guess for one of my birthdays, it was pretty good. Pictures from both parties are up in the photos section.

I have a tendency to listen to depressing music and watch depressing movies when I’m not in a good mood. Which is kind of nice because at least it makes me feel like I’m not the only sad person in the world, and listening to happy music is usually more depressing because it’s happy. However, sad songs never really seem to help lift my mood. So, for those times, I am compiling a list of comforting songs that aren’t really sad (and therefore depressing) or happy (and therefore more depressing). I don’t have many so far, so feel free to add your own comfort songs.

“Angel Standing By” - Jewel
“Everything’s Not Lost” - Coldplay
“Gravity” - A Perfect Circle
“Let Go” - Frou Frou
“Let It Be” - The Beatles
“Shut Your Eyes” - Snow Patrol
“Speeding Cars” - Imogen Heap

I want to live life
And never be cruel
I want to live life
And be good to you
I want to fly
And never come down
And live my life
And have friends around

We never change, do we?
No, no..
We never learn, do we?

So I want to live
In a wooden house

I want to live life
Always be true
I want to live life
And be good to you
I want to fly
Never come down
Live my life
Have friends around

We never change, do we?
No, no..
We never learn, do we?

So I want to live
In a wooden house
Making more friends
Would be easy

Oh and I don’t have a soul to save
Yes and I sin every single day

We never change, do we?
We never learn, do we?

So I want to live in a wooden house
Making more friends would be easy
I want to live where the sun comes out

My friend Chris sent me this video a week or so ago, and it’s pretty cool, so I thought I would share. “Lateralus” has been my favorite song for several years. Hopefully you all will find it as interesting as I do.

I was planning on having a birthday/housewarming party at my new house this year. I have been planning to have it on my birthday, since it falls on a Friday, and that never happens, and next year will be a leap year, so I won’t be able to have a party on my birthday day for many many years after this year. However, it just came to my attention that Blue Man Group is returning to Nashville, and having a concert on the night of my birthday. Thus my crisis. I can’t really afford tickets, but it was the most awesome concert ever, and I would love to see it again. So, I present a poll to you, readers of my blog. Please help me with my crisis.

Click the link below to see the poll.
(more…)

I ended up going to two concerts this week at the Ryman. I bought a Ben Harper ticket a month or so ago when I saw that he was going to be in town, planning on going by myself. And then Chance and Wayne decided they wanted to come too, so they got tickets as well. Thus, none of us were sitting together. The show was good, thought I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t play more older stuff, since that’s what I know. I think I only recognized about two or three songs, and he didn’t sing any of my favorites. But the performance was great. I was sitting on the main floor, toward the right, in the next to last row. While seated, my view was absolutely perfect with no heads in the way, but while standing, I couldn’t see. Luckily, people remained seated throughout the majority of the show.

The next night, the three of us returned for Damien Rice. He is one of Chance’s favorite artists, so Wayne and I decided to get tickets for Chance for his birthday. However, when we decided this, the show was sold out, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to get any. The day before the concert, I somehow lucked out and got three tickets for less than face value, so we surprised Chance with them right before the Ben Harper concert. Now, I hadn’t listened to Damien Rice a whole lot, just one or two songs here and there, but after last night: huge fan. It was one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever seen, maybe second behind Blue Man Group. You know a concert is awesome when you experience an entire range of emotion while there. I know what my first purchases at McKay’s are going to be……

Anyway, I ended up staying up till 3-4 am both nights, so I’m going off of very little sleep right now. So if this post is incoherent, I’m sorry.

I chose to complete my Esper Terra costume for Halloween this year. It will debut tonight at Jason and Becka’s Halloween party, and I’ll make sure to get some pictures. I haven’t practiced with my face paint yet, so hopefully I’ll be able to make it look good. Then tomorrow night I’ll be wearing it to Melissa and Samantha’s party and to work on Halloween day.

I haven’t written since I saw Blue Man Group last Friday, so I will just say that it was spectacularly awesome. If you ever get the chance to see them, please go do so. It was one of the greatest (if not, THE greatest) concert experiences in my life. Tracy Bonham opened for them (I had no idea she was still around) and sang while they were playing some songs on their set. I cannot even begin to describe the experience, other than to say, it was the best thing ever.

Are there any songs out there that actually cause you to have a positive physical reaction when listening to them? I’m talking about that hair-raising, tingly feeling of a really good song.

Here’s some songs that give me this feeling (in alphabetical order):
“3 Libras” - A Perfect Circle
“Ask Me Anything” - The Strokes
“Everlong” - Foo Fighters
“Everything’s Not Lost” - Coldplay
“The Great Below” - Nine Inch Nails
“Halcyon + On + On” - Orbital
“Hide and Seek” - Imogen Heap
“Lateralus” - Tool
“Layla” - Derek & The Dominos
“Let Go” - Frou Frou
“Life Uncommon” - Jewel
“Only In Dreams” - Weezer
“Pushit [Live]” - Tool
“Rods and Cones” - Blue Man Group
“Someday” - The Strokes
“Structure” - The Cynic Project
“Susanne” - Weezer
“Tonight, Tonight” - The Smashing Pumpkins
“Unchained Melody” - The Righteous Brothers
“Warning Sign” - Coldplay
“Where I End and You Begin” - Radiohead
“Wish You Were Here” - Pink Floyd

I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting.

So what songs make you tingle?

I need to find some setlists for the concert because I can’t remember everything that was played. The Strokes and Tom Petty both rocked, as to be expected. The biggest surprise of the evening was when Stevie Nicks came out and sang three songs with Tom Petty.

We went to AWA on Saturday for a little while. Started out in our mage costumes but got way too hot and Ben’s hat wasn’t cooperating, so we took them off after a couple hours and roamed around like normal people. Took a couple pictures. Haven’t found any of us yet, but I just got home and I think we have plenty of mage pictures as it is.

I know this is short, sorry. I’ll try to find some setlists tomorrow and give more details.

Anyone who has talked to me lately knows that I’ve been sucked into the obsession that is Guitar Hero. I’ve been playing for about two weeks now and am progressing. When I first started, I couldn’t get through the first song on easy, and today I just beat “Bark at the Moon” on medium (and the medium level as a whole) and the first five songs on hard. It was a big accomplishment for me to get through “Infected” on hard, simply because it is the song that really introduces you to quickly moving your hand up and down on the frets. I didn’t do it well, but for awhile I had the rhythm going with a 4x multiplier.

Also, if you hadn’t heard, the Wii was announced to be coming out on November 19th for $249. That misses the window for my birthday party (which will either be the 11th or the 18th depending on if Sabrina is coming up or not), so we may have to have an encore party a few weeks after (so you should buy me Wii-motes for my birthday).

Ben and I are going to go to Atlanta this weekend. We’ll be going to the see Tom Petty and The Strokes on Friday night and to Anime Weekend Atlanta all day on Saturday. We were going to go see “The Science of Sleep” as well (the new Michael Gondry movie), but apparently it’s only in limited release this weekend. We did, however, go to see “The Last Kiss” last weekend, and it was good. I wanted to absolutely murder a few of the characters. But good.

I was moving stuff over from Tera to the new computer, when I came across these. I meant to post them forever ago, when I first found them. Anyway, here’s a few pictures from the Strokes concert I went to in Nashville back in March. I have no idea who took these, so if they are yours, please let me know and I will give you credit!

I can listen to my mp3s when my laptop is in the other room. I could buy movie tickets somehow if I wanted to. The interface itself is better organized. My programs can get grouped together so you don’t scroll through and see 500 episodes of Seinfeld listed. Now you can just go to the Seinfeld folder and see all the episodes listed my title. Too cool.

Anyway, I just bought tickets to the Tom Petty concert in Atlanta in September. The Strokes are opening. This concert is going to rock.

Well I was sitting, waiting, wishing
You believed in superstitions
Then maybe you’d see the signs

The Lord knows that this world is cruel
I ain’t the Lord, no I’m just a fool
Learning lovin’ somebody don’t make them love you

Must I always be waiting, waiting on you
Must I always be playing, playing your fool

I sang your songs, I danced your dance
I gave your friends all a chance
But putting up with them
Wasn’t worth never having you

Maybe you’ve been through this before
But it’s my first time so please ignore
The next few lines cause they’re directed at you

I can’t always be waiting, waiting on you
I can’t always be playing, playing your fool

I keep playing your part
But it’s not my scene
Want this plot to twist
I’ve had enough mystery
Keep building it up
Then shooting me down
But I’m already down

Just wait a minute
Just sitting, waiting
Just wait a minute
Just sitting, waiting

Well, if I was in your position
I’d put down all my ammunition
I’d wonder why’d it taken me so long

But Lord knows that I’m not you
And if I was, I wouldn’t be so cruel
Cause waitin’ on love ain’t so easy to do

Must I always be waiting, waiting on you
Must I always be playing, playing your fool

No, I can’t always be waiting, waiting on you
I can’t always be playing, playing your fool

I have only two complaints:
1. When I bought my tickets on Ticketmaster, it said that our seats would not be obscured in any way (they normally say either obscured view or partially-obscured). However, all we could mainly see were the speakers. Any other seat in the auditorium would have been better, I’m sure. I will remember this in case I ever go to the Ryman again.
2. The Eagles of Death Metal are terrible. They are not the Eagles, and they are not death metal. They are reptitive and have the tendency to shout out, “Let’s hear it for the ladies!” after EVERY SONG. I’m not even sure how the Strokes allowed them to open for them. It’s my theory that they must be like a friend of a friend or something.

Otherwise, the concert was perfect. I can’t find a setlist, so I’ll just try to list the songs they played.

From Is This It: “The Modern Age,” “Barely Legal,” “Someday,” “Alone, Together,” “Last Nite,” “Hard To Explain,” “Trying Your Luck,” and “Take It or Leave It”
From Room on Fire: “What Ever Happened?,” “Reptilia,” “12:51,” “The End Has No End,” and “I Can’t Win”
From First Impressions of Earth: “You Only Live Once,” “Juicebox,” “Heart in a Cage,” “Razorblade,” “Vision of Division,” “Ask Me Anything,” “Electricityscape,” “Ize of the World,” and “Red Light”
Other: “Life’s a Gas” (Ramones cover), “New York City Cops”

I think that’s right. I took some (terrible) 30-second long videos with my phone. I tried taking pictures but all you could see was light. Which is really all you can see in the videos as well, but oh well. The sound is also a little distorted because it was so loud but at least you can tell what they were playing (unlike when I tried to record stuff at the APC concert). They are pretty bad, but if you want to see them: “Red Light” and “Alone, Together”

I hope I can find some good photos of the concert soon.

Also, on the way there, my car hit 100,000 miles.

Ben and I are leaving soon to drive to Crossville tonight. Then we will be going to Nashville tomorrow for the birthday of one of his old friends. Then Sunday we will continue to Clarksville to visit with my family, and then drive all the way back here that night. Tiring.

Our Strokes tickets came in the mail the other day! I’m very excited about seeing them live.

I want to sleep.

I thought it was pretty awesome. I haven’t really played most of the games, so I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as Ben did, but I did recognize several pieces and thought it was all wonderful. The setlist was as follows:

“Liberi Fatali” from FF VIII
“Zanarkand” from FF X
“Terra’s Theme” from FF VI
“Theme of Love” from FF IV
“Dear Friends” from FF V
“Vamo’ Alla Flamenco” from FF IX
“Love Grows” from FF VIII
“Aeris’s Theme” from FF VII (Ben made me close my eyes since I’m currently playing this and he didn’t want me to see any of the scenes they showed, bleh.)
“Not Alone” from FF IX
“Ronfaure” from FF XI
FF I-III Medley
New Melody from FF VII Advent Children
“Final Fantasy”

After that, they did an encore, playing Sephiroth’s theme from FF VII. And then they played it again for the second encore.

I probably enjoyed the Final Fantasy theme the most. That was just awesome.

As a side note, I would just like to say that Atlanta’s street system is horrible. What is the point of having 14th street intersect with 14th street and Peachtree running parallel to Peachtree? When you’re trying to find the intersection of Peachtree and 15th street, it makes it impossible. Especially when most of them are one way streets.

There’s a note up on the NIN website that says they will be announcing an extensive North American tour this fall, and tickets will go on sale in June. So hopefully, I can get a ticket for one of those shows.

Last weekend we helped Sam and Greg move into their new house. I’ll have a few pictures up in a couple days.