What’s Listening – The Procession

Every month I showcase a different artist and album that I’m currently listening to. More than just browsing these artists, I purchase an album from each group in order to give them a fair representation and to increase their availability to others.

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s time to share with you February’s artist of the month. I was first introduced to The Procession and their album Musique Magnifique last September, but at the time, they were just a tease with no publicly accessible music. I eventually discovered in late-December/early-January that I could purchase their music off iTunes only, and I gladly downloaded a copy. My first time through the album, I played it twice because the music is great and the songs feel so upbeat. Their sound is a little like Weezer’s with a 60’s Brit-Pop (think Beatles, Zombies, etc.) feel to them. The first and last songs are great, “The Moment” and “Don’t You Wish”, respectfully, with my favorite song, “Don’t Hesitate”, in the middle.

Check out The Procession at their website to hear some of their songs: http://www.theprocession.com/

An Evening With Oscar

The Oscars came and went this year, as a group of us tried to compete in picking the Oscar winners for all categories. When all was said and done, Jessica and I tied for first place with 14 of 24 correct picks each. While there were some categories that offered little or no surprise, a few categories offered some brief surprises or disappointments. Here are my Oscar musings in Oscar form.

1. Oskar Schindler
It was a good night for the Germans who took home Best Foreign Film, but the foreigners didn’t stop there. As the Academy themselves put it, it was the most diverse Oscars ever. Aside from the U.S., winners came from Algeria, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, China, Australia, and the UK.
2. Oscar Mayer
There were some other interesting Oscar “wieners” as well. Al Gore walks away as with kudos from the Academy when his movie won best documentary feature. Who could have foreseen this seven years ago? Also, Melissa Etheridge wins for best original song for the same movie, beating out three “Dreamgirls” songs. I guess the Academy was like me and couldn’t remember which song was which in the movie.
3. Oscar Peterson Trio
I was “jazzed” to see Alan Arkin, Jennifer Hudson, and Martin Scorsese get their first Oscars ever. It was good to see the Academy willing to reward those who were aging veterans as well as those who where new to it all. Too bad Peter O’Toole couldn’t join those ranks (even though I liked Forest Whitaker’s performance better).
4. Oscar The Grouch
The most disappointing part of the night for my family was when my father’s cousin failed to win the award for best animated short for “The Little Matchgirl”. It would have been cool to see family up on stage, but it didn’t work out for us.
5. Oscar Wilde
Though it wasn’t exactly a “wild” evening, it had its share of odd musical numbers, crazy gymnastics, a bald Jack Nicholson, and the usual antics you can expect. The pool we had going on heightened the experience and made it more enjoyable (especially since I won tied). We just love any excuse for a party and a wager.

Here are some other good recaps from the evening I found.

Top Ten Films of 2006

With the Academy Awards airing this Sunday, that means it's time once again for my top 10 movies list from this past year. This year in particular was possibly the most difficult to judge because of the caliber of the films I saw this year. Movies I thought would end up in the top ten earlier in the year have fallen out of the top fifteen. Some of the rankings seem arbitrary since it's difficult to compare two completely different films, but that's what I'm here for and so let's get to it. To change it up a bit this year, these are the movies that almost made it into the top 10:

15. For Your Consideration
14. Thank-You For Smoking
13. Borat
12. The Pursuit of Happyness
11. A Prairie Home Companion

Now on to final list.

10. Venus
Plot Summary: An old man on his way out of life has one last go with youth as he looks after his friend’s grandniece and tries to relive his vicarious youth.
What It Teaches Us: That of the dirty old men out there, Peter O’Toole is the dirtiest old man. Also, it’s easy to get your way if you just toss an old guy a bone or two.
Memorable Moment: Maurice: For most men, the woman's body is the most beautiful thing they will ever see. Jessie: What's the most beautiful thing a girl sees? Do you know? Maurice: Her first child

9. The Last King of Scotland
Plot Summary: A young Scottish doctor becomes the official doctor for dictator Idi Amin.
What It Teaches Us: Stay away from crazy! When people mysteriously start disappearing and your increasingly bipolar employer keeps throwing expensive free stuff your way to deflect questions, you should probably leave immediately.
Memorable Moment: The slow decline in mental health you see in the portrayal of Amin. It’s remarkable how you feel at the end after wondering at the beginning how he could turn insane.

8. Brick
Plot Summary: A high school film noir story of the search for a missing girl and the mysteries behind it. The dialogue itself could be out of a Philip Marlowe story.
What It Teaches Us: That adults don’t exist in the lives of teens these days. I only recall seeing two adults throughout the entire movie – the vice-principal and one parent. Total combined screen time roughly 7 minutes. It also shows how much high school has changed in the past 5 years. They also talk really weird these days.
Memorable Moment: The end when the femme-fatal is exposed in a big way.

7. Wordplay
Plot Summary: Documentary around crossword puzzles as it follows competitors in the national crossword puzzle competition.
What It Teaches Us: That everyone in the movie is smarter than you. Yes, even you!
Memorable Moment: The final competition when one contestant turns from joyous celebration to horrified tragedy when certain victory ends in bitter defeat.

6. Dreamgirls
Plot Summary: Musical about the evolution of three pop singers through the 60s/70s on their quest to become pop stars. Little do they realize from the onset that soon they would become – Dreamgirls!
What It Teaches Us: Sometimes, the best arguments are made through song. It also teaches us that as an audience member, it’s okay to applaud after each song, even if they can’t hear you (because it’s a movie). Also, when the cast waves to the camera, it’s only polite to wave back. Somehow, I felt sorry for the lady sitting next to me.
Memorable Moment: I’d like to believe that somewhere out there that lady is still waving at her Dreamgirls.

5. Pan’s Labyrinth
Plot Summary: During the revolution in Spain, the young stepdaughter of a sadistic army general escapes into a fantasy world reminiscent of “Spirited Away” or any Zelda/Final Fantasy game. As the movie goes on, the real and fantasy worlds play off each other.
What It Teaches Us: When a magical faun tells you to do something in a magical world, you better do it or be willing to face the consequences. If you don’t want a palm-eyed baby-eating monster to come after you, then maybe you should think twice before stealing his grapes.
Memorable Moment: I can’t believe they showed him sewing up his own mouth wound!

4. The Queen
Plot Summary: Following the death of Princess Diana, the Queen must deal with a new prime minister and a commonwealth anxious for a response.
What It Teaches Us: Sometimes it’s good to be the Queen – you get to tell people what to do and you own lots of castles, cars and dogs. But then again sometimes it’s bad to be the Queen, when millions of people hate you. Oh who cares what they think anyway, they’re just peasants.
Memorable Moment: The stag was the most iconic image of the movie, but equally as memorable are the performances of both Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen.

3. The Departed
Plot Summary: An Irish mob has informants in the police and the police have informants in the mob. It’s a chess match between both sides trying to catch the other in the act of betrayal.
What It Teaches Us: No one is as they appear to be. Everyone is a spy and in the end, they will most likely end up dead. If you’re Martin Scorsese, stick with what you know best: mob films with lots of violence and swearing.
Memorable Moment: Oliver Queenan: You're rising up fast. Dignam: Yeah, like a 12-year-old's dick.

2. Children of Men
Plot Summary: In the future women have stopped becoming pregnant and as a result the world dives into a paranoid, mass-hysteric, misanthropic society.
What It Teaches Us: You have three years to get pregnant before babies start becoming extinct. After that, all sex will be safe sex. The future looks mighty bleak so start enjoying your life now!
Memorable Moment: Any of the long, continuous shots throughout the movie that were just amazingly choreographed and coordinated.

1. Little Miss Sunshine
Plot Summary: A little girl enters in a beauty pageant and needs to get to California to compete. Mayhem ensues and in the end, it’s important that family sticks together.
What It Teaches Us: That some parents will ultimately make their children hideous in order to compete in a “beauty” pageant. Also that I’m a loser bringing these winners down with my sarcasm.
Memorable Moment: Olive: I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves. Pageant MC: Aww, that is so sweet. [Audience applauds] Is he here? Where's your grandpa right now? Olive: In the trunk of our car.

There they are this past year's top films. Any debate?

Let The Good Times Roll

I went to Best Buy on Friday after work in order to buy a new television and I picked out the one I had been eyeing – a 42” flat screen plasma HDTV. I got to the counter with the salesman to complete my transaction when he informed me that the TV wasn’t in stock and that I’d have to wait for a couple days when a new one could be shipped in. I was a little downtrodden because I was planning to have a big movie night that evening to christen the new TV, but I figured I waited this long since I started to shop around that I could hold out for a couple more days. At least I was still able to get it on sale and save about $400, so I can stand to wait a little longer.

There seems to be a lot of this going around recently, with good things happening to close friends and family, from new TVs to new cars to job offers to marriage proposals. It’s been a good past couple of days for my friends, family and me. Like the title says....

Epilogue to a Busy Week - Fondue, Zoo, Hearts, and More

Until yesterday, I had spent all of 4 hours in my office this week. Things have been crazy busy as I’ve been bouncing around between 3 different offices during work. But now that it’s Friday, I can sit in my office, not having to run around like mad, and actually make a post. I don’t have much to say, but I’d like to highlight a few things from this past week.

Last week I got to hang out with my cousins, their significant others, and Jessica in LA and madness ensued. We are a very wacky group and we all really enjoyed ourselves. After downing a couple bottles of wine and appetizers, we ventured out for dinner around 8:30 Saturday night. We were lucky enough (very, very fortunate) to get into The Melting Pot for dinner when a group of 6 didn’t show. Otherwise we would have had to wait until 11! Everything there is fondue-style – cheeses, meats, desserts, etc. – and it was very good. By the time we finished it was past midnight (very long dinner) and we headed to a British pub nearby for a pint. It was a great evening!

Earlier that day Jess and I went to the LA zoo, which was a lot of fun. I was adamant that we see every single animal, and for the most part they were all fun to look at. It was disturbing, however, to see one eland drinking the urine of its fellow eland. Also, it was interesting trying to find the monitor lizards, only to see one on top of the other. “Oh they’re trying to escape,” one parent said to their child. The kids there were what made the experience memorable as most children we passed were too completely enamored by the animals to make a fuss. One little girl ran up in front of the camels, turned to her parents and said, “Look, I’m in Egypt!” Another little boy ran up to the ostrich, pointing and saying to his father, “Look dad, a duck!”

I had a good Valentine’s Day this week. In response to a previous comment made, I don’t have any V-day traditions as this has been my first one ever with someone to celebrate it with. I was careful not to repeat my mistake from last year so in the end I came out on top of it all.

The last bit of news I’d like to share is that I’m going TV shopping after work today and I don’t expect to come away empty handed!

Traditions

I’m back in crunch mode at work, so the next few weeks will be very busy and will leave me little time to post. That being said, here’s a brief recap post of this past weekend while I can still get it out there.

The Super Bowl for me, as with most people, is about tradition and each year there are several traditions I participate in that make this day especially unique. For some, this day might be about football, the hype, the commercials, the celebrations, but for me I take a different approach.

Tradition #1: Snack Foods
This is what Super Bowl should be about and this year was no different with chips, dips, greasy appetizers, fried goodness, sweet confections, and the occasional “healthy” carrot stick. It isn’t Super Bowl Sunday without a wall of munchies to scarf down.

Tradition #2: Dinner
To go along with the snack side of things, we had our traditional football tailgating meal of bacon-wrapped sausages topped with grilled veggies accompanied by baked beans. A Midwestern meal for a Midwestern Super Bowl.

Tradition #3: Beer
What game isn’t complete with beer, and our shindig was not lacking the most crucial element. I brought over my Chicago Bears mug and made sure throughout the game it was never left dry.

Tradition #4: Overeating
This is the result of the aforementioned traditions – my annual gorge-fest that tops any holiday, because at least during holiday eating there are at least some healthy foods available (i.e. vegetable dishes). But for this day, I let my eyes get the better of me and my stomach as I tried to muscle down just one more spinach-artichoke puff. It’s really a day about food and beer, and I can’t help but to agree.

Tradition #5: Late-Night Stomach Pains
When all is said and done, I am left a bloated carcass full of greasy and beer-y goodness. Unfortunately, my stomach doesn’t appreciate tradition #4 as much as I do and so I’m left writhing in pain cursing those last bites of food. I know this can be prevented, but at the risk of losing everything leading up to it, I can handle a little pain for one night every now and then.

Tradition #6: The Puppy Bowl
Aside from the food aspect, there are some other things associated with Super Bowl Sunday that have become family traditions. One of them, especially, is the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet where adoptable puppies play in a small football arena. This is always better to watch than any pre-game or half-time show, and it drives my dog wild with excitement. This year they added a kitty half-time show of cats playing to the sounds of disco music.

Tradition #7: The Football Pool
This is our way of making the game more engaging, by putting money down on random squares in a grid to guess what the last digit of each score is by the end of each quarter. Hopefully that makes sense to you, but the important thing is to just make the game more interactive by provoking more shouting at the teams and players. There are four payouts during the game and this year, I happened to win one of them, thereby returning my investment into the pot. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about gloating over the losers when you win.

Tradition #8: Football
Between all the snacks and all the bets and amidst the playing puppies, there is still a football game to watch on TV. Though usually second to everything above (or in this case eighth), it does provide with some useful breaks to rest up from food and it gives you something to shout at while you drink your beer. As long as the game is engaging for the full 4-quarters, you’re guaranteed a good time with food and beverage.

For A City I’ve Never Been To...

...I must really like New York, or at least its inhabitants. A couple of the websites linked on the right-side of my page are made possible through the exploitation of New Yorkers, and I am here to offer another similar website. It’s called Overheard in New York and it’s basically a public quote page of the random things people hear/say on (or under) the streets of New York. It’s a pretty funny site and it’s guaranteed to help waste some time. Enjoy!