Song: Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven

Wow, I’m still getting used to this 2009 thing. I’m having the same problem Stan had, where there was alot that happened in the past 2 weeks but I’m running low on energy to blog about it. Probably not the worst thing to happen, I’m sure there most people who read this get bored reading the many “and here’s what happened” blogs that crop up here at SteverOnline.

Work: We started a pull-up contest that’s going to go indefinitely, where once a week, what was 10 but now 3 of us do as many pull-ups AND chin-ups that we can. Then the next week we have to at least maintain or do more. We haven’t come up with any punishments, although we probably need to because I missed a week as I was in another state, and one of us didn’t maintain one week. Any ideas? The next event is tomorrow, and I have to maintain 7 pull-ups and 7 chin-ups. I practiced yesterday, as I haven’t had a time or place to since 2 weeks ago - I’m pretty confident I can maintain that number.

Christmas: I worked Christmas Eve, which isn’t too much of a problem, and then drove down that night to Mom’s. On the way, near 8pm, it was requested of me to get some last minute ribbon and I had to stop by three stores before I found one that was open. It was CVS and I’ve never seen one more packed - must have been alot of last minute shoppers. Stan and I watched the movie Fargo which I had brought over courtesy of Netflix. By the way I have no idea what the ribbon was used for - if it was for a gift I opened I didn’t notice it.

Christmas #1 was Stan, Mom, and Me (I guess Mila the cat was there as well) and one of the gifts I got (along with the required Kohls’ giftcard) was my JMU College Diploma that had been professionally framed at the JMU store; pretty cool. Christmas #2 was over at Dad’s and included Karen, Shannon, Ric and Rachel (I guess Amos the dog was there as well.) The joke here was the FOUR COPIES of a John Lennon biography that were around. I think both Stan and I recieved one, Dad recieved one as a gift, and he might have also picked one up to read while buying ours. Yes, Tiger Woods Golf was played on the Wii.

Vacation: The day after Christmas, I drove out to BWI to fly out to Wyoming. There was a slight problem when I saw the signs saying both long term parking lots were FULL, but luckily they were using the hourly parking lots as overflow and you only had to pay $2 more per day. I had two flights, one to Denver and one to Wyoming, and apparently had the easiest trip out of everyone. Elise and her parents had a long drive in from the aiport, her brother and his girlfriend’s flight was cancelled until the next day, and her other brother and his girfriend’s flight was cancelled and they ended up flying elsewhere and then driving in (something like 36 hours after they were due.) So I felt pretty lucky.

The big draw to Wyoming is the skiing. It’s a beautiful place (when there isn’t a snow storm) where you can see for miles. The Tetons are there and everything has this nice layer of white on top. I took my first REAL ski lesson - I remember having a 1 hour lesson when I was in Boy Scouts, but I was there for a day, and whatever information I had was long gone. My instructor was a very funny and helpful guy who noticed a few things about my skiing including that I prefer one leg way more than the other (probably a skating influence from my youth) and that I needed to stick to smaller skiis! Apparently the smaller the ski, the easier it is to turn, and I needed all the help I could get. Elise and her family were all seasoned skiiers and for the most part (thankfully) left me alone to do my own thing on the beginner runs, where I fell more than a few times (by the last day I think I fell once, though.) I feel easier learning something difficult if I don’t have alot of experts around watching me mess up!

We did alot of other things there that were cool, including sleigh riding in an Elk refuge (we got amazingly close to some), snow tubing (probably my favorite thing of the trip), great food, drinking local beer at the Mangy Moose (bar on the ski slopes), etc. Lots of fun! For New Years Eve we went to the slopes at night and watched a ton of professional skiiers ski down the mountain with torches …a nice enough effect but it could have been condensed into 20 minutes instead of an hour.

New Year: When I got back I had 3 days to do whatever I wanted before work started up again. So I crammed 2 band practices in between working on my computer. I took it apart, got into the guts and upgraded my graphics card to a beast that is literally twice as big as the old one. I also purchased the new Grand Theft Auto game for PC (the biggest reason for upgrading the graphics card) and I have not been dissapointed yet. I really enjoyed GTA 3 and LOVED GTA Vice City although I was less than thrilled with GTA San Andreas came out (I played it for maybe 2 or 3 hours total.) This one takes everything that was good about 3 and VC and removes everything that was bad about SA, along with upgrading the graphics and gameplay. My favorite thing is one radio station you can listen to while driving in cars is made up of your own mp3s found on your computer! That’s right, I’ve got Gentle Beans “Life On The Street” blasting from my virtual car as I virtually run over some creep. TIIIIIIITE!

Updates:

Split Books section into a page for each year
Added Grand Theft Auto IV to Current Interests

Song: Full House Theme

Happy 2009!

Well another year is gone and another new year is here (and holy crap, it’s the year of my 10 year High School Anniversary!) The following blog contains the annual Best-Of The Year rundown from SteverOnline. And yes, I had a big and awesome vacation but that will have to wait until next blog. So check back here soon.

SteverOnline
Most Blogged Month - February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, & December (9-Way Tie with 4 posts each)
Least Blogged Month - January (1 post)

Most Replied Blog - Why so serious? (5 replies)

Most Frequent Blog Current Music Artist - Weezer (5 times)
Most Frequent Blog Current Music Song - Weezer “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” (2 times)

Music
Best Album (of new stuff) - Weezer (”The Red Album”)
Well 2008 turned out to not be such a great year for new music. Max Martin worked on more new stuff, including a new collaboration with Britney Spears after a 7 split (the pretty cool “If You Seek Amy”), but nothing that was as good as last year’s “If That’s Ok With You” by Shayne Ward. Weezer’s third self-titled album (everyone, including the band, calls it The Red Album) easily rises to the top of the batch for me. It’s got alot of good songs (and, yes, some bad ones as well) including “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” which is possibly the best song of 2008.

Best Album (of old stuff) - Alone II - The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo
Wow, the year of Weezer, I suppose. Last year, head Weezer honcho Rivers Cuomo released a collection of his demos going back to before the band began. This year we saw more of the same (which is a good thing) although to be honest I’m mostly interested in the material from the aborted Songs From The Black Hole.

Worst Album - Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
There were alot of lacking albums released this year, but this one takes the cake. I listened to Stan’s copy on the way down to my Grandparent’s for thanksgiving and I definitely asked him how many songs where left as it was excruciating. Every Guns N Roses album has at least one good song (and “The Spaghetti Incident?” has ONLY one good song) but I couldn’t find one here. Some stuff harkened to the past (sounding like they belonged on the Use Your Illusion albums) and some stuff sounded like it was from a modern nu-metal band. And every one sucked!

Movies
Best Movie - No Country For Old Men
Easily the best movie I saw this year. To see my review of it check out my blog called No Country For Old Dohblogs.

Surprisingly Good Movie - Twilight
During our get together in November, Elise and I each picked a movie to see. Her’s was this movie based on the book series she’s obsessed with, and mine was the one that won the next category. We saw this movie twice in a row, and it was good enough not to be totally bored through the second viewing. It’s a nice twist on the typical teen romance stories - one of the kids in love is a vampire. I know that sounds a little silly, but if you get a chance it’s a suprisingly good flick. Something for everyone.

Surprisingly Bad Movie - Quantum Of Solace
I was very close to saying Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull as it was probably the worst movie I saw this year, but I can’t say it was suprisingly bad. The latest James Bond was, unfortunately. The same week I saw Twilight (twice) I saw this and it was unfortunate (to say the least) that the vampire, teenage romance movie was better than this, my favorite Movie Series. Unlike with music, I’m not an obsessed movie watcher, so I can watch a large variety and not get to critical. But I love the 007 movies, and this was such a dissapointing slide from the Casino Royale. I barely remember any of it, it was just so …blah. Alot of it takes place in a desert and it’s a good metaphor for the film itself - it’s just desolate of anything to wrap your brain around. I barely felt there was any James Bond in this James Bond movie.

Television
Best Television Show - I Love Money
I hardly watch any television anymore. Except for the occaisional Netflix DVDs of older television shows, I watch nothing. Well almost nothing. I did watch I Love Money all the way through with Elise, thanks to Stan’s recommendation. It’s the same cast of characters we love (and love to hate) from older VH1 Reality Shows competing for a ton of cash (maybe the only other thing they crave more than fame!)

Worst Television Show - Everything, really
I didn’t watch anything else this year. Television has no sway with me…

2008 Anticipations
Most Anticipated Movie - Watchmen
I’ve heard about this movie for awhile and when I saw the previews I was dumbfounded. As a (semi-)retired comic geek, I definitely know this greatest-of-all comic stories well. It’s one of Time Magazine’s 100 best novels of the last century, the only “graphic novel” on the list - it’s that good. Many of the panels have been burned into my memory from re-reading. And having seen some previews …They’ve come to life! Apparently the director is so adamant about keeping the feel of the film as close as possible to the novel, which is a good idea. I can not wait to check this one out - I’m going to be a drooling fanboy all over again!

Most Anticipated Music - The Click Five
A new Backstreet Boys album may or may not come out next year, and it may or may not have Max Martin songs on it (it better this time.) What I’m really excited for is the new Click Five album. I’ve been following their recording process, watching their monthly videos on their official website. I went and saw lead singer Kyle Patrick live, and he previewed a few possible new songs. I liked them all, and like what I’ve heard on the website. I’m super-stoked!

Most Anticipated Television Show - The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien
Nothing really out there to excite me, but I guess I’m interested in seeing how Conan O’Brien transitions into his new role as the main guy …even if Jay Leno is getting another show AN HOUR EARLIER at 10. So basically, it’ll feel the same, only a little earlier than normal. Hmm…

Updates:

Rated some books in the books section
Updated What I’m Reading on front page
Added 2 photos to the photo section

Song: Backstreet Boys - Close My Eyes

The demo the band is currently working on has now changed titles (at least in my mind.) At our last practice (of the year ) Nate made some joke about starting a rival band and calling it Destroy Feathers. We all thought it was hilarious, but perhaps some background should be added here. Last year a few coworkers started calling my Feathers because I eat so much chicken. I told Nate and the rest of the band, and they thought it funny, and it remains a semi-inside joke we throw around.

Anyways, Arwen threw out the first photoshopped image, and of course, the rest of us being the nerds that we are, created our own interpretations. Nate went for a more professional look, mine was Bondian, and Rob went for the visually startling equivalent of a punch line, all taking off where Arwen started. Which do you think is the best one? Click the above photos to see their regular sizes. The winner will become the artwork for the sound files on my iTunes!

Updates:

Rated Roger Moore’s “My Word Is My Bond” in the books section
Added more books to the books section
Updated What I’m Reading and Current Interests on front page
Added some links

Song: Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen

Last night I watched “No Country For Old Men” for the first time. It won the Academy Award last year for best picture, best screenplay, and best director and Javier Bardem won for best supporting actor. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m curious as to why Bardem was nominated in the supporting category, as he clearly gets more screen time than any other actor. I guess the arguement could be there are NO main actors, as the three cheif ones all support each other.

I had heard nothing about this movie until it was nominated. I’m not sure most people knew what this movie was about, and I agree, not knowing anything about it I thought it looked too weird and possibly even boring for my taste. It is not, let me assure you, boring. Or even too weird, really. In comparison to another Coen brother picture, The Big Labowski, this one seems too realistic at times.

I don’t want to give ANYTHING away, because I think that is one of the reasons I enjoyed this movie so much: I just didn’t know what I was getting into. All I will say, is almost everything about this movie is satisfying. One glaring thing is not, but I won’t say what it is, you’ll probably feel it too. 4 out of 5 stars from a critical guy. Go see this!

Updates:

Rated Artie Lange’s “Too Fat To Fish” in the books section
Updated What I’m Reading on front page