Top 5 Records Presents - Obligatory End of the Year Post!

Wow, where did December go? It feels like finals week has just ended, but somehow it's the last day of the year and all. When school is out, it just feels like time has no meaning. I make the same to-do list for days and days, but just end up sleeping forever and then staying up all night on the internet. XD But one thing on my to-do list has a deadline, and here we are at the end of the year, so I can actually check this one off: End of the Year Blog Post. :D

Top Five Movies of 2010
I haven't actually seen a lot of the ones people keep raving about, so these are the top 5 of the ones I saw.

5. How To Train Your Dragon - release date: March 26, 2010

This was such an awesome movie, and not just for little kids, either. It was well-done, hilarious, and heart-warming. Overall it was a great movie, and a good time for everybody. :D

4. The Lovely Bones - release date: January 15, 2010

I went into this one expecting the worst, since I loved the book on which it was based, but it did an incredible job telling the story. The acting was pretty amazing - Stanley Tucci, has he ever been anything than amazing in anything he's done? - and the special effects and camera work were breathtaking. It was such a beautiful movie.

3. Kick-A** - release date: April 16, 2010

This was a freakin' awesome movie - kids being irl superheroes, a little girl just generally being a bamf, THIS GUY:

Yeah. Look at him. :D I was pretty decently pleased with this movie. Apparently they're making a sequel, though, and I don't know how I feel about that. =/

2. Scott Pilgrim VS The World - release date: August 13, 2010

Um, how freaking awesome is this movie? Answer: the most. :D It was so funny, and so sweet, and RIDICULOUSLY RIDICULOUS, and nerdtastic, and beautifully put together... I'm definitely buying this movie at some point. And also, Michael Cera! Come on! It's MICHAEL CERA.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - release date: November 19, 2010

You guys knew I'd pick Harry Potter for number one, didn't you? XD But seriously, this movie was the best movie of the whole series. They're all crap, especially the sixth one, but this one was... nearly perfect. It was heart-wrenching in all the right places, they got most of the story correct, the acting was even decent in parts. There was a scene, guys - there was a scene where I didn't hate DanRad. I KNOW. But it happened. There were even a couple of moments when EmWat was all right. And yes, there were a few things I would change, because they can never just get the freaking movies right, I mean come on, the book is RIGHT THERE, just READ IT and FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS, you don't even need to write a SCRIPT, but overall, it was a fantastic movie, and I cried forever and ever. But I would have even if it was horrible, so that's not really relevant. XD

RUNNERS-UP:
1. Easy A - oh, man, this movie was fantastic. It's seriously almost tied with HTTYD. I laughed, I was invested in the storyline, the acting was great... it was such a creative premise, too. I enjoyed it immensely.
2. The Social Network - this was a pretty funtimes movie, and it has Michael Cera's older dark-haired brother, Jesse Eisenberg. It was entertaining and well done, but I don't know if I would buy this movie. I might, though. I do love Facebook. :D
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - THIS WAS SUCH AN EPIC MOVIE. I haven't read the books yet, but I intend to because this movie was so awesome. Plus, sexy-Zac-Efron-lookin'-kid, Logan Lerman:

4. Youth In Revolt - not the best movie ever, but entertaining and sweet, plus, you know, Michael Cera. Even better, TWO Michael Ceras and one has a mustache:


Best terrible horror movie of the year - Splice. I don't even.
Runner-up - The Crazies. It was just ridiculous and irritating after a while.


Top 5 Best Albums and/or Bands I Discovered in 2010
I don't really keep up with music like I used to, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention when new albums come out, unless it's a band I'm really into at that moment. And most of those have been wizard rock or internet musicians for the last few months. XD I could probably do a better list if I paid more attention to the music of 2010 and had more time, but if you want to read that kind of post, I'll link you to my friend's blog when he posts it. XD

5. The Bird and the Bee - I don't know a whole lot about this band, other than they are ADORABLE. They came on my last.fm one time, and I was intrigued, so I downloaded their self-titled album, and I kind of love them a lot. :D Her voice is just freaking awesome, and I love how bouncy and adorable their songs are. GOOD TIMES.

4. Portugal. The Man - Their album Church Mouth is the one I'm most familiar with, and it. Is. AWESOME. A couple of friends introduced them to me on a road trip this summer, and I liked what I heard so I got a couple of their albums. They pretty much rock. That is all. :D

3. The Gregory Brothers - The Autotune The News guys! They're a real band, and they're REALLY AWESOME. Their voices are all just amazing, and their EP is five songs of awesomeness. I quite like them. They're a little folksy-bluesy-poppy-rockish, and it's a good time.

2. The Mountain Goats - Thanks, John Green, for turning me on to this band. They are just... basically, if Endless Mike and the Beagle Club and the Decemberists had a baby, it would be the Mountain Goats. Lyics and music like Colin Meloy, voice and style of song like Endless Mike. Oh man, this band is great. :3

1. Ministry of Magic's new album Magic is Might is the best album I have heard all year, probably. I cannot stop listening to it. It's amazing. Not only because I love Harry Potter and I love the Ministry of Magic, but also - the songs are just amazingly written, the music is so good, and it's just a fantastic album. Gah, I love them.

RUNNERS-UP
1. The Black Keys - I was introduced to them at a party this summer, and man, they are cool. The album Brothers is a pretty good album. I really like their voices, as well.
2. Freelance Whales - Darren Criss's brother is in this band, and while that's not the ONLY reason I got their album, it was a little of the reason. ^_^ But seriously, they're SO CUTE. And their music is REALLY good. They also sort of remind me of the Decemberists, maybe if they weren't so depressing and stuck in the 1700s in England (or on ships, as they often are). XD Really good, solid indie rock band.
3. Weezer's new album Hurley, though I haven't listened to it much... I listened to it all the way through a couple of times when I first got it, but haven't really since. But it was very good, and a lot of people have agreed, so I'm putting it on the list. ^_^


Top 5 TV Shows I Watched in 2010

5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Oh, Joss. I know I'm like, seven years late or something, but STILL. I wish I'd been a fan when it was on. It's so good - even though I hate half the characters, it's still so funny, so interesting, so well-crafted, so unique... it's definitely one of the best shows that has ever been on television.

4. How I Met Your Mother - Ahhh, this show is soooo gooood. I don't even care what other people say, this show has been consistently awesome since the first season. It's had some not-so-great episodes, but even those were better than most shows' best episodes. I love this show, and I want it to go on forever. :3

3. Dexter - Oh man, Dexter is a great show. It's SO GOOD. I could have lived without season 3, but whatevs, all the rest of it is so brilliant it makes up for it.

2. Doctor Who - I AM SO GLAD I STARTED WATCHING DOCTOR WHOOOO. Oh my god, this SHOW. It is so AWESOME. IT'S RIDICULOUS HOW AWESOME DOCTOR WHO IS. And I'll leave it at that.

1. Community - Probably my favorite show right now, for reals. Even more than Glee or HIMYM, even more than Buffy or Doctor Who. It's SO FUNNY. You guys. SOOO FUUUNNNNYYYY. And so clever and well-written, too, it's not just stupid jokes. All the actors are fantastic, it never feels forced, it's always ridiculous but somehow seems plausible for these people, and it's still got the right amount of drama and romance and all that other stuff. :D It's truly a terrific show, and I hope it stays on the air forever and ever, as well. ^_^

RUNNERS-UP:

1. Glee - I'm not so impressed with the first part of season 2, but there were some excellent episodes, so I'm not going to write it off yet. :D Besides, it still makes me really happy, so. Yeah.
2. The Big Bang Theory - Funny, smart, nerdy, at times irritating, but mostly adorable and hilarious. This is a GREAT show.
3. Pushing Daisies - Awww, this show was so adorable. :3 I wish there had been more of it - Kristen Chenoweth was brilliant on it, and it was just such a cute premise. I really really liked this show. ^_^

Top 5 Books Read In 2010

5. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson - This was such a cute book! Maureen Johnson is hilarious and a little crazy, but her books are so well-written, and her characters are so fleshed out, it's awesome. This is a really good sort of coming-of-age quest-type book, one of those teens-on-a-soul-searching-road-trip type books, and it's amazing.

4. Looking For Alaska by John Green - John Green's book are all sort of along the same vein, the teen-taking-a-life-changing-road-trip vein. This one in particular doesn't have a road trip, per se, but it's a kid going away to school and all, so same diff. XD But it so fully embodies the kind of memories and feelings that I want to have from this time in my life, and it's so sad and poignant and John Green is such a good writer... it touched me, okay? It might not be your favorite, but it's mine. ^_^

3. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - I just finished this a couple of nights ago, and holy crap. It takes a while to get into, but boy howdy, does it keep you turning pages once you do. SO GOOD. It's such an interesting premise, and you get so attached to the characters and so affected by what's going on in the book, you just can't put it down. I'm excited to start the next one.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Man, this series. THIS SERIES. Definitely the best series I've read in the last year, though really sad and kind of horrible. But it's so fast-paced and thrilling! It's like a quest but without the questing. It's AWESOME.

1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The sequel to The Hunger Games, I think I liked it better than the first. It was just so much more intense.

Okay, I can't think of much else to do a list of, and this has gotten really long, and it's 6:15 in the morning, SO... I will leave you with a few of my goals for 2011.

* Edit my NaNo novel and get the free copy from CreateSpace
* Get all As and Bs this semester (a C is okay for Math XD)
* Blog more!
* Finish our Twilight musical and film it
* Stop drinking soda
* Stop eating so much fast food/junk food
* Learn to actually play an instrument
* Start doing yoga and/or dance classes or something active

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you have a safe and joyous New Year's Eve, and hope 2011 is better than 2010. What are some of your resolutions or goals?

None of this makes sense or has a point. :D

Oh hey, blog. 'Sup? What's new with you? Oh, that's cool. Me? Ah, you know, schoolwork, hangin' out, wrote a book...

Yeah that's right. I WON NANOWRIMO 2010! :D! I finished on Tuesday, the last day, with 50,025 words. YEAAAHHHHHH! ^_^ This is my second time winning, out of four attempts. I'm glad I won this year 'cause 1 out of 4 is a terrible ratio of win. =/ BUT YAY I DID IT. :D I WROTE A BOOK!

Other than that, not a whole lot has been happening. Thanksgiving was good, excited for Christmas now... got like, a week left of school, so yay. :D I'm planning my garden for next year, so that'll be fun to blog about. I AM SURE YOU GUYS CAN'T WAIT.

I have a couple of things I want to make posts about, but if you guys have any suggestions I would be open to them. I feel like this blog is all over the place - personal stuff, political stuff, ridiculous stuff. XD I can't decide what I want to do with it. Ah, well. It's completely random and insane, just like me! :D

One thing that has been on my mind lately - those Facebook things where people post stuff in their statuses or change their profile pictures to "raise awareness" or whatever for different causes? What is up with that? How does putting your bra color in your status, without explaining what it means, do anything to raise awareness of breast cancer? Furthermore, who in this day and age is NOT aware of breast cancer? What does raising awareness DO? I mean, I could understand if it was like, a new thing or something people don't usually think about, or something happening in a different country, maybe... but I still don't see why people think changing their profile picture is going to make a difference.

Currently there's a trend going around where everyone is changing their photo to a picture of their favorite childhood cartoon character. It's supposed to raise awareness of child abuse, somehow. I don't really understand how, exactly. But it's happening. =/ Child abuse is a problem that there really isn't a good solution to. I mean, we as a country or a planet cannot police child abuse because it goes on in the home, and often there's no way of knowing for sure. The only thing we can do is what we have been doing - if you know someone is abusing a child, report it. Then get the child away from that person. And that's really all we can do to fix the problem. But we all know it happens, and it's really sad and everything, but what is Facebook going to do about it? How does this help?

I don't know. I just get kind of annoyed sometimes at the silly things people do. =/ But whatever - if you want to participate, that is fine. Good for you. If you really think it does some good, that's good, too. I hope it does. This is just my cynical grouchy old lady opinion. :D

Also: I really love the character Giles on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but I really hate the actor, Anthony Stewart Head. I think he's gross and dumb and irritating, but Giles is sexy and awesome and adorable. Does anyone else feel this way? O_o

Top Five Records Presents - Bands

One of my favorite movies is High Fidelity, in which John Cusack plays a record store owner who is always making "Top 5" lists. I'm going to do a series of Top 5s, starting with a big category - bands! I will do Top 5 Bands Right Now, and Top 5 Bands of All Time.

TOP 5 BANDS RIGHT NOW

1. ALL CAPS.
There is a phenomenon called wizard rock, music based off of Harry Potter. I, needless to say, am a huge fan. Two of my favorite bands are good friends, and one member from each, Luke and Kristina, created a band called ALL CAPS, which is basically just nerdtastic. They have songs about World of Warcraft, The Office, robots falling out of love, NaNoWriMo, zombies, and other nerdy things. :D They're pretty awesome - funny or sweet lyrics, good voices, neat music. I love them a lot.

http://allcapsband.com (oh my god, they're so cute)

2. Endless Mike and the Beagle Club
Oh my god, these guys. They are so fantastic. :D They're this little obscure band from Johnstown, PA, who writes amazing songs about mundane things like living in the same town your whole life, not finishing college, seeing all your friends grow up and get married and have babies while you're still not sure who you are... it's amazing. Their album The Husky Tenor changed my life. <3 Their music is great - they have like, sixteen people "in the band," who just intermittently show up to record stuff on weird instruments - and the lyrics are really insightful and catchy, and Mike's voice is so sweet and weird and honest. They're an amazing group of musicians, and every one of you would do well to have this album.

The Husky Tenor - mediafire.com/?0jykjtw2dwc
http://www.purevolume.com/endlessmikeandthebeagleclub

3. Joss Whedon.
Okay, so he's not a band, but his music is so fantastic! :D I've been listening to the soundtrack to "Once More With Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy, for a month and a half now. It's so creative and awesome. And Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog?! GENIUS. God, that man is just... well, God, kind of. XD Joss is boss, as Summer Glau famously said. And it is true. Go download the soundtrack to Dr. Horrible and tell me he's not a genius. Actually, don't, because if you don't think Joss Whedon is a genius, we can't be friends. XD (I'm kidding.)

http://whedonesque.com

4. Lady Gaga.
I am no longer ashamed to admit that I love me some Gaga. :D At first, I resisted, but I was converted. She has a pretty decent voice, and her songs, while not genius-level, certainly are catchy and fun. But the real appeal of Madame Gaga, of course, is the costumery and craziness of the woman herself. She's a throwback to the days of Bowie, Madonna, and Prince. She's a show in and of herself. And that is really why people like her - or at least, why I do. She's fierce, and fabulous, and utterly unafraid to be herself, and who cares about the people who don't think you should wear thirteen-inch heels and rhinestones glued to your face to go to the grocery store, SHE'S gonna do it ANYWAY. (Also, "Bad Romance" is RIDICULOUSLY catchy!) <3 Gaga <3

http://www.ladygaga.com

5. She and Him.
Zooey Deschanel sings. Who needs to hear more? :D No really, she has an amazing voice, all lilting and sweet and easy. Their first album was covers, while their second is original stuff, and both are amazing. Aside from her being adorable and a pretty decent actress, this girl can sing.

http://www.sheandhim.com



TOP 5 BANDS OF ALL TIME

1. The Beatles.
... It's the Beatles, dude. ANYONE'S bands of all time should include them.

2. Weezer.
Nerd rock at it's best. The Blue Album and Pinkerton will always remind me of high school and certain people, and will probably always make me either laugh or cry. Weezer is just too cool. <3

3. The Decemberists.
This band is just ridiculous. They are so good it HURTS sometimes. Their lyrics, their music, Colin Meloy's warbly little voice... it's just too much. Instantly a classic, I don't think I'll ever stop listening to this band.

4. The Smiths.
The pinnacle of high school misfit rock, the most famous band no one's ever heard of, the band made infinite by The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Smiths will always have a place in my heart. Morrissey is an amazing singer, and his lyrics are somehow both strikingly poetic and painfully straightforward. The Smiths are one of those bands that are classic high school weird kid bands, and I guess the weird high schooler in me will never give them up.

5. Ozma.
Another one of those bands that will always bring back high school memories for me. I love this band. They're also obscure - I'm always surprised when anyone else knows who they are. But they have some amazing songs. They're a little like Weezer, which might be why I love them so much, but their lyrics are so clever and sweet that it's clear they have a voice of their own. Rockin' tunes, ballads, amazing solos, gut-wrenching choruses, heart-gripping vocals... these guys rock out loud. They're fantastic. <3 I love me some Ozma, and I probably always will.

Oh my god, that was hard. XD It's all subject to change, anyway. Who can really pick a top 5 favorite anything and stick with it? My favorites change all the time. But this is but the first installment in a series of Top 5s. Next, possibly, books! :D That won't be hard at all, right? O_o

I hate liking stuff. =/

Those of you who know me are aware of two vital habits of my me-ness:
a) that I like things for stupid reasons and obsess over them to no end, and
b) that I hate things for no reason and avoid them at all costs until something forces me to like it.

Case in point, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I avoided it the entire time it was on because (in my opinion, based on the one person I knew who watched it) only stupid people liked it, and I hate Sarah Michelle Gellar with a passion. She is stupid. She's got a stupid monkey face, with stupid little non-eyebrows, and she is stupid. I don't like her.

I DO, however, like Joss Whedon. I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, then Firefly and Serenity, and BAM! I was hooked. So when Dollhouse came out, I decided I loved it just because Joss had done it. That's when I realized the folly of my ways - to truly call myself a Whedon fan, I HAD to watch Buffy.

So, thanks to Netflix because it's totally awesome and had all 7 seasons on instant watch thing, I'm up to season 5. And... well... I love it. I love it so much. It's my favorite thing and it's awesome and I love it. Still hate Sarah Michelle Gellar, and consequentially Buffy, but whatevs. Oz and Xander and Willow and Anya make up for it, and I LOVE IT, and I'm going to buy it and love it forever.

That's what I do. I watch something, love it, and then find everything all the actors have ever been in. I'm a little crazy with the whole six-degrees thing. I made a chart once! It took hours and hours on IMDB, and four whole sheets of that giant sketch paper. But it was awesome, and now I can connect anyone I love to anyone else I love (not in six steps, usually, but I can still do it!) on command.

I should probably stop hating things just because everyone else likes them, because sometimes (par example - Lady Gaga, in all of her fierce glory and awesomeness) they are actually worthwhile. But then, on the flip side of that coin, there's Twilight. And then I feel totally justified in hating things blindly because the masses like them. :D