2008 Roundup - Part 3

Let's bang the rest of the year out...

Best DVD's of 2008:

1.) The Mist - This movie still haunts me. I never saw it in the theaters (I didn't even know when it came out) but its a great movie to watch on a dark winter night. A deadly mist envelops a small town and what's in the mist is pretty nasty (think large mutated bugs). The most shocking and perhaps the greatest ending ever to a movie. Much better than the Strangers.

2.) Teeth - The greatest concept of the year. A young girl is born with razor sharp teeth in her "private" area. Not necessarily a horror movie but a very dark comedy. Highly recommend. Again, better than the Strangers.

3.) Best Of TV Funhouse - Made by the guy who does Triumph The Insult Comic Dog as well as those animated skits on Saturday Night Live, he actually put together a weird "Pee Wee's Playhouse" type show featuring animal puppets and very odd animated skits. I recommend trying to find some clips on Youtube before buying though as the humor isn't for everybody.


Best nights of 2008

1.) March 15, 2008 aka the beginning of the Rock Band phenomenon. I bring over Rock Band to my buddy's place (its his birthday too) to show them the game. What was supposed to be a brief pre-game leading to a night out on the town, leads to nearly 10 hours of non-stop playing and never leaving his house. The hours blow by too and when I went to sleep, I see colored bars dropping down when I close my eyes.

2.) The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend - Up in Boothbay, Maine, some college friends get together up in a remote part of Maine for some R&R. The final night is like an night in college...starts off with some Jenga, then some good old fashion card games like asshole, drinking games like Flip Cup, and of course some Rock Band mixed in. The night ends on a hazy note as some friends and I lose a bet and are forced to eat an all natural dog biscuit.

3.) December 12, 2008 - Back to NYC. Friends from Houston, TX come in and bedlam ensues. If night number 2 was a throwback to college, this was a throwback to my days in Bayside, Queens. After throwing back 5 seven and sevens, I find myself in a club with people 10 years younger around me...but I love it. Even better was the DJ who did everything from his computer. It made me wonder how much my old mixer is worth these days.

Top 3 rediscovered songs of 2008.

1.) "If You Should Ever Be Lonely" by Val Young - I stumbled across this song on another retro blog and immediately fell in love with it again. You can find it on Itunes but the album its from is called "The Best Of Rick James".



2.) "Right On Track" by The Breakfast Club - A definitely lost nugget from the 80's. This is why Satellite radio is the best as you'd rarely hear this on terrestrial radio. I didn't know there was a video for this song but after quickly glancing at it, I will definitely write about it next year as it BEGS for an analysis.



3.) "So Many Men, So Little Time" by Miquel Brown - Okay so the video for this song (which I just watched for the first time) is pretty...ahem...manly but the song is pure 80's cheese. If I had a Ritz cracker, I'd put this song on it and enjoy it. This song actually taught me how to count by 5's and 10's. The singer's character must be the biggest slut of the 1980's but that was the free loving 80's for you.



Saddest deaths of 2008

1.) Estelle Getty - better known as Sophia from "The Golden Girls". Loved to rip her daughter Dorothy a new one every time she could. Died of complications from dementia which was was probably brought about by the fact that even though she played the mother to an old lady...she was actually the youngest person in the cast...that would confuse me pretty good too.

2.) Richard Wright - the keyboard player from Pink Floyd. Created some pretty cool keyboard sounds on their best known songs. So much a reunion tour with the four original members.

3.) Jim McKay - I vaguely remember "ABC's Wide World Of Sports" and Jim McKay to me was that old grandfatherly type who'd host it. In his later years he'd pop up from time to time to do a special story for ABC. Best known as the announcer during the 1972 Olympics when the Israeli hostages were killed. I'll use his most famous line during that broadcast on my wife sometimes.

Hungiewoman: Honey, where are the rest of the toilet paper rolls?
Me: That's it...they're all gone.

Honorable mentions:
* Paul Newman: Never saw his older movies but I enjoyed "Road to Perdition".

* Kevin Duckworth: Basketball player who died way too young. Had an awesome last name and he's best known to me at the WORST player in the classic "Bulls vs. Blazers" Sega Genesis game.

* Stan Winston: Special effects legend who created the Terminator

* Tim Russert: Created goofy diagrams on election day coverage. Also an alumni of Boston College like me.

* Charleston Heston: His voice will live on in a sound file on my computer when I get an fatal error... "Gaarrrr!!! You blew it up!!! Awww...DAMN YOU...Damn you all to hellllll!!!"

* Heath Ledger: I find myself getting sucked into Brokeback Mountain when they show it on HBO recently. Its more to see Anne Hathaway's brief nude scene but more and more, I see what a great acting job Ledger does here. I always liked him in The Patriot and I don't need to say anymore about his performance in The Dark Knight

* Allan Melvin: RIP Sam The Butcher!!!

That's it!!! The roundup encompassed three different states, one airport, a coffee shop, and a snow storm. I'm taking the rest of this week off to enjoy the beginning of the new year. I'd like to thank those of you that have checked this blog out from time to time. I'm over 2500 hits and for somebody that just uses this as an outlet to write about the past, I appreciate it.

Onward to 2009...