My Best of 2009

Best Movies:

Tyson - a great documentary. Even if you don’t like boxing or Mike Tyson this documentary provides a great first person account of one of the most

controversial, complicated and often misunderstood cultural icons of the last twenty years.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - In a time where everyone is looking for the next evolutionary step in computer animation and graphics Wes Anderson spent years bringing the stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox to life. The movie is def not for little kids, but it is for those of us who love Wes Anderson and love to be amazed at the intricacies of filming stop-motion animation.

Up - Disney and Pixar have done it again. I was crying 15 minutes into this freaking thing! Just a great fun story that centers around a grumpy old man. How could I not love it!

500 Days of Summer - Its a realistic love story that makes musical references to artists as diverse as Hall and Oates, The Smiths and the Clash. The ending was a little cheesy but the split screen of what a guy imagines will happen with what actually does happen completely resonated with me. Plus I love the musical:

Gran Torino (came out Dec 12 but didn’t see it until March) - Some people say Clint Eastwood makes the same movie over and over again. If they mean absolute classics, they are right! It’s funny, thought provoking and times cringe worthy. Loved this movie!

Movies that I recommend without seeing:

A Serious Man - How can I recommend it without seeing it? First off its the Coen brothers. Second its them dealing with the type of subject matter they do best. A man whose life is falling apart and the world around him that, at best doesnt seem to care, or at worse, adds to his problems.

Website you Better Enjoy Now:

Hulu.com - Over a year after singing the site's praises rumors are that fox and nbc will soon be turning this site into a subscription based site. So much for watching TV for free on my computer.

Albums: Not a great year for music but if you want my opinion:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix

Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Also the Beyonce album sounded good (what I heard of it anyway).

If you are into Pop music I would suggest listening to the Glee album

And you might want to also skim iTunes for Norah Jone's latest album or Regina Spektor's 2009 release which includes one my favorite singles of 2009. Laughing With:

Overrated Album

Kings of Leon - Only by the Night

It's All About Timing...

A friend recently asked me if they should buy a new iPhone. I told them that buying an iPhone and most Apple porducts for that matter are about timing. Case in point Apple likes to hold a pattern when updating their line of products. If you are thinking about buying a new iPod, MAC, or iPhone checkout Gizmodo's Buyer's Guide. It will tell you if you should buy or hold off for a product upgrade:

Also, checkout this: Ten Things You Should Stop Misspelling Guide. Pretty Funny:

This Is Insane!!!

You gotta be kidding me. I can't believe this is real.

Why Jack N Box is Open 24 Hours...

It's the Holiday Season which brings me to a topic that always comes around during this time of year... fast food drive-thru hours. I was driving with a friend when they noticed that Jack N Box would be open 24 hours on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years Eve. He couldn't understand why. So I offered an explanation.

24 hour drive-thru windows over the holidays are meant for sad pathetic families whose Christmas and New Years will turn into a disaster. I can't tell you the number of times that my family has had to retreat to the sanctuary of a fast food drive-thru after some family member's drug and alcohol induced meltdown ruins the holiday dinner for everyone.

And while I thank drive-thrus for being there for me and my family after these traumatic gatherings, it really is insult to injury. Because nothing says 'your family is a fucking mess' like coming home with a bag of McDonald's while everyone else's family somehow manages to have a functional Christmas dinner.

Dating Advice...

I was at Happy Hour last week with some co-workers and they got busy discussing who I should date. One thing stood out from their discussion. They decided that I needed to date a woman who would challenge me. Which got me thinking, is dating the only time people encourage you to try something difficult, uncomfortable and possibly disastrous?

I just bought a car last week and at no point did the salesman go, hey I know you want this car but I think you should go with this other car will be more challenging to drive and maintain. No one would ever say that. Do I have do date someone who's personality is going to clash with mine? Can;t I just date someone who I generally get along with? Just wondering.

With A Grain of Salt...

So I just realized something. People usually give out life advice after something bad happens to them. Which is weird because if someone who just had something bad happen to them gave you advice wouldn't your first reaction be, "why am I going to follow advice from someone who's life is falling apart?" Shouldn't I find the person who is having a kick ass life and ask them for their advice. Just an observation.

Who you should root for during the World Cup and Olympics...

With the World Cup and Olympics upon us I want to make one thing perfectly clear. If you live and or work in the U.S. you need to root for the U.S. I have noticed that a lot of my friends tend to root for countries of their ethnic heritage or their former homelands during international sporting competitions.

Well I have one message for you: Stop it.

My argument isn't nationalistic or xenophobic. Let me also say this. I am not asking people to not be proud of the heritage or their homeland. I'm just saying this, dance with the date you took to the prom. Rooting for another country while you live and work in America makes little sense to me. As a citizen, refugee, or immigrant the fact of the matter is you live here, you work here, your educated here. You get the best (and worst) that America has to offer. So come on, isn't the least you can do is to root for the U.S. when we play another country.

I am a good example. My grandparents are from Mexico and Nicaragua. I am latino. But I was born here. I root for this country. I can be proud of my heritage and respect the birthplace of my elders but the U.S. is my home.

The struggle might be harder for folks who were actually born in another country but migrated to the U.S. To them let me offer this analogy. Lets say your married. You have children with your spouse. But after many years together you fall out of the love you originally had. You divorce and you find a new spouse. You make a new home, maybe even start a new family with this new spouse. Now you can still love your old wife as the mother or father of your children. You can look fondly back t your relationship together. BUT what you cannot do is keep a pocket photograph of them in your wallet. You can't tell your new spouse, "man, you sure aren't as good of cook/lover as so and so." Doing so would make you inconsiderate, rude and a horrible spouse. But that is exactly what people do when they root against the U.S. in order to support a country they decided to no longer live in!!! How does this make any sense?

So, before you wave anyone else's flag. Dawn any other colors than red white and blue. Before you pull for anything but the star and stripes. Remember who you come home to every night. Be a team player.

And if you don't love it...leave it ;)

Life Is Hard...

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'

I have never really understood that quote. It always seemed too happy. Who has the time to eat chocolate? Who has the time to drink wine? I dont really like wine. I always picture people with this outlook as folks with the time and the money to enjoy their lives. I don't have that luxury. Life, for me, isn't a fun ride. I wont be screaming "woo hoo" anytime soon. I got bills to pay, loans, insurance. I have to work. My motto isn't as cheery as the one above but I like it:

Life is a fight. Some rounds you win, some rounds you lose. But at the end of the day what matters is that you are willing to get off your stool and answer the bell.

I think life is hard. Life is filled with turmoil, hardship, challenges, and disappointments. Life is hard work. The easy thing to do is to give up. The easiest thing to do is just stay in bed. But I believe that the fighting spirit is something that is at the heart of life. It's the ability to get out of bed knowing you are going to have a bad day. Its getting up when you have been knocked down. It's putting your head down knowing that whatever this world dishes out you are just going to take it and keep moving forward. Thats what life is. It's about being willing to fight back against a harsh world. I hope I don't come off sounding as negative. That not my intention. My intention is to highlight the incredible fighting spirit of humanity and our willingness to prevail in spite of all the challenges that are put infront of us.