New Years Eve, in case you hadn't noticed, and, I guess a recap of the year is in order.
I can't even be bothered going through everything that's happened this year, both on a personal level and more widely. All the disasters, the economy, job hunting, uni, exams, friends, jettisoning of friends, the passing of Steve Jobs, more music released from my favourite artists for me to enjoy, the departure of Fabregas, Sarah's outrageous ATAR score, and many, many, many other things besides, all added up to a year that had its moments, and had its bad moments. And, of course, it wouldn't be a normal year without Arsenal going another season trophyless.
It just occurred to me that this year, my girl problems seemed to have reduced drastically. I think it's mainly to do with the fact that the problems seem to resolve themselves, in that the girls I get interested in are usually taken, and the case is closed quicker than you can say 'sup', and the other ones are just me being gutless. The problems still exist, but I had other things that annoyed me more.
It's been a pretty good year. I mean, I don't think there's ever been a year for me which has been truly horrible. Obviously, it could have been a lot better, but isn't that always the case, to varying degrees?
A big part of this year has been photography. Thanks to my lovely friends gifting me a DSLR for my birthday, I've been able to go on photo rampages of fairly high quality. It's something that I'd missed, because photography with the old SLR was positively correlated to the price of developing photos. In human speak, film and developing photos got really expensive and inconvenient, and, as a result, I stopped using the camera that used film. I need to spend some money on some photography equipment, but that's another story for another time.
It's been a good release at times when I needed a break, or just to get away from things that were bugging me. Just a good opportunity to go and explore a little bit, look at things a bit differently, and it reminds me, whenever I hop behind the lens, that despite all the insignificant trials and tribulations that I have, and all the sadness and madness in the world, that there is so much beauty and happiness in the world, if only I stop to observe. And sometimes actively seek.
Finally, a shout out to my friends and family. My friends, for helping me with so many different things throughout the year. I've jettisoned a number of now ex-friends who were just terrible human beings, and some not so much jettisoned as distanced because they annoy me. Whatever. The thing that I am really thankful for is that I've gotten to be much better friends with friends that actually enjoy my company, and vice versa. Some (actually, most) of you, I've spent less time with than I would have liked to, but that's kind of how the cookie crumbles. You're all wonderful people. You know who you are. And if you don't, or you're uncertain, you're probably not one of them. Or you can just ask me to make sure.
Finally finally, my family. They've been there through my failures, and my semi-successes, and are always there, even when nobody else is. When I've expected them to be disappointed, they've been nothing but supportive. Of course, like with my friends, there are moments when we clash, but they're few and far between, and often quickly forgotten. I'm pretty glad that Sarah got the 99.85. Made everyone really happy, mostly because it was so unexpected, but also because it was so outrageously good, and kind of balances out my academic mediocrity. More on that in another post, I think.
So, friends, and family, I hope you have an even more fun, fabulous, fantastic, and fruitful year than the one that's just passed, and I hope to share many more happy moments, and be able to help you through times of trouble (hope there's not too many of those) in 2012.
See you soon.
Word of the Day: 2011
Showing posts with label New Year's Eve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year's Eve. Show all posts
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Friday, 31 December 2010
New Year's Eve 2010
My, how time flies. It's that time of year again. And I'm at home again, because I don't particularly fancy being crammed up against a million people in humid, oppressive 40-degree heat in the middle of a thunderstorm in the city.
I was going to do a comprehensive run-down of the year, but I can't be bothered. I'm going to do some weak attempt at a best/worst thing instead, with arbitrary categories.
FUNNEST MOMENT(S) OF THE YEAR: A toss-up between chilling and shooting the breeze with friends at uni and other places, and the roadtrip we had midyear. I think the friends thing wins slightly, mostly because I loved, and still do love, the vast majority of the people that I hung with during the year, and, percentage-wise, I love less of the people that were on the roadtrip. Also, the friends thing is more consistent. It's like a controlled drip-feed of happiness. The roadtrip was like a massive shot in the arm of happiness all at once.
MOST CRINGE-WORTHY MOMENT: There are lots. Especially for me personally. But a public one that struck a chord with me was Australia getting schooled by Germany at the World Cup. I have never, ever seen Australia playing that badly. It wasn't so much the lack of technical quality that made it bad, it was the lack of fight.
HAPPIEST MOMENT: Finding out that I'd passed EVERYTHING this semester. Yes, very nerdy, but after what I've sort of been through this year, I've found that being academically strong is more important to me than ever. I think it's mostly to do with the fact that how good I am academically is more or less under my control, while other things, like how people treat me, or the weather, or what soup we're having for dinner, is mostly out of my hands. Mostly. Sometimes I get to name the soup that we're having for dinner, and every so often my request is granted. But yeah, shout out to my family and Eugene for helping me through that horror period of the year.
Also, I fully expected to fail Financial Accounting. Again. So you can imagine how over the moon I was about it.
MOST DEPRESSING MOMENT: Again, there are numerous. I think I would just like to thank my friends for being there during the most trying times this year. Special mention to Banh, Meng, and sometimes Orrin. However, you've all been a massive help just being there. Just seeing a friendly face is a fantastic happiness drug.
MOST ANNOYING MOMENT(S): Being attacked by a Fandroid for getting and iPhone. And that other time I got attacked by a Fandroid via a forwarded SMS from another Fandroid. And that time I got gangbashed by Fandroids. How they can harbour such unrelenting, mindless hatred towards a harmless inanimate object that most neutral observers either like or are neutral towards is beyond me. According to these guys (yes, they're all guys. Kind of tells you a bit about Fandroids), Google invented the wheel, and other stuff that has subsequently changed the course of human history, and will continue to do so. All of it. In every single way possible. And that all other phones, and their owners, should be destroyed because of the sheer stupidity that they embody for giving their money to a company in exchange for a phone that works. Because Google isn't also a massively rich company that doesn't give their phones away.
Anyway. Lesson learnt. Don't mention the word 'phone' or 'Apple' around someone that even remotely looks like a Fandroid. Even if it's in the context of "My dad runs an apple farm, and I had to phone his seed supplier for him yesterday." You know, because when you're speaking, you can't tell whether it's a capital A or a lowercase a. Just don't do it to be safe. Unless you enjoy being ripped into randomly and viciously by people who were formerly minding their own business. Then by all means, go and find these people and mention the words 'phone' and 'apple' near them. And afterwards, check yourself into one of those places that will cure the disease that you have which makes you want to inflict pain on yourself. Whatever they're called.
A close second would have to be some of my friends sticking up for a scum of a person and saying how much of a "great guy" he was, even though he took about 2 months and numerous reminders to pay me my money back. Not to mention he never brought it up, effectively pretending that the matter did not exist. The excuse that the message "wasn't seen" doesn't cut it, because a decent human being would promptly search out their debtor and pay them back.
SONG/ALBUM OF THE YEAR: This is difficult. I get really, really confused between which music is this year, and which is not. However, the album that was truly fantastic was My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye. Truly powerful and catchy album. The others from artists that I like were mostly slight disappointments. I have no idea about song of the year. Not really that muchly into songs by themselves as such. Impact-wise, definitely OMG by Usher. Quality-wise, no.
BIGGEST (PLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Being able to get along with most people during the year comes close, but it would probably have to be getting a car. Completely caught me by surprise, in a very good way. I would've said passing everything in second semester, but that's already been done.
BIGGEST (UNPLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Not much unpleasantness comes as a surprise, which is a good thing most of the time. Anything that I mention will probably sound petty and whingy, so I'll stay away from it.
LESSON OF THE YEAR: Do not rely on the goodwill of others, especially in the case of people you do not know. Things that you take for granted, as being part and parcel of being a decent human being, are often not taken for granted at all by others. Only treat well people who have treated you nicely. Hopefully I can stick to it.
I would also like to thank my family, for just being there in general. It's tough imagining going to uni without my friends there, but to not have the support of my family would be unimaginable. Thank-you.
As for my friends, I have grown a lot closer to the good ones, and further away from the not-so-good ones, which is probably as it should be. While I have made less friends this year than in previous years, the ones I made this year seem to be of a higher quality. That's probably not all that hard, mostly because I made about two. Too much comfort zone, and not enough proactiveness. Thanks for putting up with me, and being there in the good times and the bad.
In summary, the year wasn't a bad one at all. I've heard lots of people complaining about it. Apart from failing Accounting first semester, and getting into grief with crazy girls, it's not been bad. There's been a lot of good times, more so than the bad, even though I complain a lot.
May your new year be filled with happiness, joy and laughter. While I hope that you have no unhappy moments, I will endeavour to be there for you whenever you do have those moments. I will also try to be there in your happy moments too. Have a safe and prosperous new year. Hope to see more of y'all next year.
I will try to heed the message of this song. Obscure though it may be.
Word of the Day: Year
I was going to do a comprehensive run-down of the year, but I can't be bothered. I'm going to do some weak attempt at a best/worst thing instead, with arbitrary categories.
FUNNEST MOMENT(S) OF THE YEAR: A toss-up between chilling and shooting the breeze with friends at uni and other places, and the roadtrip we had midyear. I think the friends thing wins slightly, mostly because I loved, and still do love, the vast majority of the people that I hung with during the year, and, percentage-wise, I love less of the people that were on the roadtrip. Also, the friends thing is more consistent. It's like a controlled drip-feed of happiness. The roadtrip was like a massive shot in the arm of happiness all at once.
MOST CRINGE-WORTHY MOMENT: There are lots. Especially for me personally. But a public one that struck a chord with me was Australia getting schooled by Germany at the World Cup. I have never, ever seen Australia playing that badly. It wasn't so much the lack of technical quality that made it bad, it was the lack of fight.
HAPPIEST MOMENT: Finding out that I'd passed EVERYTHING this semester. Yes, very nerdy, but after what I've sort of been through this year, I've found that being academically strong is more important to me than ever. I think it's mostly to do with the fact that how good I am academically is more or less under my control, while other things, like how people treat me, or the weather, or what soup we're having for dinner, is mostly out of my hands. Mostly. Sometimes I get to name the soup that we're having for dinner, and every so often my request is granted. But yeah, shout out to my family and Eugene for helping me through that horror period of the year.
Also, I fully expected to fail Financial Accounting. Again. So you can imagine how over the moon I was about it.
MOST DEPRESSING MOMENT: Again, there are numerous. I think I would just like to thank my friends for being there during the most trying times this year. Special mention to Banh, Meng, and sometimes Orrin. However, you've all been a massive help just being there. Just seeing a friendly face is a fantastic happiness drug.
MOST ANNOYING MOMENT(S): Being attacked by a Fandroid for getting and iPhone. And that other time I got attacked by a Fandroid via a forwarded SMS from another Fandroid. And that time I got gangbashed by Fandroids. How they can harbour such unrelenting, mindless hatred towards a harmless inanimate object that most neutral observers either like or are neutral towards is beyond me. According to these guys (yes, they're all guys. Kind of tells you a bit about Fandroids), Google invented the wheel, and other stuff that has subsequently changed the course of human history, and will continue to do so. All of it. In every single way possible. And that all other phones, and their owners, should be destroyed because of the sheer stupidity that they embody for giving their money to a company in exchange for a phone that works. Because Google isn't also a massively rich company that doesn't give their phones away.
Anyway. Lesson learnt. Don't mention the word 'phone' or 'Apple' around someone that even remotely looks like a Fandroid. Even if it's in the context of "My dad runs an apple farm, and I had to phone his seed supplier for him yesterday." You know, because when you're speaking, you can't tell whether it's a capital A or a lowercase a. Just don't do it to be safe. Unless you enjoy being ripped into randomly and viciously by people who were formerly minding their own business. Then by all means, go and find these people and mention the words 'phone' and 'apple' near them. And afterwards, check yourself into one of those places that will cure the disease that you have which makes you want to inflict pain on yourself. Whatever they're called.
A close second would have to be some of my friends sticking up for a scum of a person and saying how much of a "great guy" he was, even though he took about 2 months and numerous reminders to pay me my money back. Not to mention he never brought it up, effectively pretending that the matter did not exist. The excuse that the message "wasn't seen" doesn't cut it, because a decent human being would promptly search out their debtor and pay them back.
SONG/ALBUM OF THE YEAR: This is difficult. I get really, really confused between which music is this year, and which is not. However, the album that was truly fantastic was My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye. Truly powerful and catchy album. The others from artists that I like were mostly slight disappointments. I have no idea about song of the year. Not really that muchly into songs by themselves as such. Impact-wise, definitely OMG by Usher. Quality-wise, no.
BIGGEST (PLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Being able to get along with most people during the year comes close, but it would probably have to be getting a car. Completely caught me by surprise, in a very good way. I would've said passing everything in second semester, but that's already been done.
BIGGEST (UNPLEASANT) SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Not much unpleasantness comes as a surprise, which is a good thing most of the time. Anything that I mention will probably sound petty and whingy, so I'll stay away from it.
LESSON OF THE YEAR: Do not rely on the goodwill of others, especially in the case of people you do not know. Things that you take for granted, as being part and parcel of being a decent human being, are often not taken for granted at all by others. Only treat well people who have treated you nicely. Hopefully I can stick to it.
I would also like to thank my family, for just being there in general. It's tough imagining going to uni without my friends there, but to not have the support of my family would be unimaginable. Thank-you.
As for my friends, I have grown a lot closer to the good ones, and further away from the not-so-good ones, which is probably as it should be. While I have made less friends this year than in previous years, the ones I made this year seem to be of a higher quality. That's probably not all that hard, mostly because I made about two. Too much comfort zone, and not enough proactiveness. Thanks for putting up with me, and being there in the good times and the bad.
In summary, the year wasn't a bad one at all. I've heard lots of people complaining about it. Apart from failing Accounting first semester, and getting into grief with crazy girls, it's not been bad. There's been a lot of good times, more so than the bad, even though I complain a lot.
May your new year be filled with happiness, joy and laughter. While I hope that you have no unhappy moments, I will endeavour to be there for you whenever you do have those moments. I will also try to be there in your happy moments too. Have a safe and prosperous new year. Hope to see more of y'all next year.
I will try to heed the message of this song. Obscure though it may be.
Word of the Day: Year
Thursday, 31 December 2009
New Year's Eve 2009
It's been a great, great year. Have not had such a good one for a long, long time.
Great, as in not all fun and games. There have been soaring highs and plunging lows. Hope and despair, sometimes very close to each other, time-wise. But great, as in the highs have been quite spectacular.
I learnt one thing this year: life never stops being unpredictable. Never ever. I think the same time last year, I was saying that I'd found a modicum of certainty and stability in life, and that I was quite settled. I hate being made to eat my own words, but I think I'll have to this time.
It has been crazy. So much has gone on I don't know where to begin. So many new friends made, a few bust-ups here and there, so many seemingly mundane moments that make my life so much better. Massive moments this year as well, happy and sad.
This year has seemed so long. Semester 1 seems like a separate year altogether. It just feels like another age, and I feel like such a different person.
The knee injury, which is still niggling at me, kind of symbolises this gap.
Semester 1 was basically me from last year, carrying over to this year. Social misfit, had not really found my place in life, an alright person, had not really fallen in love or been infatuated, just generally cruising.
Then, after the break, and the Ambassador Camp, I grew up a bit.
I became infatuated. It was cruel though, the way she led me on, and I thought I had a chance. Maybe she doesn't see it that way. Just know that I'm so over that now, so much so that I feel something close to loathing every time I see her. She has come to symbolise how manipulative, deceptive, and yet alluring some girls can be. I've moved onto pastures new, and hopefully this time I won't be sliced and diced. I think that was a fairly low point of the year. Recovering very strongly from this by the end of the year was awesome. My friends and family also make this year great. Props to y'all.
I believe I have gotten better as a person since the middle of the year. At least, I hope so. I believe that I have developed higher EQ (emotional quotient, knowing how you emotions affect others, and learning to control them. Thanks Management. Just about the only useful thing I learnt from that subject), and how to read people a bit more, find out what makes them tick. I've also become more understanding I think. When someone does something that peeves or hurts me, I try to work out, to the best of my ability, a plausible reason for their actions. It makes me less angry/sad. I have no idea what all of the above has to do with the camp, but I'm sure it's somehow related.
I also formed a sort of core group of friends. Met some new ones that I've instantly grown fond of, and hopefully they of me, and reaffirmed some old friendships. Looking through my list of speed-dial numbers is generally a good indicator of whether you're in this circle or not. But you won't get to, because you'll never get anywhere near my phone, and chances are you probably won't be able to operate the speed dial anyway. Not that I mind you looking. You just might be disappointed, that's all. It's for your own good, really, that I don't go flashing it around. I love you all, friends. For someone with as big a family life as me, I place a lot of importance in friends.
I've also come to terms with the fact that people are very diverse. Life experience. Nothing surprises me anymore. You get all sorts of people, that do all sorts of things, and they have no issue with it at all. As part of my newly-honed EQ, I've made a massively increased effort to come to terms with what seems, at least to me, the idiosyncrasies of individuals. Put less eloquently, I've become more jerk-tolerant.
Results, as always, have been a massively mixed bag. But I've really topped myself this year. I've seriously gotten all the grades that one can possibly get, all in one year. I don't that's really something to be proud of.
Music this year has been fairly meh, and has been for quite a few years now. I tuned in to Take 40 the other week, just to see what everyone was listening to nowadays, and heard a very obvious, but astute comment, followed up by a very 'I'm reading a script' statement, something along the lines of:
Maybe, maybe not. Not a very big fan of electropop. Not at all, bar Lady Gaga sort of. I don't really discriminate based on genre. I like good music. But most of electropop just doesn't really fall under that category.
Very symbolic of this stagnation of good music is the death of the two greatest music acts that ever existed, the like of which the world will never see again.
Michael Jackson. His music resounds and resonates through the ages. Timeless. Catchy. Beautiful. Creative. Innovative. And what a performer. None of this lip synching stuff. Live singing, live dancing, amazing choreography, amazing moves. I've always been in awe of musicians that write good music, and he falls into that category with ease.
Oasis. Unabashed optimism. Having fun for the sake of it. The melodies, the lyrics, the voice of Liam, the guitar. Yeah, people will say "They only had Wonderwall," but they obviously haven't heard the rest of their songs. Everybody that I've spoken to that have listened to their other songs know that they're something special. Noel Gallagher, is, I think, one of the best songwriters. It's just astonishing how he can create such beautiful melodies with such evocative guitar and lyrics, and mesh them into one cohesive whole.
Before listening to Oasis, I used to be all into 50 Cent and Ja Rule and the like. Sigh. So immature. I think even then that I was searching for something different to the mainstream Top 40, because those songs mostly annoy me. Listening to Oasis made me appreciate good music, instead of music that's just 'different'. And good music, scarily enough, is mostly old. Elton John, Coldplay, 2Pac, Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Lily Allen, Jay-Z, Usher. These all came about because I was searching for something that was as good as, or almost at the level of, Oasis.
Very rarely do I wish I was born in a different era. When I listen to these two, I wish I were born about five or six years earlier at least, just to be able to experience the euphoria of these musicians releasing their albums.
As if to prove that this year was a bad one for music, Usher delayed the planned December release of his latest album to March next year.
Movie of the year, in the absence of any real gems, was definitely Avatar for sheer scope, imagination and plot...ness. I love movies where they create completely new worlds. And that is why Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes a close second this year. I actually found it a very enjoyable movie for once. There was a vast improvement in acting and general cinematography.
My love for films, and books that create a completely new world, awesome characters, a plausible plotline and awesome cinematography (for films anyway) sees The Lord of the Rings trilogy crowned movie of the decade, especially the third one. Such an inspirational standard-setter that inspired so many films. Troy, Avatar, and my mind fails me right now, but there are so, so many epic films that are almost directly copied from The Lord of the Rings.
News item of the year: Michael Jackson's death. Without a doubt. Swine flu, move over. Michael Jackson killed that hype at its peak. Dominated the news for a month. Shows you the power of music, and its best exponents.
This little nugget from Chris Martin aka Coldplay man pretty much sums up the whole year for me:
The decade. To tell you the truth, I don't remember much of it. And I don't really believe it has been all that defining in the grand scheme of things. No big developments really. Yeah, we got the iPhone. Before that, we had mobile phones already. Yeah, we got iPods. We had Walkmans way before that. GFC? Not as bad as first thought. Fairly sure the Great Depression of last century was much more intense. No real ground-breaking, major developments, just off the top of my head. Most of these 'new developments' are really just extensions and improvements of old ideas. Technologically, I believe that Facebook has massively changed the Internet. Narcissism has grown as a result, but social interaction has also grown at an unprecedented way. We now interact with people in ways that we never would have imagined ten years ago.
In terms of world events, September 11 (and the events stemming from this) and the 2004 tsunami really shook me. Also, the Black Saturday fires of last year were really sad. I really feel for the people affected by all the disasters of this decade, and beyond.
Since nobody ever keeps New Year's Resolutions anyway, I'm going to make an awesomely over-the-top one: I'm going to become the Ultimate Man. I'm going to become a tank. An academic ace. Earn lots of money. Let the people that I love know that I love them. Be a family man. Take care of them. Take care of others that I care about. Become a better person in general. Become more agreeable. And all that jazz. You get the general idea. Harder, better, faster, stronger.
It's been a great year, and a great most-of-the-decade (I don't really remember most of it). See you in 2010, and the next decade.
Word of the Day: 2009
Great, as in not all fun and games. There have been soaring highs and plunging lows. Hope and despair, sometimes very close to each other, time-wise. But great, as in the highs have been quite spectacular.
I learnt one thing this year: life never stops being unpredictable. Never ever. I think the same time last year, I was saying that I'd found a modicum of certainty and stability in life, and that I was quite settled. I hate being made to eat my own words, but I think I'll have to this time.
It has been crazy. So much has gone on I don't know where to begin. So many new friends made, a few bust-ups here and there, so many seemingly mundane moments that make my life so much better. Massive moments this year as well, happy and sad.
This year has seemed so long. Semester 1 seems like a separate year altogether. It just feels like another age, and I feel like such a different person.
The knee injury, which is still niggling at me, kind of symbolises this gap.
Semester 1 was basically me from last year, carrying over to this year. Social misfit, had not really found my place in life, an alright person, had not really fallen in love or been infatuated, just generally cruising.
Then, after the break, and the Ambassador Camp, I grew up a bit.
I became infatuated. It was cruel though, the way she led me on, and I thought I had a chance. Maybe she doesn't see it that way. Just know that I'm so over that now, so much so that I feel something close to loathing every time I see her. She has come to symbolise how manipulative, deceptive, and yet alluring some girls can be. I've moved onto pastures new, and hopefully this time I won't be sliced and diced. I think that was a fairly low point of the year. Recovering very strongly from this by the end of the year was awesome. My friends and family also make this year great. Props to y'all.
I believe I have gotten better as a person since the middle of the year. At least, I hope so. I believe that I have developed higher EQ (emotional quotient, knowing how you emotions affect others, and learning to control them. Thanks Management. Just about the only useful thing I learnt from that subject), and how to read people a bit more, find out what makes them tick. I've also become more understanding I think. When someone does something that peeves or hurts me, I try to work out, to the best of my ability, a plausible reason for their actions. It makes me less angry/sad. I have no idea what all of the above has to do with the camp, but I'm sure it's somehow related.
I also formed a sort of core group of friends. Met some new ones that I've instantly grown fond of, and hopefully they of me, and reaffirmed some old friendships. Looking through my list of speed-dial numbers is generally a good indicator of whether you're in this circle or not. But you won't get to, because you'll never get anywhere near my phone, and chances are you probably won't be able to operate the speed dial anyway. Not that I mind you looking. You just might be disappointed, that's all. It's for your own good, really, that I don't go flashing it around. I love you all, friends. For someone with as big a family life as me, I place a lot of importance in friends.
I've also come to terms with the fact that people are very diverse. Life experience. Nothing surprises me anymore. You get all sorts of people, that do all sorts of things, and they have no issue with it at all. As part of my newly-honed EQ, I've made a massively increased effort to come to terms with what seems, at least to me, the idiosyncrasies of individuals. Put less eloquently, I've become more jerk-tolerant.
Results, as always, have been a massively mixed bag. But I've really topped myself this year. I've seriously gotten all the grades that one can possibly get, all in one year. I don't that's really something to be proud of.
Music this year has been fairly meh, and has been for quite a few years now. I tuned in to Take 40 the other week, just to see what everyone was listening to nowadays, and heard a very obvious, but astute comment, followed up by a very 'I'm reading a script' statement, something along the lines of:
Pop music seems to be moving in the direction of more electropop. Which I think is a great thing.
Maybe, maybe not. Not a very big fan of electropop. Not at all, bar Lady Gaga sort of. I don't really discriminate based on genre. I like good music. But most of electropop just doesn't really fall under that category.
Very symbolic of this stagnation of good music is the death of the two greatest music acts that ever existed, the like of which the world will never see again.
Michael Jackson. His music resounds and resonates through the ages. Timeless. Catchy. Beautiful. Creative. Innovative. And what a performer. None of this lip synching stuff. Live singing, live dancing, amazing choreography, amazing moves. I've always been in awe of musicians that write good music, and he falls into that category with ease.
Oasis. Unabashed optimism. Having fun for the sake of it. The melodies, the lyrics, the voice of Liam, the guitar. Yeah, people will say "They only had Wonderwall," but they obviously haven't heard the rest of their songs. Everybody that I've spoken to that have listened to their other songs know that they're something special. Noel Gallagher, is, I think, one of the best songwriters. It's just astonishing how he can create such beautiful melodies with such evocative guitar and lyrics, and mesh them into one cohesive whole.
Before listening to Oasis, I used to be all into 50 Cent and Ja Rule and the like. Sigh. So immature. I think even then that I was searching for something different to the mainstream Top 40, because those songs mostly annoy me. Listening to Oasis made me appreciate good music, instead of music that's just 'different'. And good music, scarily enough, is mostly old. Elton John, Coldplay, 2Pac, Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Lily Allen, Jay-Z, Usher. These all came about because I was searching for something that was as good as, or almost at the level of, Oasis.
Very rarely do I wish I was born in a different era. When I listen to these two, I wish I were born about five or six years earlier at least, just to be able to experience the euphoria of these musicians releasing their albums.
As if to prove that this year was a bad one for music, Usher delayed the planned December release of his latest album to March next year.
Movie of the year, in the absence of any real gems, was definitely Avatar for sheer scope, imagination and plot...ness. I love movies where they create completely new worlds. And that is why Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes a close second this year. I actually found it a very enjoyable movie for once. There was a vast improvement in acting and general cinematography.
My love for films, and books that create a completely new world, awesome characters, a plausible plotline and awesome cinematography (for films anyway) sees The Lord of the Rings trilogy crowned movie of the decade, especially the third one. Such an inspirational standard-setter that inspired so many films. Troy, Avatar, and my mind fails me right now, but there are so, so many epic films that are almost directly copied from The Lord of the Rings.
News item of the year: Michael Jackson's death. Without a doubt. Swine flu, move over. Michael Jackson killed that hype at its peak. Dominated the news for a month. Shows you the power of music, and its best exponents.
This little nugget from Chris Martin aka Coldplay man pretty much sums up the whole year for me:
It's weird that whatever else is on your mind, whether it's the downfall of global economics or terrible environmental troubles, the thing that always gets you most is when you fancy someone
The decade. To tell you the truth, I don't remember much of it. And I don't really believe it has been all that defining in the grand scheme of things. No big developments really. Yeah, we got the iPhone. Before that, we had mobile phones already. Yeah, we got iPods. We had Walkmans way before that. GFC? Not as bad as first thought. Fairly sure the Great Depression of last century was much more intense. No real ground-breaking, major developments, just off the top of my head. Most of these 'new developments' are really just extensions and improvements of old ideas. Technologically, I believe that Facebook has massively changed the Internet. Narcissism has grown as a result, but social interaction has also grown at an unprecedented way. We now interact with people in ways that we never would have imagined ten years ago.
In terms of world events, September 11 (and the events stemming from this) and the 2004 tsunami really shook me. Also, the Black Saturday fires of last year were really sad. I really feel for the people affected by all the disasters of this decade, and beyond.
Since nobody ever keeps New Year's Resolutions anyway, I'm going to make an awesomely over-the-top one: I'm going to become the Ultimate Man. I'm going to become a tank. An academic ace. Earn lots of money. Let the people that I love know that I love them. Be a family man. Take care of them. Take care of others that I care about. Become a better person in general. Become more agreeable. And all that jazz. You get the general idea. Harder, better, faster, stronger.
It's been a great year, and a great most-of-the-decade (I don't really remember most of it). See you in 2010, and the next decade.
Word of the Day: 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Me. The City.
Ok, so it doesn't look like I'll be going out to the city at all for New Year's Eve. People either have better people to hang out with, or have made their own thing to do, or just generally can't be stuffed going out to the city. Which is understandable. I mean, it is me. And the city. It's like, two negatives in one. Which is not good. At all. If I were given the choice, I wouldn't want to spend the night with me. Especially in the city. On New Year's Eve.
My main motivation for going out to the city was originally to get Linda to come along. Failing that, spending time with friends would've been nice. But seeing as she's spending the night with her family, and I have approximately 0 friends who want to come out to the city, with me, I guess I'll do the same, and see if I can find something to do with my homies during the day. With me. Possibly in the city.
Look for my Batlight thing...you know, that light that Batman shines on the clouds to get everybody's attention...ok, forget it. It's not important anyway. Just look out for it. It might be in the shape of me. And it may or may not be in the city.
Word of the Day: City
My main motivation for going out to the city was originally to get Linda to come along. Failing that, spending time with friends would've been nice. But seeing as she's spending the night with her family, and I have approximately 0 friends who want to come out to the city, with me, I guess I'll do the same, and see if I can find something to do with my homies during the day. With me. Possibly in the city.
Look for my Batlight thing...you know, that light that Batman shines on the clouds to get everybody's attention...ok, forget it. It's not important anyway. Just look out for it. It might be in the shape of me. And it may or may not be in the city.
Word of the Day: City
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