2009 in Review. AKA My Longest Blog Ever.
By SpecialBuddy 3 Comments
Intro
While 2009 wasn't the best year Ive ever had it was still on that I will remember for being the one that might have changed my life forever. With the introduction of something I havent been more passionate about in all my life, to me possible discovering my favorite musical artist ever. This blog will mostly be about my entire year of 2009 as a whole. Now I warn you as Im typing this, this will be a REALLY LONG blog. I mean im only trying this now in the beggining but I can already tell you that this will be a massive post. It is about 2009 mostly but it will also reveal a bit about myself. Including the type of movies I like, the music I listen to, and the type of person I am as a whole. So grab a snack and a drink cause this is going to be a read. Hopefully a good one at that.
Music
I have always been a real picky person about the type of music I like to listen to. I listen to music to most people would say sucks, or music that people just dont understand. But hey, this is America so you can say what you want right? Im not into classic rock such as Rush, The Doors, or The Who. I have a strong opinion about country music in that it sucks. I also really dont like the Beatles. But that really isnt the point of this blog. Its about the music of this year. Now while there was songs I liked this year and ones I didnt, there is really one artist that stands out to me this year. Now I might not like all of her music she still stands out to me as the artist of this current year but is my runner up to the music I have been listening to this year. That person could only be Lady GaGa. Now before you start calling me out on this hear me out. I dont like all of her music, even though I will admit it isnt all bad. But seriously when you sit down and try to think of the biggest artist of the year in terms of media buzz, awards, and general radio play. Lady GaGa is the only one I can think of. I respect her as an artist. She is doing something different and in todays society that is exactly what we need.
Lady GaGa isnt my artist of the year though. The artist that I have been listening to has been around for years and infact didnt put an album out this year, but yet he is the only person I have been listening to. His name is Jamie Stewart. Better known as the lead singers of the band Xiu Xiu and former lead singer of a band called Ten in the Swear Jar. Now while he might be technically in bands, he is really the brains of those bands. He creates this weird, hypnotic, sound that takes over my mind with its strange melodys. His lyrics might sound extremely emo, and im not emo, but they just fit the sound of the music in the background to his voice. His voice is what really sells me on this music. I cant really discribe it so go google his bands cause Im too lazy to link anything. If you do go looking up Xiu Xiu though look up "I Love the Valley Oh!". Its a song that he wrote while in Ten in the Swear Jar and is really a cover of the version but it is still the highlight of his career so far.
Movies
This section of the blog is going to be the shortest because frankly, I didnt see many movies this year. I only saw a handful this year so Ill just list the ones that I saw from the year and write a small my thoughts on them.
- Where the Wild Things Are - Probally my favorite movie of they. I grew up with the book so seeing a surprisingly mature version of it come to the screen was a really fantastic thing.
- Gamer - Saw this movie on a whim with some buddies and you know what. It wasnt the worst movie I have ever seen.
- Harry Potter 6 - Worst book of the series and the worst movie. Not a bad movie. Just my least favorite.
- Transformers 2 - Fail. That is all.
- Watchmen - I want to like this movie. I love the graphic novel and couldnt wait to see this movie. Seeing it the first time I was happy with it. Now that I own it. I just dont know how I feel.
Ummmm thats all I can think of.
Games I Played Or Am Playing That Need To Be Talked About.
There are really only 3 games other than my game of the year that I feel needed to be talked about because of a few reasons. One, I didnt get to play everything this year. Starting college this year really cut my funds down for games so the ones I did play I had to make a smart choice. Two, I just didnt really feel like everyone else did about that game namely Modern Warfare 2. I just dont really like that game. I feel like it has problems that I cant really overlook. Thats a whole blog that Im not going to talk about though so Ill move on. These 3 games stand out to me this year and are my Honorable Mentions in no particular order.
- Batman Arkham Asylum - Im a huge Batman fan. Ive seen every movie and think Adam West is a national treasure. So playing a game that dunked me in a pool of nerdgasim and pulled me out wanting more gets my thumbs up. The setting of that game along with the story, characters, and voice work make it shine as a game that I cant wait for a sequal to.
- Borderlands - I played this game back during the summer thanks to Giantbomb and the contest that Gearbox ran through them to have people go out and be the first people who were not press to play the game. Ill admit going in I had no idea what this game was about. I just saw that there was a contest with the prize being to drive 20 minutes from where I lived and get to play a game before anyone else and to get a tour of a game studio. After playing the game for around two and a half hours I was sold. So when the game finally came out I had my copy already preordered.
- League of Legends - Even though this game was basically a DoTA clone I didnt care seeing as I had never played DoTA before. So going into this free to play game I had no idea what to expect. What I got was intense hour long game sessions, tons of laughs, and the start of my phrase of 2009, "Your too hungry. Grab a snikers!" This game is soo much fun and for a person new to the DoTA style of gameplay it is a great intro.
Game of the Year: Street Fighter 4
Street Fighter 4 was my first serious fighting game. I had played other fighting games but always found that they gave you too much information from the start. I mean, I dont want to be told every combo right off the bat. I like to learn. So games like Soul Caliber and Tekken never did it for me. Then I finally got around to trying SF4 when it came out and I instantly found that this was the type of fighting game that I could get into. Something complex when you really get into it but still is basic enough for people are just jumping in the first time. That why I guess I don't get what people mean when they say, "SF4 isnt noob friendly." I never got that feeling. I mean if you REALLY wanted to learn the game then those people shouldnt have a problem figuring out this game. Seeing as I was a noob to the fighting game genre as a whole, I should of had the biggest problem out of all thoughs people. SF4 didnt give me that feeling though. I just figured it out, as if it all fit into my head like it was meant to be done. I might have a natural talent for this crap who knows.
I just kept playing and losing. Sure I got angry at me sucking for a while but I knew that it was only a temp. situation. I played people who were better than me, the same skill as me, and the occational flowchat Ken before I knew what a flowchart Ken was. I went through about every character in the roster looking for a main except for people with fireballs cause, you know, fireballs are for pussys. I finally settles on Gen after playing Rufus for a long time and dont want to look back. I might switch when Super SF4 comes out but that is the future. All I know is that im repping as the only serious Gen player in Dallas, Tx. and trying to furture my skills. I have gone to many ranbats, won some money for getting 2nd at one, got 17th out of 64 people at Dallas' biggest tournament losing to Buktooth and a random Honda player (fuck that guy. im still salty about that). Ranbats start up this weekend of this blog so wish me luck. I promise that Ill win this season's ranbat.
Conclusion
Im done typing. Really late here. Happy New Year. GET HYPE!