Dos mil seis. Pensamientos y Recuerdos

So here we are. Five months from the real world and at the brink of the beginning of a new year. I always think about time during the new year and how I don't really feel any different at 12:01am on a new year than I did at 11:59pm of the year before. But oh wells. Here's the greats:

Concerts:

1. Madonna, Confessions Tour: Bitch appeared from within a diamond encrusted disco ball and went on to throw the greatest disco party I've ever witnessed. Because you know...I frequent them.
2. Justin Timberlake, FutureSex Club Tour: HMA [that's Hottest Man Alive], destroyed Avalon with his new album and killer moves. Seeing a warehouse full of 20-somethings chanting "Cry Me a River" has never been so amazing.
3. Regina Spektor, Fidelity Tour: Cute, funny, and surprisingly foul-mouthed and melancholic, Regina made the whole crowd fall in love with her, and that moment came for me when she busted out the disco ball during "Us".
4. Shakira, Oral Fixation Tour: I was afraid that Shaki would sing mostly in English, but this 2 1/2 hour show was heavy on the latin, soft on the anglo; and for that I was thankful. A simple show that dazzled simply with the music and the fans' passionate love for this amazing woman. There were a million great moments, but I'd have to say it was a toss up between "Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie."
5. The Killers, Sam's Town tour: The funny mustachioed moment of zen: Brandon Flowers leading the army at his feet in the "I got soul but I'm not a soldier" chant. Brilliant.
6. Rufus Wainwright at Carnegie Hall: Gayest affair ever. But oh so worth it.
   

Best of the Rest:

• Saegloppur [sp?] during Sigur ros
• Dear Mr. President during Pink
• Stormy Weather @ Carnegie Hall, Martha Wainwright
• We are all in this together during Ben Lee
• What goes around comes around during Justin
• Laura during Scissor Sisters
• Accidental Babies during Damien Rice

Films:

1. Volver: Best film I've seen all year in a really crappy year for movies. But this was not my fav. by default. Its Almodovar, telling a simple, colorful story with such power and confidence that blooms through every frame of his camera
2. V for Vendetta: Visually, it was beautiful. Storywise, it was complicated yet thought-provoking. This felt like an apology for the crapfest that were the Matrix sequels. Apology accepted.
3. Little Miss Sunshine: This crowd-pleaser s so good that it still managed to be amazing even when I took Liam to an almost empty theater in NYC to watch it.
4. 2001, A Space Odyssey: So sew me I had never seen it until now. I still fucking loved it.
   
5. Borat: Naked wrestling has never been so horrifying. Yet it's great that it took sharp-eyed British comedian to show Americans some truths we 'foreigners' have known since forever.
6. The Queen: Possibly the funniest movie i saw this year. Can't really explain why.
7. Shortbus: Sex doesn't always need to lead to death, and this film finally showed that.
8. Dave Chappelle's Block Party: Seeing Erykah Badu's fro getting blown away by unstoppable winds as never misses a beat was special enough, but seeing Mr. Chappelle talking to people and being his crazy self was even better.
   
9. I still need to see a few that I think might have made my list. Dreamgirls, Pan's Labyrinth, The Good German, The Departed, etc. I saw barely any movies this year.
   

Biggest Disappointment: Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Ugh...just...ugh.

Fav. Music of the year:

1. FutureSex/LoveSounds -> I can't stop listening to this CD. All the small interludes that follow a few songs border on transendental.
2. Begin to Hope -> Regina Spektor is so cute and so catchy and so honest and funny.
   
3. Crosses -> Jose Gonzales was my fav. discovery. Just listen to Heartbeats once. Just once.
4. He Poos Clouds -> I love him because he references the Legend of Zelda.
5. 9 -> Damien Rice bests O
6. I also discovered Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, and Jeff Buckley. And now I wish I could go back in time and pretend I've known them my whole life.

Favorite TV of the Year:
Two thousand six was probably one of the greatest TV years that I can remember. So many quality shows pretty much sealed my future desires. And it doesn't stop now as I am watching right now the pilot for Heroes, late, but whatever, that's how I roll.

• 24, Day 5: Bauer's best day by far. Also the saddest, as Edgar's death warranted the silent beep-dong. I CANNOT wait for season 6, as 24 is probably the best party show ever created.
• LOST: from Ana Lucia's and Libby's shocking, SHOCKING deaths, to the fucking amazing season finale, this show keeps getting better and better. No matter what some stupid people who criticize its slow pace say.
• Scrubs: I have never felt more in tune or related more closely to the themes, characters, storylines and moments of a show more than Scrubs. Go figure, but it's true. I could watch the DVDs for days on end. This season was just as good as the rest, and I was increadibly happy to learn it wasn't the last.
• Grey's Anatomy: I started watching this show the day after the famous SuperBowl Ep. A day later I bought Season 1 at Best Buy. Another two days later I was hooked. Not a perfect show, but for one, it has made me cry more than once, and they fucking killed off the annoying Denny. And Sandra Oh kicks all kinds of ass.
• Nip/Tuck: Season 2 was absolutely amazing. Season 3 was a one note train wreck that held me in but felt bland once it was over. Season 4 was a return to what made the show great, the Troy/McNamara relations.
  
• The Office: Better, MUCH better than the British version in my opinion, as the US version has been given a chance to grow and spread its wings with more developed and interesting ensemble cast of characters. As nice as the Pam and Jim thing is, I look forward to learning more of Dwight and "monkey".
• Ugly Betty: Not better than the original, but still absolutely over the top fantastic. And gay Justin needs more screentime.

And finally the absolutely best show on television:

• Battlestar Galactica: No other show has gotten as good as this with each episode. From the awesome "Downloaded", to the greatest season finale i have ever seen on a serialized one hour show, BG had the guts to jump one year in time, and then develop and examine the circumstances of such a feat. I love Science Fiction as much as the next guy, but usually it's a big screen affair. Not so with this show. The moment when the Battlestar dropped into Caprica's atmosphere then warped back might have been the most exhilirating moment on TV during all of 2006.
  

Greatest moments o' '06:

• Wiiiiii! -> I got a Wii, and so far everyone who touches it falls in love with the quirky games and new style of gaming. Plus I got Tasia to play videogames. And she hates videogames. And my mom pwned me at Wii Sports.
• Twin Peaks -> I fell in looove with San Fran, and the best moment came watching the sun set by Twin Peaks, overlooking the entire Bay Area. Minutes later, it hailed. I kid you not. Of course now Liam and I are going to San Fran together after graduation. I cannot wait.
• July 6th 2006 -> Let's see: My sister was in Boston visiting me. Liam came back after 6 months apart. Madonna rocked our worlds. Pretty great day. The next day i bought a Mac.
• Macbook Pro -> Windows who.
• Turning 21 -> Huge house party with some awesome friends. Followed by a whole week of being drunk. Good thing I've stopped doing that.
• Spring Break with Danny -> first person I ever met at BU and we've already spent two spring breaks together. He'll be writing the movie I'll be making about our trip to Cali.
• The Vegas -> It was a hectic week with my family, but I got to see the Beatles LOVE show which was simply astouding.
• Rhinoceros -> everything about that experience with Liam was pretty interesting, and the final product was pretty worth it too.
• Ayy there's so much. 2006 was pretty fucking great i have to say. It had its ups and its downs but in all honesty what year doesn't? I'm sure 2007 will be just as interesting
  

Volvi

DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN 'VOLVER'!!!!

This was one of the best moments in Almodovar's new, rather low-key but still fantastic film, Volver. Everyone has said it's amazing and yea it really is. Not in the "Todo Sobre mi Madre" crazy story amazing, or "Mala Educacion" crazy noir fantastic, but in its own, demure, beautfiul characterization of women and the superstitions that surround both life and death in a small community. Penelope Cruz does a wonderful job crying her way through the whole thing, but it works, and finally people will be able to see her as the true actress that she is, and not the ditzy hot latina that appeared in Vanilla Sky. Here we get the Penelope from "...Mother" and "La Celestina", the secret weapon most of Latin America has been privy to for more than 10 years. Anyways, please go see this film, and if you don't like it immediately, give it time, as its images and themes will linger in your head for days.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

And so my Wii, WiiO was born, on Nov. 27th, 2006.

After following the rumors online, I drove 45 minutes out to Harrisburg, PA in hopes of scoring a Wii. There was already a line when I got there at 8:30am, so I grabbed Electra, and sat down next to the nerds. Actually, there were much fewer nerds than I thought there would be. In front of me was an elderly woman who was there for HER HUSBAND! Not her son! Her husband was going to some football game so she was braving the cold for his Wii. Ah what someone will do for his/her man's Wii. In front of her was a woman making the line for her friend! And she was elderly too! Man people are nice!
In front of both these lovely women were the true geeks. They had all these stats about how many Wiis Best Buy had and shit. Noone belived them.
The line in front of me.The line behind me.

After half an hour and and thirty pages of Electra, a lovely Best Buy manager walked out to greet those in line. Behind him, another Best Buy guy...this one in a blue shirt carrying some sort of banner. He placed it on the ground next to the line. It read:
"We have 41 Wiis this morning"
Wii indeed! And the nerds were right! And only an hour more to go!The Best Buy peeps.

Well to make this long story short: Waited for an hour, finished Electra, was #15 in line, got a Wii, an SD card, no extra controller, drove home. I didn't open it because I was leaving PA and wanted to wait to be in Boston, but once I did, oh man!

The Wii is freaking great. A lot of my friends have stopped by to make a Mii... And Zelda might be the greatest game ever made. I'm only 15 hours in, but at hour 10, the thing blew my mind unlike a game has in recent memory....maybe Half Life 2 come close.

And now: Bob playing Wii




Tomorrow, he and Liz are trying to score one, as I try to find another remote for some multiplayer Wii Sports.