First of all, I noticed that 4 or 5 of the first commercials in the Superbowl had glass breaking, which is nice.  Even better if they did it on purpose.  Here are my top 10 commercials from the Superbowl.

10. Hulu: Alec in Huluwood

9. Doritos: Power of the Crunch

8. Bud Light: Bud Light Lime

7. Coke Classic: Avatar

6. Bud Light: Meeting

5. CareerBuilder.com: Tips

4. Audi: Chase

3. Monster: Need a new job?

2. Coke Zero: Mean Troy

1. Coke: Heist

So, Coke won.  Bud Light got 2nd place.

Movie Trailers:

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and Transformers 2 win.

Honorable Mention Commercials:

Taco Bell: Overrated

Cash4Gold.com: Heeere’s Money

Teleflora: Talking Flowers

E*Trade: Talking Baby

Castrol Oil: Edge Monkeys

Firestone: Taters

100 greatest movie characters? : http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/

It’s always interesting when people put these kinds of lists out there.  100 is pretty ambitious.

There are some people out there who write amazing songs.  Sometimes, rarely, someone comes along and records or performs a better version of one of those songs.  9 and 10 are kind of cheating, but I wanted to include them in the list, and since it’s my list, I can.

10. Just -  Mark Ronson with Alex Greenwald (covering Radiohead) : I will say that I love the original, but this is a truly amazing cover.  I like it the same as the original.

9. Mushaboom – The Postal Service (covering Fiest) : This is cheating a bit as well because Fiest is actually singing, but this version is infinitely better than the original.

8. Against All Odds – The Postal Service (covering Phil Collins) : The Postal Service does a good job at covers, apparently.

7. Tainted Love – Soft Cell (covering Gloria Jones) : Everyone, like myself, may have assumed that Soft Cell wrote this, but they didn’t.

6. Smooth Criminal – Alien Ant Farm (covering Michael Jackson) : From what I’ve heard, this may be their only good song, but it is strong.

5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Keane (covering Elton John) : It’s just nice.  I did hear Aslyn cover this song once in concert, and it was beautiful as well.  But I don’t have a recording of the Aslyn version.  I don’t know that there’s a recording out there of it.

4. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath – The Cardigans (covering Black Sabbath) : Also their cover of Iron Man – tied for 4th.  I like the Sabbath versions, but these covers are so different than the originals, it’s a fresh and creative take that wins.

3. What a Fool Believes – Self (covering Michael McDonald) : I also want to mention that Self does a great cover of Ana Ng by They Might Be Giants that I like the same as the original.  I’m going to say that it ties with What a Fool Believes.

2. Where is My Mind – Nada Surf (covering the Pixies) : When I heard this song at the end of Fight Club, it increased my love for it.  When I heard THIS version by Nada Surf, it healed a broken part of me.

1. Across the Universe – Fiona Apple (covering the Beatles) : EASILY my favorite cover of all time, and, even though I love the Beatles, this version surely made Lennon smile in his resting place, knowing that whatever hopes he had for it had been fulfilled at that moment.  Plus, the video is kick ass.

Other sites

January 20, 2009

I have found some great list sites and have put them in my links or Blogroll area.

Just added this: http://superuseless.blogspot.com/

Enjoy.

More lists later.  soon.

Top 5 beers

January 15, 2009

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

- Benjamin Franklin

Newcastle Brown Ale – This is the beer that I refer to as the “gateway” beer.  It’s the first beer I ever liked.  Still my favorite.
Shiner Bock – This is readily available most everywhere I go, and it’s good in the bottle or on tap.
Amber Bock - My “cheap” beer fav.
Sigda’s Green Chili – Coopersmith’s Brewry, Fort Collins, CO – The most unusual beer I’ve ever tried.  Exceptional.
Rogue Chocolate Stout – First time I had it, I explained to the guys with me that it tasted like I had grabbed a random dark chocolate from one of those boxes of chocolates, you know, the ones with the fillings, and popped it in my mouth.  They didn’t believe me, so i gave them a sip, and after some “woah’s”, they each ordered one.

(as an aside, I must say that I had some great beers while in the UK, John Smith’s being one of them.  The pulled beers were very great.)

rAndom liSt 1.0

January 13, 2009

The weight of 1000 fishsticks
A healthy puppy
shopping carts
Pinback
Danboard
Chocolate Orange
Plasma television sets lining the shelves in Dept. Stores
Kung Fu as an art
The air we breathe
Kanye’s new album is not good
Something positive to end the post

Forbidden Sandwich

January 8, 2009

This menu is not only packed with potential deliciousness, but it’s also dangerous, and would not only have the potential to give you indigestion, but also destroy the very fabric of your being.  If you’re unfamiliar with any of the ingredients, feel free to look them up on imdb. That said, here is the menu:

10. Brittany Spears + Lindsey Lohan “Used to be Steamed, but got a little skanky” Although, Spears latest video is hot.

9. Katherine Heigl + Monica Bellucci “Swedish Meatball in Marinara on Bread”

8. Tiffani Amber Thiessen + Kelly Garth “The Made for TV Sandwich with a side of 90210″

7. Lucy Liu + Jessica Alba “Kick Your Asswich” or “Dangerwich”

6. Liv Tyler + Jennifer Connely “Betty Ross Grinder”

5. Jennifer Aniston + Angelina Jolie “Bradwich”

4. Michelle Monaghan + Odette Yustman “The Brunette Salad Sandwich”

3. Mandy Moore + Mary Elizabeth Winstead “The Girl Next Doorwich”

2. Kate Beckinsale + Rachel McAdams “The Hot and Sweet”

1. Eva Mendez + Megan Fox “Possibly the Tastiest, Most Delicious Sandwich in the World”

I wasn’t as into music this year as i would have liked to be, but after listening to much of this music, i wasn’t very impressed with 2008, musically.  Kanye’s new record is just not very good, i don’t care for Lil’ Wayne (and i do like hip hop, or a lot of it), and many of my favorite bands didn’t bring it that strong this year.  Here’s what other people think:

Pitchfork Media top 50

Filter

Rolling Stone

Blender

Fuzzy Lion

This was not a heavy movie year for me.  Apparently I was busy with other things.  I only saw 12 films that came out in 2008, and here they are in order of least fav to most fav.

27 Dresses – not good.  i even like many of the people in this film, and the idea for the film isn’t bad.  POOR execution.
Smart People – see comment from 27 Dresses.
Semi-Pro – meh.  not bad.
The Day the Earth Stood Still - good special effects.  good Jennifer Connely.  That’s about it for this one.
Wanted – good special effects.  the lead actor was a whiny bitch.
Eagle Eye – about what you’d expect.
Burn After Reading – not bad.  great cast.  JK Simmons was fantastic, as usual.
Cloverfield – if you follow all of the viral marketing they did for this, it’s pretty brilliant.
The Incredible Hulk – Much better than Ang Lee’s The Hulk.  i really enjoyed this.
Quantum of Solace – Not as good as Casino Royale, but then again, did you think it would be? good, though.
Iron Man – Robert Downey Jr. was super fantastic.
The Dark Knight – maybe the best superhero movie of all time, and i LOVE superhero movies.

All of this being said, there are a lot of films that came out this year that I need to see.

Things I like

November 23, 2008

robots
invisibility
films about most anything, unless their crap
movies, books, and video games featuring people with superpowers
Thai and Indian and Ethiopian and Cuban and Chinese and Japanese food
the internet
making lists (obviously)
Star Wars
sports, mostly football
wine and beer
good design
architecture
good music (another list at another time)
kittens and rabbits and bears