Going Vegetarian

To Whom It May Concern:

For the past couple of months I have been toying with a pretty radical idea. A couple months ago I attended a book signing at Book Soup for Alicia Silverstone, who starred in Clueless, Blast From the Past and Batman & Robin. She was promoting her book, The Kind Diet, which is a vegan cookbook (something I did not know until she presented her book before she signed copies of the book). The more veganism was discussed, the idea really intrigued me why someone would change their lifestyle from eating meat to none at all and not eating anything produced by animals.

Back when I started college a weird trend started for me: I dated four vegetarians and one vegan in a row. What are the odds of that happening to one person in a six month span? I found that pretty ridiculous and it seemed like a weird coincidence. However I just kept meeting more and more people who were vegetarians or vegans. I loved hanging out with them and would always question, why go "hippie" and hate meat. They always hated that, but loved that I was curious and genuinely interested in their lifestyle. As a result, I learned about an awesome vegan place, California Vegan Kitchen, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood that has some amazing food. Just be warned if you go with me, I do call everyone in there a hippie, especially when I go there with Amber and Casey. But let me get back on track.

The real reason why I am writing this is to let everyone know that I will become a vegetarian for the next 30 days starting on 1/1/2010 at 12:01 a.m. Yes, this is my New Year's Resolution for 2010. I feel that it's a good time as any to try this whole "vegetarian" thing. The subject has come up too much for me not to address and I feel this will be a good challenge. I love challenges and I think this will be a fun experience. To prepare for this challenge I ate all my favorite meat products over the past couple of weeks so I don't feel too tempted: steak, chicken, bacon, ham, filet mignon, hamburgers, shrimp, fish, eggs, etc. Giving up chicken will probably be my biggest challenge, but you got to do what you go to do.

Don't worry my attitude won't change and feel free to tempt me. It won't bother me at all and I actually encourage it. I am just glad I had sushi at my favorite place before undergoing this crazy task. This blog will change slightly for the next 30 days and include updates on my thoughts/ eating habits. Depending on how I feel after 30 days I might extend it, but we'll find out in a month. Hope everyone has a great New Year's and don't party too hard.

Sincerely,
John

Best Films of 2009

Since 2004, my friends and I have made Top 10 lists of our favorite movies of the year. Each year that we have physically written out a list I have noticed our choices have gotten more bizarre, complicated, independent and as I like to say, "artsy fartsy." Our choices just show how we have matured over the years and have really broaden our horizons.

It's amazing how we are now willing to drive out to see an art film that is only playing in LA at one theater or is only being shown at a handful of theaters in the entire United States. I remember when Match Point came out my best friends and I drove out to the Hollywood Arclight Theater to see it opening weekend when it was only playing in New York and Los Angeles. The Arclight was the only theater playing it during its limited opening weekend in the LA area. Little adventures like that is what I enjoy about seeing some films today.

At the same time, it makes it extremely difficult to see certain films because they never get the wide release like they truly deserve and only play one or two week engagements or really limited engagements. As a result, there are over a dozen films I did not see because of these circumstances. This year I turned my attention away from seeing films as my main focus and turned it towards literature and music. This year I read 46 books (I have not read one book since 5/25/09) and bought around another 30 or so books that I have not had the chance to read. Several of them I began reading, but have not read more than a 100 pages. In addition, I have listened to 45 brand new albums (all the way through) and bought around 100 CDs. As you can see I spread myself pretty thin, but somehow managed to use my time wisely. With everything I was able to accomplish I spent my spare time wisely and not wasting it all day on social networking sites like some of my peers.

For the first time ever I will "publicly" list every movie that I have seen that was released this year, which includes movies theatrically released, straight to DVD, film festival movies, and advanced screenings. There are a couple of films that I have not included and that is because they have not yet been theatrically released and don't come out until next year. One of those is Youth In Revolt, starring Michael Cera, which was one of the funniest films I saw this year when I attended AFI Fest back in November. I meant to post a review, but that week was extremely busy as I saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at AFI Fest-Mon, Youth in Revolt at AFI Fest- Tues, Weezer signing at the Hollywood Hot Topic-Thurs, Hulk Hogan book signing at Book Soup- Fri, Jason Schwartzman signing- Sat morning, and LMFAO concert at the Wiltern- Sat night. Needless to say I had a busy week besides going to school that week. Hopefully, I will post one soon before the movie comes out.

Last year I posted my Top 10 List of 2008 and got a dozen complaints because of it's length. The list was about five pages long because I wrote a couple of paragraphs for each film and for all the interesting films/performances I pointed out. So instead I have decided to just list my favorite films. I always wait until the last possible moment to publish my list so I can catch up on films that I have missed and cram as many films in the last minute as possible. Earlier this week I saw Up In The Air, 2012, and Invictus back-to-back-to-back in one day. Needless to say I try and get as much wide variety as possible and give as many films a chance. Unfortunately, this year I missed out on several films I really wanted to see and have decided my list is solid enough. So I do not need to cram another ten films in by my deadline of December 31st at 5 p.m.

Without further adieu, my Top 10 Films of 2009 in descending order:

10) World's Greatest Dad
9) (500) Days of Summer
8) Inglorious Basterds
7) Sherlock Holmes
6) Anvil! The Story of Anvil
5) Broken Embraces
4) The Hangover
3) Up
2) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
1) Avatar

Listed below are the films I saw this year. For the first time, my rental movies have dramatically outnumbered the films I saw in theaters (Mostly due to the quality of films released this year). The first theatrically released 2009 film I saw was Watchmen. The first couple of months were spent doing catch up on Golden Globe nominated films, Academy Award nominated films, and foreign films finally released in the United States. All these films were seen in theaters, rented, bought through Pay-Per-View, cable, and/or advanced screenings.

2009 FILMS

Bride Wars
The Unborn
Yonkers Joe
Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach
Nototious
My Bloody Valentine
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Hotel for Dogs
Chandi Chowk to China
Killshot
Donkey Punch
Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans
Taken
The Univited
He's Just Not That Into You
Fanboys (Saw two years ago and was in Movie Limbo)
Push
Coraline
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Friday the 13th
Two Lovers
The International
Still Waiting...
Fired Up
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
An American Affair
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Crossing Over
Watchmen
Tokyo!
The Last House on the Left
Race to Witch Mountain
Sunshine Cleaning
I Love You, Man
The Great Buck Howard
The Cake Eaters
Big Stan
The Haunting in Connecticut
The Education of Charlie Banks
Monsters vs. Aliens
Fast & Furious
Sugar
Gigantic
Bart Got a Room
Dragonball Evolution
Observe and Report
Lymelife
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Crank 2: High Voltage
17 Again
Is Anybody There?
State of Play
Obsessed
The Informers
The Soloist
The Merry Gentleman
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Limits of Control
Ghost of Girlfriends Past
Star Trek
Next Day Air
Rudo y Cursi
Personal Effects
Angels & Demons
The Brothers Bloom
Management
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins
The Girlfriend Experience
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Dance Flick
Powder Blue
Up
Drag Me to Hell
Baby on Board
Land of the Lost
My Life in Ruins
The Hangover
Away We Go
The Proposal
Whatever Works
Year One
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Cheri
Public Enemies
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Humpday
Bruno
Van Wilder: Freshman Year
(500) Days of Summer
The Ugly Truth
The Answer Man
Funny People
Aliens in the Attic
G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Julie & Julia
Road Trip: Beer Pong
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
It Might Get Loud
Inglorious Basterds
World's Greatest Dad
Taking Woodstock
Extract
9
Jennifer's Body
Capitalism: A Love Story
Paranormal Activity
Zombieland
Assassination of a High School President
Trick 'r Treat
Stan Helsing: A Parody
Michael Jackson's This Is It
The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day
The Men Who Stare at Goats
American Virgin
Avatar
Up In The Air
2012
Invictus
American Pie Presents: The Book of Love
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Crush(ed)
The Broken
Paper Heart
Spread
Tyson
Sherlock Holmes

Top 10 Albums of 2009

Before listing my Top 10 Albums of 2009 I would like to recognize other bands and albums as well. In addition to creating a best albums list I also created several other different categories like Best Solo, New Artist, etc.

Top 5 Solo:

5) Outer South- Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
4) Mo Beauty- Alec Ounsworth
3) Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane- Elvis Costello
2) Together Through Life- Bob Dylan
1) Anomaly- Ace Frehley

DEBUT ALBUM

These are all in alphabetical order because I love all these debut albums and each are worth checking out. One band that I heard about last year, but didn't "discover" until early this year was The Virgins. Their debut album from last year was arguably one of the best from last year and one of my favorite debut albums over the past decade. So sometimes it's worth checking out a variety of different artists, even if they have interesting names or have a unique sound. Some of these artists I found out because of who they have worked with, saw them on tour, discovered them online or read about them. Hopefully one or more of them catches your attention

I Love You- Amanda Blank (Pop/Rap/ Electronic)
Love the Future- Chester French (Pop/ Indie Rock)
Horehound-Dead Weather (Blues Rock)
Up From Below- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (Folk/Indie/ Psychadelic Rock)
Lungs-Florence & The Machine (Indie Pop/ alternative)
Glasvegas-Glasvegas (alternative rock)
Party Rock- LMFAO (Dance/ Electro)
Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk (alternative/indie rock)
Wolfganag Amadeus Phoenix- Phoenix (alternative/indie rock)
XX-XX (alternative/indie rock)

TOP EP:
The Colourist EP- The Colourist

TOP EXCLUSIVE
5) LOtUSFLOW3R- Prince (Target)
4) Chickenfoot- Chickenfoot (Best Buy)
3) Cause I Sez So- New York Dolls
2) Sonic Boom- KISS (Walmart)
1) Backspacer- Pearl Jam (Target)

BEST SUPERGROUP:

These are in no particular order as well.

Monsters of Folk consist of Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), and Matt Ward who released their album Monsters of Folk on September 22, 2009.

Chickenfoot consist of Sammy Hagar (Van Halen), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Joe Satriani who released their debut Chickenfoot on June 5, 2009.

Them Crooked Vultures consists of John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age), and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal), who released their debut Them Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009.

Dead Weather consists of Jack White (The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes), and Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) who released their debut album Horehound on July 14, 2009.

The five albums that just missed the cut in descending order are Strict Joy- The Swell Season, Grand- Matt & Kim, Veckatimest-Grizzly Bear, It's Blitz- Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Merriweather Post Pavillion- Animal Collective,

MY TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2009

10) Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk
9) Anomaly- Ace Frehley
8) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-Phoenix
7) Tonight: Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand
6) Raditude- Weezer
5)Backspacer- Pearl Jam
4) The Blueprint 3- Jay Z
3) Working On A Dream- Bruce Springsteen
2) Party Rock- LMFAO
1) 21st Century Breakdown- Green Day

2009 Concerts

This is the first year in sometime I would say I have seen a lot of shows. Instead of seeing a ton of movies this year, the majority of my money was diverted to supporting the music industry via, merchandise, CDs, and seeing bands on tour.

Here is everyone I saw this year.

Green Day (2)
Franz Ferdinand (2)
Elvis Costello
The Virgins
Blink 182
Fall Out Boy
All American Rejects
Chester French
LMFAO
The Honey Brothers
The Colourist
Soko
Paradiso Girls
Space Cowboy
Hollywood Hype
Electrolightz
Cold Flamez
Far East Movement
Skeet Skeet
Shwayze