What's Left Of 2005
The New Year. We defiled the first half of the twisted 2000's, and now on to the second half. Congratulations.
Let's take a look back. Here are a few things that made some kind of impression (more like dents) in/on my brain. I'll list a few things, but am not saying that these are the "best" of the year. That would be presuming that I have absorbed everything that came out this year, or that I feel my opinion has more worth than yours, which it doesn't. Unless you listen to Ashlee Simpson. Then it does. So let this be a list of things I have some recollection of, that made some impact, and that I would like to take the memory with me into the new year, to assimilate it into my collective.
Movies I Paid For in the Theatre and Didn't Feel Horribly Ripped Off By:
Cinderella Man
Constantine
Memoirs of a Geisha
Episode III : yes, hated the first two, but enjoyed this one, warts and all.
Movies I Rented From Netflix and Found Very Enjoyable.
Oldboy : "I want something live"
Office Space
Ikiru : "life is brief"
DIG!
Movie I Downloaded Illegally, but Was So Good That I Felt Guilty:
The 40 year old Virgin
Music I Bought and Dug:
The Mars Volta : Frances the Mute
Kanye West : Late Registration
Kate Bush : Aerials
Queens OTSA : Lullabies to Paralyze
NIN : With Teeth
Music I Downloaded, but Would Gladly Buy:
Elliot Smith : From a Basement On a Hill II : demos compilation found online
Fiona Apple : Extraordinary Machine I : original Jon Brion version
Floating About the Ether:
Zombies - people LOVED the Zombies in '05! All shapes, all sizes!
Clouds (as information navigation, as soothing game)
Songs I Dug:
"King of the Mountain" : Kate Bush
"Hypnotize" : System of a Down
"Helena" : My Chemical Romance
"Heard "Em Say" : Kanye West
"Beside You In Time" : NIN
"In My Head" : QueensOTSA
Television Broadcasts of Merit:
Rome
Lost
Extras
The Daily Show : may Jon Stewart live for one thousand years
The Biggest Loser
Jumped the Shark:
The Apprentice : now reduced to a one hour network television "create a commercial for this weeks sponsor" contest.
Possibly Survivor : please God, not another "arrange the colored tiles" game...
Possibly Lost : You better make all that "monsters in the trees" shit mean something ... soon!
Possibly Battlestar Galactica
Re-considerations:
MySpace : hooker-heavy, but still fun.
Radiohead : Hail to the Thief
Jack Johnson : can be a good thing even without bong rips
Egg Whites : not just for breakfast anymore
Hip Hop
Epiphanies:
Joseph Campbell
Technologies (worth the hype):
All Google : Gmail, Google Maps
Xbox 360 : loved it til mine died
digg.com/spy
Current TV : Al Gore invented Internet TV
Firefox
CSS
Bullshit:
Sony's rootkit anti-piracy technology
Most of what comes out of our President's mouth, in my opinion.
4 magazines at the supermarket checkout with the same 4 people/couples at the same time.
Parking Enforcement in Hollywood, CA: May you all wage a painfully unsuccessful lifetime war against hemorrhoids.
Shit That Should Bail:
Paris, Lindsay, Nicole, and anything ending in "Simpson". Except animated Simpsons, they can stay.
RealPlayer
Internet Explorer
Pictures of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie on MySpace profiles to express one's "individuality" and "non-conformist attitude".
Fave Blogs:
goldenfiddle
boing boing
Podcasts:
Ricky Gervais
43 Folders
Rolling Stone interview with John Lennon
Games:
Perfect Dark
Karamari Damaci
Call of Duty 2
Kameo
Favorite Words:
Pwned
Brokeback : "dude, you're getting all brokeback about it, chill out"
Moments to Remember:
Nine Inch Nails /Queens of the Stone Age show at the Hollywood Bowl:
when NIN played "Beside You in Time" with the scrim lowered in front of the band, and the wonderful transcendent projections...
Working with Ryan Williams, Brian Virtue, Josh Abraham and Chris Lord-Alge in the studio.
The showing of "Some Like It Hot" at Cinespia this summer.
Moments to forget:
June Couch Tour '05.
2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
Multiple phone and utility disconnections.
The Music Business.
All My Respect and Thanks:
All the Panic Agents and people for hanging with us in '05
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Comments
your 360 died that sucks man I have bought one yet because well I'm waiting for the PS3 and I got Tiger Woods 06 and have no need for anything else right now.
Posted by: Juanjay | January 6, 2006 05:34 AM
if i had a drink, i would toast to an exciting 2006.
Posted by: Six7Six7 | January 6, 2006 06:08 AM
Surprised you saw Kurosawa's 'Ikiru,' a classic that is fairly unknown. Inspiring in a way movie. BTW, 'ikiru' just means "to live", being a verb. There are some others, including one of my favorites 'Himatsuri' (the fire festival), which is very hard to come by. You would like it.
Posted by: Mike | January 6, 2006 07:13 AM
Ah, Ryan is an alumni of Southern Tracks, right in my back yard, literally 5 minutes from the house. It's a small world but a very cool one at times. To me,'05 will be forever remembered by a magical night in a little place called The Dragonfly. I still get chills thinking about what a fucking incredibly perfect night that was capped by the best rendition I've ever heard of Dazed and Confused, since, well, Zep in '77. Thank you for the energy put into that show Steve. Can't wait to see another one.
Posted by: Lyn | January 6, 2006 07:27 AM
Wait just a minute, doesn't the Queen of myspace have BOTH Johnny Depp AND Angelina on her profile page? hmmmmmmmm....
And I totally agree with you about the Parking Enforcement, I have YET to make a trip to LA WITHOUT getting a citation...too many signs, much confused!!
Steve, can't you and the boys come out and play?
Posted by: jezebel | January 6, 2006 08:29 AM
Happy 2006 to you, Steve..
Elsa
Posted by: Junebug | January 6, 2006 08:58 AM
Steve I cannot begin to express how wonderful it is to see "The Panic Channel (Untitled)" in your listening to column
Posted by: Mike... part two? | January 6, 2006 09:51 AM
"Bullshit: Parking Enforcement in Hollywood, CA"
oh my god, yes! SCREW THE P.E.!!
They gave me a $45 ticket yesterday morning because of the city's darn need to have street cleaning.
No parking 8am to 10am... so I forget and I'm a bit late and go out to move my car at 8:30... How did they get there so fast??
When I parked where I did I couldn't get into my appartment building's garage because those dang tree cutters/trimmers were in the way with their big ass truck. They owe me $45!
Notable comments:
"Can a brother get an X-box??"- SI
"You make out with a couple of guys and all of a sudden you're gay!"- DN
(Nintendo) Video games of Merit:
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix (It's fun, has some pretty good music, and you get a great workout in the process)
Nintendogs. It's just like having a real dog that you can teach tricks to, walk, pick up poop after, and take to various competitions. The only unrealistic thing about it is that the dogs stay puppies forever.
Mario Kart DS. You get to race on all these crazy courses, shove people out of the way, trip them, throw shells at them, blind them... fun stuff!
Greatest websites:
Match.com The variety of people in various situations (never married, divorced, have kids, etc) you can find on there is really interesting.
Anything google, I agree
Greatest TV shows:
The Boondock's
The Simpson's
Trading Spouses
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Greatest Songs:
Foo Fighters - DOA
NIN - The Hand That Feeds
NIN - Only
Best personal moments:
Meeting my ex boyfriend
Going to Disneyland
Graduating from M.I.
Worst personal moment:
Agreeing to work for minumum wage (new job on the way!)
A happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all
(Maybe I wrote too much? haha!)
Posted by: mortisha8 | January 6, 2006 10:37 AM
What you talkin bout Steve, you mean you don’t have Ashlee Simpson on regular rotation. Shit my bad I thought everyone did, at least all the fly mutha’s from the valley roll that way… Ha on that note, Six I’ll take a double wait maybe a triple..
Happy New Year Kid.
Posted by: wendybird | January 6, 2006 11:15 AM
Steve-O5' might have had alot of ups and downs, but when you think about how much (you) & the guys (TPC) accmplished last year it is pretty insane to think about. You got your gear thing straighted out, had time to let those songs grow and evolve, you worked with some kick ass producers, played a few shows, and started the TPC Community Board. Simply awesome....Looking back I think the post you wrote about being up on the top floor from the Capitol building looking down was a highlight...for me to read. You have worked your ass off.....Sixy & Wendybird...I'll take a double of what ever anybody is having too.......
Posted by: brett | January 6, 2006 11:58 AM
What does "pwned" mean?
Posted by: Mike | January 6, 2006 12:28 PM
Hello!
The NIN concert is definitely something I won't forget! I love the last 3 songs of With Teeth a lot.
Wow, your X-Box 360 died, damn.
Well, Happy 06!
Love,
-AER
Posted by: Adriana | January 6, 2006 02:52 PM