Songs for a Late Night

Bonobo - Recurring

Flying Lotus - RobertaFlack

Broken Social Scene - I Slept with Bonhomme at the Cbc

Kaki King - Night After Sidewalk

Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough 

What I'm looking forward to in 2009

1.) Neko Case has a new album coming out in early March called Middle Cyclone. Check out the cover. What a badass...

2.) On January 24th I will be jetting to Tokyo for a week. For the past ten years, Japan has been at the very top of a long list of international destinations I want to see and to finally be able to set foot in the country will be a surreal experience.

3.) Quentin Tarantino will finally be finishing Inglorious Bastards, a film project he has been talking about since before Kill Bill was released. Luckily (for me), the film will be released in late August. So I will get to see it in theaters, quite possibly the day after I return to America. Look out Cape Cod Mall Regal Cinema!

4.) My parents adopoted an Australian Shepherd named Trip in October. Though we have already met via Skype video chat, I look forward to meeting Trip in person in August. Here is a picture of Trip along with our other dog Tiver, who I also look forward to seeing in 2009.

5.) Over the summer I worked at Cape Cod Beer, and drank a pint (or two) of the Cape Cod IPA almost every day. It quickly became my favorite beer and I miss it very much. I will definitely be making a trip to Cape Cod Beer within 24 hours of my arrival back in America.

6.) Over the summer I will be traveling to China for a week or so. I told myself that I cannot leave Asia without stepping foot in Tokyo and getting a picture of myself on the Great Wall. From what I hear, China is a glorious ball of chaos and I can't to see it. 

7.) James Cameron is releasing his first feature film since Titanic, a 3-D science fiction epic called Avatar. Cameron has been working on the film since the mid '90s and has said that the incessant delays in production have been due to the fact that he had to wait for the technology he wanted to use in the film to be invented. WHOA! Avatar will hit US theaters in December of 2009.

8.) I anxiously look forward to Barack Obama taking office, fixing the world, and curing AIDS.

9.) I read somewhere that both Arcade Fire and the Postal Service have new albums coming out in 2009, though I don't have any specific information. The new Postal Service release will quite possibly be the last good album that Ben Gibbard makes, now that he is marrying Zooey Deschanel. 

Marriage + emo-tinged Indie rock = Epic Fail

10.) Driving.

11.) I became a big fan of the LG Twins last fall and eagerly anticipate the start of the Korean Baseball season in April.

12.) Around the same time that may parents adopted Trip, my Dad bought a 1970 Harley Davidson M65. If you know my Dad, you will understand why this is extremely surprising. My mom was convinced that he was going through a mid-life crisis. Either way, I am excited to finally have some motivation to get my motorcycle license next fall. The bike is not what you would picture as a Harley Davidson. It is small, only a few steps above a motor scooter in terms of speed. Herb says he is only using it for cruising around town. Here is a picture he sent me of the bike.

13.) Visiting Burlington - Duff Hour, Four Corners, Asiana House, etc.

14.) This past fall, a great percentage of my time and energy was devoted to the Wire, a television show originally on HBO. My friend Bradford, who also happens to be in Korea, has also been consumed by this show. We both decided that we need to take a road trip to Baltimore next fall and take "The Wire Tour." We're going to hit the dirty streets of West B-more, try and witness a re-up, and hopefully run into Bubbles.

New Year's Rant

2009!!!

Last night was easily the strangest New Year's Eve celebration in my short history on this planet. My band, the Tear Jerks played our best show yet. I've never seen anyone so afraid as this one little Korean girl while all these big American guys formed a mosh pit right as we started playing. Afterwards, I had a strange and slightly unsettling conversation with two G.I.s from Kentucky. One second, we're laughing and joking and having a good time. Then, all of a sudden one of them wanted to punch me in the face because I suggested that his uncle was actually his father. Some people just can't take a joke...

I have been witness to more fights in Seoul than anywhere else. Maybe it's something in the water. Maybe it is the degenerates I choose to associate with. Maybe it's all of the G.I.s who start fights because they can't get laid. Whatever it is, I generally manage to remain a spectator. One of these days though, my sarcasm is going to get me into trouble.

For the first time, I have decided to have a New Year's Resolution. I am generally against such things because I feel that nobody actually follows through with their resolutions, but I'm going to give it a shot. So here is my resolution:

I will no longer address a person as "dude" or "man." Both of these words have been integral parts of my social vocabulary since I was in High School but I think it's about time that I move on. I really don't want to be calling people "dude" throughout my twenties. I know it will take a little while for me to completely remove these words from my vocabulary, but it will happen eventually.

So, there it is. I'm not going to try and start exercising, or write a screenplay, or volunteer more often. I could say that and feel good for a second. But in the end, I would probably never actually do those things. Dropping "dude" and "man" from my vocabulary is a much more realistic goal for myself. 

I also hope to get more involved in photography, a recent passion of mine. I have spent the past few weeks researching various lenses and I plan on making a purchase this week. So I want to get out, take more pictures, and post some of my favorites here.

Now I'm going to go have my first Kimchi of 2009. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Great beer commercials from the '80s

What better way to close out 2008 than with some classic beer commercials from the 1980s?

Busch

-this commercial has a definite Brokeback Mountain vibe to it

Stroh's

-What ever happened to Stroh's? These guys must be pretty upset right now.

Miller High Life

-High Life is for honest, hardworking Americans. Anyone who drinks Budweiser must be friends with the terrorists, or at least the Belgians.

Coors Light

-great Shooter McGavin cameo in this one

Coors

-It took me the entire length of this commercial to figure out that the guy isn't Scott Baio.

Pabst

-this is quite possibly the greatest commercial ever made

Put in a quarter and win a...lobster?

Last night I was wandering the streets with my fellow Tear Jerks when we stumbled upon what appeared to be a claw machine. You know those machines where you put in some money and try to win a lighter or stuffed animal by picking it up with a claw? We found that, but instead of winning a Spider-Man doll, you win a live lobster. Obviously, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to play, so John gave it a go. As happens with every attempt at the claw game, he failed. It was probably all for the best since none of us could figure out what we would do if we had actually won a lobster. White people get stared at enough in the subway.

Mr. Chi City's guide to getting women

Let the Right One In

Living in Korea has obvious drawbacks for a film buff. The only english-language films that make their way to Korean theaters are brainless action flicks and trashy romantic comedies. And, for obvious reasons, I can't really see anything unless it is in English. Luckily, the magical powers of the internet have allowed me to still watch films that I wouldn't otherwise be able to see until my return home. There are still some that I haven't been able to locate (Slumdog Millionare, Frost/Nixon, the Wrestler, Synecdoche, New York) but otherwise I have watched quite a few recent movies from the Western world. 

When I went to see Quantum of Solace back in November, there was a preview for a Swedish Vampire film called 'Let the Right One In." The imagery was startling, though I couldn't understand any of the language in the preview. A few weeks ago, I was finally able to watch the movie and was completely enthralled. This is by far the best film I've watched in 2008.

The story follows a 12 year old boy who lives in an apartment complex outside of Stockholm. The boy is a loner who often gets picked on at school. A girl moves in to the apartment complex and the two of them start to spend some time together, and eventually the boy finds out that his new friend is a vampire. I won't go into any more plot detail but I highly recommend this film. 

One thing I appreciate about European filmmakers is that they often hold their audience to higher standards than your average Hollywood director. They don't shove ideas in your face but rather allow the viewer to assess the film for themselves and create their own interpretation. 'Let the Right One In' is a subtle masterpiece, a film that will stick with you for days or even weeks. It is a story of loneliness, friendship, and the difficulties of youth. 

Please post your thoughts if you have seen this already, because I haven't heard anyone else's opinion.