Guido’s Movies 2012

The following is a list of the movies that Guido (and usually Julie) watched, for the first time, in 2012.

ORDER#. TITLE (YEAR RELEASED) – FORMAT – DATE COMPLETED

  1. “I Love You Phillip Morris”  (2009) – Online – 01/02
  2. “How I Met Your Mother”  season 1 (2005) – Online – 01/03
  3. “Blue Valentine”  (2010) – DVD – 01/05
  4. “Buck”  (2011) – Online – 01/06
  5. “Ip Man 2″  (2010) – Online – 01/06
  6. “Bandslam”  (2009) – TV – 01/06
  7. “Tales from Earthsea”  (2006) – Online – 01/09
  8. “Ninja”  (2009) – Online – 01/13
  9. “Bored To Death” season 2 (2010) – DVD – 01/16
  10. “Haywire”  (2011) – Theater – 01/23
  11. “Beginners”  (2010) – DVD – 01/24
  12. “The Descendants”  (2011) – Theater – 01/30
  13. “The Artist” (2011) – Theater – 02/07
  14. “Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne”  (2008) – Online – 02/24
  15. “Abduction” (2011) – DVD – 03/04
  16. “John Carter” (2012) – Theater – 03/10
  17. “Tamara Drewe” (2010) – TV – 03/12
  18. “The Hunger Games” (2012) – Theater – 03/23
  19. “Midnight in Paris” (2011) – TV – 04/07
  20. “Bad Teacher” (2011) – TV – 04/08
  21. “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” (2008) – TV – 04/08
  22. “The Cabin in the Woods” (2012) – Theater – 04/13
  23. “Colombiana” (2011) – TV – 04/21
  24. “Priest” (2011) – TV – 04/25


Started:

“There Will Be Blood” (200x) – TV – xx

“Game of Thrones” season 1 (2011) – Blu-Ray – xx

* Movies on TV count if unedited

———

PAST YEARS’ STATS
In 2003: 28 films (est.); 2004: 73 films; 2005: 62 films; 2006: 72 films; 2007: 65 films; 2008: 66 films; 2009: 113 films; 2010: 99 films; 2011: 102 films.

 

Swedish Christmas

Continuing my family’s 12-year tradition of having a different ethnic or regional or country’s cuisine for Christmas, this year we tried making a variety of Swedish food.
Let’s see if I can recall most of what we tried:

  • Crepes with whipped cream and lingonberries
  • Waffles with whipped cream and lingonberries
  • Beet salad
  • Herring salad
  • Perch baked with eggs
  • Salmon pudding
  • Fried herring
  • Saffron bread
  • Herring in a paprika sauce
  • Boiled potatoes in cream sauce
  • Rice pudding
  • Chocolate candy
  • Toffee flavored candy straws
  • Glogg
  • Ginger cookies

In addition, we listened to a good bit of Swedish music thanks to Spotify. Plus, Julie and I just saw “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” last week. And we noticed the baddie in “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” which we watch Monday, was Swedish.

Favorite music of 2010

Below is a list of some of my favorite music from 2010, not necessarily in order. I focused on music that came out in 2010, but included a couple songs released in 2009 that I discovered in 2010.

TOP ALBUMS

  1. Oddblood,” Yeasayer (2010) — e.g.: “Ambling Alp”
  2. Gorilla Manor,” Local Natives (2010) — e.g.: “Camera Talk”
  3. Go,” Jonsi (2010) — e.g.: “Tornado”
  4. Broken Bells,” Broken Bells (2010) — e.g.: “Trap Doors”
  5. Body Talk,” Robyn (2010) — e.g.: “Indestructible”
  6. Tron Legacy” [Soundtrack], Daft Punk (2010) — e.g.: “Tron Legacy (End Titles)”
  7. Plastic Beach,” Gorillaz (2010) — e.g.: “Rhinestone Eyes”
  8. Green Grow the Rushes,” John Vanderslice (2010) — e.g.: “Thule Fog”
  9. The Courage of Others,” Midlake (2010) — e.g.: “Rulers, Ruling All Things”
  10. The Winter of Mixed Drinks,” Frightened Rabbit (2010) — e.g.: “Nothing Like You”

(Honorable mention – albums)

NOTABLE SONGS

  1. For the Summer,” Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs (2010)
  2. I Want To Go To Marz,” John Grant (2010)
  3. Fool’s Day,” Blur (2010)
  4. The Book of Love,” Peter Gabriel (2010)
  5. Flume,” Peter Gabriel (2010)
  6. Animal,” Neon Trees (2010)
  7. The Wild Hunt,” The Tallest Man on Earth (2010)
  8. So This Is Goodbye (Pink Ganter Remix),” William Fitzsimmons (2010)
  9. Sweet Disposition,” The Temper Trap (2009)
  10. Sleepyhead,” Passion Pit (Dec. 2009)
  11. Fallin’ & Flyin’,” Jeff Bridges (2010)
  12. Boyfriend,” Best Coast (2010)
  13. Real Love,” Delorean (2010)
  14. Tighten Up,” The Black Keys (2010)
  15. Sick of You,” Cake (2010)

(Honorable mention – songs)

Guido’s Movies: 2011

The following is a list of the movies that Guido (and usually Julie) watched, for the first time, in 2011.

ORDER#. TITLE (YEAR RELEASED) – FORMAT – DATE COMPLETED

  1. “The IT Crowd” series 4 (2010) – online – 01/04
  2. “Bored to Death” season 1 (2009) – DVD – 01/06
  3. “True Grit” (2010) – theater – 01/09
  4. “The King’s Speech” (2010) – theater – 01/17
  5. “Weeds” season 6 (2010) – TV – 01/17
  6. “Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead” (2009) – online 01/23
  7. “Doctor Who: The Next Doctor” (2008) – online – 01/23
  8. “Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars” (2009) – online – 01/23
  9. “Greenberg” (2010) – DVD – 01/24
  10. “How to Train Your Dragon” (2010) – DVD – 01/30
  11. “Red” (2010) – DVD – 01/31
  12. “The Town” (2010) – DVD – 02/06
  13. “Devil” (2010) – DVD – 02/07
  14. “True Blood” season 2 (2009) – DVD – 02/17
  15. “DC Showcase: Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam” (2010) – online – 02/19
  16. “When in Rome” (2010) – TV – 02/21
  17. “New Moon” (2009) – TV – 02/22
  18. “Animal Kingdom” (2010) – DVD – 03/01
  19. “Rango” (2011) – Theater – 03/06
  20. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (2009) – online – 03/09
  21. “Being Human” UK series 1 (2008) – DVD – 03/16
  22. “Top Gear” (2009) series 13 – online – 03/19
  23. “Never Let Me Go” (2010) – DVD – 03/20
  24. “Monsters” (2010) – online – 03/21
  25. “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Book 1 (2005) – online – 03/22
  26. “In A Day” (2006) – online – 03/23
  27. “Temple Grandin” (2010) – DVD – 03/27
  28. “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (2010) – TV – 04/11
  29. “Hanna” (2011) – Theater – 04/25
  30. “Wild Target” (2010) – DVD – 04/25
  31. “Thor” (2011) – Theater – 05/08
  32. “Tangled” (2010) – DVD – 05/09
  33. “Hereafter” (2010) – DVD – 05/15
  34. “Batman: Under the Red Hood” (2010) – online – 05/20
  35. “Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths” (2010) – online – 05/21
  36. “I Am Number Four” (2011) – DVD – 05/27
  37. “127 Hours” (2010) – DVD – 05/29
  38. “Bridesmaids” (2011) – Theater – 05/30
  39. “Kung Fu Panda 2″ (2011) – Theater – 05/30
  40. “The Green Hornet” (2010) – DVD – 05/27
  41. “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse” (2010) – online – 05/27
  42. “Madagascar” (2005) – TV – 06/03
  43. “X-Men: First Class” (2011) – Theater – 06/04
  44. “Machete” (2010) – DVD – 06/07
  45. “Due Date” (2010) – DVD – 06/08
  46. “Doctor Who” Season 5 (2010) – DVD – 06/09
  47. “Super 8″ (2011) – Theater – 06/12
  48. “Knight and Day” (2010) – TV – 06/18
  49. “Gigantic” (2008) – DVD – 06/20
  50. “The Trip” (2011) – Theater – 06/21
  51. “Somewhere” (2010) – DVD – 06/28
  52. “Karate Kid” (2011) – TV – 06/29
  53. “Green Lantern” (2011) – Theater – 07/04
  54. “The Fighter” (2010) – DVD – 07/06
  55. “Horrible Bosses” (2011) – Theater – 07/11
  56. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ (2011) – Theater – 07/15
  57. “Breaking Bad” season 2 (2009) – TV – 07/17
  58. “Breaking Bad” season 3 (2010) – TV – 08/01
  59. “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) – Theater – 08/01
  60. “Source Code” (2011) – DVD – 08/01
  61. “How Do You Know” (2010) – TV – 08/10
  62. “Megamind” (2010) – DVD – 08/16
  63. “You Again” (2010) – TV – 08/24
  64. “Our Idiot Brother” (2011) – Theater – 08/29
  65. “Unstoppable” (2010) – DVD – 09/04
  66. “Fright Night 3-D” (2011) – Theater – 09/05
  67. “Stone of Destiny” (2008) – online – 09/07
  68. “Cedar Rapids” (2011) – DVD – 09/11
  69. “Country Strong” (2010) – DVD – 09/12
  70. “Your Highness” (2011) – DVD – 09/12
  71. “The Tourist” (2010) – TV – 09/17
  72. “Contagion” (2011) – Theater – 09/17
  73. “Breaking Bad” season 4 (2011) – TV – 10/16
  74. “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden” (2008) – DVD – 10/20
  75. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (2010) – TV – 10/27
  76. “A Place of One’s Own” (1945) – online – 10/29
  77. “Tenure” (2009) – TV – 11/04
  78. “Grown Ups” (2010) – TV – 11/07 – [Terrible]
  79. “Let Me In” (2010) – DVD – 11/07
  80. “The Muppets” (2011) – Theater – 11/23
  81. “Sarah’s Key” (2010) – DVD – 11/24
  82. “The Conspirator” (2010) – DVD – 11/24
  83. “Limitless” (2011) – DVD – 11/24
  84. “Batman: Year One” (2011) – DVD – 11/24
  85. “Super” (2010) – TV – 11/30
  86. “Hugo” (2011) – Theater – 12/03
  87. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (2010) – TV – 12/04
  88. “Please Give” (2010) – TV- 12/05
  89. “Try Seventeen” (2002) – TV- 12/05
  90. “The Bounty Hunter” (2010) – TV- 12/07
  91. “Gnomeo and Juliet” (2011) – TV – 12/07
  92. “Paul” (2011) – DVD – 12/12
  93. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) – Theater – 12/20
  94. “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night” (2011) – TV – 12/21
  95. “Unknown” (2011) – DVD – 12/25
  96. “Trespass” (2011) – DVD – 12/25
  97. “Battle for Terra” (2009) – online – 12/25
  98. “Setup” (2011) – DVD – 12/26 – [Terrible]
  99. “Battle: Los Angeles” (2011) – TV – 12/27
  100. “Everything Must Go” (2010) – DVD – 12/28
  101. “Crazy Stupid Love” (2011) – DVD – 12/28
  102. “Page One: Inside The New York Times” (2011) – online – 12/31

Started:

“There Will Be Blood” (200x) – TV – xx

* Movies on TV count if unedited

———

PAST YEARS’ STATS
In 2003: 28 films (estimated)
In 2004: 73 films
In 2005: 62 films
In 2006: 72 films
In 2007: 65 films
In 2008: 66 films
In 2009: 113 films
In 2010: 99 films

Movie graph

Troy’s Movies & Games 2011

I’ll keep track of my game playing and movie watching for the year in this post:

Movies watched in 2011:

  1. Knight and Day
  2. Full Metal Jacket
  3. State of Play
  4. A-Team
  5. Despicable Me
  6. How to Train your Dragon
  7. Inception
  8. The Losers
  9. Red
  10. The Recruit
  11. Easy A
  12. Nowhere Boy
  13. The Social Network
  14. Unstoppable
  15. Brothers
  16. Nine
  17. The Switch
  18. Flipped
  19. Salt
  20. Morning Glory
  21. How Do You Know
  22. The Tourist
  23. Book of Eli
  24. The King’s Speech
  25. Kick Ass
  26. Fifth Element
  27. Ip Man
  28. Tron: Legacy
  29. The Mechanic
  30. Megamind
  31. 12 Monkeys
  32. Super 8
  33. X-Men: First Class

Games:

  1. EVE Online: Incursion (PC)
  2. Torchlight (XBOX 360)
  3. Bangai-O HD (XBOX 360)
  4. Hunters: Episode One HD (iPad)
  5. Neuroshima Hex HD (iPad)
  6. Galaga Legions DX (XBOX 360)

Current Video Game Collection

Previous Entries:
2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003-2004

PAX ’10

I left work in the late afternoon on Thursday to board my flight to Seattle… it wasn’t a direct flight. Since I used frequent flier miles for travel on a holiday weekend, I had a couple of connections. I was off to Chicago, then Phoenix, and finally Seattle. As luck would have it, a storm rolled into the Chicago area right as my flight was to leave, so I was delayed a couple of hours. I missed the last flight from Phoenix to Seattle so had to spend the night and fly out the next morning. I also didn’t have a change of clothes because I checked a big suitcase in order to transport my 360 with me as well as bring swag back from PAX. I finally arrived at my hotel in Seattle at 11:30 on Friday. I ordered room service for a quick lunch so that it could arrive just as I had finished a quick shower and getting on a fresh set of clothes. I was able to get to the convention center just slightly after noon… not too bad considering the circumstances.

DTJAAAAM and Kinect

I had pre-loaded my desired schedule in a Google calendar and also download a couple different convention apps (Expo Junkie and later upon recommendation of a fellow gamer, theConventionist) and I didn’t have anything immediate to get to, so I checked out the show floor. One of the first folks I ran into was DTJaaaam playing Kinect Dance Central (don’t worry, I wont post the video of you… though you were killing it to Lady Gaga).

Lines were not bad on Friday, so I played several games. I was happy to play Bangai-O HD, I didn’t even know that game was coming out! I really loved the Dreamcast version and was slightly disappointed with the puzzle-like nature of the DS “spirits” version. The games I’m most excited about weren’t really surprises, but I enjoyed seeing them represented; Torchlight 2, Reach, and the next EVE Online expansion.

That reminds me, CCP unveiled a new trailer for EVE at PAX on Friday! The EVE players started gathering around the CCP booth at about 2:30 in anticipation of the 3:00 unveiling. As we huddled around, the small-talk from among pilots was really interesting,

“Where do you live?”

“Oh, me? I live in ‘The North’, in Deklin, how about yourself?”

“I live in a class 4 wormhole right now. But my corporation isn’t big enough to hold it so I’m sure I’ll be moving soon.”

Another player chimes in, “I live in Pure Blind, not far from Deklin. I’m part of the Northern Coalition”.

It was just really fun to see these like-minded EVE pilots discuss their happenings and whereabouts in context of the game without any prompting whatsoever :-)



That night was the 1up party, and I had a place in line for ScrtAznMann (who was braving the convention with a hurt foot!). We both had a blast, it was fun to see a lot of the personalities and our fellow bloggers there.



I was keeping an eye out for Area 5 guys as well, and was happy when I ran into Cesar at the party that night. (Photo taken by Patrick Klepek)





A nice thing about PAX is that the official schedule doesn’t start until 10:00 AM. So even though I was out until nearly 2:00 AM each night, I was still able to have time for a nice sit-down breakfast. It was a little bit of a walk, but the Dahlia Lounge is my favorite breakfast spot in Seattle. I had the eggs, fried mashed potatoes, and bacon and they make an awesome latte there. It gave me the perfect start each day!

One of my favorite thing to do is pop in on the panels hosted by my favorite podcasts. I was sure to hit Retronauts, Weekend Confirmed, and the Totally Rad Show.



Wednesday night was the official Gamers with Jobs meet-up at Rock Bottom. That was a lot of fun meeting so many guys I had only known from “the internet”. After dinner, a group of us decided to go to the board game free-play area and we checked-out “Battlestar Galactica” (at PAX you can borrow board games to try them out with the exchange of your drivers license) and we played that until the place was closing down. It is a really fun game, I purchased my own copy the very next morning.

On Sunday I made my way through the show floor again, spent time in the console free-play area (a huge room with every console imaginable and just about every game you can think of, available to borrow and play), and made sure there wasn’t anything else I had missed. That night I re-joined the awesome Gamers with Jobs folks for an un-official meet-up at Jonman’s home. There were card & board games, Rock Band, and a live podcast from the kitchen table! Another late night but so worth figuring out the bus schedules and getting out to his place. I really respect the guys at GWJ and we had such a blast!

I have to say, I feel like I experienced PAX much better this year. Most of the fun really starts after the convention schedule, when the exhibit floor is closed down and there are so many parties, concerts, and open opportunities to play board games and “same couch” multi-player games in the free-play areas. I met a lot of great people, and was saddened when it had to come to an end. Although I do have to admit I’m exhausted! I’m not normally a “party ’til 2AM” type of guy!

15 albums that will stick with you

Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you’ve heard that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends ( including me, because I’m interested in seeing what albums you choose). (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note — upper right hand side.)

 

01 – Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd

02 – The Wall – Pink Floyd

03 – Great Divide – Semisonic

04 – Leisure – Blur

05 – OK Computer – Radiohead

06 - Undertow – Tool

07 – Hunky Dory – David Bowie

08 – Blood on the Tracks – Bob Dylan

09 – Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia – Dandy Warhols

10 – Voodoo – D’Angelo

11 – Grace – Jeff Buckley

12 – Stephen Malkmus – Stephen Malkmus

13 – Dirt – Alice in Chains

14 – Automatic for the People – R.E.M.

15Your Arsenal – Morrissey

 

Too many coming to mind. More contenders:

00 – Evidence Blues Sampler (The Third) – Various Artists

00 – The Bends – Radiohead

00 – In It For The Money – Supergrass

00 – Stereo Type A – Cibo Matto

00 – Whip-SmartLiz Phair

00Superunknown – Soundgarden

00White Blood Cells – The White Stripes

00 – Chocolate and Cheese – Ween

00Disintegration – The Cure

00 - Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

00Metallica (Black Album) – Metallica

00 – Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin

00 – Fumbling Towards Ecstacy – Sarah McLachlan

00 – Life Begins At 40 Million - The Bogmen

Geek Bachelor Party :-)

This weekend was very full! My Nephew was married this Saturday, our rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and bachelor party were on Friday. Since I was his best man, I hosted the bachelor party. You should know we are a pretty conservative bunch, so instead of what might have popped to the top of your mind, we had an Xbox 360 LAN party!

 

 

I borrowed televisions, projectors, consoles, games and controllers, from other people until I had enough for 8 comfortably. Technically we could have supported the full 16 players locally by enabling more split-screens. As is, we had at most 2 people on a display, and a few had a display all to themselves.

Congratulations Ethan and Nicole!