Saturday, Feb. 12; Midnight-ish.

1. Fact Checking in Movies Based on Real Life Sucks: While preparing to give a talk in church, I was investigating the story that Paul Brand tells Billy Beane in Moneyball involving Jeremy Brown and his inadvertent home run. Though I'm still not sure if that was a true story or a fabrication of the screenwriters, I had to wade through several reviews that criticized the film for its lack of realism and its departure from the real story. Why in the hell to people do this? Regardless of source material, movies are WORKS OF FICTION. The phrase "based on a true story" does not mean "everything you are about to see actually happened." I'm pretty sure The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had the subheading of "based on true events." I'm not gonna go double check to make sure there was a real Leatherface out there turning teenagers into head cheese. The film industry produces these non-fiction films called documentaries. Maybe you've heard of them? Anyway, these documentaries contain research and facts and all kinds of things that you can nitpick. Leave the movie movies alone and enjoy them with the rest of us.

2. I'm Excited For Season 2.5 of The Walking Dead: AMC was holding a "Walking Dead" marathon today, and I just watched the last episode of the first season. I can't properly express how much I love this show. It's not just because of the zombies and the gore either. It's the dignity with which a zombie apocalypse is treated. In my opinion, The Walking Dead is one of those rare creative forces that takes an idea that's been done several times already (like survivors of a zombie holocaust) and strips it down to its core so we remember why it's cool in the first place.

3. I Had Some Other Crap to Write, But It's Late and I Forgot It: Yeah. Christine came on after The Walking Dead, but it's a movie about a demonic Plymouth. I might play Bioshock until I fall asleep at the controls.

Stupid Games

I found these two games that you can play online, and thought they were pretty hilarious. Unfortunately, they're also extremely aggravating. How I played so much NES is beyond me.

http://hatsproductions.com/organtrail.html

http://abobosbigadventure.com/fullgame.php

Enjoy!

Rough All Over

"I am a greaser," Sodapop chanted, "I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!"

1. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

2. Feel Good Hit of the Summer by Queens of the Stone Age

3. Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now) by Cracker

4. Friends by Band of Skulls

5. The Fallen by Franz Ferdinand

6. Let's Rave On by The Raveonettes

7. Fit But You Know It by The Streets

8. Honky's Ladder by The Afghan Whigs

9. Sinister Kid by The Black Keys

10. Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi (w/ MGMT & Ratatat)

11. Ain't No Friend of Mine by Mason Jennings

12. Millstone by Brand New

13. Lone Wolf by Eels

14. Ocean of Noise by Arcade Fire

15. Rock'N Roll by The Sounds

16. Right in the Head by M. Ward

17. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I by Them Crooked Vultures

18. Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed

19. You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse

20. Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead

21. White Trash Heroes by Archers of Loaf

Count Blogula vs. 2010: Music

I thought about putting together a list of my favorite albums of 2010, but I soon realized that my list would be the same as everybody else's list. The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Cee Lo Green, and a bunch of other artists put out some awesome stuff last year. I do want to make mention of Arcade Fire's epic album The Suburbs, because it was so good that I invented a rock opera in my head to go along with it. Anywho, here's a list of some great artists and their great songs that I felt needed some recognition for being cool in 2010. Have a listen, and tell me what you think.

"I Wanna Be Adored" by The Raveonettes

"The Ghost Who Walks" by Karen Elson

"Catch a Fire" by The Bug

"Holidays" by Miami Horror

"Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer

"Threshold" by Sex Bob-Omb

"Black Sheep" by Metric

"Skin Tight" by Scissor Sisters

"When I'm Small" by Phantogram

A Nice Day For a Resurrection

It's been so long that I don't even know what to write about. Do I start with my adventures in television watching with The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, and The Walking Dead? Should I explicate my journeys through the digitally rendered world of Fallout: New Vegas? Perhaps I should bring notable news from the world of comic books (I've been particularly enjoying The Stand, American Vampire, iZombie, and The Heroic Age: Avengers). Hmmm....I could also rant about my favorite albums of 2010 (Chief among them would be The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Best. Album. Ever). And lets not forget books! I've read some good stuff, such as Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, which was a brilliant retelling of The Big Lebowski as if it was written by William Shakespeare (thanks, Sheree). I might also tell you of the fine foods that I have ingested recently. The Machine Gun sandwich from Bruges Waffles and Fries? Dynamite! And I would be greatly remiss if I neglected the fine films that I have seen (I'm having a difficult time deciding whether I liked The Social Network or Inception best....Quandary!).
I suppose I'll just dedicate one blog post apiece to each of my favorite samplings of awesome that I experienced in the last year.

Until we meet again!

Saturday Morning, Circa 1988

I recently purchased an album by a band called The Go! Team called Thunder, Lightning, Strike. It's a good album, and you can hear a few songs from it courtesy of this playlist. However, when you listen to these songs, I want you to remember Saturday mornings circa 1988. I want you to remember the blurry neon colors that blasted through your pre-satellite television. I want you to remember the chatter of a spoon scraping the last of the Fruity Pebbles from the sides of your cereal bowl. I want you to remember Autobots and Decepticons, the "Sandman" story arc from Ghostbusters, and plastic action figures firing spring-loaded missiles into clear blocks that were never included with the action figure itself. I want you to remember the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and the satisfying ache that took over your thumbs after playing Contra all the way to The Red Falcon's still beating heart. I want you to remember these things while listening to these songs because, at the end of the day, it will make your soul happy.

Country Fried!

Below is a heapin' helpin' of my new and improved Country Fried Playlist. Let it fill your arteries with saturated awesome.

1. Everlasting Light by The Black Keys
2. Kick Drum Heart by The Avett Brothers
3. Righteous Heart by Nathan Lawr and the Minotaurs
4. Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
5. Tender by Blur
6. Jesus, Etc. by Wilco
7. Skinny Love by Bon Iver
8. Big Sur by The Thrills
9. Everybody Needs Somebody by China Forbes
10. Wildflowers by Tom Petty
11. Right Hand on My Heart by The Whigs
12. Bad Things by Jace Everett
13. A Martyr for My Love For You (Acoustic) by The White Stripes
14. Wishing Well by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
15. Tiger Tiger by The Sadies
16. Someday Baby by R.L. Burnside
17. Stick Around by Jonny Kaplan and the Lazy Stars
18. The Cave by Mumford and Sons
19. You Will Be My Ain' True Love by Alison Krauss
20. Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue by Murder By Death
21. I Don't Wanna Grow Up by Hayes Carll
22. The Mountain by Heartless Bastards
23. Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies
24. Done All Wrong by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
25. Four Leaf Clover by Old 97's
26. Further On (Up the Road) by Johnny Cash
27. Jolene by The White Stripes
28. Baby I Love You by The Yayhoos
29. Timebomb by Old 97's
30. W.I.A.D.F.Y. by Elliott Brood
31. Kingdom of Doom by The Good, The Bad, & The Queen
32. Bad As They Seem by Hayden
33. I Wish My Baby Was Born by Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus, & Tim O'Brien
34. The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash
35. Country Sweat by Oingo Boingo
36. Great High Mountain by Jack White
37. Goin' Out West by Tom Waits

COOPER: "Do you want to know why I'm whittling?"
TRUMAN: "Okay, I'll bite. Why are you whittling?"
COOPER: "Because that's what you do in a town where a yellow light still means slow down, not speed up."