Jonathan

And so the personal attacks have begun. Well, I am a liberal, but I'm really not very weak minded, and I don't see myself joining Al Qaeda anytime soon. In fact, I am still waiting for someone to show me what Iraq had to do with September 11, and how invading them has helped the 'war on terror'.

Tonight was one of my most memorable sports moments, and an event that 10 years ago I never could have imagined would take place in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to the Thrashers and Hurricanes game, there was a huge ceremony honoring Francis, and his number 10 jersey was raised to the rafters. Since it was a special night, we decided to actually park in the pay lot at the stadium, and do a little tailgating. Here I am looking like a zombie. Inside the RBC Center, which was sold over capacity with standing room only. Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers warming up. The Canes all wore Francis jerseys during warm-ups. It's me hooray. Now it's time to leave the lower level and head up to our seats upstairs. #10 takes the ice for one last time. Francis skating the rink with his two sons. There were a lot of special guests on hand for the ceremony. The jumbotron omf digital zoom!!11 There it goes. One final skate around the RBC Center for Ron Francis. Oh yeah there was a game to play. Cory Stillman was injured and watching the game in the press box. Final score: Carolina 4, Atlanta 1 The win capped off a memorable night, and hopefully a landmark moment in North Carolina hockey history.

I will be staying up late and getting up early to watch all of the hockey games. It should be great. Unfortunately, I would say it's probably a long shot that USA will medal in hockey.

A lot of people keep telling about Maple Story; I might have to break down and try it sometime.

Hwy 61 is KEWL (omf like a rolling stone wtfbbq) BUUT itz AMERICAN IDIOT best album evah am i rit??? lol lol loool My vote went to Blonde on Blonde.

^ ^^ One of the biggest reasons for his retirement is his irregular heartbeat.

Was hoping that I would get a chance to see him in Raleigh in February, but I guess that's out. We'll miss you Mario

That's a really weird combination of bands.

I collected hockey cards, but haven't bought any in probably seven or eight years. I have a ton, though.

Ok....

Bump

I don't really have a top 10 list or anything, but Picaresque has been favorite this year, and here are the albums that I've been listening to the most in 2005: The Decemberists - Picaresque Sufjan Stevens - Illinois Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy Laura Veirs - Year of Meteors Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die There were a lot of other ones that I enjoyed, but these were the ones that really stood out to me.

^ No need to be so defensive with your opinions. For the record, I agree with nearly everything you said. I enjoyed it, but the action sequences should have been trimmed A LOT. There was no need for that film to be over three hours long. Why would we laugh? Anyway, I saw "The Squid and the Whale" yesterday. I had pretty high expectations since it's been receiving tremendous praise and placing high on a lot of top 10 lists, but it was somewhat disappointing. It was quite good, but not in my top 10 of the year or anything. Me and the people I went with got into a two hour argument on the film afterwards, so I guess it definitely succeeded in being one of the more thought provoking movies I've seen this year, but there were a few flaws that really stuck out to me, and it didn't really have the heart of, say, a Wes Anderson movie (which is the natural comparison to make I think). I would definitely recommend it, though; it's a very interesting film. 3/4

Years of careful thought and calculations led to the invention of this creative and original screen name.

It was either the Decemberists in Asheville, NC at the Orange Peel or Architecture in Helsinki at NC State. Can't really remember when they were. Both great shows, though.

Better late than never, Paul. Good stuff.

Wow I really was pretty messed up from all that sugar.

My brief little blip (no spoilers): Peter Jackson seems to be establishing himself as the top dog for making huge epic films. He seems to have a real hatred of making cuts, and I felt like that was a big problem here. At more than 3 hours running time, I thought some of the action sequences were way too long, and could have been cut substancially. "Kong" certainly does a good job though of giving action fans all they could ever want, while still developing the characters very well and creating many subtleties beneath the surface. Some of the CGI was not that great, but the CGI for King Kong himself was absolutely breathtaking. Suddenly it occured to me during the film that I was connecting with this giant ape by reading his facial expressions. Plus, it has Naomi Watts, so that's like automatically a couple of points right there. 3/4

I recently saw: Capote - Definitely one of the top films this year. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives THE performance of the year, and I have a feeling he's got an Oscar waiting with his name on it. The film even prompted me to go to the library and check out "In Cold Blood", the non-fiction novel that Truman Capote is writing during the film. 3.5/4 Thumbsucker - I was prepared to be disappointed for this one. It really seemed like it was just going to be an attempt to cash in on the success of recent indie flicks like "Garden State". The first act of the film did not do much for me, but once it got flowing in the second half it was flat out oustanding. A wonderful little film that most people won't see this year. And oh yeah: Keanu Reeves plays a philosophical orthodontist. 3.5/4 King Kong - Peter Jackson seems to be establishing himself as the top dog for making huge epic films. He seems to have a real hatred of making cuts, and I felt like that was a big problem here. At more than 3 hours running time, I thought some of the action sequences were way too long, and could have been cut substancially. Kong certainly does a good job though of giving action fans all they could ever want, while still developing the characters very well and creating many subtleties beneath the surface. Some of the CGI was not that great, but the CGI for King Kong himself was absolutely breathtaking. Suddenly it occured to me during the film that I was connecting with this giant ape by reading his facial expressions. Plus, it has Naomi Watts, so that's like automatically a couple of points right there. 3/4

Terrible news. He was definitely one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comedians ever.

Wow, you're really going all out for this At the Parks thing!

^^ Revolution 9 hehe Someone posted this on another message board I go to; I thought it was pretty cool:

I edited the topic. John Lennon was shot to death outside of his apartment in New York 25 years ago today. So, what better time than now to educate yourself about him. A decent article One of my local radio stations is playing Lennon songs all day long, which is pretty cool. Usually I am against listening to the radio at any means, but this is an exception I suppose.

October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980 Strawberry Fields forever.

George Carlin