gaddafi: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Watched The Outsiders (1983 Film)

I read the book in middle school, and watched the film afterwards, but since I needed glasses at the time (my natural vision progressively got blurry) watching it now feels almost like a new movie. Especially after a decade or so since I've seen it.

The movie features a cast of nobodies who went out to be all-star actors or at least got decent work later on. It's hard to believe how many actors got their start just from this one film.

If you haven't read the book, the story is about a small city with an obvious class warfare difference. The pointless story of the Greasers vs the Socs is an interesting one especially when something major happens to the main character Ponyboy Curtis.

Even though the movie is really well-made, the book is of course much better. But for those who don't like reading, this a forgotten gem that deserves another look.

My Year Of 2011

For me 2011 was the year of car trouble. Early on my car got a flat out of the blue, and really set me back when I had to pay $120 for a new tire. About a month later, yet another one of them blew. The car died only a little while later.

So I ended up having to get a new one. It's alright I guess, but I hope to upgrade in 2012.

This was the first time I celebrated Valentine's Day with my girlfriend Daisy. She wanted this giant bear from Hallmark, but it's 200 dollars and would not fit in a regular sized car. She'll have to do without it.

I did manage to get her a teddy bear, and we (for once) gave each other equal valued gifts for a holiday.

My little nephew had a birthday in April. They had his party in the park. It was nice. It was the first year his little brother could come too.

My town had their little Spring Fling fair in April or May I can't really remember. It was decent, but there was too many people.

Daisy had a little fun out of the "beat the car up" event. I did one while I was in high school, never saw the point of it. Most of the ones you go to is like hitting the side of a wall. The car is dented in so many spots to begin with.

We had a cartoonist drawing during the fair too. He got Daisy spot-on, he had a little fun with mine though..... my neck and head...oh geeze...

I'm very active in politics, and I was contacted to start a young democrats group on our county. We had a pretty good showing at first, but once school started....everyone didn't show up. Stupid non-election years...

We live in South Carolina, and while some elected southern democrats are very conservative compared to others we were a very progressive group. We attended the local LGBT pride parade and marched together. It was really fun, and practically our whole group (at the time of the event) showed up that day.

Despite being in a very conservative part of the state, there wasn't much protest. It was like the 3rd or 4th year they've ran such a march, and the general population either supports it or ignores it. They did have some protesters at the march which were 3 church groups. The one pictured especially were some of the most hateful and bigoted people I've ever met.

Even though it was a slow first half of the year for politics, we did do a protest against our Republican representative Trey Gowdy for supporting a plan to end Medicare as we know it.

Summer was alright, just fun and ice cream.

Had my 23rd birthday in August, and I spent it at a local fun park. I got first in laser tag even though I have no pictures. It's a little hard to get those in a dark neon room.

We also played in the arcade, and some mini-golf. I did well.

Daisy is still learning.

Overall it was a good birthday.

We had an international festival in the fall. I tried some fencing.

Daisy had fun fencing as well.

We also played on the big chess set.

My youngest nephew had his 1st birthday in October. We had it a pizza place, we had a fun time.

We also had a Trick-or-Treat event at my store. I got to dress up as Luigi this year like I did the year before. Yet again (thanks to my uncaring manager) I got swindled out of manning a station. I got to do it for maybe five minutes (after being promised otherwise months before) before a spoiled teenager got to run the whole thing for 3 hours just like she did last year.... I swear I should have stood up for myself in the middle of it.

Got to do another debate a little later. Herman Cain was big in the GOP race at the time, so I made sure to protest him.

And many others came to protest the corruption on wall street.

The local college managed to host a major GOP debate, and we protested on the sidewalk. We were facing a bunch of Ron Paul supporters on the other side of the street, so it was a bit weird.

A whole bunch of groups joined in and we did a big march up the sidewalk when night-time came.

I also had a very good Christmas. That's basically my year in a nutshell.

My Best Of 2011 Awards

Best (New) Video Game: Angry Birds Rio

I feel a little odd giving the award to a mobile game, but it was the only new game I played this year that was released in 2011. It's a great game don't get me wrong, but I could have tapped into so much more.

Best (Old) Video Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Out of all the video games I've played this year, I don't think I've had a better time than with Batman's biggest adventure yet. Most of the older Batman games were a joke, but Arkham Asylum is the first Batman game that is truly pure quality, and really makes you feel like Batman himself.

Worst Video Game: Dragon's Lair (NES)

Despite coming straight in and hoping for the best, I've never encountered something so unplayable. The SNES version is an awful game, but the NES version is literally broken. This bridge here is as far as most people will get, and that's the start of your adventure. Everything in this game leads to doom, even a door....

Best TV Series: Bamboo Blade

I don't watch much TV anymore, but I had watched this via DVD. It's a very good (and short) anime about kendo, high school, and random stuff. Very funny and charming.

Best Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

While my girlfriend got me into the movies last year, I read practically the whole series this year. I saw every movie except Part 2 of Deathly Hallows, so it was a rather magical book especially not knowing exactly what's going to happen.

Best (New) Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

While it wasn't as true to the book as Part 1 was, I thought it was the best movie I saw that came out in 2011. I gladly paid a high-ticket price to watch it in the theater, and couldn't wait to finish it.

Best (Old) Film: Escape From New York

It was really hard to pick an older movie since I had some many favorites, but Escape barely edges out among the pack for the top spot. I loved it since it has a thrilling story, interesting plot, epic characters, and one fantastic journey.

Worst Film: Rachel Getting Married

Even though it's not a terrible movie, this is the one I liked the least out of the whole year. It's basically stupid unnecessary drama at your sister's wedding, and will most likely leave you depressed at the end.

Friday, December 30, 2011

[Album] 2PM - 1:59PM

2PM - 1:59PM

Tracklist
01 My Heart
02 Heartbeat
03 Tired of Waiting
04 I Was Crazy About You
05 Gimme The Light
06 Back 2U
07 All Night Long
08 Heartbeat (Red Light Mix)
09 10점 만점에 10점 (10/10)
10 Only you (Acoustic Mix)
11 Again & Again
12 Hate You (Lounge Mix)
13 Don’t Know If She Might Come Back (Bossa Nova Mix)

DL Album: 2PM - 1:59 PM <-- MU
2PM - 1:59PM \--MF