I forgot to write this on Friday, but "Happy Birthday, New Wave!" :)

(B) What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Raymond Carver, 1981) Grade: A
My first introduction to Raymond Carver was probably the foreword he wrote for "On Being a Novelist," a book by John Gardner, a tutor of Carver's who had told him "to use 15 words instead of 25." This brevity works, and there is little, if any, fat in these short stories. Carver is efficient in bringing the reader into the moment, into his characters' lives, and then just as swiftly ending the story. The title story was my favorite, and interestingly, it was not published as Carver had originally written. You can read the original version at The New Yorker. The other original short stories from this collection are available in a book from Library of America.

This is a bit late, but Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian last month listed his Top 50 Films of the Decade. I've seen all of his top 10 with the exception of two. Good to see Ghost World on there. For brevity, here's the top 25.
1 Gosford Park
2 Amélie
3 L o s t i n T r a n s l a t i o n
4 O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5 E t e r n a l S u n s h i n e o f t h e S p o t l e s s M i n d
6 The Royal Tenenbaums
7 The Squid and the Whale
8 Almost Famous
9 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
10 In the Mood for Love
11 Secretary
12 Sideways
13 Charlie Wilson's War
14 The Son's Room
15 No Country for Old Men
16 Mulholland Drive
17 Talk to Her
18 Ghost World
19 T h e A v i a t o r
20 Persepolis
21 Burn After Reading
22 Me and You and Everyone We Know
23 The Devil and Daniel Johnston
24 Munich
25 Milk

(B) The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri, 2004) Grade: A-
My first introduction to Jhumpa Lahiri was her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, which won her the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I went on to read her second collection, Unaccustomed Earth, released last year, but had not tackled her first novel until now. Adapted for a film starring Kal Penn, The Namesake is just as effective as her shorter narratives, all of which tend to focus on the immigrant experience. Namesake follows Ashoke and Ashimi, two Indians who move from Calcutta to Cambridge. The novel details their struggles to adapt to American culture and to raise their two children with some knowledge of their heritage. The movie stays pretty faithful to the book, but elements of the story aren't as fleshed out, so you don't get the relevance of some things as much. Still, both are recommended.

On this rainy day, I thought to share some wit from Oscar Wilde. According to a survey, Wilde was voted the wittiest man in British history. His last words were: “Either these curtains go or I do.” His quotes are definitely a fun read. My quote of the day: “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

This clip is really great. Kimmel goes after Leno, who proves how unfunny he is.

I love these cute animated Web clips of The Ricky Gervais Show. And I'm a big fan of Stephen Merchant from Extras!

*The Haiti situation is tragic. Donate here if you have a few bucks.

*Conan O'Brien's statement (you can read here) made yesterday was funny and how he addressed the subject last night on The Tonight Show was humorous. Sadly, the whole situation really is not that funny. Conan waited five years for Leno to finish then moved his whole family and staff from NYC to Los Angeles just to be told 7 months into his gig that he needs to move time slots. I have not watched any shows on NBC in awhile; their programming is pretty weak and just getting worse. And even when they do have good show they just cancel it. There was a report on NPR about how NBC made a big mistake by canceling the sucessful and well done SouthLAnd show, a cop drama based in Los Angeles, right before it was about to air its second season, then to have TNT pick it up. NBC is a mess.

*Neat that Robert Smith is doing a cover of Very Good Advice for the new Alice in Wonderland soundtrack coming out March 2nd. This should be interesing :)

*Had to work late on Friday but no worries because I did get to meet up with a few friends at the Venice Room after :)

Food: Venice Room 4.5 stars ($13.50 for steak, bread, potato and salad bar ... YES!!)

*On Saturday Darth and I headed over to the Moonlight Rollerway skating rink in Glendale for a good friend's birthday party. I was amazed places like that still existed and how well Darth could roller skate. Sadly, I was not good but really is that even surprising :P Then it was off to the Roost for some cheap booze and dive like settings.

Bar: The Roost 3.5 stars (Stale old popcorn = Yum)

*Watched the Simpson's 20th Anniversary Special tonight hosted by Morgan Spurlock from Super Size Me fame. It was an interesting looking into how much the show has been integrated into not just domestic but international culture. It is impressive that the show has been on as long as it has and still, to me at least, is relevant and entertaining. Here is a review of the show according to the The New York Times.

*Keeping up with the list mode, one of my favorite sites LoveHKFilms posted the following:

TOP 50 Hong Kong Films of the Decade plus 2 Bonus Films

1. Infernal Affairs (2002), 879 points, 35 first place votes
2. In the Mood for Love (2000), 512 points, 25 first place votes
3. Shaolin Soccer (2001), 500 points, 10 first place votes
4. Kung Fu Hustle (2004), 281 points, 1 first place vote
5. Exiled (2006), 276 points, 6 first place votes
6. Election (2005), 267 points, 2 first place votes
7. Hero (2002), 251 points, 3 first place votes
8. One Nite in Mongkok (2004), 232 points, 1 first place vote
9. Infernal Affairs II (2003), 229 points, 4 first place votes
10. Running on Karma (2003), 220 points, 5 first place votes
11. SPL (2005), 218 points, 6 first place votes
12. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), 211 points, 8 first place votes
13. Red Cliff (2008), 202 points
14. PTU (2003), 201 points, 2 first place votes
15. Throwdown (2004), 174 points, 3 first place votes
16. Needing You (2000), 172 points, 3 first place votes
17. Lost in Time (2003), 162 points, 1 first place vote
18. Mad Detective (2007), 157 points, 2 first place votes
19. Ip Man (2008), 144 points, 2 first place votes
20. 2046 (2004), 143 points, 5 first place votes
21. Election 2 (2006), 138 points, 3 first place votes
22. Men Suddenly in Black (2003), 107 points, 2 first place votes
23. Fearless (2006), 100 points, 1 first place vote
24. My Life as McDull (2001), 89 points, 2 first place votes
25. Lust, Caution (2007), 80 points, 3 first place votes
26. My Name is Fame (2006), 77 points, 1 first place vote
27. Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002), 75 points, 1 first place vote
28. After This, Our Exile (2006), 67 points, 2 first place votes
29. Beast Stalker (2008), 67 points, 1 first place vote
30. Fulltime Killer (2001), 66 points, 1 first place vote
31. Sparrow (2008), 64 points
32. July Rhapsody (2001), 63 points, 1 first place vote
33. Juliet in Love (2000), 62 points, 2 first place votes
34. New Police Story (2004), 61 points
35. My Wife is 18 (2003), 58 points, 2 first place votes
36. Crazy ‘N The City (2005), 53 points
37. Love on a Diet (2001), 51 points
38. Just One Look (2002), 50 points, 1 first place vote
39. Protégé (2007), 48 points
40. My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002), 48 points
41. You Shoot I Shoot (2001), 47 points, 1 first place vote
42. Isabella (2006), 46 points
43. Funeral March (2001), 44 points, 1 first place vote
44. Love Battlefield (2004), 44 points
45. Perhaps Love (2005), 41 points
46. Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), 39 points
47. Flash Point (2007), 37 points, 1 first place vote
48. Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone (2000), 37 points
49. Hooked on You (2007), 36 points, 1 first place vote
50. Time and Tide (2000), 36 points

51. The Eye (2002), 29(38) points - bumped up due to late votes
52. Love Undercover (2002), 30(37) points - bumped up due to late votes

How many have you guys seen? I am at 34 but will def. increase this number over the next few weeks :)

Well, I got laid off today. It's definitely a weird feeling, cos for six years, I had my routine down, and today it was: Pack up your desk, and you can go. Bye.

I was thinking that in publishing, the longer a magazine is around, the less likely you think it will die, an inverse relationship to humans and death. I mean, the older a person is, the less shocking it is when they go. But take Gourmet magazine (70 years) or Editor & Publisher (more than 100 years), you just don't think they'll go away.

The magazine I worked for has been around for 30 years, so I guess it is not as established, perhaps less shocking.

*According to the Jan. 8th issue of Entertainment Weekly these are the 25 movies to watch before the Oscars (March 7th):

- Up in the Air
- Avatar
- The Hurt Locker
- Precious
- Inglourious Basterds
- Invictus
- An Education
- Up
- A Serious Man
- The Messenger
- Julie & Julia
- A Single Man
- Crazy Heart
- The Blind Side
- The Last Station
- Nine
- Star Trek
- District 9
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Lovely Bones
- (500) Days of Summer
- It's Complicated
- The Young Victoria
- Bright Star
- The Informant!

So how many have you guys seen? I've seen 8 out of the 25. I am not too excited about most of the films listed, it seems like a slow year. (FYI, I wrote the same thing last year but honestly this year I really think there is nothing good.)

On a different note Stephen King listed his favorite movies of 2009 in the same issue; quite interesting:
10. 2012
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
7. Law Abiding Citizen
6. District 9
5. The Reader
4. Disgrace
3. The Road
2. The Last House on the Left
1. The Hurt Locker

Today I checked my office inbox and received a corporate e-mail that informed me I could look forward to the closure of several magazines and imminent layoffs. Happy new year! This was already expected, as the entire sale process has been a long and difficult one, but most employees were upset that the e-mail was sent the morning of Dec. 31, right before everyone’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. I don’t check my office e-mail outside of work, so I hadn’t heard the news, but that is in pretty poor form. At least it wasn’t Christmas, I guess.

(B) Eating Animals (Jonathan Safran Foer, 2009) Grade: B
Eating Animals is writer Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) trying to decide whether he should become a vegetarian and raise his son that way. It would be called The Omnivore’s Dilemma if that title wasn’t already taken, perhaps. Foer looks at how animals are farmed (almost 99% is on factory farms) and processed. Basically, the low cost of meat is made up for in other ways (abuse of factory farm workers, unregulated pollution and, of course, the inhumane treatment of animals). In the end, Foer believes in animal welfare (people have the right to eat meat, if animals are treated humanely) versus animal rights (the belief that animals should not be consumed at all, believed by folks like Morrissey). It’s an interesting read. And it made me think of the Troy McClure video in The Simpsons.

The Simpsons - 705 Lisa the Vegetarian

*House hunting has to be the worst thing. I use to think trying to buy a new car was bad but house hunting is 1000 times worst. There are too many factors to consider - school district, lot size, commute from work and etc. It does amuse me in a disturbing way all the vacant houses there are out there when people who had no money thought they could buy something.

*American Idol is going to start in a few days and lately I have been listening to the best Idol winner ever ... Kelly Clarkson. She is the best. Her newest album All I Ever Wanted was strong; must better than her My December one. During one of her tour shows last year she performed and previewed some new songs for her new album where a fan recorded it and uploaded them to YouTube. The one I enjoyed was the cover of Taylor Swift's White Horse. Pretty good stuff.

*I feel like I need to nurse this poor blog back to health. I am going to try hard to post as often as I can even if they are lame and pointless. At the very least it will document how my 2010 is going.

*I thought I would start rating places I eat, not that I am a foodie of any sort but I do like consuming food so yea :) Most of my links will either be the actual site link or Yelp since I like to use that site for reviews.

Food: Cobras & Matadors 2.8 stars

*Happy 2010 to all!!

*2010 New Year's Resolutions:
1. Eat better, less meat.
2. Buy property - I would like this to happen this year.
3. Save even MORE money.
4. Travel more to places.
5. Run more.

2009 New Year's Resolutions:
1. Eat better, less meat and run more. (eh didn't really do the less meat part and I tired to run more this yr)
2. Buy property - I would like this to happen this year. (nope to this, still waiting)
3. Save even MORE money. (more or less did)
4. Travel more to places. (just drove up the coast of Calif.)

*It seems like 2009 was the death of blogs. Not just this one but some other friends of mine all stopped blogging. I think a lot of it had to do with Facebook and Twitter updates so the need to blog was pointless. I am not sure how long I will keep this up but hey we'll see.

*2009 was my lowest year in movie watching, I did not even break 100.

77. Alien Dir: Ridley Scott 5 stars
78. Aliens Dir: James Cameron 5 stars
79. Old Acquaintance Dir: Vincent Sherman 4 stars
80. Michael Jackson's This Is It Dir: Kenny Ortega 4 stars
81. Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) Dir: Pedro Almodovar 3.8 stars
82. The Road Dir: John Hillcoat 4.2 stars
83. Iron Monkey Dir: Yuen Woo-Ping 3.8 stars
84. The Year of the Yao Dir: Adam Del Deo & James D. Stern 3.5 stars
85. Up Dir: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson 4 stars
86. Step Up Dir: Anne Fletcher 3 stars
87. Julie & Julia Dir: Nora Ephron 3.6 stars
88. Bruno Dir: Larry Charles 2.5 stars
89. Inkheart Dir: Iain Softley 2.8 stars
90. Death on the Nile Dir: John Guillermin 4 stars
91. Rebecca Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 4.5 stars
92. Red Cliff Dir: John Woo 5 stars
93. Avatar Dir: James Cameron 4.2 stars