Listosaurus Rex

Weezer is a fantastic alt-rock band that I have loved since I first heard “Buddy Holly” on the radio a decade ago.  Since then, I’ve taken the time to get to know their music.  I own every album and just about every EP and single, so I’ve observed the band’s evolution from misunderstood rockers to pop curiosity of recent years.

Though I in no way qualify as a “hardcore” Weezer follower, I am certainly a pretty big fan, and here is my opinion as to the twenty-five greatest songs they have recorded and released on major albums.

My ranking is of the studio versions, and no live tracks, B-sides, special editions, or unreleased material has been included. Particular care has been taken to judge the songs on their musical merit, and not consider them based on music videos or other factors external from the albums themselves.  Plenty of singles have been included, but some haven’t been.  Don’t be surprised to see an album track or two fighting their way up there.

Here’s a little bit of background on Weezer if you want to brush up.

Of course, these picks are just my educated opinion.  Feel free to disagree (and let me know in the comments).  Before I start, I also want to say that just about any track from Weezer’s blue album or Pinkerton could have pushed for a spot on this list.  I love both of those albums in their entirety.  And, without further ado, my picks.  Enjoy!

Read more »

There are a few things that I tend to wax nostalgic about.  Any victory of the Redskins over the Cowboys would qualify, as would any Billy Joel record my dad played for me as I was growing up.  But another thing I that I have countless warm memories of is computer games.  As far back as I can remember, these interactive adventures were my greatest pastime and the focus of my free time.

I’ve sinced moved on to bigger and better things, like “console gaming” and “having a life” (just kidding), but I will always browse any Greatest Computer Games list to see if any of my all time favorites have been included.  Recently, I stumbled across a particularly professionally-done one on IGN.  Here are the final results of the countdown:

1. X-COM: UFO Defense (1994)
2. Civilization IV (2005)
3. Star Wars TIE Fighter (1994)
4. Rome Total War (2004)
5. Fallout (1997)
6. Starcraft (1998)
7. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
8. SimCity 2000 (1993)
9. Half-Life 2 (2004)
10. Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings (1999)
11. Sid Meier’s Pirates (1987)
12. Battlefield 1942 (2002)
13. System Shock 2 (1999)
14. Company of Heroes (2006)
15. Grim Fandango (1998)
16. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
17. World of Warcraft (2004)
18. Call of Duty (2003)
19. Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness (1995)
20. Deus Ex (2000)
21. MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (1995)
22. The Sims (2000)
23. Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004)
24. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998)
25. IL-2 Sturmovik (2001)

The list straddles between picking influential games, games that were great at their time, and games that are most fun today.  For example, The Sims 2 is a more complete, fulfilling experience than the original, but The Sims blew everyone’s mind by looking good and playing better.  In fact, its addictive life-management gameplay wowed people so much that it outsold any game in history.

I was a bit surprised to see the pick at number one, but I can’t call it a bad pick by any stretch.  I played the shareware version to death back in the day.  It was one of those games I begged my parents to buy the full version for me, but they never budged.  I’ll have to go hunting online and see if I can find a torrent legal download of it somewhere.

But for any lifelong computer game fan, the real satisfaction from this sort of list comes from seeing your favorite games receiving props.  And here is where the list excel.  Warcraft 2 was my obsession for months on end.  Modern RTS games may improve gameplay and graphics, but none will ever steal my heart like Tides of Darkness did.  It was dramatic, exciting, engrossing, beautiful, and hilarious — everything my young mind wanted out of a game.  The map editor alone got double-to-triple hours worth of play from me, and blowing up critters remains my favorite Easter egg in any game.  Even Warcraft 2’s transcendent follow-up, Starcraft, didn’t engross me the way the humans’ and orcs’ epic struggles did.

But the only game to give Warcraft 2 a run for its money was Age of Empires 2.  Epic in scope and brilliant in execution, Age of Kings revived my love of RTS gameplay to a level it hadn’t been since the peak of my Warcraft 2 obsession.  It made up for having only one unique unit-set by having thirteen distinct, balanced civilizations to tinker with.

I’m also glad TIE Fighter is getting props, though #3 might be a stretch.  There was just something so satisfying about flying around TIEs and taking out X-Wings, completing secret objectives for the Emporer and taking orders from Vader.

There are of course a few oddball picks (IL-2 Sturmovik?), and Starcraft as low as #6 will pass as travesty in some circles, but overall this list hits all the right nerves and includes plenty of deserving classics.  Of the twenty-five, I’ve played fourteen of the games (or their similar predecessors or follow-ups), and I now have a hankering to find down some of the picks I missed (Deus Ex, Fallout) to see if they’re worth their reputation.

I watched The Shawshank Redemption for about the fifth or sixth time last night, and I still love it. What a good movie. That ending never fails to pump me up.

I’ve decided that the best part of the movie is the script. It ranks right up there with Pulp Fiction, Casablanca, and Annie Hall as my favorite scripts ever. There are so many brilliant moments in the script.

This got me thinking. What exactly are the best moments of this exceptional script?

After several hours of combing through the movie and pulling out the best moments, it is my pleasure to present what I believe are the greatest quotes from the script.

Let it be known that this post is a SPOILER WARNING! If you haven’t seen Shawshank, don’t read this post. In fact, don’t read anything else about the movie. Just go see it as soon possible, it’s a mighty fine movie.

Without further ado, I present my twenty-five favorite quotes and exchanges from The Shawshank Redemption.

Read more »

I was delighted to stumble across a well-written, authoritative list of the 25 Greatest Rap Albums by hilarious blogger and commentator Byron Crawford from ByronCrawford.com. Here is his complete top twenty-five:

1. N.W.A. - STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (1988)
2. SNOOP DOGGY DOGG - DOGGYSTYLE (1993)
3. 2PAC - RAP PHENOMENON II (MIX TAPE, 2003)
4. RUN-DMC - RAISING HELL (1986)
5. PHARCYDE - BIZARRE RIDE II: THE PHARCYDE (1992)
6. LL COOL J. - MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT (1990)
7. EPMD - UNFINISHED BUSINESS (1989)
8. BEASTIE BOYS - PAUL’S BOUTIQUE (1989)
9. A TRIBE CALLED QUEST - THE LOW-END THEORY (1991)
10. DE LA SOUL - BUHLOONE MINDSTATE (1993)
11. THE D.O.C. - NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER (1989)
12. ERIC B. AND RAKIM - FOLLOW THE LEADER (1988)
13. GENIUS/GZA - LIQUID SWORDS
14. GHOSTFACE KILLAH - SUPREME CLIENTELE (2000)
15. GETO BOYS - THE RESURRECTION (1996)
16. WYCLEF JEAN - THE CARVINAL (1997)
17. ICE CUBE - AMERIKKKA’S MOST WANTED (1990)
18. SCARFACE - MR. SCARFACE IS BACK (1991)
19. JAY-Z - REASONABLE DOUBT (1996)
20. NAS - STILLMATIC (2001)
21. OUTKAST - AQUEMINI (1998)
22. PUBLIC ENEMY - IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLION TO HOLD US BACK (1988)
23. LAURYN HILL - THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL (1998)
24. DJ QUIK - WAY 2 FONKY (1992)
25. DIZZIE RASCAL - BOY IN DA CORNER (2004)

I think this list is great because he gives credit where credit is due all around, and isn’t afraid to disagree with the so-called experts and music writers. Maybe if this list was just thrown out there I wouldn’t think very much of it, but if you read what he has to say about each album, it’s obvious this cat knows what he’s talking about when it comes to rap.

I like the distribution over time: he’s got Run DMC and Eric B. & Rakim, but he also has Outkast and Lauryn Hill. He doesn’t really play favorites by loading up the list with picks from just a few rappers. There’s plenty of range.

I may not agree with every pick — for example, I liked Illmatic more than Stillmatic, and I definitely would’ve included 36 Chambers — but Byron backs up every pick with solid reasoning.

I so liked the list that I wasted a half hour delving through his archives. He’s a pretty funny guy, and if you want a good chuckle, I recommend you check out his blog. His current topic of choice is the 2008 election, particularly the race issues behind it. Very thought-provoking and funny.

In short, check out this man’s list and his blog in general, too. He’s got some good stuff to say all-around.