Wednesday, December 30, 2009

2009 In Review

A little personal tradition that I've maintained since I was 15 years old is to choose, on New Year's, one song, one movie, one book, etc that will remind me of the year past. Since the advent of computers I have been able to keep track of my growing list of annual favourites, and now I present it here.

This year I have chosen the movie "Elf", starring Will Farrell, as the movie that will remind me of 2009 (because I watched it so damn much in my classes over the past two weeks). The song I chose for 2009 is "Sweet Harmony" by Beloved because it will always remind me of my year in Ottawa with my family. My book for 2009 is 1812: Napolean's Fateful March on Moscow, not only because I am currently in Moscow and visited the Borodino battlefield, but also because it was one of the best damn books I've ever read!

The TV show for 2009 is Criminal Minds because, at the start of the year, I watched the first three seasons on DVD with my mother and have since become a fan.

None of the "nominees" need be new that year; they must merely remind of the year. Also, I started the tradition in 1992 by choosing a song to represent that year, and have since added more categories (Movies, Books, etc).
Because I'm a lover of music, the choice of song to represent the previous year remains my most important category, and the choice of Sweet Harmony is only fitting for 2009 (for me). Here is a video I made of my time in Ottawa, set to the song.

Movies

1995: Happy Gilmore
1996: Legends of the Fall
1997: Titanic
1998: Saving Private Ryan
1999: The Thin Red Line
2000: Casino
2001: Gladiator
2002: Dumb & Dumber
2003: The Two Towers
2004: Farenheit 9/11
2005: Napolean Dynamite
2006: Hostel
2007: Superbad
2008: Office Space
2009: Elf

TV Shows

2000: Survivor: Australia
2001: The Simpsons
2002: The Simpsons
2003: Hockey Night In Canada
2004: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2005: The Sopranos
2006: The Colbert Report
2007: Battlestar Galactica
2008: Rome
2009: Criminal Minds

Songs

1992: Lost Together (Blue Rodeo)
1993: Scenario (A Tribe Called Quest)
1994: Born On The Bayou (CCR)
1995: Starseed (Our Lady Peace)
1996: Champagne Supernova (Oasis)
1997: Every Breath You Take (The Police)
1998: The Man Who Sold The World (Nirvana)
1999: Freak On A Leash (Korn)
2000: Endangered Species (Sepultura)
2001: Yellow (Coldplay)
2002: Sail Away (David Gray)
2003: If I Had $1,000,000 (Barenaked Ladies)
2004: Hey Ya! (Outkast)
2005: Edge Hill (Groove Armada)
2006: Lucky Man (The Verve)
2007: Miss Me (Bob Sinclair)
2008: Flake (Jack Johnson)
2009: Sweet Harmony (Beloved)

Book

1996: The Lost Regiment: Terrible Swift Sword (William R. Forstchen)
1997: Talisman (Sam Lewis)
1998: Shogun (James Clavell)
1999: Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder)
2000: The Colour of Magic (Terry Pratchett)
2001: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy (Douglas Adams)
2002: Cosmos (Carl Sagan)
2003: War of the Rats (David L. Robbins)
2004: Shogun (James Clavell)
2005: Aquariums of Pyongyang (Kang Chol Hwan)
2006: When, Where, Why & How It Happened (Micheal Worth Davison)
2007: A Short History of the World (H.G. Wells)
2008: The White Slaves of Maquinna (John R. Jewitt)
2009: 1812: Napolean's Fateful March on Moscow (Adam Zamoyski)

1 comment:

  1. When I was in Ottawa, I went to Carleton. The first few weeks or so, I used Dunton Tower as my landmark. It was after one drunken night in Hull (or, 'ull) that my friends and I were in a cab and I wasn't sure where we were, but I was convinced I could see Dunton Tower from Hull. Obviously I couldn't. But every once in a while, while visiting, one of them will inevitable say "I can see Dunton Tower from here!". (... in Owen Sound...)

    Good idea with the lists. Have a good New Year's. Not too many road closures around here yet, although Owen Sound was smacked with some storms the other day.

    - sandyhoney

    ReplyDelete