Recently in 101/1001 Category

"I don't need complications in my life." - Mariah Carey, Stay the Night

A year ago I lost my mind and decided to attempt 101 things in 1001 days. Here's a complete Annual report on my accomplishments so far.

Good Lord. What was I thinking?

1. Attend SXSW (completed!) - And it was well worth it. I plan to return next year. I blogged about exuberantly at the time.
2. Lose 30 pounds - After two unsuccessful attempts with the South Beach Diet, I'm now going to the Tae Bo center every day for an hour of crazy sweatin'. The MVP made me do it. We've joined the cult of Tae Bo and the Blanks family is trying to kill us but we love it. I'm not nearly as addicted as she is, though. I still haven't made it to sunday boot camp. I am 10 pounds lighter today than I was a year ago.
3. Lower my blood pressure - I haven't checked my blood pressure all year so I have nothing to report. I'm reading You: The Owner's Manual now though and they suggest regular blood pressure readings so I think I'm going to start. Isn't it free in the good drug store? I also need to go visit the doctor for some blood tests and such...it is about that time.
4. Make LA Public Transportation my main mode of travel for a month. Haven't even attempted this yet and when I move in the fall it will be even less necessary. Who knows when I will achieve this one. It is going to require some planning and discipline.
5. Run a 5 or 10k race for charity 8 weekends in a row. I thought I was going to do this this summer. Guess not.
6. Listen to every album in Rough Guides 100 Essential Soul Albums. I've listened to 24 albums on the list. I'm currently working on this pretty seriously though by buying one album from the list that I haven't listened to each week. Last album purchased? The Best of Cameo which was an excellent choice as I hadn't put a single Cameo track in my iTunes ever.
7. Attend Michelle & B's Celebration. We're just over two months away now right? I believe I even have Celebration duties. I need to practice my microphone voice and start thinking about a new suit.
8. Take a trip to South America. There isn't anything planned yet but Venezuela or Brazil would be nice.
9. Take a trip to Canada.  Same as above. Insert Toronto or Vancouver where appropriate.
10. Start a retirement Fund. I plan to start a Roth IRA in August, actually.
11. See New York in Fall (completed!). I wrote about it. I took my sister to see NYU. She starts there in a few weeks.
12. Play Texas Hold 'Em at a casino table in Vegas. Amazingly enough, I haven't been to Vegas all year.
13. Learn enough Spanish to be able to watch Como Agua Para Chocolate without subtitles. This has gotten even more important as I've been spending a lot of time with Spanish speakers. I hate missing part of the conversation. I believe this will be accomplished in the fall.
14. Start taking ASL classes again. I haven't even thought about this. I think this is going to be a year 3 project.
15. Find a charity to support and volunteer at least 2 hours of my time to it weekly. I read my volunteer match recommendations every week but I haven't stepped up to the plate yet. I'm lame on this one.
16. Write a letter to my local representative to state government about their record. Politically, my head has been much more nationally focused than locally.
17. Write a letter to my federal representative about their record (completed!). Me and Brad Sherman correspond regularly.
18. Write a letter to my state senators about their record (complete!). I sent some good wishes to Sen. Boxer about her increased prominence in politics this year and being a loud, angry Dem...just like she should be.
19. Attend a town hall meeting. I've missed all three.
20. Trace the geneology on my mother's side of the family as far back as I can. I'm debating on whether or not this one is done. I have a pretty solid picture of our family history from my grandmother when she was here in June but it is entirely possible I could do more work to piece it all together. So, yeah...maybe done, maybe not.
21. Find out who my biological father is (complete). Um, yeah, there was a post about it.
22.  Get A grades on every song on Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix. Gosh. I haven't played in a very long time. I will have to come back to this soon.
23. Sing Girl, You Know It's True by Milli Vanilli at a Karaoke Bar. I have been to Karaoke exactly once in this time frame and they didn't have it on the system at the Orchid Restaurant in Koreatown. I did sing some Justin Timberlake there, though.
24. Perform comedy at an amateur night. This might be the most ridiculous thing on this list.
25. Bike to and from work. When I move this is so going to happen.
26. Get the Sidekick II when it is released (complete!). I did and I love it even though now I have newfound lust for bluetooth enabled goodies.
27. Get an Apple Cinema Display (complete!). I also got an iPod Mini and a Mac Mini. I went apple crazy this year.
28. Own every Spike Lee film on my top 100 films list on DVD. I own School Daze, Bamboozled and Get On the Bus. Of those, I think Bamboozled is the only one on my list as it currently stands.
29. Watch the entirety of Twin Peaks on DVD. Nope. Nada. Haven't even got started.
30.Watch all available seasons of Homicide: Life On the Street on DVD (Complete!). I was very obsessive about this show for awhile.
31. Take a photography class. I'm thinking next spring is photography class time.
32. Get my story, The Lonely Little Wonton, illustrated. I've totally slacked on this. I should probably do a rewrite.
33. Pursue publishing the story in book form. See above.
34. Write The Lonely Little Wonton and the Church of Chicken. See above.
35. Paint the walls of my apartment. This has to happen in the next two months if only because they need to be nice when I move out.
36. Replace the patio and window screens in my apartment. Oh, this so has to get done.
37. Fix the Toilet Paper Holder in my bathroom (completed!). Why is building or installing something in your home yourself so damn satisfying?
38. Buy more bookcases (completed!). This is so the boring part of the list.

ugh. Work calls. more later.

"Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone." - Dido, Fire & Rain [Live on KCRW, September 2003]

I'm about to sit down and enjoy the east coast feed of The Wire before I go pick up my sister and we make our way to the east coast ourselves. I'll be in New York in the morning, y'all, and figured it was a good as time as any for a little 101/1001 update.

Now with more revelations!

Oh, quick bonus note before we begin: Most of y'all know about my "whateveritis" with The MVP...well, she's been away and so last night I found a whole new person to obsess over for completely different reasons. People in the know should check my LJ for insider knowledge.

I'm a swimfan y'all.

Okay, 101/1001...

"We just want to chill and let you party" - The Foreign Exchange, Nic's Groove [buy the album]

What I'm finding as I do this Top 100 Films List is that there are genres woefully neglected by me even though I very much enjoy them. I'm floored by the number of Documentaries that I haven't watched as well as the wealth of Foreign Film yet to enter my dvd player (and speaking of which, on Jessica's recommendation, I'm about to purchase one of these babies to replace my old JVC). My netflix queue is growing.

These are the very short lists of Documentaries and Foreign Films vying for space on my list.

• When We Were Kings
  
• Spellbound
  
• Murder on a Sunday Morning
  
• Scratch
  

• Amélie
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  
• Like Water for Chocolate
  
• Run Lola Run
  
• Wasabi
  

I think I'm going to make my comedy and horror pools next...which should be interesting.

"Can't get away from holding you." - Carol Williams, Can't Get Away (From Your Love) [buy the album]

In case you were wondering how I was doing on the 101/1001...

11.See New York in Spring Fall.

Update: This task has been updated because I'm making a trip to NY for the week of Thanksgiving. I might still make it to NY in Spring within this time frame but I'm calling this impending trip as counting!

We've had a couple Hold 'Em games locally (I came in just a dollar out of first place the last time I played. With a 10 dollar buy-in, I tripled my money) but I'm going to Vegas in January and it will be on!

Completed sometime in September 2004 when I wrote to my U.S. Rep about how much I appreciated his record on social issues, particularly in the face of the Defense of Marriage Act and Amendments. He sent a follow up letter just last week.

*crossing fingers* If my mom and I actually find time for lunch in our busy schedules this week then I'll know more.

22.Get A grades on every song on Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix.

As of October 18th, 2004, I have A grades on 4 songs and an AA perfect grade on one song. This is much harder than I expected it to be. I need to put in some more work.

I sidekick like crazy and have since I purchased it the day it was released. Don't hate.

Update: I'm altering this a bit because it's no longer what I want. I will own every spike lee film that makes my top 100 list and those that were up for consideration. Why purchase films I'd rarely watch?

This is proving harder than I thought as well. For some reason, I can't stay focused while watching.

Season 5 was released. I'm currently on disc 3

Completed on October 17th, 2004. Check the pic.

Completed on October 16th, 2004. Nobody said anything about building them.

I'm actually 3 weeks from being 40% of the way there. Fiscal Jason, y'all.

I'm working seriously on it.

I did this way back in August 2004 when I met Monique live and in person. We had Roscoe's and laughed.

Check the flickr.com joint. I'm working on it, boss.

Completed September 2004 and has been continued through October 2004 which is so hot. I find my own fiscal responsibility so sexy.

"Damn it's setting in now, cuz cartoons are turning into real life." - N*E*R*D, Wonderful Place [buy the album]

Cartoon Brew has been talking a lot about the creepiness of CG Humans and I'm in complete nod-your-head agreement. That Polar Express movie just looks screwy. I don't like an animated Tom Hanks staring at me or those freaky kids jumping around on an animated train.

I want my animation to be whimsical and wonderful. Animating or anthropomorphizing normally inanimate objects or animals is one thing. Toy Story and A Bug's Life are good times. But the humans are always creepy. That the kid is an important character in Monsters, Inc is probably why I don't enjoy it as much as I should.

Anyway, this is as good a time as any to look at the animated films up for consideration on my Big Post of Flicks (in no particular order).

• Princess Mononoke
  
• A Bug's Life
  
• Spirited Away
  
• Tokyo Godfathers
  
• Lady and the Tramp
  
• The Secret of Nimh
  
• Dark Crystal
  
• Beauty and the Beast
  
• Toy Story
  
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  

"You can't stop me..." - Jean Marie K & Oliver Fox, You Can't Stop (original good mix) [buy the album]

Okay, my first crack at this wasn't well thought out. As j. thebrotherlove pointed out, it's near impossible to do this and make it work. What I realized is that my criteria was too soft and that I needed to approach this from many different angles. So, here's how I'm doing this now: this post features my Definitive Top 25. For whatever reason, and I'll explain to you if you ask, these are, bar none, my absolute favorite films. They never get old. I will always watch them if they are on cable. When I'm sixty, i'll be dragging HSW to go see them at the Midnight Movies on Mars (M-A-R-S. Red Rocks!). What will follow for the rest of the week will be blocks of films that make up the rest of my list and the categories they fall into so that there's an accurate and varied cross section of what I like in film.

**Note - even though I fully expect Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and possibly I *heart* Huckabees to enter my top twenty five at some point, I'm choosing not to include any film released this year as they are too fresh in my brain to be compared fairly with other films.

The Definitive Top 25

1. Lèon
   
2. Aliens
   
3. Ferris Beuller's Day Off
   
4. The Color Purple
   
5. Big Trouble in Little China
   
6. The Matrix
   
7. The Empire Strikes Back
   
8. The Shawshank Redemption
   
9. Goonies
   
10. Silence of the Lambs
    
11. Deep Cover
    
12. Back to the Future II
    
13. New Jack City
    
14. Tombstone
    
15. Signs
    
16. The Royal Tenenbaums
    
17. Goodfellas
    
18. The Great White Hype
    
19. The Nightmare Before Christmas
    
20. Bowfinger
    
21. The Neverending Story
    
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    
23. The Abyss
    
24. Beat Street
    
25. 12 Monkeys
    

"Ask me if we need a different way of life...yes!" - Mr. Lif, Home of the Brave (DJ paWL Remix) [buy the album]

I need your help. I'm compiling my personal top 100 films of all time and while I know I've seen near 500 films (and probably more) in my lifetime, I'm struggling to come up with the definitive list. What am I missing on here? I know there are some important films to me lost but my mind is currently mush.

The criteria and order is actually pretty simple. Each position is a battle. The movies below a position are all the films that would lose if both movies were on cable at the same time. I tried not to make too many "This is a classic film and deserves a spot" choices and focused majoratively on the flicks I like to watch. So, check it out and put possible omissions in the comments if you would. Thanks!

1. Leon (The Professional)
2. The Color Purple
3. Aliens
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. The Matrix
6. Goodfellas
7. Big Trouble in Little China
8. Ocean's Eleven
9. A Soldier's Story
10. Ferris Beuller's Day Off

"I'm too clean for a scene." - Kiley Dean, Keep it Movin' [catch it at time wastin']

101 in 1001 quick update:

I've been able to slice a few more off the list.

All my bills for the month of September have been paid or will be paid by my online billpayer on time or early. This was huge for me. I'm so not the on-time bill guy (likely having lost thousands of dollars in late fees and nonsense because I've been too lame to keep track and manage my money better)...it's quite an amazing feeling actually.

Until season 5 is released later this month, I've completed Homicide: Life on the Street on DVD. Season 4 had several excellent episodes but it also had some missteps. I'm never as compelled with Lewis & Kellerman as I should be and there seemed to be far fewer big Pembleton and Bayliss cases (truth be told though I want P&B on every case while Russert and Gee deal with the interoffice politics of the baltimore PD. Yaphet Kotto is magnificent in every scene he's in and I find him woefully underused). Their are definite hints into what David Simon and Tom Fontana take with them to The Wire in this season, particularly Scene of the Crime which finds Lewis and Kellerman going head to head with a Muslim group seeking to police a housing project. Kellerman and Lewis are pelted from the apartments of the building while attempting to investigate much like Prez, Carver and Herc in the first season of the HBO Show (the Muslims vs. cops concept also got play on The Shield in a similar fashion to this Homicide episode).

Because my old Colorsync monitor blew out last night, I'm now the proud owner of a 17 inch Apple Studio Display. It's gorgeous. Everybody at Frye's was ogling it as I walked out with the sweet apple box. You're welcome to geek out now as well. Are people really paying $1700 bones for the 23 inch displays, though? Can't you get two eMacs, an iPod Mini and a happy meal for that price?

I asked my mom to have lunch with me so that I could ask her some questions (about my biological father...although those words were never said). She agreed but we still haven't done it. It's gotta go down this week, I think. It's her birthday week but it's weighing on me more with each passing day.

"I love you more." - George Duke, I love You More [buy the album]

The List. The Last Update.

This week is a sad tale of woe in the 101/1001 world as I only have one update.

60. Meet someone in person from another city that I first met through blogging (completed).

Mo, her sister, and I had brunch at Roscoe's Chicken 'N Waffles today. Mo is, I think, the first person from the blog world that I actually talked to and developed a relationship with way back when this joint first started. We made fun of Chuck Sawyer and she introduced me to a lot of the other black bloggers and diarists out there. I love miss Monique. Suffice it to say, it was a good time. Her sister is hilarious and we laughed and clowned and took pictures and set off the afternoon right. I tried to get the scoop as she's not writing as much about her personal life on her site(s) as she once was and I never see her on IM anymore but 75 minutes ain't that long and we both had places to be.

It was exceedingly normal and comfortable and not-creepy. Sometimes, though, this mixture of the virtual and the real creeps me out. Hanging with EJ and Mike in Hawaii was excellentbut going to one of those early meatspace joints totally squicked me out. I mentioned on Megan's post that the fact that we both eat at Jinky's and that it's possible we've been there at the same time is weird to me. On Friday night at Dancing Brave's (who I knew in the flesh before I knew her internet personae) birthday extravaganza, Ultra Tart, the now-defunct Lazy Girl and I played the Who's the Defamer game. For some reason, I've been suspected of being the defamer by those who know me. I'm not. I've got a needling suspicion, though, that the defamer and I have been at the same parties and/or events and might even run in circles that at times intertwine and it drives me bonkers.

I've had IM and email conversations with this virtual person who I may very well have clinked glasses with or passed when I'm visiting fox television on the fox lot or who may be hooking up with one of my friends and I don't even know it.

See, now I've creeped myself out.

I need a shower.

I might get the opportunity to meet Gwen and her clan tomorrow. I suspect that this will be more like Mo and less like the defamer on the creeping-jason-out scale.

Do I get bonus points on the 101/1001 for that?

"Can't keep quiet, this time we need more than a riot" - Talib Kweli + Dead Prez, Shuffering + Shmiling [buy the album]

Here's the Complete List in case you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about here.

2. Lose 30 pounds.

1.5 pounds have gone bye bye. A little more dancing, a supreme lack of fried foods and a lot more fruit seem to be the culprits.

12. Play Texas Hold 'Em at a casino table in Vegas.

No moves on this but did you see Celebrity Poker Showdown this week? Amy Poehler is now my third SNL girlfriend, moving ahead of Tina Fey but still quite a ways behind Maya Rudolph. And, wow, I can't believe it's going to be an all-dudes final this time. At least David Cross is amusing, Dave Navarro talks a lot, and Steve Harris is serious about his cards. My pick to win is Seth Meyers, though. He's not a great card player but he's consistent, he reads players well, and he's easily the least famous person at the table. I still don't know who he is.

13. Learn enough Spanish to be able to watch Como Agua para Chocolate without subtitles.

¿Dónde está el computador? El computador está en la mesa.

Baby steps, people. It's amazing how much español has escaped my brain since I cheated and charmed my way to solid Bs in 2 years of the class in high school.

15. Find a charity to support and volunteer at least 2 hours of my time to it weekly.

I've committed some time to working with Human Rights Campaign but I don't think that it's going to be one. Equality of Marriage Rights is important to me but I don't want my eventual regular volunteer work to be as political. It needs to be more of a social service.

19. Attend a Town Hall Meeting.

My Congressman is having a Town Hall Meeting on Sunday August 29th at 2pm at Reseda High School. It is on my calendar. If you're in the 818, maybe you should join us and fill out his Federal Issues Questionnaire. Mr. Sherman sits on several committees and is very much one of the good guys, in my opinion, in the House. ch-ch-check him out.

30. Watch all available seasons of Homicide : Life on the Street on DVD.

Yesterday I watched the first 4 episodes of season 4 and, as I am with almost every episode, just completely overwhelmed with how exceptional the acting is. I cannot say that there has ever been a better acted drama on television than Homicide. Andre Braugher is a thespian, damnit.

52. Complete the upcoming Legend of Zelda game without a FAQ or guide.

Nothing to do with Zelda but with my current gaming obsession, Sudeki. I broke down and checked a FAQ on it today as I'm stuck battling this bastard of a boss with what is easily my weakest character. The FAQ hasn't helped. He's still kicking my ass.

57. Compile a personal top 100 films list.

Some films vying for space on my list (in no particular order): Léon, The Shawshank Redemption, Big Trouble in Little China, Bowfinger, The Color Purple, Ferris Beuller's Day Off, Jackie Brown, Deep Cover, Dancer in the Dark, A Christmas Story, Tombstone, Silence of the Lambs, Signs, The Great White Hype, Face/Off, When We Were Kings, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Back to the Future, 12 Monkeys, A Soldier's Story, The Abyss, The Matrix, Rear Window, The Sixth Sense, Goonies, Ocean's Eleven, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

44. Define my political ideology (completed).

In Fanatics and Fools, Arianna Huffington quotes John Winthrop's speech upon arriving in Massachusetts in 1630. It's a speech I read in several of my poli-sci courses at GW and one in which I had framed an essay around. Winthrop says:

We must bear one's burdens...We must knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection; we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of others' necessities...We must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together: always having before our eyes our community as members of the same body."

97. See Shaquille O'Neal play live as a member of the Miami Heat.

The Heat visit Staples Center and the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, January 14th 2005. I love knowing season ticket holders.