Again, in no particular order...
Top TV Shows
Top Chef season 6 - After a subpar season 5, the most recent season was plain awesome. It was a real pleasure to watch the top echelon of chefs compete throughout the season, with the top 4 taking home every Elimination Challenge, and 3 worthy challengers for the crown (Kevin with the most elimination wins, Bryan 2nd most elimination wins and never being in the bottom, and Michael with the 3rd most elimination wins, most quickfires, and most times in the top 3). I can only hope that future seasons will continue to attract high quality talent, and that Bravo will eventually stream episodes online.
Lost season 5 - Lost, and the next show on this list, should serve as an inspiration to TV show creators to write out a tight narrative for the entire story arc of a show before putting it to film. Ever since planning out the end, every week has been must-see TV. Can't wait for the season opener on Groundhog's Day to see what effect the nuke had on the mythology and characters.
The Wire (seasons 1-5) - After high recommendations from Shally's brother Sam, my college buddy Danny, and about every TV critic out there, we decided to give this HBO show a shot on DVD, and quickly became hooked into the gritty, raw, personable depiction of life in inner-city Baltimore. One reviewer said, of the series, that "The Wire" is like the "Great Expectations" of the 21st century American city - a story that becomes the quintessential example for future generations. I wouldn't be surprised to see this show being watched in classrooms years from now to discuss sociology, poverty, ethics, politics, and justice.
30 Rock (seasons 1-2) - Sometimes you want something light and humorous to watch, and after exhausting "Simpsons" and "Friends" reruns, we decided to take a chance on this critically acclaimed series and quickly became fans of the sharp writing and memorable characters. Jack Donaghy is awesome. And it doesn't hurt that Liz Lemon is a Star Wars geek ("I will slice you open like a tauntaun!").
Top Movies
Star Trek (theater) - I wouldn't say I'm a JJ Abrams fanboy, but he's certainly had a hand in a lot of quality material that is just entertaining. Next Spielberg? Really enjoyed Sylar as Spock, and the DVD's humor/outtakes video is hilarious.
Up (airplane) - Dug is my favorite supporting character of all the Pixar movies. "Oh boy! A BALL! I will go get it, and then I will bring it back!"
Namesake (DVD) - Starring the guy better known as "Kumar," this was a thought-provoking movie about the story of many of my friends' families - our parents coming over from the mother country (in this case India) to work in the tech industry and create a "better life" for the next generation. Made me want to ask my parents what it was like coming here from Taiwan all those years ago.
Children of Men (DVD) - Good sci-fi movie about a dystopian future where mankind can no longer reproduce.
Top Games
Gears of War 2 - The campaign was more of the same, but what made this memorable in 2009 was the addition of Horde mode - being able to play cooperatively with 3 or 4 friends against ever-increasing numbers of foes made for extremely enjoyable gaming parties, plotting strategies and then executing them.
Modern Warfare 2 - The closest that I'll ever come to starring in a Michael Bay movie. If only it had a Horde or Zombie mode - co-op Spec Ops is pretty good, but not quite as fun as teaming up with a bunch of friends.
Portal - The most inventive game I played this year. Shally often watched and made suggestions on how to defeat the puzzles, until the later levels where constantly-changing gravity made her motion-sick.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy - Shally and I enjoy playing through games together in co-op mode, or in adventure games with good stories and puzzles that we can solve together (with me usually doing the execution of our strategies and all the fighting). We went through both of these on the Wii this year.
Set - Not a video game but a card game, Shally introduced me to it while at the Great Barrier Reef in between snorkeling exhibitions, and it's now an occasional pasttime for us. Basically, it involves looking at 12 cards with varying values in each of 4 categories: number of items, shapes, colors, and fills, and the goal is to get as many "sets" as possible where each category is either all the same, or all different. Very compact game, easy to transport, and we even got my parents into it.
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Sunday, January 17, 2010
2009 Retrospective: Top Books
I was surprised to look at my book log and see that I read 35 books in 2009. Being married to a librarian definitely has its perks, as I can put things on hold and she can pick them up for me at work. In no particular order...
Non-fiction
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. My favorite of his major releases, as the studies and insights into what goes into success was actually quite interesting, insightful and also somewhat applicable. For example, his theories about the Asian immigrant work ethic (in short - rice paddies can be worked year-round while traditional crop fields need to be left alone to regain nutrients) kicked off other thoughts about whether this would impact Asian spirituality, and Christianity in particular.
"The Emotionally Healthy Church" by Peter Scazzero. With the drama that our English service went through in 2009, with our longtime English pastor resigning and several members leaving for other churches, my spirit was suffering a little bit. It was very timely to be able to read this book from the lead pastor at New Life Fellowship in Queens to be able to understand how to integrate Christian spirituality with the day-to-day and moment-to-moment human emotions and issues I deal with in work, church, family, and at home.
Fiction
Lots of sci-fi and fantasy this year...
"A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin. I heard about this epic fantasy series from a column by Doc Jensen at the Entertainment Weekly website about "Lost." It took a while to get into, but now I'm hooked into the characters, grim storylines, action, politics/manipulations, and everything else. Even though each book is 1000+ pages, they're hard to put down because the characters are so well fleshed out. Although I think the reputation of Martin as "the American Tolkien" isn't quite accurate, this series was still my favorite find of the year. Waiting for the 4th book to come from the library now.
"Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card. I also re-read Ender's Game this year, and then the companion book about Ender's subordinate but intellectual equal, Bean. I couldn't quite get into the post-Battle School books like "Speaker for the Dead," however.
"Old Man's War" series by John Scalzi. Very neat sci-fi universe where human consciousness can be transferred into a genetically engineered body created with your own DNA, so human armies are composed of old people about to die who enlist and then are given a new lease on life in prime physical health.
"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Better than the movie, although I wasn't fond of the whole pirate sub-story.
"Allegiance," "Outbound Flight," and "Survivor's Quest" by Timothy Zahn. I read through the most recent three books written by my favorite Star Wars author, and while they weren't as memorable as some earlier work, he never disappoints.
Re-read:
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. How could I not re-read the classics after visiting Middle-Earth?
"Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. Since it's been so long since I read this, my most recent memory of the story came from the so-bad-it's-awesome movie. Re-reading the book reminded me that it is nothing like the movie.
Non-fiction
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. My favorite of his major releases, as the studies and insights into what goes into success was actually quite interesting, insightful and also somewhat applicable. For example, his theories about the Asian immigrant work ethic (in short - rice paddies can be worked year-round while traditional crop fields need to be left alone to regain nutrients) kicked off other thoughts about whether this would impact Asian spirituality, and Christianity in particular.
"The Emotionally Healthy Church" by Peter Scazzero. With the drama that our English service went through in 2009, with our longtime English pastor resigning and several members leaving for other churches, my spirit was suffering a little bit. It was very timely to be able to read this book from the lead pastor at New Life Fellowship in Queens to be able to understand how to integrate Christian spirituality with the day-to-day and moment-to-moment human emotions and issues I deal with in work, church, family, and at home.
Fiction
Lots of sci-fi and fantasy this year...
"A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin. I heard about this epic fantasy series from a column by Doc Jensen at the Entertainment Weekly website about "Lost." It took a while to get into, but now I'm hooked into the characters, grim storylines, action, politics/manipulations, and everything else. Even though each book is 1000+ pages, they're hard to put down because the characters are so well fleshed out. Although I think the reputation of Martin as "the American Tolkien" isn't quite accurate, this series was still my favorite find of the year. Waiting for the 4th book to come from the library now.
"Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card. I also re-read Ender's Game this year, and then the companion book about Ender's subordinate but intellectual equal, Bean. I couldn't quite get into the post-Battle School books like "Speaker for the Dead," however.
"Old Man's War" series by John Scalzi. Very neat sci-fi universe where human consciousness can be transferred into a genetically engineered body created with your own DNA, so human armies are composed of old people about to die who enlist and then are given a new lease on life in prime physical health.
"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Better than the movie, although I wasn't fond of the whole pirate sub-story.
"Allegiance," "Outbound Flight," and "Survivor's Quest" by Timothy Zahn. I read through the most recent three books written by my favorite Star Wars author, and while they weren't as memorable as some earlier work, he never disappoints.
Re-read:
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. How could I not re-read the classics after visiting Middle-Earth?
"Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. Since it's been so long since I read this, my most recent memory of the story came from the so-bad-it's-awesome movie. Re-reading the book reminded me that it is nothing like the movie.
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