With the end of 2012 it's time once again for the 2012 power ranking.
Album:
Life is Good- Nas. I haven't heard a rap album this good in a long time. There are a lot of great party songs throw on haphazardly bad albums. With almost every rapper out there continuing to only rap about eating it's great to get the more insightful Nas of old. After coming home to find Kellis gone only leaving her green wedding dress he wrote lyrics about his emotions. He wrote some of the best tracks he's ever written, so as bad a this is to say, thank you Kellis! Cherry Wine with Amy Winehouse, Stay, Bye Baby, and Back When have the Old Nas feel but then tracks like Accident Murderers feel almost like Either. Jazz has always been some of the best aspects Nas incorporates into his music, this time around he brings more of it back to mesh with his analytical raps. *Honorable Mention- Blunderbuss- Jack White. It's blues, it's rock, it's part southern country rock; it's confusing, tangled, written wonderfully and perfect.
Songs:
- Bye Baby- Nas. Whatever happened with his break up with his wife Kellis put him back to old Nas. Story telling at it's best with the emotion of a break up and the eventuality of a clear conscious and coming to terms with the end.
- HYFR- Drake. A song that livens up any atmosphere and turns things instantly into a party. The barmitzvah video is genius.
- Hamilton- OB O'Brien. The piano does it for me on this one, hopefully this little known rapper from Toronto has a great follow up.
- Gin, Smoke, and Lies- Turnpike Troubadours. Slower and more intuitive than their previous release, it was also a great concert followed by a Tejano country bar and Original Pancake house at 3am.
- Wait So Long- Trampled by Turtles. A blue grass band of late 20 somethings from Minnesota. They use the blue grass elements to match perfectly with the lead singers voice. The song would sound at home in the 1950's in the mountains of West Virginia or played at a hipster bar now.
- They Ready- DJ Khalid, J Cole, Big Krit, & Kendrick Lamar. Khalid does the beat but the difference of tempo between all three make for a great song. The second I heard it I thought of my friend Nemo bouncing in the car. Mixing the old 70's funk with the new beats also makes for a great song and all three kill their verse.
- My Moment- DJ Drama, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, & Jeremiah. A thought provoking song that takes the age old phrase of 'Carpe Diem' in a different light. The beat DJ Drama came up with and the hook blend perfectly.
- Snapbacks and Tattoo's- Dricky Graham. Just a fun song, not a lot to it but its a good dance track to throw your hands up too.
- Lights (Bassnectar Remix)- Ellie Goudling and Bassnectar. Ellie has an amazing voice and Bassnectar doesn't ruin it with over introduced dubstep.
- Little Black Submarines- The Black Keys. I can't explain what draws me to this song but its significantly better than any other stuff they play on the current "alternative" radio station. It could be the black and white style of the song when it goes from acoustic to raw; but I don't know. It's beautiful.
Best Movies- I have yet to see Argo, Lincoln, Silverlinings playbook, Skyfall, or Django Unchained...
- The Dark Knight Rises- no surprise here. Christopher Nolan does a fantastic job of building a story arc within his complete story. The characters are developed with an art seldom seen in movies today with a powerful story. The ending has some cheesy parts, but it's great overall.
- Ted- Seth Macfarlane is a genius and Ted is a masterpiece of humor. It's not for everyone; I'd hate to watch it with my parents as we don't see the same angles of comedy but with friends my age they appreciate it for what it is.
- The Dictator- Sacha Baren Cohen delivers another great comedy. Even watching it at 11:30 on a Wednesday with work people I couldn't stop laughing.
- Everything Must Go- I was initially skeptical of Will Ferrell in a drama but since it was on netflix streaming I went for it. The movie shows how great he is at an actor, not just a comedy actor but an actor as a whole. Very well done movie.
- Sleep Walk with Me- Mike Birbiglia's true life story that he wrote, produced, starred, and directed has a lot going for it. Another one that's on Netflix streaming and is way better than what's normally on Netflix.
Biggest Let Down Movies:
- Bourne Legacy.... So boring Nemo and I watched this one on a Sunday afternoon and it didn't hold up to the bourne series. I assume they are going to make another out of this one, they would've condensed this one to 20ish min in part two.
- Prometheus- Visually stunning. Some of the best scenes of landscape and principal photography I've ever seen. As for the story and sequence... Can someone please reel Ridley Scott in and have him re-watch his earlier movies??? This was more Tony Scott than Ridley- The concept of the story could have gone some many different ways but it crashed and burned.
- The Hunger Games- a lost of hunger and not a lot of games. Maybe if I hadn't already been a huge fan of Battle Royale, the Japanese version that was done 13 years previously and 100 times better I might have bought that crap. The movie reminded me of articles about what men think written by women.
- Act of Valor- horrible, horrible acting. I thought it would be Black Hawk Down (one of the best movies of all time) with Navy SEALS. Instead I found my self wishing I had the 1990 version of Navy SEALS with Charlie Sheen. A few cool scenes, but overall it was crap.
- Savages- Oliver Stone must be on a lot of coke to try and belive that two dudes could ever share a chick like that. He's out of his fucking mind to try and convince us that two rich drug dealers would share the women and not kill each other... what a looney.
Best Overall Male Athletes
Lionel Messi- 91 goals. That's right a futbol player gets my best athlete of 2012. For everyone that complains about 1-1 ties and 0-0 ties a player who can score 91 goals in a season should impress even the least intelligent. To put that in perspective in Pele's best year he had 75... Messi manages to score goals when every team is trying to stop him and the defenders look to break his ankles. He is phenomenal and his play is art, he will be talked about for 30 years like Pele is.
Worst Male Athlete
Josh Hamilton- Can't hit the ball because the sun is in your eyes, has withdraw issues from energy drinks and snuff, gets into issues at Sherlocks, hits 4 homeruns in a game that was in the bad but can't do shit at the end of the season... Then throws "God" into every question and answer as a stop gap to shut down the issue. Good Riddance.
Best Overall Female Athlete
Abby Wambauch/ Ronda Rousey
Abby- The USA Women V Canada game in the 2012 Summer Olympics was one of the best soccer matches of all time. The US won 4-3 in overtime and were down 3 times. During the tourney Abby always seemed to pull a goal out when it was needed; unstoppable on the pitch. Second Behind Mia in career goals she is still a beast on the field.
Ronda- 5'6" and 135 lbs of terrifying jujitsu. 6-0 in MMA this former bronze Olympic medalist and gold medal world champion has beat all challenges in MMA. No one has been able to get out of the first round with her and that sick arm bar. The dream fight would be for the man/ women steroid induced Christine Cyborg to not fail a test and face her clean... doubtful since she looks like a meta-morph right now.
Worst Female Athlete
Lolo Jones- Fine as hell, don't get me wrong. I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "no matter how fine she is some guy somewhere is tired of her shit". That's Lolo. Cocky, self righteous, and another one that contends everything good is because of god yet everything bad is due to her mis-steps. I might last 8 minutes in conversation if I could tune her out and stare at her beauty...
Best Beer
Velvet Hammer- Peticolas Brewery (http://peticolasbrewing.com/home.php). I hate IPA's. I imagine they taste like cat shit. This concoction that Micheal Peticolas and the folks at his brewery came up with is heaven. I was privy to taste it during the European championships at the Londoner in Addison. Dallas is finally starting to do what Houston and Austin have been up too for a few years in delivering some amazing micro brews. Even though Peticolas is late in the game they make up for it by turning out the best beers I've ever had.
Worst Beer
Tweason'ale- At the end of October I was in San Antonio for a friends birthday. One night we each picked up some new beers and I had the misfortune of selecting Dogfish Head's Tweason'ale. I've had a lot of Dogfish Head (their punkin ale is top 5 all time for me) and I don't blame them for this, this one was my fault. This is some vegan, gluten free, sourgum beer. It was awful. It was so bad I had one and left it for my friends. They tried one and left it for other friends. So far no one has been able to drink a full one, let alone two.
Best New Car
911 Porsche (991 body)- Updated and enhanced while still retaining the classic lines that make the Porsche 911 an all time favorite. The 991 update to the Porsche 911 is a dream car. There are multiple variations of it from the standard Carrera to the supercar killing 500 horsepower all wheel drive 0-60 in 3.2 seconds 911 Turbo. The 911 look and styling Ferdinand Porsche designed in 1959 still echo in each curve. I want one of these more than any other car out there.
Worst Car
Any small or midsize American made car... When Kia, the new kid on the block from Korea, can out design anything America puts out under 35K they need to go back to the "eye test". Boring and mundane with no soul or edge, this is what $35K of American engineering is up to. Cadillac is the only one with multiple models of interest these days; Ford has the Mustang variations, Chevy the Camaro and Vette, Dodge the Challanger, but what else is there? Toyota with their Scion brand make some interesting, very well made cars along with Subaru and Nissan but America can't keep up. Too little, too late.
