I'll admit, I'm quite the nerd. Some people would call it OCD, but I would say SOCD, which is Selective Obsessive Compulsive Disorder... I don't obsess about much, but I'm very picky about what I obsess about... its almost like, I know whats important to me, how important it is to have things done the way I want the done... but only about certain things that sometimes no one else cares about.
Case in point... iTunes.
iTunes has this thing called a "play count", which is both a blessed and cursed thing. In my mind, once I play a song, I want it counted. Once I listen to a song, I want it noted... it truly doesn't mean a hill of beans to anyone in the entire world that I've listened to "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon 34 times, or that I've fired up the original "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley 8 times.
But its important to me. I dunno why, and I really am not sure I care to psycho-analyze, but that's just one of those quirky, nerdy things about me. We'll come back to this, but first I have to give a bit more exposition, then tie it all together at the end like a good little storyteller.
Yesterday, I finally purchased a portable hard drive. We've owned a regular external hard drive for about three years, and backs up most of what is on my, and The Lovely Steph Leann's, computers. For me its music, audiobooks and pictures, for her its mostly pictures and Creative Memories back-up files... but the problem is, its so clunky and bulky. In the Casa de Pesos apartment, it wasn't a big deal, because our place was so small, we just kept our PC and the back up drive and such altogether, and even when we got laptops, they mostly just stayed in the guest bedroom. I could write and blog and do whatever, and with a television in the room, I could still watch whatever, or play a movie or anything of the like.
When we got The Cabana, though, it was harder, because we kept the back-up drive upstairs, and the laptops stayed downstairs mostly, so I didn't back up much stuff, just every now and then. With my growing love (and ear) for audiobooks, I finally had to move them off of my laptop because I had gotten to the point where I had less than 10gb of space (off of 300gb). It took almost 2 hours, but I moved almost 80gb of audiobooks onto the harddrive, plus a few movies and some other space-taking items.
Now, for anyone who owns an iPod, you'll notice that if you try and sync your iPod, and you've moved some files, a little "!" will appear by those files. And when those files are on an entirely different drive altogether, its even worse, because you get a hundred or two of those "!" when they are audiobooks. So, I now have a set up on our dining room table, this external hard drive to my left, cords and USB cables running everywhere and anywhere, and like, four things plugged into the nearby outlet. Thus, the need for a portable hard drive.
So I'm currently moving, from the external to the portable, over 100 audiobooks, encompassing 32,000+ files (the Harry Potter series alone contains at least 1,500 tracks), which makes up about 140gb of space. I have another 60gb of pictures to move over. And at some point, in the future, I'll move over all my music from my laptop to the portable hard drive.
And now, we get back to play counts. See, when I move over the music, I have to reload all songs back into iTunes. And when I do, all play counts go back to zero. Everyone. So me listening to Nilsson's "I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City" 29 times? Its like it didn't happen.
However, don't think I haven't considering recreating all the playcounts. Easy, really... click on a song, click "repeat" twice (which makes the song repeat) and then click on the end over and over. It will advance from beginning to end, then start over. Yes, this is a really stupid, useless thing to do. Yes, there are far better uses of my time. Yes, I've thought about it. We'll see.
Play counts are a funny thing... it kinda tells you and the world what you truly like. My official Top Five list of songs are: (1) "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan... (2) "I'd Die Without You" by PM Dawn... (3) "Piano in the Dark" by Brenda Russell (ft. Joe Esposito)... (4) "Not the Only One" by Bonnie Raitt... (5) "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears. Coming in a close 6th is "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.
Other songs that have wandered their way in and out of my Top Ten including "Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish... "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton... "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney and Wings... "Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles and "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John....
But you know what? Out of those 11 songs I just listed, none are in my Top Ten of the Play Count List, and only one is in the Top Twenty, at 19th. So, I thought it might be fun to list my Top Fifty Songs on the Play Count List, the songs that have been played the most. Bear in mind, too, that I listen to a ton of podcasting and audiobooks, so music isn't my top priority most of the time, but sometimes, you just wanna hear Timberlake, or Flo Rida or Billy Joel or Bill Withers...
So, here we go... Song, artist, and (play count)
There is a huge six way tie at 50, featuring...
50-tie. Running From an Angel by Hootie & the Blowfish (34)
50-tie. Clarity by John Mayer (34)
50-tie. 3AM by Matchbox 20 (34)
50-tie. Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon (34)
50-tie. Welcome to Delaware by Watermark (34)
50-tie. White & Nerdy by Weird Al Yankovic (Video) (34)
All the way down to #40 is another tie or two, featuring the only song that appears twice in our countdown, in both audio and video versions. Also, The Dixie Chicks make their first of three appearances.
48-tie. Cowboy Take Me Away by The Dixie Chicks (35)
48-tie. Sunday Afternoon by Joel Blount (35)
40-tie. ...And Our Feelings by Babyface (Video) (36)
40-tie. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel (36)
40-tie. Close of Autumn by Caedmon's Call (36)
40-tie. The Trolley Song by Judy Garland (36)
40-tie. Taylor, the Latte Boy by Kristin Chenoweth (36)
40-tie. B.O.B. by OutKast (36)
40-tie. Light My Candle by Mimi and Roger from The Cast of Rent (36)
40-tie. You Mean the World To Me by Toni Braxton (36)
The next set of ten, down to a four way tie at #31...
39. I'll Be Okay by Amanda Marshall (37)
36-tie. Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers (38)
36-tie. In the Light by dcTalk (38)
36-tie. Possession by Sarah McLachlan (38)
35. Snow (Hey Oh) by The Red Hot Chili Peppers (39)
31-tie. Full Moon by Brandy (40)
31-tie. Callin' Baton Rouge by Garth Brooks (40)
31-tie. The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson (40)
31-tie. The Remedy (I won't worry) by Jason Mraz (40)
The next ten are all older songs, anywhere from five to fifteen to thirty...
26-tie. Let's Stay Together by Al Green (41)
26-tie. Still Not a Player by Big Punisher with Fat Joe (41)
26-tie. The Story by Brandi Carlile (41)
26-tie. My My My by Johnny Gill (41)
26-tie. Chains by Tina Arena (41)
24-tie. You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift (41)
24-tie. Say It Right by Nelly Furtado (Video) (41)
23. Season of Love by The Cast of Rent (43)
21-tie. Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawio'ole (45)
21-tie. The Light In Your Eyes by Blessid Union of Souls (45)
And our teens part of the countdown gives us another helping of The Chicks, an obscure but incredible song by Jill Paquette and of course, Cool J.
19-tie. My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow (46)
19-tie. I'd Die Without You by PM Dawn (46)
17-tie. Tortured Tangled Hearts by The Dixie Chicks (47)
17-tie. Drops of Jupiter by Train (47)
15-tie. Sin Wagon by The Dixie Chicks (48)
15-tie. Lift My Eyes by Jill Paquette (48)
13-tie. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley (49)
13-tie. I May Hate Myself in the Morning by Lee Ann Womack (49)
11-tie. Loungin' (who do you love) by LL Cool J (50)
11-tie. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You by Sting (50)
Before we get to the Top Ten, I wanted to give you a list of ten songs that, were I to do this same column in a year two, you'd probably see some of them appear in this very list, maybe because they are new and I listen to them frequently now or because they were just outside the top fifty and have gotten some recent love from my playlist... they include "Hey Soul Sister" by Train... "Travelin Soldier" by The Dixie Chicks... "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John... "Relator" by Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson... "You Give Good Love" by Whitney Houston... "Better in Time" by Leona Lewis... "Right Round" by Flo Rida... "I Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum... "Everything Zen" by Bush... and, of course... "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus
Now, here's the Top Ten... a little eclectic, but a little predictable all the same...
10. Collide by Howie Day (53)... I cannot even name another Howie Day song. But I love this one. I told The Lovely Steph Leann if I played guitar and could sing, this would be part of my set.
9. ...And Our Feelings by Babyface (54)... This is a perfect song to sing while driving. My vocals get nowhere near the level of Babyface, but that doesn't mean I don't try.
7-tie. How to Save a Life by The Fray (55)... This and their other big song, perhaps one of the biggest, most awesome one-two song punches ever.
7-tie. You and I Both by Jason Mraz (55)... Its a great video, its a great song, and its also fun to sing. And the lyrics are easier to learn than "The Remedy".
6. My Boo by Usher (ft Alicia Keys) (56)... I was a little surprised when I did this list how far up this list that "My Boo" ended up. But I'm perfectly okay with it.
5. Wildwood Flower by Reese Witherspoon (57)... I bought the "Walk the Line" soundtrack, and I'll be honest, I listened to this song non-stop. When I first got my iPod, I remember this song being the first one to 20 plays ever.
4. Fergalicious by Fergie (Video) (58)... Fine. I'll admit it. I like this song, and this video is fun. I would venture to guess that 40 of the plays were done within a year of it being released.
3. Love Song by Sara Bareilles (59)... If I could use the Billboard Charts term "with a bullet" on my own little list, than I would use it here with this song. I wouldn't be shocked to see this become number one in the near future, because I am completely addicted to this song.
2. Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake (61)... What can I say? Timberlake is cool. The song is cool.
1. Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray (63)... Again, I'm not entirely sure how this song got so high, number one in fact, but I make no apologies. It is a song that I could listen to non-stop (and have) and not get tired of (I haven't).
So what about you? Does your list of favorite songs and your actual play counts tell two different stories?
Showing posts with label countdowns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label countdowns. Show all posts
Decade's Best Videos, Part IV
Alrighty... before we get all serious and discuss health care--which I think we'll just have to do soon enough--I wanted to continue my list of the Top 20 Videos of the Decade... here's what we counted down so far:
#20... "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillet
#19... "Stand Up" by Ludacris & "Without Me" by Eminem
#18... "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake
#17... "The Story" by Brandi Carlile
#16... "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland
#15... "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake
#14... "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson
#13... "You & I Both" by Jason Mraz
#12... "Dilemma" by Nelly ft Kelly Rowland
And one out of our Top Ten of the Decade, its our first country video... I love the Dixie Chicks, and this was difficult, because "Cowboy Take Me Away" is one of my favorite Chick songs... but that didn't mean the video was great. I looked for their best video, and there was no doubt... starring Lauren Holly and Dennis Franz, at #11 is The Dixie Chicks with "Goodbye Earl"
Once again, though, its listed in YouTube as unavailable for posting on random websites. I still think its just a travesty, me not being able to steal videos and post them for my own personal gain.
So if you want the video for "Goodbye Earl", then click here for the link. By the way, do you like how I'm posting this pic on the side, with text wrapped around it? Yeah! I just figured this out! Go me!
At #10, starting our Top Ten for the entire decade, its a revealing, fascinating study in money and money spent. Sarah McLaclan, who has made a billion videos, one of which had her rolling around in a tub after she chided a young Britney Spears and Christina Aguliera for being too 'sexy' in their own videos. It's "World on Fire"
At #9... its a great video that blows me away for one single reason... its done in one single take. One. Single. Take. Perhaps they did it 49 times before doing it right, but its one seamless camera shot, its a catchy tune and you probably heard it on an iPod commercial. Here's Feist with "1 2 3 4"
And at #8, its one of the cutest videos ever. Back when American Idol was at its zenith in... 2006?... they had this cute little song called "Bad Day" by this unknown--who still kinda is--named Daniel Powter. And the video is just great... a boy, a girl, an umbrella, a couple of markers and two bad days.
Hopefully it will come, and pardon the weird shapes.
Coming soon... #7 through #4... then the Top Three Videos of the Decade...
#20... "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillet
#19... "Stand Up" by Ludacris & "Without Me" by Eminem
#18... "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake
#17... "The Story" by Brandi Carlile
#16... "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland
#15... "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake
#14... "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson
#13... "You & I Both" by Jason Mraz
#12... "Dilemma" by Nelly ft Kelly Rowland
And one out of our Top Ten of the Decade, its our first country video... I love the Dixie Chicks, and this was difficult, because "Cowboy Take Me Away" is one of my favorite Chick songs... but that didn't mean the video was great. I looked for their best video, and there was no doubt... starring Lauren Holly and Dennis Franz, at #11 is The Dixie Chicks with "Goodbye Earl"
So if you want the video for "Goodbye Earl", then click here for the link. By the way, do you like how I'm posting this pic on the side, with text wrapped around it? Yeah! I just figured this out! Go me!
At #10, starting our Top Ten for the entire decade, its a revealing, fascinating study in money and money spent. Sarah McLaclan, who has made a billion videos, one of which had her rolling around in a tub after she chided a young Britney Spears and Christina Aguliera for being too 'sexy' in their own videos. It's "World on Fire"
At #9... its a great video that blows me away for one single reason... its done in one single take. One. Single. Take. Perhaps they did it 49 times before doing it right, but its one seamless camera shot, its a catchy tune and you probably heard it on an iPod commercial. Here's Feist with "1 2 3 4"
And at #8, its one of the cutest videos ever. Back when American Idol was at its zenith in... 2006?... they had this cute little song called "Bad Day" by this unknown--who still kinda is--named Daniel Powter. And the video is just great... a boy, a girl, an umbrella, a couple of markers and two bad days.
Hopefully it will come, and pardon the weird shapes.
Coming soon... #7 through #4... then the Top Three Videos of the Decade...
From Timberlake to Gay Backup Dancers--More Favorite Music Videos
Here's another few vidoes in my effort to give you my favorite 20 videos of the decade... you can find #20, "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillat, in this post from a few days ago...
There is a tie for the 19th favorite video of the decade... actually, it's two. It truly speaks to, as a Christ Follower, what we should enjoy and what we should be bothered by. Truly, it all boils down to knowing what I believe, knowing why I believe it, and knowing my weak points. Rap videos are not my weak points, and after seeing them, I'm typically not tempted to go find me a 'ho and smack her up.
That being said, I'm aware that this site is linked on several other websites, including the webpage of my church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). You came here for music and music videos, not for a spiritual lesson (though really, shouldn't our day to day life be one spiritual lesson?)... so with that, I'm only going to tell you that tied for #19 are Ludacris' "Stand Up" and Eminem's "Without Me", two hilarious videos that really have nothing to do with the usually debauchery that you'd find in such artist's videos and lyrics. The former is just about a big party, the latter is... well, kind of narcassistic. But both are excellent, very well done, creative and funny. And if you want to see them, you can go to YouTube. I'm not going to give you the resources to put such filth in front of your faces. Sinner.
Moving on.
At number 18 for the decade, its Part Two of one of the biggest "Screw You!" moves I've ever seen. This is for K-Dub (not directly to K-Dub, but for K-Dub)
Actually, truth be told, in "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around", Justin Timberlake never expressly said this was directed at Britney, but its always been rumored as being such. I was never a huge fan of this song until I saw the video, which put a whole different perspective on the song.
Yes, that is Scarlett Johansson in the video... and she's actually a singer in her own right. She just released an album of duets with Pete Yorn, and I'm loving one of their latest--you'll hear me talk about it on the year-ending 100 Coolest Things of 2009 coming in January.
This is just the short version... there is actually a 10 minute mini-movie version you can see it by clicking here but I couldn't find the link to post it on Clouds... you can see it by clicking on this link (warning--though not bad, I don't know that I would deem it Emmy Turnbow safe).
At #17, here's one from Brandi Carlile. The song itself actually was actually the 32nd Coolest Thing of 2007, but there's a video that goes with it that I just love. Here's what I said about her then:
Brandi Carlisle, is a up and coming singer songwriter who has the benefit of getting a song on "Grey's Anatomy", which is pretty close to instant success. Actually, she's managed to get three or four songs on the show, but this one is the one I really like, as it was released in video form, containing clips of the show set to the music.
For someone who loves the show, it is great when a video just gets it. Nothing flashy about it, I just really like the way its done. And I've said this before--when I die, I want this song and "What a Wonderful World/Over the Rainbow" by the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole played, showing video clips from my entire life. Don't have any video clips? Better get some. I'm in my mid-30s by now, you are missing tons of stuff.
And finally, for today, here's #16, which unfortunately I can't show you--something about copyrighted property, and trademarks and me not owning the rights to show it and all that crap...
It's "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado, and there a few things I love about this video... first, at least for me, its one of the few times I think Nelly Furtado actually comes across as attractive. Never been a huge fan, not really sure I am now, but this song entrances me. Its just... well, its just cool.
Secondly, Timbaland is awesome. I don't know who's idea it was to do close ups of Timbaland saying "Hey" over and over, but it works. Somehow, someway, the only job this guy has is to make goofy faces, whisper in the background "you don't mean nothing at all", scat a little bit and say "Hey" a thousand times. Fantastic. He's the best part of the video.
Finally, see those guys in the background that do that shoulder swivel move, using their legs? It happens around 2:43 in... its like Patrick Swayze doing that side-to-side aisle dance move at the end of "Dirty Dancing", and it looks so incredibly easy... but its impossible to do. Or impossible to do and still look as cool as the ones who are doing it. Perhaps it helps that they look as gay as a four dollar bill--the background dancers, not Patrick Swayze.
There is a tie for the 19th favorite video of the decade... actually, it's two. It truly speaks to, as a Christ Follower, what we should enjoy and what we should be bothered by. Truly, it all boils down to knowing what I believe, knowing why I believe it, and knowing my weak points. Rap videos are not my weak points, and after seeing them, I'm typically not tempted to go find me a 'ho and smack her up.
That being said, I'm aware that this site is linked on several other websites, including the webpage of my church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). You came here for music and music videos, not for a spiritual lesson (though really, shouldn't our day to day life be one spiritual lesson?)... so with that, I'm only going to tell you that tied for #19 are Ludacris' "Stand Up" and Eminem's "Without Me", two hilarious videos that really have nothing to do with the usually debauchery that you'd find in such artist's videos and lyrics. The former is just about a big party, the latter is... well, kind of narcassistic. But both are excellent, very well done, creative and funny. And if you want to see them, you can go to YouTube. I'm not going to give you the resources to put such filth in front of your faces. Sinner.
Moving on.
At number 18 for the decade, its Part Two of one of the biggest "Screw You!" moves I've ever seen. This is for K-Dub (not directly to K-Dub, but for K-Dub)
Actually, truth be told, in "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around", Justin Timberlake never expressly said this was directed at Britney, but its always been rumored as being such. I was never a huge fan of this song until I saw the video, which put a whole different perspective on the song.
Yes, that is Scarlett Johansson in the video... and she's actually a singer in her own right. She just released an album of duets with Pete Yorn, and I'm loving one of their latest--you'll hear me talk about it on the year-ending 100 Coolest Things of 2009 coming in January.
This is just the short version... there is actually a 10 minute mini-movie version you can see it by clicking here but I couldn't find the link to post it on Clouds... you can see it by clicking on this link (warning--though not bad, I don't know that I would deem it Emmy Turnbow safe).
At #17, here's one from Brandi Carlile. The song itself actually was actually the 32nd Coolest Thing of 2007, but there's a video that goes with it that I just love. Here's what I said about her then:
Brandi Carlisle, is a up and coming singer songwriter who has the benefit of getting a song on "Grey's Anatomy", which is pretty close to instant success. Actually, she's managed to get three or four songs on the show, but this one is the one I really like, as it was released in video form, containing clips of the show set to the music.
For someone who loves the show, it is great when a video just gets it. Nothing flashy about it, I just really like the way its done. And I've said this before--when I die, I want this song and "What a Wonderful World/Over the Rainbow" by the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole played, showing video clips from my entire life. Don't have any video clips? Better get some. I'm in my mid-30s by now, you are missing tons of stuff.
And finally, for today, here's #16, which unfortunately I can't show you--something about copyrighted property, and trademarks and me not owning the rights to show it and all that crap...
It's "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado, and there a few things I love about this video... first, at least for me, its one of the few times I think Nelly Furtado actually comes across as attractive. Never been a huge fan, not really sure I am now, but this song entrances me. Its just... well, its just cool.
Secondly, Timbaland is awesome. I don't know who's idea it was to do close ups of Timbaland saying "Hey" over and over, but it works. Somehow, someway, the only job this guy has is to make goofy faces, whisper in the background "you don't mean nothing at all", scat a little bit and say "Hey" a thousand times. Fantastic. He's the best part of the video.
Finally, see those guys in the background that do that shoulder swivel move, using their legs? It happens around 2:43 in... its like Patrick Swayze doing that side-to-side aisle dance move at the end of "Dirty Dancing", and it looks so incredibly easy... but its impossible to do. Or impossible to do and still look as cool as the ones who are doing it. Perhaps it helps that they look as gay as a four dollar bill--the background dancers, not Patrick Swayze.
Music and Magic
Okay, so does anyone else but me realize that in about 2 months, the end of the decade is upon us? Like, the actual end of a ten year period, that happening where not only do we change the last digit in the year, but the third as well... and no one is talking about this!
At Starbucks the other evening, my shift, Tracy, made the point that ten years ago at this time, we were all preparing for the end of the world with Y2K coming up, and everyone was stocking up on beans and rice and water and batteries... but in 2009? Nothing. Haven't heard a single "Best of the Decade" show on the radio, haven't seen a "Top ## of the Decade" show on TV. But, this is Clouds in My Coffee, and since you are all aware about how much I loves me some countdowns, I figured I would start the ball rolling.
I put a call out to a couple of friends of mine discussing the best movies of the decade, so hopefully, they'll get in on that topic. I've got a spreadsheet open right as I type with a list of my favorite songs of the decade. As far as TV goes, I'll probably pick my five or seven favorite shows... but I figured I'd start tonight with my favorite videos of the decade...
BUT FIRST...
...The NBA season has started (I just completely jumped topics, but I will return to "...of the decade" in a moment). Back in March, I discussed my sports affections (and listed my absolute failure of a March Madness Bracket) and mentioned my love for both the San Antonio Spurs and the Orlando Magic, loves that date back to high school. Don't believe me? I've got pics where I'm wearing hats for both. Just ask Wookiee. He'll tell you.
I mentioned that I thought I'd try just tossing myself into the NBA season, following it some as long as the NFL and college football was going on, then really follow it when that's all over. As of right now, both teams are 1-0, and both teams are expected to win their divisions (Orlando in the Eastern Southeast and San Antonio in the Western Southwest... though asking me who is in what division beyond that is like asking me, or anyone else for that matter, to tell you who is in the Atlantic and who in the Coastal in the ACC. It can't be done.) and from all I'm hearing, there are five teams that are expected to make serious runs at the NBA title this year...
That would be The Lakers, the Celtics, the Magic, the Spurs and the Cavaliers. The Spurs have another good season or two with Tim Duncan before he falls completely apart, and they are a team that typically has the Lakers number... the Magic acquired Vince Carter, someone who hasn't played very well in his entire career, but has been on mediocre teams for his entire career with no supporting cast. Now he's got Dwight Howard, among others, so hopefully he'll make a difference, because the Celtics, while great, have a Big-Three combined age of something like 344, and have a Big-Three combined games played of about 17,877... and the Cavs? I think Shaq is going to kill them this year. Terrible trade.
Anyway, I really don't know much about what I'm talking about and... hey... who said, "how is that different?" I heard that!... so we'll see how the season goes. I plan on even watching a few games here and there when I can find them.
Alright, back to the Decade stuff.
By the way, how many of you could have sworn that the title of this blog was about The Happiest Place in the Mall when you saw the word "magic"? See, you can never assume what we'll be talking about here on Clouds, can ya?
I have compiled my own list of the Top 20 Music Videos of the Decade. Now, let me be clear... this is a list of my own favorite videos. My. Own. Favorite. Videos. I did some Googling around, and I found that crazy White Stripes song where the entire video is done in Legos and such, and I thought the video was awesome... but the song is... well, its pretty terrible. Crappy song plus cool video doesn't make a cool video. It makes it a cool video with a crappy song. Make sense?
Conversely (I love that word. I feel so algebraic when I say it) a good song can be made better with a good video... and I found 2o songs that I liked, who's videos made the songs just that much better.
Music videos are such a lost art... my favorites of all time include "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, "Take on Me" by a-ha and "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys, but all were pre-2000, so they didn't make our list.
Oh, don't worry, I'm not listing 20 videos on a single blog post... I'll break it up. And for #20, its a cute little song that was actually from this year--I would almost be willing to call the video "Dorks Win", because it gives hope to dorks everywhere. The 20th favorite video of the decade is "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillat, from her latest album "Breakthrough".
Here's what I love about this video... its just fun. And sweet. And nice. She's pretty, he's a nerd, yet she totally digs him. Its like The Lovely Steph Leann falling for me all over again, only without the surfing and the trailer. And the ending of the video is just precious. Yep, I said precious.
#19 video of the decade to be included in an upcoming post.
At Starbucks the other evening, my shift, Tracy, made the point that ten years ago at this time, we were all preparing for the end of the world with Y2K coming up, and everyone was stocking up on beans and rice and water and batteries... but in 2009? Nothing. Haven't heard a single "Best of the Decade" show on the radio, haven't seen a "Top ## of the Decade" show on TV. But, this is Clouds in My Coffee, and since you are all aware about how much I loves me some countdowns, I figured I would start the ball rolling.
I put a call out to a couple of friends of mine discussing the best movies of the decade, so hopefully, they'll get in on that topic. I've got a spreadsheet open right as I type with a list of my favorite songs of the decade. As far as TV goes, I'll probably pick my five or seven favorite shows... but I figured I'd start tonight with my favorite videos of the decade...
BUT FIRST...
...The NBA season has started (I just completely jumped topics, but I will return to "...of the decade" in a moment). Back in March, I discussed my sports affections (and listed my absolute failure of a March Madness Bracket) and mentioned my love for both the San Antonio Spurs and the Orlando Magic, loves that date back to high school. Don't believe me? I've got pics where I'm wearing hats for both. Just ask Wookiee. He'll tell you.
I mentioned that I thought I'd try just tossing myself into the NBA season, following it some as long as the NFL and college football was going on, then really follow it when that's all over. As of right now, both teams are 1-0, and both teams are expected to win their divisions (Orlando in the Eastern Southeast and San Antonio in the Western Southwest... though asking me who is in what division beyond that is like asking me, or anyone else for that matter, to tell you who is in the Atlantic and who in the Coastal in the ACC. It can't be done.) and from all I'm hearing, there are five teams that are expected to make serious runs at the NBA title this year...
That would be The Lakers, the Celtics, the Magic, the Spurs and the Cavaliers. The Spurs have another good season or two with Tim Duncan before he falls completely apart, and they are a team that typically has the Lakers number... the Magic acquired Vince Carter, someone who hasn't played very well in his entire career, but has been on mediocre teams for his entire career with no supporting cast. Now he's got Dwight Howard, among others, so hopefully he'll make a difference, because the Celtics, while great, have a Big-Three combined age of something like 344, and have a Big-Three combined games played of about 17,877... and the Cavs? I think Shaq is going to kill them this year. Terrible trade.
Anyway, I really don't know much about what I'm talking about and... hey... who said, "how is that different?" I heard that!... so we'll see how the season goes. I plan on even watching a few games here and there when I can find them.
Alright, back to the Decade stuff.
By the way, how many of you could have sworn that the title of this blog was about The Happiest Place in the Mall when you saw the word "magic"? See, you can never assume what we'll be talking about here on Clouds, can ya?
I have compiled my own list of the Top 20 Music Videos of the Decade. Now, let me be clear... this is a list of my own favorite videos. My. Own. Favorite. Videos. I did some Googling around, and I found that crazy White Stripes song where the entire video is done in Legos and such, and I thought the video was awesome... but the song is... well, its pretty terrible. Crappy song plus cool video doesn't make a cool video. It makes it a cool video with a crappy song. Make sense?
Conversely (I love that word. I feel so algebraic when I say it) a good song can be made better with a good video... and I found 2o songs that I liked, who's videos made the songs just that much better.
Music videos are such a lost art... my favorites of all time include "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, "Take on Me" by a-ha and "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys, but all were pre-2000, so they didn't make our list.
Oh, don't worry, I'm not listing 20 videos on a single blog post... I'll break it up. And for #20, its a cute little song that was actually from this year--I would almost be willing to call the video "Dorks Win", because it gives hope to dorks everywhere. The 20th favorite video of the decade is "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillat, from her latest album "Breakthrough".
Here's what I love about this video... its just fun. And sweet. And nice. She's pretty, he's a nerd, yet she totally digs him. Its like The Lovely Steph Leann falling for me all over again, only without the surfing and the trailer. And the ending of the video is just precious. Yep, I said precious.
#19 video of the decade to be included in an upcoming post.