Best Albums of the Decade, I guess, 2000-2009

So, the best albums of 00’s. Let me get something straight here with you guys. I graduated high school in 2001. I’m 27 now. Those who are my age or have experienced the fucked-up-ness of your 20’s will understand the grand influence music has on you at that time in your life. This is going to be very, very hard for me. Everyone is like, this decade sucked ass. Really? Really? Please read the following. This is, for lack of a better term, a list of some of the substances that make up the toughest and most delicate fibers of my soul.

Radiohead – Kid A – (2000)

This really doesn’t need a description. This is my favorite Radiohead album. It’s magic and unreal.

Elliot Smith - Figure 8 -(2000)

I remember once someone put me on the spot and asked me who the greatest songwriter of our generation was. I said Elliot Smith. And he goes, “I lived on Elliot Smith for a whole year.” It was one of the best “descriptions of Elliot Smith I’ve ever heard. This album honestly changed my life. When I was in high school I used to run around these cranberry bogs and listen to my Walkman with a tape that had the Good Will Hunting Soundtrack taped onto it. Elliot Smith had his mainstream breakthrough hit, Miss Misery on that. But that CD was like opening the flood gates to many hours of desperate thinking about life and wincing at piano chords.

Figure 8 is such a beautiful album. Every song is like a feeling for christ sakes. When I think of when I listened to this album the most, which is impossible really, would be when I worked at a junior high school in Dorchester. I would take this bus, I forget the number and it would go from Jamaica Plain all the way down Columbia Ave to Umass. In between was this school. I was usually the only white person on the bus. I remember looking out the window and listening to “In the Lost and Found” and feeling like I was in love.

The Avalanches – Since I Left You – (2000)

Really happy to see this one on the other people’s lists. I don’t think I can tell you where I first heard “Frontier Psychiatrist”. Then I found the genius album. The video is incredible and will be featured later in this blog. The album is DJ stuff. Like 14894198417 vinyls sampling stuff. What the fuck happened to this band?

Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antartica (2000) and Good News for People Who Like Bad News – (2004)

Ah, Modest Mouse. Ok before you get all pissed off. This is not a list of ranks. Everything on this list is equal pretty. Much. Critically The Moon and Antarctica is the superior of the albums. But they both hold strong weight. It’s always a blessing when you can remember the exact moment you first heard a new band. I remember the first time I heard Modest Mouse. I was in a car with my bf at the time. He played “The Stars are Projectors” for me and said it reminded him of something I had said the other day. I was taking a class in Whitman. I think it was this part:

And as to you Life I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths,
(No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.)

I hear you whispering there O stars of heaven,
O suns – O grass of graves – O perpetual transfers and promotions, If you do not say any thing how can I say any thing?

Where Whitman is saying something pretty extreme, like, he is the universe and it turn, the universe is him. Everything is one kind of a deal. Ashes to ashes. So, the teacher I had at the time was this brilliant guy. He was this older guy, gay, and used to be really hot. He had sexy time with Leonard Bernstein. Anyways, the teacher got all worked up about these lines and said told us how beautiful Whitman’s perspective was. “We are all made of stars. Think about it.” Which is true, if the solar system was created by the left over matter of a nova (an exploded star) then, yes, we are made of stars. “Isn’t that beautiful?!” I remember him exclaiming.

So, I told this to the bf at the time and he played this for me. Then I listened to the whole album and I remember laughing about the Wild Pack of Family Dogs. The bf at the time got shot in the head a few years ago. It’s sad. So now this album makes me sad.

I remember Good News came out when I was working at the Borders in Downtown Boston. We were all very excited about it. The promo came with little pins. Little balloons and anchors and we all wore them on our lanyards. The song Float On followed me around for years and years.

The Shins – Oh, Inverted World – (2001)

Ok. Ok. I don’t know about this one. I don’t even like The Shins anymore. But at the time, it really meant something to me.

Sigur Rós - ÁGAETIS BYRJUN – (2001 (?))

Sigur Ros is Icelandic or something. This album is one of the most amazing albums I’ve ever heard. It’s like ballet. (I just spent 10 minutes looking for my pot that I put in the freezer last night for some reason. I kept telling that cat that I wasn’t that retarded.) Anyways, this album reminds me of walking in JP. I remember I took a vicodin once at 7 in the morning before going to work at the bookstore. I remember listening to Staralfur and feeling elated. So pretty.

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots –

(2002)

ACH! Can anyone say masterpiece?I do not remember where the hell this album came from, but it is amazing. It’s a story. This album also reminds me of the bf who got killed. I went to one of those god forsaken Phish festivals and he couldn’t go so I recorded myself talking to people for him. Then he went to Berkfest which was another hippie festival in the Berkshires. He recorded the whole Flaming Lips set. “It’s Summertime” is great. Let’s just say I used to do a lot of drugs. I remember I was on something listening to this album (Back in the day of Discmans) and I was like shit. I was thinking that track 5, In the Morning of Magicians reminds me of some 80’s song. And I couldn’t place it. All day it was driving me crazy. Then I walked into the supermarket and “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran was on. I was like SHIT THIS IS IT. And then I entered some brief but weird Duran Duran phase.

The Postal Service – Give Up – (2003)

When I was intently obsessed with this album  I remember listening  to it on an airplane about 6 times. To me it sounded futuristic but at the same time nostalgic. I heard that the band was named The Postal Service because the two main guys, the Death Cab guy and someone else would mail the tracks back and forth. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” is such a great song. It just makes me want to get stoned and drive around the city in a cab. It reminds me of that time in my life. Which was a weird time. I used to draw comics more then.

Rufus Wainwright – Want One – (2003)

This one is super. I love it. Everything about it is special. “Oh, what a world” is just what this decade needed.

David Byrne - Grown Backwards -(2004)

I don’t know why this isn’t on all the big music blogs list. This album is awesome. I was given this album as an I’m sorry present from a insane roommate. It’s all over the place. He experiments with Italian opera, sings little ditties about Pirates.

“On my high school folder I drew a big gorilla”.

I love, love, love this album. Rufus Wainright does some vocals and he has like 309,342 other wicked talented musicians on the album.

Animal Collective – Sung Tongs – (2004)

I was given this by the barista at my college’s student run cafe which is now closed. The cafe was called “Wit’s End Cafe”. The barista was a cutie, but about 5 years younger than me. He had the best taste in music. He would make CDs for me and burn albums for me. I’ve always had this thing for airplanes. I can’t explain it. So I really liked “Kids on Holiday”. I know an album is good when it is all over the board. This album is so weird. It’s pretty and magical. It reminds me of a woodland fairy tale. Or like Mid-summer night’s dream.

Andrew Bird – Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs – (2005)

I was given a copy of this album when I worked at the LL by a friend. It was fall time and near my birthday so the last song held this significance for me obviously. The song “Sovay” has an interesting personal story. There was a Jeffery Brown comic in one of the anthologies I bought about an Andrew Bird song. In the comic Brown is trying to figure out what the song is. When I read the book I hadn’t heard of him yet. A day or two later after reading it I was at my friends smoking and Andrew Bird was on. I said, what is this? It’s pretty and they said Andrew Bird. So, later I wanted to show my friend the comic because I couldn’t figure out the song. It was Sovay.

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible – (20007)

I really was blown away by these guys. I think I first heard them on Pandora and then got this album. I love the strong desperation in all the songs. They are colorful and creative and unique. It seems like a while since there was a good rocking sorry ass alt album with some kind of abstract theme.

Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love – (2009)

I was introduced to these guys by a friend with the song “Tourist in Your Town” which is on their first self titled debut. I listened to Outside Love and it’s great. Again, it goes all over the place. The song “And I Thank You” reminds me of the summertime. It’s really dramatic for psych rock.

I can’t do this anymore. Maybe I can go back and change it. Bjork, Interpol, there were some good things.

You know what’s fucked up. I’ve seen a lot of shows and the only act out of all of these that I’ve seen was David Byrne (it was my favorite concert ever).

Here it is your moment of zen:

Call the Cliche Police: Black and White Pictures of the First Snow

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. – Wallace Stevens

This is pictures from the first snowfall in Western, Massachusetts.

bf got a bad hair cut

Here it is your moment of Zen:

Tribute to Charlie the Beagle

So, the thing with my dog Charlie who passed away last week. He was really sick. It was sad at the end, and I think we all knew it was time for him to go. He would just look at me with these sad, sad eyes. He was hurting. Me and Charlie had a kind of mental bond. He was one of those dogs who knew when you were sad or crying and he would jump on your lap and lick you. We got him right when I turned 18. I remember. 9 years ago. I brought him as a puppy to the elementary school to vote for Al Gore. I remember when I moved out of my parents I was really sad to leave him.

When I was 18 I don’t think I really had an intention to go to college. I was a drop out. During Charlie’s life I went to school. Went to undergrad for English and became a certified web designer, whatever that means. I’m doing the coolest thing in the world to make some money on the side. I edit a online music blog. (working from home = fat (for most)). He died the day before I had the big party. It was kind of like he was here to push me along in life. I mean of course that wasn’t his sole reason for living. I would be an asshole, I’m just saying he was everything a good friend should be. He was an inspiring beagle. He didn’t really do much. He would sit in a chair and he would smell everything. He wasn’t that bright. He barked at everything. Even when he was really sick he would bark at 13 year olds biking past my parent’s house until he started coughing so hard he had to stop.

I don’t know what to write about him other than he was a good dog. My parent’s loved him very much. I taught him to know what the word ‘cheese’ meant. I always felt bad because he was not neutered. It was a weird life for him. But he was very loved. My little brother is in Scotland for the semester so my mum brought him to to the airport with Pauly to say goodbye.

My favorite memories of Charlie were probably the days when I would be home alone in the mornings. And I would have breakfast on the deck and then we would sit in the chair facing the backyard and I would talk to him about the stuff outside. I remember a few months before he died I took him for a walk behind my parents house which was a bunch of abandoned cranberry bogs.

Ok, I didn’t want to get into this but I will. These bogs were my little special place. Lots of wild birds, swans herons. A few years ago they over-developed my whole town with, in the words of David Brooks, Mini-McMansions. So now the yuppie people let their dogs off the leash around the bogs. My mum asked me what happened to all the birds this year. And I said, these people let their dogs off the leash. It was really sad. These swans had been coming there for almost 20 years, probably more than that. And then they are gone. Due to over development. The thing was that it was cranberry bogs, and then it went back to nature. You know? Now the town made it a conservatory. People fish there, the dogs and there’s trash all over the place. It sucks.

Anyways, so I was walking Charlie, probably the last time I would take him behind the bogs. And we were sitting on this bench the town had installed. These two little sisters, like 6-10. Saw him and they were with this guy. I said hello and the guy didn’t even look at me or say hello. The girls came up and asked if they could pet Charlie. I said yes, he was good dog. So they did and they really like him. Meanwhile this guy was standing like 15 feet away looking all pissed off. So I said HELLO to him again. This time he said hello to the ground and told his daughters to look at some tree in the other direction. I almost started crying.

It made me sad about the girls. Charlie only had a few more months to live and he loved people. The girls were so happy to pet him and Charlie was happy to recive the pets.

Charlie had lymphoma. When he was diagnosed the doctors said he wouldn’t live more than a year. He lived two and a half years after that. You can only see that as a plus. He was a good dog. He was very loved. The day we put him to sleep my sister Yvonne, who is a voice of reason said – “Remember what happened to Charlie’s sister, Molly? Molly had puppies and then she was hit by a car and died when she was only two. They kept one of the puppies and it died when it was getting spayed. It could be worse.”

The loss of a pet is always sad. That’s what people keep saying. Isn’t that the most obvious thing you’ve ever heard though? I’m happy that pets can be put down instead of suffering like humans have to. It’s hard to know you will never see that soul again. But, I’ve seen and experienced a lot of loss in my life. Charlie’s loss was more of a relief. I know he is happy now and has his old energy back.

It’s like that Kurt Vonnegut idea. That when you go to heaven you can be any age you want. I bet Charlie is 2 or 3. Running around – off the leash, smelling everything and finally getting some tail. And I’ll see him soon enough, I’ll be 17. We will walk around the bogs and the swans will be there and the herons and all the yuppies will be in hell so we will have the place all to ourselves.

And again, Charlie was always smiling. He knows he’s always existed and will always exist. That is why he never cried. He just liked to sit down and look out the window. It’s like one of my favorite quotes:

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” – Lin Yutang
This is from Peanuts, you know Snoopy. I cut it out when I dropped out of high school:

Charlie didn’t have any future plans the way most humans do. He took it day by day. All he was looking forward to was sleeping, eating, going outside and getting hugs from his family and friends — which is a perfect way to see life.

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.” – Milan Kundera

Good-bye, Chico. You were my best friend.

I had to write this in order to write the Charlie blog.

So, I always have trouble when I haven’t written in a while. The other day we had this big music party. It was really fun. The drummer of one of the last bands gave me a C’mas Cd. Let’s listen to it now. C’Mas is my least favorite time of year. I’ve always been working in retail or customer serivce. Working at the bar was fun on C’mas. But everything looks better in retrospect.

Let’s not talk of the negative today, alright? Me and the bf took apart the sick Cybershot Bling Bling last night that was broken since June. We took all the pieces apart, cleaned with a q-tip soaked in vodka. Now it works. Vodka FTW.

Maybe I’ll show you some pictures.

This was my Halloween costume this year. I was Link from Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess.

I made the hat myself.

So, that was Halloween. It was really, really fun. I went to a party and they offered me some pot before I even got inside, then this really hot kid came out onto the porch and said, hey, I know you! I thought it was some x-bf, scarily, but it was my friend’s friend. It was a good way to start a party nonetheless. I’m trying to lose my very belated Freshman 15. Down a few pounds. Which is good. Everyone says this time of the year is hard. Well it helps when you live in the middle of nowhere half the time and I don’t like “holiday food”. It’s the cheese platters. Watch out for those.

Here it is your moment of Zen:

C’mas list of gifts to buy me this year.

So, today caps off the most fucked up week of my entire life. My dog died, I threw my first music show at one of the biggest venues in Boston and sold it out, I finally made (a decent amount of) money doing something I love and being my own boss, fought all week with my health insurance company, went to a big award ceremony in an old jail and this all happened during “that time of the month”. Want to fuck with me? I dare you.

Give me a break people. Here’s my C’mas list.

Logitech® Webcam Pro 9000

Logitech® Webcam Pro 9000 – I want this to use with Skype and have confrences. And oh yeah, weblogs.

Bamboo Craft Tablet

Bamboo Craft Tablet - How much fun would this be?

PS3 slim

PS3 Slim – obviously.

New Super Mario Bothers

Stephen King’s The Stand Collection (think there is 2-3) comics.

Big Star Box Set

Big Star Box Set – Keep and Eye on the Sky

That’s it for now.

Your moment of Zen can be found around 1:45

Don’t worry I will write a special blog for Charlie. It’s hard to think about just what to write.

Maple Tofu

 

This is my favorite store.

 

So, I’m taking a day off here since the past week has been insane and the next two weeks will be even more insane. I’m having a show for my magazine, The Deli Magazine – New England at the Middle East in Cambridge in two weeks. You should come you guys. Esp if you if you want to meet me IRL.

Here's the flyer I made in photoshop

 

I’ve been reading Y:The Last Man all day. I used to read the series when it first came out. I worked at a book store and it was my job to organize the comics so I would just sneak and read them. It was a stupid job. I have another recipe for you today. Are you guys mad I keep posting recipes? Maybe I’ll write a real blog after this.

This is my favorite. Have I posted this? It is my favorite recipe I’ve made up.

Maple Tofu

 

Obviously I like maple syrup.

1/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup maple syrup

tsp of Red Pepper Flakes

Tsp of minced onion flakes

a clove or two of garlic, chopped well

sometimes I use a splash or two of tobasco

a block of extra super firm tofu

 

So, wrap the tofu up in paper towels and soak as much water out as possible. Put a book on it, that helps. I used my brita water thing. After like 30 min cube up the tofu.

This is how I cube it up. I slice it in half first.

Then I cube it up.

 

Wisk all the ingredients together in a little bowl. Not the tofu though. After you do that get a baggie, I used this bread package because I’m trying to save the world.

Baggie

Put all the tofu in the baggie and then pour the mixture over it and then put it in the fridge for a little while. The longer its in the longer the tofu will soak it up. When you think it’s been in the fridge long enough get a frying pan and dump all that stuff in there.

Before

 

Cook it on medium low and stir the tofu GENTLY until it is nice and coated and the mixture is almost gone. Then it is done. Let it sit for like ten min or so. You can add it to stir fry or rice or something.

this is like almost done

I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture of the done one. I got distracted or something.

 

 

Here it is your moment of zen:

 

 

I took this! Yay!

 

Apple Mango Maple Betty

my kitty and me.

So, I wanted to bake something with all these apples and mango I have. I also have half a cake the bf’s awesome mother got me for my undisclosed age b’day but the bf left the top open over night and it went stale. I decided to make this I
guess.

Note: for people who read the blog and are like wtf kind of recipe is that? I just make it up as I go along. It’s for creative cooks. Feel free to interpret and make your own versions because that’s how I come up with these ideas to begin with.

Apple Mango Maple Betty

5 Apples (mine were really small, if you have big ones use three, doesn’t matter what kind)

one mango

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp hot cocoa powder

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

couple teeny drops of vanilla extract

half a left over coffee crumb cake from entenmanns – just the top

I don’t know how to make the crumbs, I’m sure it’s easy

Candied Almonds (see last post)

Cinnamon like 1/2 tbsp (I would of used it if I had it)

Let’s do this.

Slice up the mango and apples. I didn’t know mangos have a pit. Be careful with that. Line them on the bottom of a greased baking dish, one layer, more if you cut up too many. Make a sauce. Get a little bowl and put the vanilla drops in, add the maple syrup. Add the sugar, make sure no lumps. Add the cocoa. Mix until well blended and pour on top of the apples and mango. Get the cake. Take off the crumbs and sprinkle them on top. Cook at 350 until really caramely and bubbly – 45 min kind of. At like one minute before you take it out sprinkle the almonds on top.

Let cool for like ten min and serve hot with something awesome like ice cream, which I don’t have. This is my first attempt at creative baking.

finished on plate for the bf

Close up...yummy!

here it is your moment of zen

Autumny Salad with Maple Candied Almonds and Balsamic Vinaigrette

So, I got a camera for my birthday! Everyone just sleeps all day. It’s fall which means it’s time for me to go reclusively  insane and cook up some good food.

kitty!

the bf is sick too many blankets.

Here is a recipe.

Autumny Salad with Maple Candied Almonds and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Baby Spinach

Dried Cranberries

Delicious Apples

shredded cheddar cheese

celery if you want

for almonds

1/3 cup Maple Syrup

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Almonds, the sliced ones, like a cup of them, maybe more.

for dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

3/4 olive oil

minced onion flakes

clove garlic

2tsp brown sugar

salt

black pepper

I made this just for myself. So give or take the ingredients. If you are too stupid to figure that out you will probably burn the almonds so just forget it.

Almonds

Set the oven to like 340 and brown the almonds. Be careful they burn quick. While this is happening put the maple syrup and butter on the stove in a pan and slowly bring it to a boil. When it is boiling add the almonds and stir them on a simmer for like 2 min.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and take the almonds out using a spoon or spatula that has holes on the bottom. Spread them out over a piece of tin foil and take the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it over them. Put them back in the oven at 340 and let the sugar caramelize. As soon as that happens take them out and let them cool. They are gonna be dark from the syrup.

finished almonds

Dressing

Put the vinegar in a bottle you are using for it. Add the onions, garlic, pepper and salt. put the top on the bottle and swish it around. Add the oil one by one and swish it occasionally. That should be good.

Salad

Toss the rest of the ingredients with the vinaigrette. Top the salad with your fucking awesome almonds you just made! HOW SWEET IS THAT SHIT!

finished salad

Now we can do the photoblogs again! Can’t wait.

Here it is your moment of zen

8 Silly Hats

So, Last night I had a dream that I wrote a blog called 8 Silly Hats. A professional blogger told me “lists” like the 16 scary movies get lots of hits or something. I think this triggered the dream. My dreams lately have been really stupid and realistic like I’m writing emails or going grocery shopping. Usually my dreams are insane and involve really crazy things like Freddy Mercury, flying, magical beer, baby gorillas and so on. Anyways, maybe if I make the dream a reality it will go away. So here it is: 8 Silly Hats

1.Morgan Freeman Trapped Hat

2. Lobster Hat

3. Cigarette Hat (puts a new twist on “IM GONNA PUT THIS OUT ON YOUR FACE”

4. WTF hat

5. Bar Code hat

6. O hai iz mai baloonz hat

7. Chainchomp Hat

8. Rainbow Hat (my favorite one)

Hope you enjoyed them. Here it is your moment of zen:

Top 16 Scariest Movies

So, it is almost my favorite holiday, Halloween! I read this stupid list of scary movies the other day and decided to make my own for you guys. I haven’t seen a lot of scary movies because I am frightened easily. These movies though, especially the ones I saw as a child have shaped my creativity and curiosity in ways I can’t explain. Fear is motivational and so are nightmares. These are the ones that really stuck with me as scary and disturbing and brilliant or just plain fucked up.  Enjoy, please share your thoughts!

16 – Strangeland

Probably one of the most twisted, fucked up people I’ve met in my life showed me this movie. It sucks, it’s horrible and gross. I don’t like needles and/or piercings. This movie is a nightmare. Believe it or not, it was made by Dee Snider.

15 – Dawn of the Dead

This is probably my favorite zombie one. I don’t know. I love this movie so much. It is perfect. Esp the end. The end is amazing. The scariest part I think is when they get the guy across the street. And I’m sure we all know there is nothing as scary as a zombie baby.

14 – Terminator 2

I probably haven’t seen this movie since I was ten and it scared the living hell out of me. This I think was the beginning of my fascination with the apocalypse. I couldn’t wait until August 27, 1999 to see if the prophesy really came true. We were in New York and we went by this building that had a big 666 on the top of it. My dad pointed it out to me as “a sign”. When that guy comes out of the tiled floor though, shit, that’s just too much.

13 – House of 1,000 Corpses

This movie is just so fucked up and weird. It’s gross. It is imaginative though. In a weird way. I don’t know who made it but I’m sure they are fucked up. The worst part of this movie is that the main characters on the good side almost get away like a hundred times. And then the end…the end makes me punch the couch.

12 – Psycho

This movie was one of those where I was like, this can’t be scary. It’s old. I screamed at the end. Screamed out loud. I was like 18 too.

11 – Carrie

I saw this movie at the most possible best time, in high school. I was a movie freak in high school and was trying to watch all the classics. I think this is when I watched this one. I loved the girl with the hat. I loved her style. I love the late 70’s. Maybe we will have a blog in the future about my disco-era polyester shirt collection.

10- Killer Clowns from Outer Space

This movie probably ruined a big part of my childhood. I don’t mind clowns at all. It was when they threw all the acid pies at the cop or whatever and he melted. That was traumatizing. Like that part in Rodger Rabbit when they drop the shoe in the bucket. That poor shoe…

9- 28 Days Later

Love it! Saw it in the theaters and so began my love with zombie films. I am not really afraid of zombies. I think they actually calmed my fear of dead bodies. They are funny and weird. I always had a thing with the beginning of this movie and the beginning of “The Walking Dead” comic book series, because they are very similar. I suppose it is a scary scenario, waking up in a hospital and everyone is dead. Hospitals are not where you want to be should zombie apocalypse strikes. I also loved the alternative endings for this movie. Amazing. Just great imagination all around.

8- 2001: Space Oddesy

This is one of my favorites too. But nothing is scarier than a robot trying to kill you. Even scarier is that it is in outer space. It’s also kind of scary when HAL “dies” and he sings that song. I don’t know why that creeps me out.

7 – Critters

Here is another example of a movie I shouldn’t have seen at a young age. This movie is solely responsible for my fear of decaying bodies and skeletons. Most specifically when they all turn into a ball and roll over that guy. Frightening. And that poor dog. I don’t know if this was the first one or the second. I don’t care, I hated those little 80’s animatronic puppets.

6  – First two Alien movies

I saw this movie I think when I was 8. I loved Star Wars and scifi movies, this was insane. I was terrified. I loved little Newt though and though she was so cool. I was pissed when Ripely dies in the last one, but even more pissed they even thought of creating that piece of shit Resurrection. It’s like it ruined all the other ones. But it didn’t because those movies were awesome.

5 – The Shining

I love this movie. Scary as hell though. I’ve seen it a bunch of times. It’s great. I think the scariest part is all the dead people in the lobby. That part is fucked up. Or the part when he’s in the cooler.

4 – The Stand

I have a weird love for post-apocalyptic movies and books. I told this to my new best friend Kristin Jones and she was surprised I hadn’t seen The Stand. This is when I started smoking pot.  I probably wouldn’t be so afraid if I wasn’t stoned. I watched about an hour of the mini-series and made her turn it off. It is about Good vs. Evil or something and a plague that kills everyone. At least Lieutenant Dan is in it. Jesus, and there is a “hospital scene” too, or a bunch of them.

3 – Jacob’s Ladder

I saw this movie when I was way to young to see this movie. IT SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME. There is a scene in a hospital with dead bodies and shit in the ceiling. I didn’t realize what the movie was about until I was much older and saw it again, still scary, but I realized it was about LSD. This is one of the many movies my father let me watch as a child that I really should not have been watching. It about a guy dying in Vietnam. And he’s like tripping out when he’s dying. *shudders*

2 – 30 Days of Night

This movie scared the shit out of me for a very long time after watching. I watched it in the winter, while living in Northern Vermont though. It was just so well made and quiet and thrilling and for some reason, real. This is the only scary movie I’ve wanted to watch again because I thought it would help me not be scared. It’s about vampires who take over an Alaskan town and kill like, everyone.

1 – The Orphanage

This is without a doubt the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life. It is such a smart, brilliant film. I thought about it for weeks if not months. It is about a woman who buys the orphanage that she grew up in. Then he son goes missing. It’s so fucked up after that. Dead kids, old ladies getting hit by cars. Puzzles. I can’t deal with it. My favorite story of this is that a few days after we watched it the bf woke up, woke me up and told me he had to go to the bathroom and then starred at me all weird. I realized he wanted me to go to the bathroom, which was downstairs with him. He said he was having a bad dream about dead kids. When we came back up the spiral stairs, the bf jumped, looked back and cried, “What the hell was that!” There was nothing there. It was pretty funny.

Here it is your moment of zen – Happy Halloween month!