Wednesday December 15, 2004

2004: The Year In Hyperlinks.

Just when you thought you couldn’t stand the wait any longer, I toss my “best of” list into the fray. There’s nothing groundbreaking about “best of” lists, and the chances are good that you’ve already perused one or two lists from more prominent writers. Heck, I’m probably going to rave on and on about the same things, too.

Exciting, huh?

Top 5 Hilights of 2004 The Last 14 Months

  1. Creed broke up.
  2. Apple released the G5. Jared posts that the G5 came out in 2004, only to realize in horror that his brain is still stuck in 2003. A full lobotomy has been scheduled.
  3. Ashley Simpson got owned by a tape deck.
  4. The SSSH Campaign.
  5. Saddam Hussein gave up his rathole.

Top 5 Albums I Heard in 2004

  1. Metric – Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
  2. Juliana Hatfield – In Exile Deo
  3. Jimmy Eat World – Futures
  4. The Cutters – In The Valley of Enchantment
  5. The Jane Anchor – Second Wave

Top 5 Movies of 2004

  1. The Incredibles
  2. Hero
  3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  4. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
  5. The Terminal

Nods: The Village, Saved!, Anchorman.

Movies I plan to like before the year’s end: The Life Aquatic, House of Flying Daggers, A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The 5 Movies So Bad, They Owe Me Money in 2004

  1. The Forgotten. I wish I could forget this cornball plot.
  2. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. It’s like watching a train wreck. Twice (never let it be said that I don’t love my wife).
  3. Ocean’s Twelve. Disappointing plot.
  4. 13 Going on 30. Tom Hanks did it better, and didn’t have to revive the “Thriller” dance to sell tickets.
  5. Van Helsing. Van Helsucked.

Favorite 5 Flash Websites of 2004

  1. Voxhon
  2. Digital Kick
  3. homeostatic
  4. Amplifier
  5. Billy Harvey Music

The Prettiest 5 Web Journals of 2004

  1. Justwatchthesky
  2. Binary Bonsai
  3. Airbag
  4. smallTransport
  5. Jason Santa Maria

Favorite 5 Web Writers of 2004

  1. Greg Storey
  2. Jon Hicks
  3. Jeff Croft
  4. Todd Dominey
  5. Eris Free (write more often!)

Best Live Show of 2004

Metric @ The Parish
Emily Haines is a woman possessed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen weirder dancing or more intense performing, but it works for this band. Extra points are awarded to the band for playing something like 5 shows in Austin during or around the time of SXSW. They work hard for the money.

and finally…

Top CMS of 2004

Textpattern, the little PHP engine that could.

Commentary


Ryan Sims » 5150 days ago #

Good nods there, Jared. It seems we have similar tastes and I find it quite disappointing that you were disappointed by Oceans 12. I was hoping this would be a decent flick. I envy your viewing of the Metric show… do you live in the land of SXSW? I’m attending this year’s festival and it would be nice to meet you face to face. I guess this could have been handled via email… oh well.

Jeff Croft » 5150 days ago #

Wow, I’m flattered. That’s some great company you have me in!

Great lists!

Jeremy » 5149 days ago #

I would have to disagree with only one of your choices, and that would be the CMS of the year. I would have to say that WordPress has made such leaps and jumps this year, that it must be the CMS of the year.

But I have never used TextPattern.. so I suppose I’m bias.

Aaron » 5149 days ago #

The Apple G5 was released summer 2003. See http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/aug/18pmg5.html

The press release you link to is when they announced faster processor speeds of 2.5 GHz instead of 2.0.

Chris J. Davis » 5149 days ago #

Yes very nice, I would have liked to heard Metric as well.

do you live in the land of SXSW? I’m attending this year’s festival and it would be nice to meet you face to face. I guess this could have been handled via email… oh well.
Bah! How are those of us who don’t get invited to speak/attend at SXSW going to live vicariously through those that do if you correspond via email!

Wes » 5149 days ago #

Another year correction (sorry). The article you linked to notes that Saddam was caught in December of 2003.

Jared » 5149 days ago #

Ryan – Ocean’s 12 was all buildup and no payoff. It was entertaining in the sense that it’s clear the actors had good chemistry and are enjoying themselves, but the plot is nowhere near the calibre of Ocean’s 11.

Aaron – I’d like to say that I made a typo with the G5 thing, but the sad truth is that I actually remebered the G5 coming out this year. Awkward. Man, how time flies…

Regarding Metric – Probably the best show I’ve ever seen. Very high-energy. Makes me wonder why in the world a band like South (yeah, who?) would take on Metric as their opening act. Metric blew the headliner out of the water and then stomped on them for good measure.

Regarding SXSW – I’d love to go this year. I live under an hour away from Austin and lament every year that goes by that I miss it. I do hope to go and put faces to names.

Jared » 5149 days ago #

Another year correction (sorry). The article you linked to notes that Saddam was caught in December of 2003.
Don’t be sorry. This is the last time I pretend to be up to date on my current events. Clearly, I have memory and research issues to work out.

Joel » 5149 days ago #

I agree about Ocean’s Twelve, so little at the end after all the conflict… beautiful site by the way.

Abel Rios » 5149 days ago #

I’m going to agree with you (to an extent) on Ocean’s 12, Jared. Of course the plot wouldn’t pay off like the first, weren’t you expecting that from a sequel? I loved Ocean’s 12, especially the cinematography. The chemistry was there, the story was definitely there (not better than the 1st), and the art direction of the movie topped it off for me. Although the movie was a little predictable, I still enjoyed it.

I love your taste in movies and music, wish you lived up here in Dallas, I’d have someone to talk to about all that fun stuff. :)

Jared » 5149 days ago #

Abel – I totally expected the sequel to be better than the original. Not all sequels are inferior to their first installments. Spider Man 2 was better than the first, just for example.

We can talk any time. Jared + C @ youknowwhat.com.

Jeremy » 5148 days ago #

Jared, I am too flattered. In my mental “5 best of” list, this fine site you have here is, most definitely, on it.

Mark G. Murphy » 5144 days ago #

Love your site, thanks for the DigitalKick nod. Great list – Billy Harvey Music is probably my personal fav from this past year. Keep in touch!

Mat » 5143 days ago #

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Love the site. Enjoying the few little tweaks that you’ve done with the background. Sadly, it’s not quite rendering how it should in IE. Worth a looksie.

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Michael Heilemann » 5135 days ago #

Weee, I made a end-of-year list! And in such mighty fine company as well! You sir, just made my day :)

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