The One with the Year in...

First post of the new year! I figured I'd do another "Year in Review" entry, seeing as last year's one was so fun. But, this time around, I think I'm gonna cut down on my word count; last year's entry was just way too long. LAZY!

Without further ado, here goes. This is 2007, the year that was, in...

...Kicks.

Compared to 2006's mass purchase spree, last year was the epitome of "quality over quantity." Most of the shoes I bought in '07 were ones that I'd been scoping out for a while, so the purchases were planned a couple of weeks or months in advance. No impulse purchases.

Favourite shoe purchased this year: Vans Sk8-Hi. Easily the shoe I wore the most. Simple, but effective. Durable. Best of all, EASY to clean.

Final word: I had a feeling I would slow my roll in '07, but that's probably 'cause anything compared to '06 would have been considered 'slow.'


...Music.

Oh boy. This is gonna be a BITCH. I listened to a LOT of different albums this year. It was hard to compile this list, seeing as I only listened to certain albums maybe once or twice. But, there were definitely a bunch that stood out from the rest, and warranted repeat listens. My favourites, in no particular order, including both old and new albums I couldn't get out of my head this year:

• Zero 7 - The Garden
• Clipse - Lord Willin'
• Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
• A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
• A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
• A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
• Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
• Frou Frou - Details
• Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
• Kanye West - Graduation
• Jay-Z - American Gangster
• Big Punisher - Capital Punishment
• Feist - Let it Die
  
  

Honourable mention list (i.e. albums I listened to once or twice, and will judge in a few more listens whether I actually like them; or albums that sounded great the first time I listened to them, but got lost in the shuffle thanks to one of the albums mentioned in the previous list):

• Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
• Chevelle - Vena Sera
• Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
• Gang Starr - Daily Operation
• Gang Starr - Hard to Earn
• Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
• Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd.
• Common - Finding Forever
• Talib Kweli - Ear Drum
• Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
• The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
• The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
• The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
• The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
• The Hives - The Black and White Album
• Feist - The Reminder
• Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's The Cool

Album of the year: Tough. I was spoiled with two great albums towards the end of the year (American Gangster and Graduation), but when it comes down to it, the most enjoyable musical experience I had this year came from listening to Midnight Marauders. Yeah, I know, fourteen years late to the party, but late's a whole lot better than never. Especially when it comes to ATCQ.

Song of the year: LAAA, LA, LA, LA! Wait 'til I get my money right! LAAA, LA, LA, LA! Then you can't tell me NOTHIN', RIIIIGHT? Easy choice.

Artist of the year: Split between ATCQ, Kanye and Jay.



...Academics.

Second year was pretty hard, but nowhere near as hard as everyone said it would have been. It was a good case of my results matching the kind of effort I put in: nothing mind-blowing, but decent enough for me to maintain my standing in my course. I'm pleased with how I went this year.



...Games.

In 2007, I rediscovered my inner nerd. I still have a couple of games to finish (FFXII and FFIII come to mind), but aside from those, I played through my fair share this year.

• Gears of War (X360)
• Def Jam: Vendetta (X360)
• Pokemon Diamond (NDS)
• Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
• skate. (PS3)
• NBA 2K8 (X360/PS3)
• Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
• Final Fantasy III (NDS)
• FIFA 08 (PS3)
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii/PS3/X360)
• WWE SmackDown! VS Raw 2008 (PS3/X360)

Okay, so FIFA, Guitar Hero and SmackDown! aren't mine, but it seems like I've been playing them every week for the past couple of months. Best party games, though!

Game(s) of the year: NBA 2K8 and Pokemon Diamond.



...General.

It was a tale of two halves, essentially. The first half was kinda tumultuous, with me stuck in several ruts. It went by fairly slow, and I wasn't really that happy for the first six or seven months of the year. It took a mid-year crisis, involving an embarassing public breakdown, to plunge me into a desperate recovery phase, but it was all worth it. Once I recovered from it, I never looked back, and I had the best five or six months to finish off the year.

The quote to sum up my year, care of Seth Cohen:

"It's just always been you. I've tried to fight it, and I've tried to deny it, and I can't. I can't do it. You're undeniable."



Done and done! Okay, that was long, but still short in comparison to last year. Anyways, later days!

- marty..

END COMMUNICATION.