Right now here in Singapore we’re about a half hour away from 2011, so I’m taking the chance to squeeze the final post of 2010 and ring in the new year. (Last-minute jobs are so typical of me.) I’ve been thinking about this post for the two days, and I think it’s best and most appropriate to make a list. But it’s not really a “best of” list, but a list of the things that have happened to me this year and the things that I’ve experienced and encountered. It’s really been a year of several “firsts” for me … but I’m getting ahead of myself. Without further ado, I present the ten most significant events, films, and music in my life in 2010, in no particular order.
Events
Liam See (2010–present)
My son Liam was born on May 27 this year, making me a first-time father. I refrain from calling him my first-born as the term implies there’s more to follow; I can’t say anything definite about that at this point, and neither can my wife. All we know is that for now, having Liam is enough. Before he arrived, I had been hearing about other parents experiencing intense beatific joy when they held their first-born child in their arms, but I’m always a little slow in the emotion department. I didn’t exactly feel the love of God shining down on me when I first held him at the hospital. I do know, however, that I love him in my own less divine, more human way. I certainly hope this love will be enough for him.
New-new job
The longest I ever stayed in a job is about three years and a couple months. I kind of stick to the principle of “if you don’t like things, you leave/For some place you’ve never gone before” (courtesy of The Velvet Underground). When the year started, I was stuck in a weird editorial job in a think tank at the local university, mostly spending my time trying to convey the opinions of Chinese and Taiwanese political scientists in idiomatic English. It was more ghostwriting than proper editorial work. So I quit after six months, not really knowing what I was going to. I knew I didn’t want to go into a new-old job (publishing or teaching) and stumbled upon a job as an associate librarian with the public libraries in Singapore. I didn’t really know what librarians’ work entailed, but I was open. I know what I didn’t want to do, and this wasn’t on that list. So I decided to take a swing at it, passed the interview, and now here I am, a first-time librarian. I’m liking it so far after eight months, so I’m crossing as many fingers as I can and hoping I can work this job longer than thirty-eight months and make a new record.
New apartment
Sri and I just moved into our new home about a month ago after waiting three long years for the government to finish building it. Yes, like just about everyone else I spoke to, the whole process of moving, getting the place renovated and ready for living in is just about one of the most stressful experiences I have had. Actually, most of the aggravation came from the contractor who repeatedly failed to deliver on the finishing touches to the renovation work, which ended with me and my wife having to move in and do much of the cleaning up. On hindsight, I suppose the whole situation was not a total FUBAR considering we only delayed our move by two days, but we had no working gas stove and technically no sofa (the set we ordered came in a dismal condition and had to exchanged for a totally different set due to lack of stock). But everything is pretty much about done now, just a couple of shelves for the workroom and we’ll be a hundred percent before the arrival of the dreaded Lunar New Year.
Films
Was 2010 a bad year for movies? For me, it was pretty much a year of duds. it had more than its fair share of promising films that fell just short of mediocre (e.g., Cop Out, The Wolfman, Alice in Wonderland, Ip Man 2, Iron Man 2, The Expendables) and some were downright crummy (The Book of Eli, Legion, Robin Hood, Salt). Even Pixar’s offering this year (Toy Story 3) – while a home run in terms of decent entertainment but didn’t manage to knock it out of the park like they did many times before. Granted, I didn’t have the time to watch everything. I’m pretty sure Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 would have made my list if I had watched it. Nonetheless, there are a few standouts.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
While Scott Pilgrim vs. the World isn’t the most emotionally fulfilling movie out there, it certainly brought Bryan Lee O’ Malley’s comic series to the big screen in a most satisfying way and has the honor of being the most visually arresting movie of the year. Yes, the story of how a Canadian twentysomething slacker in Toronto discovers himself and true love that sticks a pop culture or video game reference in the face of its audience almost every 20 seconds may not sound like a lot of fun, but it actually is, whether or not you care to know about the origins of Pac-Man. And director Edgar Wright totally brings it with such style and aplomb, you’ll be sucked into the Pilgrim universe for the whole 112 minutes of its running time.
Kick-Ass
Another comic adaptation in the list? Am I serious? Yes, the pickings are that slim for 2010. Kick-Ass, like Scott Pilgrim, isn’t perfect but it’s very competent for what it is: an action comedy that is violent, funny, twisted, and strangely touching, and even improves upon its comic book source. Chloe Moretz’s perf as Hit-Girl is the main attraction, but Nicolas Cage and Mark Strong’s contributions are very good as well, all wrapped up in a neat, tight package by Matthew Vaughn assured handling as director and co-screenwriter.
How to Train Your Dragon
By now, you are certain I’m definitely pulling your chain. A mainstream animated feature from Dreamworks and not Pixar, and not some less commercial work along the lines of The Secret of Kells or Waltz with Bashir? Well, if it’s not already obvious, I’m defiantly mainstream and slightly left of center. Dreamworks has had its fair share of hits and misses. It gave us delightful surprises in Shrek, Shrek 2, Kung Fu Panda, Chicken Run, and Over the Hedge, but it also gave us Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, The Prince of Egypt, Shark Tale, Bee Movie, and Monsters vs. Aliens. How to Train Your Dragon falls thankfully into the first group. Despite the so-very-meh trailers that preceded it, I was surprised by the critical and commercial acclaim it garnered after its release, so much so that I bought the Blu-ray and finally watched it last month. Oh yeah, definitely belongs in the first group.
Music
The Promise by Bruce Springsteen
I’m a longtime Springsteen fan, and one of my favorite albums is Darkness on the Edge of Town. So what do you think I’m going to do when I hear that the Boss is releasing a two-disc “new/old record, the lost sessions of music that could have/should have been released after Born to Run and before the collection of songs that became Darkness on the Edge of Town“? I buy it, no questions asked. This means that now I have exactly three versions of “Racing in the Street” and “Fire.” If you ask whether these new/old versions are better or worse than the existing released versions, stop right there. Wrong question. For dedicated fans (I like to think I’m one), The Promise is a historical document on the artistic progress of Bruce Springsteen, much like Tracks before it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the mastering sounds great and the songs are every bit as good and important as those on Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. You are a fan and you haven’t got The Promise? Run, don’t walk, to the nearest record store and pick it up. Now.
The Lady Killer by Cee-Lo Green
Cee Lo Green’s well-honed pop/R&B sensibilities served him well not only as one-half of Gnarls Barkley but also as a solo artist. While The Lady Killer won’t put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it certainly boasts same talented production and delivery. A novelty song like “Fuck You” would probably have made a one-hit wonder out of just about most artists, but the album boasts consistently strong material ranging from the Band of Horses cover “No One’s Gonna Love You” to the invincibly cheerful “Fool for You.” And it helps that “Fuck You” earned four Grammy nominations and the title of #1 song pf 2010 by Time.
Harlem River Blues by Justin Townes Earle
Okay, Harlem River Blues didn’t earn any nominations. In fact, the album didn’t win nothing at all, and some people might say that all there is to Justin Townes Earle is his name. (His father is Steve Earle and he was named for Townes Van Zandt). But Earle has clearly told us how he feels about this in his sophomore album Midnight at the Movies in 2009: “I am my father’s son / I’ve never know when to shut up / I ain’t foolin’ no one / I am my father’s son.” And on his latest album, Earle comes fully into his own as an artist. His first album, while showing promise of talent, felt tight and constrained, and his second album only slightly less so. Now Earle sounds like he’s his own man: he’s grooving and rocking, there’s horns and female backing vocals, and the songwriting is just solid. If you’re looking for American roots music done right and set free from time and space, Justin Townes Earle’s your man.
Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk
I can’t say much for the movie because I have’t seen it and probably never will. Didn’t catch the 80s orignal either. But trust me when I say, Tron fan or not, Daft Punk follower or not, the French duo’s soundtrack for Tron: Legacy is one of the better and more notable soundtracks I have heard in a while, and by “while” I mean years. Working with the London Orchestra, the soundtrack is not the roller disco fantasy that most expected. A perfect fusion of electronic and orchestral to form dark, foreboding motifs, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Chrito’s original score sounds more like Tangerine Dream meets modern classical music. The only track that sounds like Daft Punk is “Derezzed.” So, while those looking for film-flavored club material will be sorely disappointed, those looking for 2010′s best soundtrack need look no further. I hope we’ll see more great soundtracks from them in future.
So that’s a wrap for 2010. What does 2011 hold for ModernPost? For starters, I need to post more regularly, and post more, so I’m taking up WordPress’s PostAWeek challenge. I won’t call it a resolution; it’s more a goal. I’ve also changed the theme and will probably do a bit of cleaning up over the next couple of weeks. Stay strong and stay safe in 2011.
1996. Nailgun. Trent Reznor. In games, I’ve been always been partial to first-person shooters; I still fondly remember Quake scaring the bejeezus out of me, and the glee with which I unloaded my nailgun into various creatures and enemies. But my true love was Duke Nukem. Okay, so it’s not really 3D by any measure, but if the sight of Duke Nukem ripping the head off a giant alien carcass and then proceeding to use the cavity as a toilet doen’t make your loins tingle, stay far, far away from me. The Duke was the awsomest game character. Still is, come to think of it.
