I have a blog. Remind me to tie my Twitter feed to this page going forward, readers. Sorry it looks like I died!

Well, Dad, we made it to Home Depot last night but they were sold out of snow supplies. Apparently nobody else had to work in DC on Friday. So here are the steps into my apartment covered in snow. You were right.

As the ’00s come to a close, I’m looking back on the music that made my decade. These are the pop albums I listened to straight through the most…

10. The Postal Service, Give Up
09. Kanye West, Graduation
08. *NSYNC, No Strings Attached
07. Janet Jackson, All For You
06. Jason Mraz, Mr. A-Z
05. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
04. John Mayer, Continuum
03. Justin Timberlake, Justified
02. Usher, Confessions
01. Michael Jackson, Invincible

Seriously, I have been updating that a LOT more than this website. I need to find a new purpose for www.rayharmon.com. Anyone have any suggestions?

At least for me! Since I signed up for a Twitter account, I have dramatically reduced my blogging here at my own website. It’s so much easier to convey a unique idea or perspective on a topic with 140 characters or less than it is to log into the admin portion of this site, then set up an entry, then tag it and save it.

For those of you reading this page on a regular basis (assuming you’re still around), I am doing quite well. I’ve got a new job, new apartment, new love, and new Macbook Pro. Things are good…and the semester is almost over!

Booyah. How are YOU!?!

I am very excited to finally see this Tuesday night a glimpse of what I was supposed to see in person in London this past summer! To share my excitement, here’s a great clip from the film:

If you’re out there on the internet swallowing a bunch of crap about Obama being the antichrist, you are putting America in jeopardy. I just saw this video…

…and I want to counter it with a couple other facts and a warning.

First, here’s a book written in 2004 which claims George W. Bush was the antichrist: http://www.amazon.com/George-Bush-Antichrist-Stephen-Hanchett/dp/1411609832

Here’s a website devoted to the same claim against Bill Clinton: http://www.soundanalarm.net/ClintonSetsthePatternofantichrist.html

And Saddam Hussein: http://www.bible-codes.org/letters-Saddam-antichrist-type-figure-only.htm

The list goes back at least 500 years of world leaders being equated to the so-called “Antichrist” so why should our current leader be any different?

Rather than have a serious policy argument using facts to show why the Right really doesn’t like Obama (“socialism,” “fascism” and “communism” are three completely different, incompatible ideas, btw, so I don’t know how it is some morons think he can be all three at the same time), people continue to swallow this crap about him being Muslim (who cares if he is, which he’s not?) or worse, pure evil. The more this ridiculous fear-machine gets fed, the more likely we are to reach the point where this man who is trying to do the job that 53% of the country wanted him to do, and who happens to be biracial, will be ripped from his wife and children by a lone nutjob with a gun who believed a bunch of outlandish conspiracy tripe.

This kind of propaganda gets into the wrong people’s hands and pushes them over the edge to violence and insanity. If you want to protect America while we are at war, the last thing we need is to be made vulnerable by an internal coup or worse, an assassination caused by viral videos, toxic chatrooms, and salacious email forward chains. Stop circulating the suggestion that our President is evil and support your country! I’m pretty sure I heard that from your side for the last 8 years.

THERE IS NOTHING SATANIC ABOUT BARACK OBAMA.

Mick and I went to AMC Hoffman today to see “Where the Wild Things Are” in IMAX and it was a great experience. The film is directed by Spike Jonze, whose simplistic cinematography, reminiscent of his music video days back on MTV, really fleshes out the story. The book itself was only a few pages with maybe 100 words of text, so Jonze had a lot of gaps to fill.

He explains Max’s mischief, which in the book is a given from the first sentence without reason, with a touching exposition about Max’s busy mother and teenage sister who’s getting too old to play with him anymore. That latter part I latched onto from memories I’d forgotten I had about my older sisters mysteriously shifting from playmates to nemeses as they grew up and grew annoyed. The rest of the story–except Max running away from home instead of his imaginary forest growing inside his bedroom, as in the book–plays out very closely to the book.

What Jonze captures best is that the monsters in Max’s imagination don’t talk like wise adults as in other kids’ films, placed in convenient situations to dole out necessary morals to bring the main child character to some new conclusions about himself and the world. Instead, they really are his imagination, speaking with the maturity and moodiness of a pre-teen boy dealing with negative feelings about a grown female monster (his image of his mother?) and longing feelings for a sassy teenaged female monster (his image of his sister?). Then there are all the male monsters which seem not to replace the missing father figure in the movie but instead represent elements of Max’s own psyche: timidity, ferociousness, and others.

It’s a tear-jerker if you relate to Max and overall a great movie–Jonze REALLY succeeds in bringing the book to life and strengthening its sentimental place in our culture.

I highly recommend you check it out, but take 45 seconds to reread the book first.

Ray’s rating: A

These are based on sales, unlike the Grammys, which are based on ratings–as in, how can we get Paul McCartney to show up? Oh, let’s nominate him for an otherwise ineligible recording by dipping into his completely obscure live album.

Anyways, the AMA nods are out and Michael Jackson is up for five trophies, including Artist of the Year. His “Number Ones” collection, actually released on the day he was arrested in November 2003, has become one of the biggest-selling records of the year here in the US. In fact, a recent tally shows he’s sold some 16 million records worldwide in the last 3 months from across his entire catalogue. Phenomenal, indeed.

Nonetheless, despite being a devoted fan, I have to say it’s a little unfair to honor someone for an album that A) came out 6 years ago, B) contains only greatest hits and one new cut (“One More Chance”), and C) isn’t all that impressive a package. I know the AMAs are based on sales data and Nielson ratings, so it’s unavoidable, but the rules may need to be changed to prevent this sort of thing from happening again (though perhaps never on such a grand scale again).

Just do a tribute performance or two or ten–no need to steal Taylor Swift’s thunder.

Again…

So the Nobel Committee announced today that President Obama is the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Too soon!

Politely turn it down, Mr. President. It would be an amazing PR move and would preserve your credibility. Don’t just do it for your country, do it for your image!

I figured you might check here to see if I updated my blog today, so this one’s all yours!

I think I’m ready to start taking what I want from life again. Summer was strange but I learned a lot and the situation has made me more independent by necessity. I lost a hobby (stalking Michael Jackson’s every move) and a partner who does not really want to be around me just yet. Hopefully that one will resolve in my favor.

But Autumn is here and it’s my favorite season. The leaves are turning and peppering the street. There’s a stillness in the air at night. And the European tourists have vacated the city at last. October in DC is a wonderful–I suggest you try it out.

I have big plans brewing. There are places I want to travel and things I would like to see and do with the next couple months. I’ve already accomplished one goal by shedding 16 pounds. How are you planning to wrap your 2009?