Now that I've seen at least 50 of AFI's Top 100 Movies of all Time, and because Sarah asked me about it, I thought I'd compile my own "Clarke's Top 100 Movies of all Time." These are just mine, so feel free to bash/disagree if you want. There's not a whole lot of "classics," because if I put some of 'em on there, it'd just be me being pretentious, so I'm going with what I really think. Also, if you're super bored, you can copy the list and put it in a reply and see which ones you've seen (this is a requirement for Sarah, so I can see how much work I have to do =) Anyway, here it is:

Clarke's Top 100 Movies of All Time
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
4. Almost Famous
5. Casablanca
6. Lost in Translation
7. Citizen Kane
8. Roman Holiday
9. Spirited Away
10. To Kill A Mockingbird
11. Jurassic Park
12. High Fidelity
13. The Royal Tenenbaums
14. Forrest Gump
15. Pulp Fiction
16. Pan's Labyrinth
17. The Godfather
18. Annie Hall
19. Brick
20. Saving Private Ryan
21. Jaws
22. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
23. Fight Club
24. The Shawshank Redemption
25. Serenity
26. When Harry Met Sally
27. From Russia With Love
28. Some Like it Hot
29. Rushmore
30. Good Will Hunting
31. Field of Dreams
32. Shakespeare in Love
33. Breakfast at Tiffany's
34. Sabrina (1954)
35. Toy Story
36. The Music Man
37. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
38. Dr. Srangelove
39. Sideways
40. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
41. Back to the Future
42. A Boy Named Charlie Brown
43. My Fair Lady
44. Young Frankenstein
45. Star Wars: A New Hope
46. Clerks
47. Children of Men
48. Volver
49. As Good As it Gets
50. The Graduate
51. How to Steal A Million
52. Mullholand Drive
53. Schindler's List
54. The Maltese Falcon
55. Gladiator
56. Manhattan
57. The Lion King
58. Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban
59. Uncle Buck
60. Dogma
61. Casino Royale
62. Castaway
63. Sleepless in Seattle
64. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
65. Spaceballs
66. American History X
67. Broken Flowers
68. Love and War
69. Match Point
70. The Emperor's New Groove
71. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
72. Plains, Trains and Automobiles
73. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
74. Say Anything...
75. Jerry Maguire
76. The Treasure of the Sierra Madres
77. Big Fish
78. Camelot
79. West Side Story
80. Caddyshack
81. Memento
82. Aladdin
83. Elizabethtown
84. Finding Forrester
85. King Kong (2005)
86. Finding Nemo
87. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
88. Election
89. Babel
90. Rounders
91. Love Actually
92. American Splendor
93. The Sword in the Stone
94. Golden Eye
95. Duck Soup
96. The Holiday
97. 21 Grams
98. I am Sam
99. Death Proof
100. Kingdom of Heaven

So yeah, there you go.

In other news, I made it into my Tolkien class (yes!) and every other one I wanted. Hopefully my last semester at college'll be a good one.

Finally, Georgia, you need to check out the soundtrack to the movie "I'm Not There" (the one about Bob Dylan). Actually, Sarah, since you're not a big fan of Dylan's voice, you may like it, too. I can get it to either of you right away, just let me know. Check out this tracklisting! http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?EAN=886971203820&delay=y&PV=y&z=y&cds2Pid=18835&linkid=1032356

So, I went to the Brett Denin/Ben Folds/John Mayer concert last night (first concert of the sumemr season) and it was a great show. 

Brett Denin, was good, sort of a more electric Jack Johnson. He played a short set, but he sounded pretty good. 

Ben Folds was more than a little quirky, but it was a great performance. He was bouncing around, throwing his stool at the piano, and was just all kinds of energetic. He did a truly hilarious cover of a Dr. Dre song, and he ended his set with a rocking version of the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights."

This is my fifth time seeing John Mayer, and I've seen him go through a several stages - the folk stage, the heavy blues stage - and tonight I finally saw him work both of them together into a spectacular show. He did the songs everyone wanted ("No Such Thing," "Waiting on the World to Change," and "Bigger Than My Body") and some just plain great songs: "The Heart of Life," "Vultures," "Clairity (which was prefeced by "Victoria," which is from his debut EP that I never thought he'd play), "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," "Good Love is on the Way," and "Belief." He also did a wicked blues version of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor." It was great at the end, because he came out and did three acoustic only songs: "Your Body is a Wonderland," "Who Do you Think I Am?" and a beautiful version of "Stop this Train," and finished off with a blistering version of "In Reapir." All in all, a great show. 

And I got to thinking, and made a couple little random lists, since I was bored today:

Top 10 songwriters I could be, if I could:
1. Bob Dylan
2. Van Morrison
3. Ryan Adams
4. John Mayer
5. Ben Gibbard (from Death Cab for Cutie)
6. Bruce Springsteen
7. Jackson Browne
8. Pete Townshend
9. Robbie Robertson (The Band)
10. Tom Waits

Top 10 songs I wish I had written
1. "Desolation Row" - Bob Dylan
2. "Into the Mystic" - Van Morrison
3. "Behind Blue Eyes" - The Who
4. "Atlantic CIty" - Bruce Springsteen
5. "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" - The Band
6. "The Pretender" - Jackson Browne
7. "Martha" - Tom Waits
8. "English Girls Approximately" - Ryan Adams
9. "My Sweet Lord"' - George Harriosn
10. "Georgia on My Mind" - Ray Charles

Well, my bank account only suffered a minor explosion with my ticket buying, but that's okay. Michael Buble will be awesome, I'm going to Dylan/My Morning Jacket with a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while, and I'm sure I'll find someone at Ryan Adams! Woot for summer concerts!

I was doing so well this concert season - I thought I only had John Mayer and that was it, and my bank account was secure. 

Then today I find out that Michael Buble is coming, Bob Dylan and My Morning Jacket are coming together, and so is Ryan Adams. 

The icon I'm using is my bank account exploding.

So, last night was my fairly "indie" concert, and it was a lot of fun. First I went to the pre-opening party of this great Mexican restaurant we have in Colorado called Lime - it doesn't open until tonight, so I felt very hip, hanging out with all these people on the night before. 

Then we jammed over to the City Lights Pavillion, where the concert was - which was absolutely freezing, because it's fall and it was outside. The person I wanted to see the most was Tristan, because I saw her in Boulder in February in this little venue and she was great, but since she was the opening opening band, she didn't play for that long, which was a drag. 

Then Nada Surf came on, and they were pretty good. Nothing mind blowing, but good rock 'n' roll. 

Finally Guster took the stage and they were great. Very Beatle/Beach Boys-esque. The lead singer was hilarious, and they played a great set. Best song they did was probably "Diane," but it was good. 

And now I take a break from concerts for a while, until October 24th when I'll be seeing a Mr. Bob Dylan!

So, today was a good day for the materialistic side of me (that everyone has to satiate every now and then) but not good for the ol' wallet. Thank God I have a job. Here's what was on my shopping list today:

Books - Terry Brook's new one, Armageddon's Children
DVDs - LOTR...for the third time. Bloody New Line knows all they have to do is add new bonus features/documentaries/raw footage and I'll buy it. The bastards. 
Music - Bob Dylan - Modern Times. wieimmer , we'll have to talk once we've both had a chance to listen to it. 
              Ray LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black
              Beach Boys - Pet Sounds - it's the albums 40th anniversary, and is one of the best albums EVER, and I don't own a copy, so I had to get it. 

On other notes, good luck to herminia with moving back to college in the coming days! I'll be thinking of you, and I hope it goes well.

And a very Happy Birthday to rjade829

Cheers for now, friends!

Boredom at work strikes again, so here's another list for anyone who gives a damn about my tastes in music:

1. Runes Album (Led Zeppelin IV) - Led Zeppelin
2. Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
3. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
4. Acthung Baby - U2
5. Kind of Blue - Miles Daivs
6. Love is Hell - Ryan Adams
7. Who's Next - The Who
8. Before These Crowded Streets - Dave Matthews Band
10. Moondance - Van Morrison
11. In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra
12. Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
13. Heavier Things - John Mayer
14. Getz/Gilberto - Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto
15. Rubber Soul - The Beatles
16. Blonde on Blone - Bob Dylan
17. (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
18. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
19. Crash - Dave Matthews Band
20. Blue Train - John Coltrane
21. Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
22. Plans - Death Cab for Cutie
23. Eat A Peach - The Allman Brothers
24. In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
25. Abbey Road - The Beatles
26. Highway 61 Revisted - Bob Dylan
27. Music from Big Pink - The Band
28. Room for Squares - John Mayer
29. Z - My Morning Jacket
30. Songs for Swingin' Lovers - Frank Sinatra
31. Live at Leeds - The Who
32. The Photo Album - Death Cab for Cutie
33. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix
34. The Joshua Tree - U2
35. Disraeli Gears - Cream
36. Vs. - Pearl Jam
37. Pink Moon - Nick Drake 
38. August and Everything After - Counting Crows
39. Brushfire Fairytales - Jack Johnson
40. Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell
41. Twentysomething - Jamie Cullum
42. Under the Table and Dreaming - Dave Matthews Band
43. Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi - George Winston
44. The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits
45. Nasvhille Skyline - Bob Dylan
46. Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
47. Sufjan Stevens - Come on, Feel the Illionise!
48. Ryan Adams - Gold
49. White Ladder -David Gray
50. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
51. Poetic Champions Compose - Van Morrison
52. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
53. Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
54. Morning View - Incubus
55. Harvest Moon - Neil Young
56. In A Silent Way - Miles Davis
57. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
58. Tommy - The Who
59. Graceland - Paul Simon
60. Jackson City Nights - Ryan Adams
61. It's Time - Michael Buble
62. Yourself or Someone Like You - Matchbox Twenty  

My favorite 62 favorite songs - work is boring, but since I work at a CD store, this is a good place for this list to take shape. The first...probably 5 are in order, and afterwards, it's just as they come to me...

1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
3. Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
4. The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra
5. So What - Miles Davis
6. The Best of What's Around - Dave Matthews Band
7. The Weight - The Band
8. Shelter from the Storm (Alternate Take) - Bob Dylan
9. Clarity - John Mayer
10. English Girls Approximately - Ryan Adams 
11. Baba O'Riley - The Who
12. Going to California - Led Zeppelin
13. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You - Bob Dylan
14. Please Call Me Baby - Tom Waits
15. Proudest Monkey - Dave Matthews Band
16. Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
17. Champagne Supernova - Oasis
18. Hey Jude - The Beatles 
19. Please Do Not Let Me Go - Ryan Adams
20. Blue Train - John Coltrane
21. The Girl from Ipanema - Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto
22. Blue Sky - The Allman Brothers Band
23. The Pretender - Jackson Browne
24. In My Time of Dying - Led Zeppelin
25. Gravity - John Mayer Trio
26. Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
27. Old Woman Behind the Counter in A Small Town - Pearl Jam
28. The Seeker - The Who
29. Aqueous Transmisson - Incubus
30. Pink Moon - Nick Drake
31. Someone Like You - Van Morrison
32. Round Here - Counting Crows
33. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
34. Georgia on My Mind - Ray Charles
35. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
36. Crash - Dave Matthews Band
37. 3x5 - John Mayer
38. A Movie Script Ending - Death Cab for Cutie
39. Getting in Tune - The Who
40. That's The Way - Led Zeppelin
41. Hearts and Bones - Paul Simon
42. Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson 
43. Sparks - Coldplay
44. Pearl Jam - Go
45. Learning to Fly - Tom Petty
46. I Just Wasn't Made for These Times - The Beach Boys
47. Bad - U2
48. Spoon - Dave Matthews Band
49. Smoke - Tristan Prettyman
50. Crazy Love - Van Morrison
51. Stop Your Sobbing - The Pretenders
52. I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
53. When We Laugh Indoors - Death Cab for Cutie
54. A Day in the Life - The Beatles
55. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
56. Electical Storm - U2
57. Queen of the Slipstream - Van Morrison
58. Desolation Row - Bob Dylan
59. Amsterdam - Coldplay
60. Your Heart is An Empty Room - Death Cab for Cutie
61.  Sloop John B - The Beach Boys
62. Thirteen - Big Star