Retro 2005

Found this old email from 2005. Time to go all nostalgic on myself. This was before ex-wife, kids, losing jobs, court, moving, buying, more kids. Good times.

in lieu of a christmas letter, this is going to be it. 

 

Jay's favourite moments of 2005.

#1 picking up those business cards that said "Jay Royston - Pub Manager" on them.

#2  throwing away those business cards 2 months later.

#3  seeing the colours on the tree on "my" new front yard change colour in the autumn.

#4 Knowing that for a few short minutes, I was over $10 000 richer, until my bank's financial manager informed me that my loan was approved and was now $10 000+ deeper in debt.

#5 realizing that my parents believed enough in me that i could take care of 2 kids, 2 dogs and a renovated character house with a large enough paycheque.

#6 taking Dave's daughters (brooklyn, savannah, and maddy) skating before i left chilliwack.

#7 being cleared medically for another year.

#8 finally getting in touch with my inner redneck with a few really good, muddy days of mudboggin in my old jeep cherokee.

#9 having my 2 dogs, 1 borrowed (kubie), 1 donated (chompsky) spend a quiet afternoon walking on the frozen Fraser river.

#10 Golfing on a large clear fairway in kelowna with no pine trees in sight, courtesy of Ed.

 

Jay's current top 1o movies in no order.

 

#1  Muppets Wizard of Oz - just cuz I was fortunate enough to achieve a childhood goal and see these guys at work - and they paid me to watch them do it.

#2  Zoolander - I didn't say that they were movies released in 2005. It's just that most of the movies i saw this year weren't all that memorable.  I still want to see a live break-dance fight.

#3  Kentucky Fried Movie - the most influential movie EVER.  At one time, someone took a chance on making this type of movie and the only other notable one like it that i know of was Amazon Women on the Moon (same director, coincidentally).  It's still the reason why i wanted to get into film.

#4 Hedwig and the Angry Inch - okay, if you're not into the idea of watching a musical about an east german kid who gets most of his penis cut off so that he can come to america with his army boyfriend who subsequently dumps him in kansas, where he goes on to become a transgender rockstar on the restaurant circuit, you probably won't be interested in this. 

#5  I Heart Huckabee's  - clever, philosophical, has shania twain... what more can you ask for.  The "why am i here?" movie of the year.

#6  Pulp Fiction - come on, it's Pulp Fiction...

#7  Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - there's something about being vain enough to star in your own slacker movie and have all your friends in it that makes you feel good that somewhere, someone is living the hollywood dream.

#8  Elektra - just cuz this was another movie that, despite being quite lame, will always remind me of little moments spent that summer wondering why hollywood exists in the first place.

#9  Pestilence Part 2 - The Spaghetti Incident - the greatest little movie not yet finished.

#10 The Cable Guy - No matter what people say, to me this is still Jim Carrey's best performance, and the funniest movie Ben Stiller ever directed.

 

Jay's best bands off the top of his head

 

#1 Cake  (coulda seen, shoulda seen, didn't see)

#2 Radiohead  (seen)

#3 Frank Zappa (no longer seen)

#4 Bif Naked  (seen and bumped into in person)

#5 Our Lady Peace (not seen)

#6 Hank Williams (the 1st one)  (quite dead)

#7 The Offspring (never seen)

#8 Lost Vega  (lived with the bass player)

#9 Slade  (who the Fuck was Alice???)

#10 George Thorogood (seen)

 

Jay's top 10 favourite other stuff

 

#1 putting xmas lights up, turning them on and thinking "damn, that looks pretty good."

#2 watching The Office, a deadpan, funny tv show on NBC starring Steve Carrell but i download off the internet.

#3 knowing that somewhere out there a lot of my friends have become fathers for the first (or third) time.

#4 watching the Grey Cup's first overtime game in 50 years, live.

#5 accepting the fact that dreams change, lives go on and it is possible to lose 20 pds in 6 months if you stop eating potato chips.

#6 having ALL my stuff in one place finally.

#7 finishing off a manuscript that i hope to get around to submitting some places in the new year.

#8 those raspberry smoothies that Tim Horton's is serving up.

#9 knowing/believing that everyone around me is doing fine, keeping healthy and living life.

#10  knowing that for another year, i won't have to figure out what to write in a xmas letter and being able to use "lieu" in the correct context finally.

 

I apologize if there is some gaping holes in there that i didn't answer.  Feel free to email me with specific questions, otherwise, have a great xmas.