The Luu 2009 Year Review

I can't beleive a whole year has passed me by. Let's take a look at some of the notable posts from TLR.

January: I was unemployed and looking for work. I learned a lot about stocks, the housing sector and the economy. Oh and also, our first black president started work. His every move was watched very closely.

February: I learned a lot about revising resumes and job hunting. You'd be surprised how many scams are out there.

March: 24th birthday came and went. I apartment searched and learned how to spot a slum lord and read between the lines in postings.

April: I moved a whole lot closer to NYC. It was great and amazing to be so close to the city. There were varying ways to battle the budget bulge. I went to Mexico for the first time and happened to stay during the Swine Flu outbreak. That was really fun!

May: Summer started and I did another course for 3D animation. My sisters and I drove all the way to Canada to visit the grandparents.

June: Enjoying time near NYC and exploring my new town. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcet and Billy Mayes left us. So sad; too soon; farewell.

July: Another long trip to Canada was tons of fun. Roadtrips are great if you have the right people and a good Sudoku/Trivia book. Went on a few dates but nothing panned out.

August: It rained a lot and i saw District 9. It was a pretty good movie. Transformers on the other hand was pretty predictable. It did keep me entertained for a couple of hours. I donated my car to the Childhood Leukemia Fund and wiped my hands clean of it.

September: Moved back to South Jersey and picked up where I left off.

October: Windows 7 emerged and everyone was a buzz! When the price drops I'll think about buying it, but until then I will stick with my Mac. My sis purchased a Wii and we thoroughly enjoy it. The PS3 is so neglected.

November: The Luu Review first aniversary came. Happy One Year TLR!!! A lot of retailers had some crazy amazing sales, but I was not too impressed.

December: I had a white christmas from all that snow that wouldn't stop coming down. One of my sorors came to visit and we spent the week reconnecting with friends and family.

It's been a long year and I'm hoping to make triple the progress in 2010. First on the list: get a job or go back to school. Who knows what the new year will bring; maybe fortune, love or just some more laughs.

STILLERSTRONG - Just Do It!!!

I was watching Conan O'Brien last week, who is hilarious by the way, and he had Ben Stiller on. On this visit Ben Stiller started talking about his charity called "Stiller Strong" in conjunction with Save the Children. It kinda goes off the Zoolander character he portrayed who wanted to open the "Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too". He spent this past summer in a school in Haiti. He was able to spend time with them and get to understand their needs. The money raised will go towards helping the school in Ceverine to build much needed classrooms, employ teachers, pay for school supplies, etc.



It's great to see a celebrity getting involved in an area, where my family's from, that doesn't get as much attention as Africa. It's so close to the U.S. and has so much heritage and history. On the site, you also get to see some funny videos of Ben Stiller trying to plug his charity and his Stiller Strong headbands. A few are pretty funny!

There are a few really easy ways you can donate. You can text 'stiller' to 85944. A $5 one time charge will be added to your phone bill and it goes towards the charity. You can donate using Paypal or a credit card. You can also buy a headband. You can get one for $15, 3 for $40, a limited edition yellow one for $100 and the yellow with an autograph for $300.

Check it out: http://www.stillerstrong.org/

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Now playing: Sweet Mickey - Oooh la la!
via FoxyTunes

Tunes Tuesday - "God is Going Get Sick of Me"

There's this song I've been listening to for a long while that I wanted to share with you all. It's called "God is Going Get Sick of Me" by Aberdeen City. This rock song really wakes me up and gets me moving. It's from "The Freezing Atlantic" album that was re-released in 2006.

The lyrics are a riot. I can't image someone being such a pain that God gets sick of them. The song was their first single that also won the "Local Song of the Year" award at the Boston Music Award in 2006. This Boston-based indie rock band consists of 5 members: Ryan Heller on the guitar, Rob McCaffrey on drums, Brad Parker on bass and vocals and Chris McLaughlin as the other guitarist and vocalist.

I think it's an awesome song, so check it out.

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Now playing: Aberdeen City - God Is Going to Get Sick of Me
via FoxyTunes

A Movie I'm Excited to See!

I saw this trailer and can't wait til it comes out in theatres. Turns out it's a remake of the George A. Romero film "The Crazies" released in 1973. The summary is still the same:

"Imagine living in a small town where everything is safe and happy... until suddenly it isn't. Imagine your friends and neighbors going quickly and horrifically insane. In a terrifying tale of the American Dream gone horribly wrong, four friends find themselves trapped in their hometown trying desperately to escape."



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Now playing: Gary Jules - Mad World
via FoxyTunes

Guilty Pleasures...

We all have guilty pleasures. Things that you eat or do that you wouldn't really tell anyone about. Maybe you still listen to the Hansons or walk around your home in the nude or even still love to play the game Candyland. Whatever it is, everyone has 'em, and I'm gonna divulge one of mine.

I was pretty one Saturday early evening and started flipping through the channels. Isn't that how it always starts. Any who, I stopped on Nickelodeon while iCarly was playing. I found this show, about three comedic friends who post live videos for their web show, to be hilarious (the opposite of low-larious, lol). Carly, Sam and Freddy are a great mix of kookiness, creativity and have personalities that's a mix of sweet, sour and gooey. The writers tickle all my funny bones. I guess I love watching it because I don't have to think so much, not like Law & Order.

If you're brain needs a break as well, check 'em out on Nick. A lot of repeats are played on during the week around 6pm EST. The latest show is "iQuit iCarly" where tensions rise between Sam and Carly. And yes, all the shows start with a small "i" like iMac. What are some of your guilty pleasures?

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Now playing: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - Opening Theme
via FoxyTunes

Tunes Tuesday - "Sleepyhead"

Perhaps you seen the Palm Pixi commercial. The flashing lights and music makes you feel like you're in a fairytale filled with pixies. Well, I had to find out what song they were playing... and I did. It's called "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit.




This band of guys consists of their lead singer and co-keyboardist Michael Angelakos, other keyboardist and guitarist Ian Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy on Synth and Samplers, Bassist and Synth player Jeff Apruzzese and Drummer Nate Donmoyer. The band, started by Michael, was created as a project to create a few songs for his former girlfriend on Valentine's Day (how romantic "Chunk of Change" which has the track "Sleepyhead" debut September of last year. The song is so popular that it has played in Canadian PSP commercials, UK commercials for comedic movies and MTV's "What the Flip?". Their newest full-length album, "Manners", came out in May of 09. I hope they continue to rise into their own spotlight.
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Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
via FoxyTunes

Mmm, Twilight.

I gave in this week. I finally saw the "Twilight" movie, but only because someone borrowed it from the library. I was curious to see what all the hype and craze was about for the past year. While watching the movie, I was pleasantly surprised. The characters Bella and Edward seemed to work well together. Shy, antisocial students who don't mind being loners. I'm actually very interested to see the new movie "New Moon". But not in theaters; I'd hate to be the only person above 18 in the audience. I would still prefer "True Blood". It's definitely not for kids and more provocative.

On another note, Susan Boyle beat out Adam Lambert for highest selling album this week. I wonder if his performance at that award show had anything to do with it. Susan is the exception to the rule that you have to be really attractive to be a music artist.