A Love Note to How I Met Your Mother

In All Seriousness:

During my Junior year of high school, which was 4 years ago, I watched my first episode of How I Met Your Mother.  This episode that I watched was "The Three Days Rule,"(Episode 21 of Season 4) where Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) changes one of Ted's (Josh Radnor) potential love interest's numbers in Ted's phone as Barney's number, and when Ted inevitably texts her right away Barney and Marshall (Jason Segel) pretend to be her.  I was attempting to do homework at the time, but I wound up not a doing a single second of it while this episode was on.  I was too engrossed in it to even look at my homework.  This episode was so interesting and funny.  The characters were likable.  And the episode just worked on it's own without me knowing much backstory about the show.  I was immediately hooked, like a guy who swore he was only going to try crystal meth once.

After that day I decided I would start the show from the beginning, and try to catch up to wherever they were in the series.  Well, I started Season 1 the next day.  By Sunday of that week, I had watched every episode up to "The Three Days Rule," which shows you how much time I had on my hands in high school, and how obsessed I was with this show already.

The obsession didn't end with just constantly watching episodes.  Not even close.  I bought the DVDs of the seasons when they came out, I made constant facebook statuses and tweets about my love for this show, I was Neil Patrick Harris for celebrity day at school, and Barney Stinson for Halloween that year.  I started incorporating countless HIMYM phrases like, "Suit up!" and "Lawyer'd" in every day life.  I watched HIMYM every night before I went to sleep and every morning before school.  I introduced countless people to the show.  I started doing Slap Bets in real life.  I had every original song from the show on my iPhone.  I re-watched the entire show in order with two of my friends.  I did the math one day and estimated that I've watched about 32 days worth of HIMYM.  That's 24-hour days, over a month (in Earth time).  It's still to the point where I might need an intervention (HA HA, reference to the show!).

Now, after nine seasons of slaps, Robin Sparkles songs, Ted girlfriends, catch phrases, naked mans, ducky ties, marriage proposals, and all of those good HIMYM things that I love so much, the show is coming to an end.  I don't care who you are, if you watch TV (and aren't a soulless human being) you have at least one show that actually effects your life in a major way (*salutes* Major Way).  It'll make you cry, it'll make you laugh so hard that you cry (unless it's like Law and Order or something), and you'll reference it constantly without caring if people get the reference or not.

I want to give an open thank you to everyone who is involved with creating the show, and all of the fans who kept it going for 9 seasons.  The creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the writers, Pamela Fryman and the other directors, the producers, the great cast of Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris (and Cristin Milioti).  Not only has HIMYM helped me get even more excited to potentially tell stories like this as a hopeful filmmaker, it also has helped me in my life.  Whether I'm sad, I'm happy, I'm going through a break-up, I'm in a good relationship, I'm in a bad relationship, HIMYM has and will always be something I can use to just get through life.  The show has helped me create and further friendships, it's given me confidence and allowed me to be more outgoing, and it taught me things that I didn't even know I needed to learn.

This upcoming Monday will be as bittersweet as bittersweet can get.  I'll sing the opening song to a new episode for the last time, I'll see these characters in a new episode for the last time, and I'll get a conclusion to the question I've been wondering about for 9 years.  It sounds silly to feel this way about a television show, but when it becomes such a big part of your life, you can't help but feel sad when it's over.  My expectations are extremely high, but there is no doubt in my mind that in the final minutes of the show I'll get an incredibly satisfying ending set to the perfect indie rock song.  I'll finally feel relief now that Ted has met his perfect girl.  And for the first time in my life, an episode of television will make me cry.

~Ryan Moncrief

Ryan's Favorite Things: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Welcome to a new feature on this blog of mine called Ryan's Favorite Things.  IT'S MY FAVORITE THINGS!  YOU GET A THING!  YOU GET A THING!  EVERYBODY GETS A THINGGGGG!

I am so terribly sorry about that.  Basically what Ryan's Favorite Things is going to be is I will give an analysis or review of one of my favorite things, whether that be a favorite movie, album, tv show, comedian, movie/tv show scene, song, book, etc.  And then you will read this review or analysis and either agree with me or disagree and stop being my friend because you take opinions VERY seriously.  Anyway here is my first Ryan's Favorite Thing: My favorite hip-hop album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' by Kanye West.

(The alternate cover because you never know if there are kids glancing over the shoulders of my 30+ year old demographic readers)

In All Seriousness

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Track List:

1. Dark Fantasy

2. Gorgeous

3. POWER

4. All of the Lights (Interlude)

5. All of the Lights

6. Monster

7. So Appalled

8. Devil in a New Dress

9. Runaway

10. Hell of a Life

11. Blame Game

12. Lost in a World

13. Who Will Survive in America

"Well gather 'round children. Zip it. Listen."  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came out around the time when myself (along with most of the population) were mad at Kanye for jacking Taylor Swift's MTV VMA acceptance speech.  Because of this I was a little slow to giving this album a listen, but I eventually forgave Kanye for being mean and realized that I don't really care what he does in public as long as he keeps making music that I like.  

The album stars off with Dark Fantasy, which after the first few listens of MBDTF was my favorite song off the album.  After Nicki Minaj's little monologue at the beginning of the song, the chorus states "Can we get much higher?"  This states the goal of the album in a way.  Kanye has already reached critical and commercial success with his previous albums, could he get even higher than the very top is what he's asking himself.  I think he tops himself with MBDTF, his most consistently good album.

The production value is rivaled by very few albums in rap history in my opinion, and is easily the best in his discography.  The hook and beat on each one of his songs is catchy and original.  The chanting in  the background of POWER gives me chills every time I hear it.  The instrumentals behind All of the Lights, and backing vocals of the thousand (exaggeration) people that Kanye got for this song create one of the most interesting songs he has ever made.  Runaway's production is a musical masterpiece that makes a 9 minute song a joy to listen to every time.

I wouldn't say Kanye is really known for being an amazing lyricist.  That being said, some of his most clever, well-written lyrics are found on this album.  "Too many Urkels on your team, that's why your wins low." from Dark Fantasy, "I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts. I got treasures in my mind, but couldn't open up my own vault." from POWER, and "I'm living in the future so the presence is my past, my presence is a present, kiss my a**." from Monster are a few of my favorite lyrics (well the cleaner ones, my mom reads this) from the album.  And additionally I have to give praise to some of the supporting verses, such as Nicki Minaj's verse in Monster, which is probably the best part of the song, and the best work she's ever done in her career.  A lot of the verses in So Appalled are really cool.  And while it's not a verse, the ending of Blame Game in which Chris Rock talks for 3 minutes is one of my favorite things in the world, and I am too proud to say that I can recite the whole thing.

4 years after My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came out, and it's my most listened to hip-hop album, if not my most most listened to album in any genre of all-time.  With each listening of the album I get something new out of it, and for this reason I haven't gotten sick of these songs.  I can listen to it at the gym, laying in bed, driving in my car, it's good in any environment.  MBDTF, is my go-to album when I'm trying to listen to a perfect album, and I'd be surprised if any rap album tops it any time soon.

The next Ryan's Favorite Thing: My favorite movie, Boogie Nights.

~Ryan Moncrief

10 Shows to Binge Watch on Netflix

Bingeing television shows on Netflix has become sort of a national pastime.  It's rare now to find someone who doesn't have or at least use a Netflix account for the instant streaming.  It's also rare to find someone who still gets DVDs sent to them through Netflix.  Ain't nobody got time for dat.

I've seen a very solid amount of tv shows, and this is mainly thanks to the large collection of shows that are available on Netflix.  With this post I'm gonna help narrow down your list of selections, and single out some of my favorites.  So get ready to continue failing classes and telling your friends that "you are sick" and "can't hang out" so you can watch 10 more episodes of your new favorite show.  Here are 10 shows that will actually ruin every aspect of your life with how addictive they are.

In All Seriousness:

Breaking Bad (5 Seasons)

Well I'm going to start with the obvious.  If you haven't seen Breaking Bad yet, stop reading now, and watch it.  When you inevitably finish the 60 episodes of this show in a few days, come back to this post and read the rest of it.  Now get out of here, or I'll send you on a trip to Belize. (You have a looooong time before you know what that means.)

House of Cards (2 Seasons)

House of Cards, Netflix's most popular original series, is hard to not watch in large chunks.  Each episode has an ending that makes you NEED to see what happens next, and before you know it you're on your 6th episode in a row and it's 4 am on a school night.  Kevin Spacey leads a cast of great actors who play really great characters.  And it's these characters that you get so attached to and curious about, that keeps you coming back for more with this show.

Parks and Recreation (5 Seasons)

The worst part of watching Parks and Rec is trying to pick which character is your favorite.  It's nearly impossible, you'll have to keep it to like a Top 5.  But anyway the employees of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation department will have you laughing non-stop.  If you're having a bad day, watch an episode or 12 and just enjoy life for a little while.

Twin Peaks (2 Seasons)

If you are a fan of weird, quirky, stylized shows that are filled with donuts, cherry pie, and coffee, and could only come from the mind of someone like David Lynch, then this is literally the perfect show for you.  Because that's exactly what this is, a unique mystery show revolving around the murder of a high school senior, and is created by David Lynch.  The citizens of Twin Peaks are an interesting group, and they along with the great writers make you want to finish the show in one sitting.  And if the episodes weren't 45 minutes long you just might be able to.

How I Met Your Mother (8 Seasons)

8 Seasons (season 9, the last season, is airing right now) seems like a lot for a story about a guy trying to meet his wife.  But it's more than just that, it's about this group of friends and everything they have been through leading up to the main character finally meeting his true love.  There are jokes and episodes that will have you crying from laughter, and there are moments that will have you crying.  Because HIMYM isn't shy about bringing the feels, especially when you become so attached to these characters.

Lost (6 Seasons)

Lost was a huge hit during it's run on ABC.  I have to say though, it's so much more fun to binge this show than it was to wait for the next new episode.  Because with each episode this show answers some of your questions, and then gives you twice as many.  So not having to wait a week between episodes, or months between season finales and premieres is great.  Because this show will take over your mind, and not let you stop thinking about it. The ending got mixed reactions, but it my opinion it ended the way that it should have.  But that's just me, form your own opinion when you watch the show.

Arrested Development (4 Seasons)

One of, if not the most cleverly written shows in the history of television.  Every single character has their own unique personality and would be the funniest character on any other show.  But on AD it's hard to pick a funniest character.  You kind of just love everyone, including the tons of side characters and celebrity cameos.  This show is also better with multiple viewings, you'll catch jokes you might have missed the first time, and change your favorite character each time.  So I recommend you binge watch this show several times.

The Office [US] (9 Seasons)

Steve Carell's Michael Scott is one of the funniest characters you'll see on a TV show.  Each episode is filled with endless quotes, and like HIMYM, some episodes are not afraid to bring the feels as well.  If you get through the first season and don't want to watch this entire show immediately, then I guess you just don't enjoy humor or know what jokes are.  But that's what we have dramas for, so it's totally fine.

Mad Men (5 Seasons)

One of the most critically rewarded television shows ever, Mad Men makes a story about a bunch of advertisers from the 50's really interesting.  Mixing actual events of the time with the fictional drama of the show is interesting.  This show does the opposite of what shows like Arrested Development and Parks and Rec does, in that you don't love all of the characters.  Actually you'll find very few characters that you'll love.  But you do care about what happens to all of them.  If you haven't seen Mad Men yet, maybe it's time for you to check out what all of the fuss is about.  And by 'maybe' I mean it absolutely is time for you to check out what all of the fuss is about.

Cheers (11 Seasons)

A lot of these shows are very serialized, the good thing about Cheers is that for the most part you can pretty much come in at any time, and not be too lost.  I wanted to give one suggestion of a show where you can watch it in order, or you can pick out episodes that look good and watch those.  But obviously I recommend you watch them in order from start to finish.  Cheers is one of the most enduring comedies, in that some of today's generation will enjoy it.  And so will the generation that grew up with this show.

There you go, 10 shows for you all to binge watch.  Keep in mind that there are plenty of shows that I left off for reasons such as not having many episodes even though I really enjoy it (Louie, Bob's Burgers), there are some shows that I have been meaning to watch that I haven't gotten around to yet (Friday Night Lights, The West Wing, Freaks and Geeks, etc.) and some shows that I loved the first 4 seasons of, but the last 4 seasons tasted like rotten dough (Dexter, Dexter, Dexter).  So if you think I should have had different show on my list, let me know in the comments.