Should old acquaintance be forgot...

Right, so the deal is that New Year's eve is in a few short days and guessing from the regular round of blogs that we read on a semi-daily basis, it seems as though it is our duty to do the following:
a) a biggest and best of 2003
b) a recap of all of our madcap adventures from 2003
c) a general overview of how fabulous it is to be us and all of the wonderful things that have happened that we should be thankful for
d) our new year's resolutions

So, here is VTB's overly self-absorbed and egotistical take on the year. Feel free to disagree with us, but know that you will be wrong.

ALBUM(S) OF THE YEAR:
ok so shoot us, but its a tie between the following albums.
The Libertines - Up the Bracket
The Thrills - So Much for the City
My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
Ryan Adams - Rock N Roll
The Postal Service - Give Up

go ahead, be picky, get angry, throw something, ask us how dare we leave off such genius as _________. Then sit back and make your own damned list.

MOVIE(S) OF THE YEAR:
oh there was so much shit to wade through this year, but some notables amidst the muck.
Return of the King (Peter Jackson's a genius)
Big Fish (Tim Burton is even more of a genius and there were some top of the line performances)
Bend it Like Beckham (We forgive the producers for changing the original ending of this movie... we think)
Better Luck Tomorrow (refreshing to see some Asian characters with depth, also, we here at VTB are in full support of gratuitous and vicious violence)
Finding Nemo (we swear, it was REALLY good)

BEST NEW DAWSON'S CREEK REPLACEMENT:
ok so nothing replaces an hour of Katie Holmes a week, but we must say that the OC has everything we could wish for and Rachel Bilson is hot hot hot.

BEST LIVE SHOW WE ATTENDED:
this was a toughie, as we saw a lot of shows again this year (including but not exclusive to, dropkick murphys on st. paddys day in boston, sum 41 (please don't ask), les savy fav, juliana theory (again, don't ask), melissa ferrick, the indigo girls in central park (thanks to the senor and muppet), REM, radiohead, cat power (dreadfully painful and suicide inducing), toad the wet sprocket (VTB still loves you glenn phillips), white stripes, the yeah yeah yeahs, jet, brmc....) BUT the best and most surprising live show of the year goes to INTERPOL.... those guys BLEW us AWAY.

BEST MONTH TO BE ANDREA:
well actually there were a lot of good months to be me this year, march was about as out-of-control as I have been since freshman year of college (drama can be fun too), may brought high distinction on my comps, my leave of boston and my return to new york, august rang in a new jobby job, september reunited ms. mo and i, october came and with my move to brooklyn gave me the yankees taking out the red sox .... [careful, here comes the obligatory sentimental part of this post]. really, I have loved and learned and grown so much in the past year that I have to say its hard for me to pick a best month, I can only hope that things should be so good in '04.... (was that appropriately schlocky enough for all of you???)

WORST MONTH TO BE ANDREA:
oooh easy one, February. Thanks to a drunken spill on Valentine's day, I spent the rest of the month on crutches (for the 2nd time in 4 months) while slowly beginning to prepare for my comprehensive oral examinations and reading more Aquinas than any Jew should ever be allowed.

TOP 5 NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS THAT ANDREA MAY ACTUALLY KEEP THIS YEAR:
1. Accomplish things on my to-do lists instead of just writing them so I appear on top of things.
2. Finish the novel that should have been done on November 30.
3. Learn to play the bass guitar.
4. Go to the gym at least twice a week.
5. Fine. Alright. I'll do it. Quit smoking at some point this year as promised.

OK. We have now fulfilled our duties to the blogging community by totally covering all things end-of-the-year related. One more thing. Voices from the Balcony would like to thank its readers (all five of you) for your patronage, we hope that this holiday season is a safe and happy one for you and yours and that we will hear from you again in '04.

best*,
the Voices from the Balcony team




*as graduate degree holders with further advanced degree studies on the way, we here at VTB consider ourselves academics and therefore find it perfectly ok to sign any editorial with the phrase best. And by "best" we mean we are the best. And by "we are the best" we mean better than you.