Auld Lang Syne And All That Jazz - Part 2 of 2

Thinking back to the day after Christmas...Thursday: We did some shopping. I did my part to contribute to the decline of western civilization by buying "Steal This Album!" by System Of A Down and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," for the PS2. We also went and saw the movie, "Catch Me If You Can." I thought it was a really good movie. Nicely cast.Friday: Janice went to work during the day, so Dad and Rebecca and I hung out at home, met her for lunch, and then did some shopping at a very nice music store accompanied by the stage we had seen "A Christmas Carol" on.Saturday: We watched two movies: "Big Trouble," and "State And Main." "Big Trouble," was pretty funny, and "State And Main," was hilarious, as always.Sunday: We returned home after a very nice week with Dad and Janice, and went off to the airport to pick up Aunt Sue from the airport.Monday: The family and Aunt Sue all headed out to Mason Neck park for a walk through the woods, which was actually quite nice. The park had a playground, and I got to relive childhood memories simply by jumping aimlessly on the bridge-type thing that wobbles when you walk on it. Then we had dinner at Honolulu, an amusingly tacky yet good Polynesian restaurant, and did some sight-seeing at night in Washington D.C.Tuesday: New Years' Eve. I had been told beforehand that the parents were holding an informal gathering, and that I could invite a friend or two. I had decided not to invite anyone and simply tell anybody who asked what I was doing for New Years' that they could stop by if they wanted. Well, Ashley called and wanted to stop by with some peoples...so she did (Daniel, Brian, eventually Alex). Andy and Albert wanted to, so they came by also. Finally, Jen and Kristin also wanted to, so they came, along with Jen's brother Chris. The irony was, the only guest we had besides all these Matt guests was Aunt Sue...it turned out none of my parents' or sister's friends were coming. It was a Matt New Years' Party!We did a bunch of random stuff. At one point we managed to crowd everyone into my bedroom, where Albert, Andy, and I played along to a couple of songs on my computer. We watched the movie, "Spaceballs," and part of, "State And Main." For about the last hour and a half of the party, we went out to the front yard and played Truth or Dare, Mafia, and a few rounds of Duck Duck Goose...and oh yeah, 2003 came. Gosh, good times.Wednesday: We went to an evening performance of "South Pacific." I have to admit it was quite good, though there naturally were some numbers that had me groaning because of their lyrics' sophistication, or lack thereof. Apparently the lead guy voiced the character Gaston in the Beauty And The Beast Disney movie...impressive resume, to say the least.Thursday: Really a pretty quiet day. Seriously.Friday: Aunt Sue had to leave this morning, so Mom and Rebecca and I saw her off at the airport. The sadness at seeing her go was soon replaced, albeit temporarily, by getting to see my friend Sarah (Sidenote: I am currently working on a solo music CD, and she will appear on it as a background vocalist). She and I looked at the songs I have for the project, and she came up with some truly amazing background vocals. I'm excited.Saturday: We had an actual band rehearsal! Screaming Silence rehearsed! We were all there, and David actually had turntables...he is finally actually a DJ in our group. We all learned one of the songs that Andy and I had written over the summer. We also had some pizza and watched how far corks flew when we opened bottles of sparkling cider.Saturday night was also entertaining. We had a planned Beatles Filmfest that quickly became a Semi-Beatles Filmfest because an unnamed friend of mine didn't bring, "Help!" So instead we watched, "A Hard Day's Night," and then, "Shrek." We were perfectly justified in doing this, as shown below:Shrek -> Smash Mouth perform "I'm A Believer"Smash Mouth perform "I'm A Believer" -> "I'm A Believer" originally done by the Monkees"I'm A Believer" originally done by the Monkees -> Monkees a knockoff of the BeatlesMonkees a knockoff of the Beatles -> Beatles' movies include "A Hard Day's Night"The peopleage was good too...Ashley, Karen, Ryan, and Rob came, as well as Rebecca's friend Madeline.Ah, what a winter break it was.Peace