Tag Archives: sweeney todd

My music trends in 2019 with Last.fm

Every year, I like to examine my music tastes from the previous year. The image above was generated a couple weeks into 2020, so the actual data from 2019 is slightly different.

Here are my top 10 artists from 1/1/2019 through 12/31/2019. It has a lot of good stuff on it – but of course I’d think that, right? And in case images break in the future:

  1. The Orion Experience – 111 scrobbles (1st place in 2018 too)
  2. Lin-Manuel Miranda – 105 scrobbles
  3. Leslie Odom Jr. – 98 scrobbles
  4. Tally Hall – 54 scrobbles
  5. Ariana Grande – 45 scrobbles
  6. It Boys! – 35 scrobbles
  7. Phillipa Soo – 35 scrobbles
  8. Queen – 32 scrobbles
  9. Keke Palmer – 29 scrobbles
  10. Regina Spektor – 24 scrobbles

The Orion Experience was number 1 last year also, and It Boys! and Regina Spektor have been on my top 10 previously. The rest appear new!

In the image above, you can see my top albums of the past year; again, it’s a little inaccurate given that it was generated a couple weeks into 2020.

Here’s the actual top 10 album list for 1/1/2019 through 12/31/2019. Hamilton won, by a ton. I didn’t want to listen to it much before seeing it live. I waited until I had my ticket, listened to the album once, watched the show, and then listened to the album a ton. And to ensure I have it written in case the image breaks:

  1. Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) – 350 scrobbles
  2. Cosmicandy by The Orion Experience – 110 scrobbles (down from 1st place in 2018)
  3. Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum by Tally Hall – 53 scrobbles
  4. So Uncool by Keke Palmer – 29 scrobbles
  5. My Everything (Deluxe) by Ariana Grande – 28 scrobbles
  6. Guys Don’t Like Me – Single by It Boys! – 25 scrobbles
  7. Soviet Kitsch (U.S. Version) by Regina Spektor – 23 scrobbles
  8. Absolute Music 64 by Ariana Grande – 17 scrobbles
  9. Лучшие by Звери – 15 scrobbles (down from 2nd place in 2018)
  10. Steven Universe, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack) – 13 scrobbles

And here are my top 10 tracks:

  1. Right Hand Man by Lin-Manuel Miranda – 66 scrobbles
  2. The Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Experience – 45 scrobbles
  3. The Queen of White Lies by The Orion Experience – 43 scrobbles (down from 1st place in 2018)
  4. A Winter’s Ball by Leslie Odom Jr. – 38 scrobbles
  5. Guys Don’t Like Me by It Boys! – 35 scrobbles
  6. Break Free (feat. Zedd) by Ariana Grande – 33 scrobbles (not present in 2018 but 10th in 2017)
  7. Bottoms Up by keke Palmer – 29 scrobbles
  8. Helpess by Phillipa Soo – 21 scrobbles
  9. Eye to Eye from A Goofy Movie – 18 scrobbles
  10. Your Obedient Servant by Leslie Odom Jr. – 15 scrobbles

Overall, a lot more Hamilton and a lot less ska. And a surprise showing by A Goofy Movie, which really amuses me.

And I saw some live shows as well:

  • Sweeney Todd at South Coast Repertory
  • Heathers: The Musical at Cal State Fullerton
  • The Little Mermaid: Live-to-Film Concert Experience at the Hollywood Bowl
  • Anamanaguchi concert at SDCC
  • Shrek: The Musical at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center
  • Half Past Two in Anaheim
  • Codename: Rocky, Skapeche Mode, Suburban Legends, Voodoo Glow Skulls, “Save Ferris”, and The Aquabats at OC Brew Ha Ha
  • We Will Rock You at the Microsoft Theater
  • R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Phantom of the Auditorium: The Musical at the Chance Theater
  • Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway
  • Anastasia at Segerstrom Hall
  • Suburban Legends in Downtown Disney twice
  • Frozen: The Musical at the Pantages
  • The Aquabats with PPL MVR and Dirt Farm at the Fonda Theatre

It was a pretty great year for music for me!

Looking back on 2016, and looking forward to 2017

I keep hearing about how awful 2016 was and how 2017 should hopefully be better. There were a lot of celebrity deaths in 2016, and I was devastated by the presidential election. More personally, I was laid off from Toshiba in a huge reduction-in-force, and my roommate had to put our two dogs to sleep. Yeah, there were negatives. And yet I’ll be lucky if 2017 lives up to 2016.

I traveled to Europe and saw eight countries with three of my closest friends, gem, Antonio, and Anela, and visited two great friends, Jessica and Andrew, who had recently moved to Paris. I saw Denmark, the UK (including England and Northern Ireland), the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, and Sweden. It was amazing, and I swear I’ll get to sorting photos and blogging eventually.

I saw Disneyland Paris and our hometown Disneyland’s Season of the Force. I attended Devin and Lorena’s 30th wedding anniversary party that included a face-painted bar crawl and a 1920s speakeasy party. I saw Kristine’s first exhibit that she curated in LA – Firsts, Seconds and Thirds: African American Leaders in Los Angeles During the 1960s & 70s.

I watched Anela dance a few times, including Shimmy Shakedown featuring her and Melissa. I saw the Wet Silk art exhibit, met Jon Klassen at the LA Times Festival of Books, and watched an LA KISS Arena football game.

The Holi Festival was a colorful blast of fun. Here I am with gem, Tory, Sean, and Nicole. I also went to the Huntington Beach Cherry Blossom Festival!

I went to a number of photoshoots with Anela, including this Fourth of July shoot that I really enjoyed, a fairy photoshoot, cherry blossoms, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall and train tracks in LA where I also got to shoot gem!

I took a bunch of friends to the Alpaca Hacienda for Anela’s birthday, and we got to see feed and pet alpacas and a llama!

I watched Sherlock Holmes and the Time Portal as well as Sweeney Todd, and gem surprised me with tickets to see Patton Oswalt. I’d been wanting to see his stand-up for a long time, and he didn’t disappoint. I had the three most amazing meals of my life – two at Frame in Paris and one for Edward’s birthday at Alexander’s Steakhouse in Pasadena.

I participated in a high-altitude sleep and cognitive ability sleep study at Barcroft Station, White Mountain Research Center where I witnessed some of the most beautiful views of nature I’ve ever seen. I saw the B-52s and Flight of the Conchords live as well as a number of local ska bands that I see regularly. I went to Allison’s awesome gaybut party and finally made it to one of Bryan’s parties where I participated in some of the most stimulating conversation I’ve had in a while. Visit our lawyer site to find more info.

I cosplayed Luke while gem cosplayed Professor Layton at San Diego Comic-Con. I also cosplayed Fix-It Felix Jr., and a Pokemon Go trainer. I got to dress as a zombie later in the year as well! I attended the Sonic the Hedgehog 25th anniversary party and saw some improv such as Spectacles, ImprovCity, and more.

Two great friends, Gracie and Jon, got married, and I got to watch.

I worked for three months doing server and other hardware installation for California DMVs. While I was traveling across the state, I got to visit my friends Matt, Katie, and Marc. I also had the chance to have lunch with Chuck Sommerville, a game designer whom I’ve admired for a very long time. He’s incredibly fascinating and has done many interesting things, and he was every bit as nice as I could have hoped.

And I even got to meet Alex and Darnell’s beautiful new daughter, Meredith.

Now I’m sure I’m missing many awesome things about 2016, but that just proves my point. If 2017 is half as good to me as 2016 was, I’ll be very grateful. Happy New Year.