Beauty comes from speed
Love watching the intervals
The falls are brutal

Ice Dancing

Sadly literal —
it's like pairs figure skating
with added boredom.

Snowboard Cross

This one should be great.
Lead changes, crashes and more...
...oh, really? That's it?

Moguls

Bump, bump, bump, bump, bump
Bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, JUMP
Bump, bump, bump, bump, bump

Halfpipe

Really, one question:
Is Shaun White competing now?
When he's up, tell me.

Skicross

It's more exciting
than its snowboarding brother.
Still disappointing.

Figure Skating

It's too subjective.
That is always a problem.
...Well, at least for me.

Aerials

Yeah, it's subjective.
But all those twists and flips, man!
Plus, it's short and sweet.

Biathlon

Skiing and shooting
The nuclear winter sport
It makes sense to me

Bobsled

Two-man — I get it.
Four-man? Those middle two folks
push, and not much else.

Cross-Country Skiing

They don't stop to shoot
Hills, turns, sprints — no rest at all
A grueling ordeal

Hockey

No surprises here —
I watch it most of the year.
...No-touch icing rocks.

Luge

Clearly dangerous.
And doubles? Two dudes, one sled:
unnecessary.

Skeleton

The forward luge
Sounds crazy, but makes more sense
Just think about it

Short Track

Drama, speed, crashes —
if it was on more often,
I would not complain.

Curling

It's on all the time
Much screaming while the stones slide
Strangely addictive

Ski Jumping

How does one become
involved with a sport like this?
Scandinavia!

Speed skating

It's the boxing to
the short track's mixed martial arts.
Older, but wiser.

Nordic combined

By air and by land.
No love for water skiing?
I get it. Too cold.

"I am very impressed with the article I have just read. I wish the writer of phildzikiy.com can continue to provide so much practical information and unforgettable experience to phildzikiy.com readers. There is not much to state except the following universal truth: You are always a little bit scared when you stroke a hourse. I will be back."

Universal truth, indeed.

"Welcome to your new job, hope you have a wonderful first day — we are so happy to have you join the team, you are so lucky on your first day. And they say this is the job that people die for, I hope you're ready for the next stage ... a lot of people work in the same place, don't let them get in your way"

A frantic debut, as if the group was only guaranteed one album, and one day in which to record it. Nearly everything on here is fast and gripping. The Futureheads harmonize while roaring through tight two-to-three minute rockers — it's new post-punk, with energy and eccentricity. Not to mention that joyous rarity, a tremendous cover that eclipses the original — an irresistible version of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love."

The Futureheads - "Hounds of Love"

19. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)

"We want our film to be beautiful, not realistic"

In which the previous glorious pop albums of Of Montreal past fade into something darker, deeper, and eventually, just as addictive. A personal work becomes a sprawling explosion in Kevin Barnes' hands — he hasn't shown any signs of reigning in the music since Hissing Fauna (witness Skeletal Lamping), and hey, more power to him. Of Montreal has crafted enough lasting pop diamonds. If Barnes wants to continue to get darker, freakier and funkier, fine by me. Because when it comes to melody, he's still got one of the best ears on the scene. That hasn't changed. He should be free to follow his muses ... or demons.

Of Montreal - "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse"

18. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006)

"Go on, go on, and scream and cry, you're miles from where anyone will find you ... this is nothing new, no television crew, they don't even put on the siren"

Neko Case is like the Bjork of the 00's, at least to me: A female musician with an undeniable (though not nearly as divisive) voice and a consistently great body of work throughout the decade. No, the two don't sound anything alike, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. This album creates a mood and a setting with great effectiveness. Sure, Case's voice has something to do with that, but the songwriting is an equal partner here. For all of Case's vital contributions on the New Pornographers albums, Fox Confessor is, as of now, her apex.

Neko Case - "Hold On, Hold On" (live)

17. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)

"But if I could tear his throat ... spill his blood between my jaws ... and erase his name out for good, don't you know that I would? Don't you realize that I wouldn't pause? That I would cut him down with my claws if I could have somehow never let that happen?"

Will Sheff doesn't get enough credit. He's far and away one of the decade's top songwriters. Read his lyrics removed from the music — they're still coherent. Okkervil River will always get love and respect from writers, because Sheff is a great writer.

It's possible that this is also Okkervil's weakness — the lyrics are the stars, and the music's impact is dampened. This isn't a new quandary in pop music, but when dealing with subtle instrumentation, the problem becomes pronounced. Tracks like "For Real" and "Black" jump out of the speakers with urgency, especially when surrounded by the other songs on Black Sheep Boy, which are often slower and quieter. The answer, of course, is to let the album take hold and grow. It might take some time for the likes of "A Stone" and "Song of Our So-Called Friend" to sink in, but when they do, you know you're listening to a complete, masterful album for writers and everyone else.

(If you're going to buy Black Sheep Boy, try to get the deluxe edition that includes Black Sheep Boy Appendix, the follow-up EP that continues the story ... it's nearly as good as the original album.)

Okkervil River - "For Real"

16. Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas (2002)

"My love is bigger than your love, we take more drugs than a touring funk band, sing it"

So many lyrics to pick from here. I could go on quoting, but that would really ruin the surprise. Mclusky Do Dallas is very loud, quite explicit, and certifiably insane. I write that all with great fondness. This album is like going over the cliff at 100 mph and screaming and laughing all the way down. But you survive at the end! And thank heavens for that, because you're going to want to listen to this again. Tremendous fun.

Mclusky - "Day of the Deadringers"

15. The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004)

"I went on strike when the union said I would, had a sign in my hand, 'cause the times were no good, and all this time, they ever told me too was to get a little more for your little you"

This album would be worth owning for its brilliant title and wicked cover art alone. Luckily, the music is more than worthy of the package. Tyrannosaurus Hives is a total blast and as tight as all get-out. Punk rock is alive and well as the Hives go blistering through 12 songs in less than a half hour, making statements — some empty, some not — but never stopping to sort out the remains. Even when the Swedes employ strings, you can't help but smile. A top-notch riot, Tyrannosaurus Hives doesn't have the popular single like Veni Vidi Vicious, but it's the better album by leaps and bounds.

The Hives - "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones"

14. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006)

"Sukie was the kid, she liked to hang out in the graveyard. She did brass rubbings, she learned you never had to press hard"

Don't take my comment about If You're Feeling Sinister in the Dear Catastrophe Waitress entry the wrong way — I love If You're Feeling Sinister. Adore it. Which is why I was surprised to find that I might like this album just as much.

The Life Pursuit is a pop masterpiece. The songwriting quality is superb, and really, it all just seems too easy for Belle and Sebastian. "Another Sunny Day," followed by "White Collar Boy," followed by "The Blues Are Still Blue" ... it's unfair, and we haven't even gotten to the best songs yet.

Belle and Sebastian - "Funny Little Frog"

13. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

"I will see you in the next life"

I still don't think Radiohead has recovered from Kid A. In Rainbows is good, Hail To The Thief is all right, Amnesiac is rubbish ... the band was never the same after this album, and it probably never will be again. But if this killed old Radiohead — the one with all the guitars — well, what a way to die. Certainly one of the most influential albums of the decade, Kid A makes the experimental sound accessible, though now, it doesn't sound so strange. The band saves the best for last, as the wondrous "Motion Picture Soundtrack" lives up to its cinematic title.

Radiohead - "Idioteque"

12. Beulah - The Coast Is Never Clear (2001)

"I don't love you to death, but I'd die if you left"

Simply one of the greatest summer albums of all time. The cover art couldn't be more apt. From the sunny explosions of singles "Gene Autry" and "Silver Lining" to the warm, lovely comedowns of "What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?" and "Night Is the Day Turned Inside Out," all the bases are covered. A criminally overlooked gem from a sadly overlooked band.

Beulah - "Gene Autry"

11. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (2006)

"She was a really cool kisser but she wasn't all that strict of a Christian. She was a damn good dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend. She likes the warm feeling, but she's tired of all the dehydration. Most nights are crystal clear, but tonight, it's like it's stuck between stations"

Of all the acts this decade to earn Springsteen comparisons, The Hold Steady earned the most mentions. Springsteen called his third album, Born to Run, his "shot at the title." Boys and Girls in America is The Hold Steady's shot. Both took the belts.

Anthemic, ambitious and successful in every way, the album comes out of the gate with "Stuck Between Stations," an instant classic. It doesn't ease off the throttle until "First Night," which seems all but necessary before the speed picks up again. The album's title is honest, as these really are tales of America's youth — stories that Craig Finn tells, as usual, with memorable precision and a voice all his own. For those who consider Finn a mere fictionist — and really, who would care if he was? — what's more honest than "You Can Make Him Like You?" He's the best lyricist of the decade, and the competition isn't all that close.

The Hold Steady has often been called "the world's greatest bar band," but as I've written before, you could remove "bar" and the statement would ring just as true.

The Hold Steady - "Chips Ahoy"

I'm not sure if I've enjoyed even one McDonald's commercial during the "I'm Lovin' It" era. All of these ads try so hard to be hip or funny, that they forget about concepts like "making sense." Remember "The Dollar Menunaires?" Or how about this one:

This is a key character in McDonald's commercials — the oblivious human who has no concept of what life is like on this planet. (Perhaps that's why he eats at McDonald's.) Why would he even ask someone at a travel agency or a tanning salon what he could get for a dollar? To set up the sell, of course — Mickey D's has cheap food! — but his bizarre behavior completely misses the point. Shouldn't he at least be visiting different restaurants? I mean, those Golden Corral commercials are annoying, but at least they're comparing their restaurants to other eateries. All of this would be excusable if the commercial were actually funny. It's not.

Which brings us to our next case. This prick:

So many questions. If he's that much of a jerk without coffee, and he can't even respond like a decent human being without it, why doesn't he own a coffee maker? Why does he go out of his way to tell people, "Sorry, I haven't had my coffee yet," when a "hi" would suffice? How does he still have a roommate?

But most puzzling of all is his reaction upon learning that McDonald's offers coffee: Genuine excitement and surprise, as if he just discovered that McDonald's sells coffee — ahem, "premium roast coffee for just a dollar." What? How could he not know this? And if he didn't know, why would he go to McDonald's before getting his precious coffee? The whole premise is completely flawed. Not only that, but it paints McDonald's customers as oblivious jerks.

You didn't think anyone was paying attention, did you, McDonald's? You never think anyone is paying attention. And maybe you're right. After all, it's a fair explanation of your success.

But it wasn't always this way, at least when it comes to advertising. Today is apropos to revisit one of the all-time great Super Bowl ads, courtesy of McDonald's:

UPDATE: Well, I'll be. McDonald's revealed an updated version of "The Showdown" just before tonight's Super Bowl, featuring LeBron James and Dwight Howard. Sure, it's recycled, but it's still better than the typical "I'm Lovin' It" fare.

"Called to see if your back was still aligned, and your sheets were growing grass, all on the corners of your bed"

Chutes Too Narrow is quite the rarity — even though it's easily the best of the three Shins albums, it's become the forgotten one. Garden State came out in 2004, which means that songs from Oh, Inverted World became more popular after the release of Chutes Too Narrow. The next album, Wincing the Night Away, benefited from anticipation. Chutes Too Narrow doesn't have the highs and lows of those other albums — it's one long, impressive high. The Shins don't need lo-fi to be relevant, as this concise collection showed. After this album, it would be more about the songs than the sound.

The Shins - "Kissing the Lipless"

29. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (2008)

"Back then, it was unified: The punks, the skins, the greaser guys. Then one summer, two kids died. And one of them was crucified. Now it's so competitive: The sleeplessness and sedatives. I know it sounds repetitive. Every show can't be a benefit."

Every Hold Steady album feels like part of one long story, even if a harpsichord enters the mix ("One for the Cutters") on Stay Positive. Just listen to the title track, which is essentially a rowdy callback to the last three albums. A song for the fans, from a fan band if there ever was one. The good thing is, it's never too late to become a fan. So sure, the middle of this album can lag a bit at times, but the ends of this album are so undeniably strong (as are the hidden tracks on the limited edition CD) that we'll forgive 'em. Why wouldn't we?

The Hold Steady - "Stay Positive"

28. Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus! (2007)

"Baby ... baby ... baby ... baby ate my eightball"

It's as if the Furries took a gigantic album and distilled it down to its absolute catchiest pieces. After the first few listens, I thought it felt slight and forgettable. I could have written it off after that, especially considering the prior disappointment of Love Kraft, and the merely good (not typically SFA great) Phantom Power. But the earworms in Hey Venus! grew and grew, until they were too big to remove.

Super Furry Animals - "Run-Away"

27. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)

"I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats, with scarves of red tied 'round their throats, to keep their little heads from fallin' in the snow, and I turned 'round and there you go, and Michael, you would fall, and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime"

Those lyrics represent the entirety of "White Winter Hymnal." Fleet Foxes were the hyped band of the moment when this album was released. Which is peculiar (but refreshing), because this album was built on gorgeous harmonies and lush instrumentation — it sounds like a forgotten collection of folk classics. Nothing about it really screams, or even says, hype. Though Robin Pecknold's voice can soar with the best of them, as a whole, this album is an assured, soothing whisper.

Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"

26. eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)

"My kind of love is an ugly love, but it's real and it lasts a long, long time"

They rarely make 'em like this anymore. A long, ambitious double album. Loosely, a concept album about one human life — the idea is basic, but it allows for complete freedom in topics and styles. The themes here — family, God, love, birth and death — are universal. One could argue that theoretically, every album could be a concept album about life — the concept is too big. But an album that starts with the lyrics "Ten pounds and a head of hair, came into without a care," and ends with a song called "Things the Grandchildren Should Know"seems fairly clear in its intentions. Like any life — or any double album — some parts meander and some parts you might not like. But you might be surprised how much you do enjoy. For me, it's nearly everything.

eels - "Railroad Man" (live)

25. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)

"You used to get it in your fishnets, now you only get it in your night dress, discarded all the naughty nights for niceness, landed in a very common crisis"

A few of the Monkeys' biggest hits on the group's debut were fun Franz Ferdinand-esque jaunts, like "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." But that never felt like the real Monkeys to me. The true Arctic Monkeys made their mark on the back end of that album, and continued it here. The sound is fuller and more substantial. It's heavier and darker, but still packing the pop chops to pull off a song like "Flourescent Adolescent." The kids are alright.

Arctic Monkeys - "Flourescent Adolescent"

24. The Strokes - Room on Fire (2003)

"I want to be forgotten, and I don't want to be reminded"

Do we really need another Strokes album? First Impressions of Earth was no great shakes, and plenty of time has passed since then. Julian Casablancas went and made a fine record on his own. Plenty of great bands have produced no more than one great album — getting two from the Strokes seems just fine to me. As a relevant entity, the band fits quite neatly in the early part of the decade. There's no need for greed.

And yes, this is a great album, with plenty of the band's best songs. My personal favorites being the irresistible "What Ever Happened?" and "Under Control." Who knew the band could be so ... smooth?

The Strokes - "Reptilia"

23. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)

"Fell in love with a girl, I fell in love once and almost completely"

Speaking of Is This It, this album was nearly as influential. Now, the Stripes are one of the biggest bands around, but shortly after White Blood Cells came out, I asked for the album at a college town record store and drew only a blank stare, then a question. "Who did you say they were again?"

The clerk probably hadn't heard the charming "Hotel Yorba" or the massive "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." And he definitely hadn't heard "Fell in Love with a Girl," which is everything rock 'n' roll should be. It shoots out of the speakers, straight into your heart. If you haven't heard it in a while, have a listen. It's lost none of its power, and it probably never will.

The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"

22. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus (2001)

"Promise me, you will always be, too awake to be famous, too wired to be safe"

After leaving the best band of the 1990s, Malkmus really didn't have anything to prove. And so, he just had fun on his solo debut. Pavement fans already knew how great Malkmus was with a melody, but it's easier to hear on this album, as the songs come all polished and glistening, swirling around subjects like Yul Brynner and Cabin Boy.

Stephen Malkmus - "Jo Jo's Jacket"

21. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak (2003)

"And the French Foreign Legion, you know they did their best — but I never believed in T.E. Lawrence, so how the hell could I believe in Beau Geste?"

"Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" is an ode to ska, and in particular, The Specials, but it's also a wake-up call: Remember good music? What happened to it? Why don't people make it anymore?

So, Leo does his part to will it back into being. He's always been a dynamo, but this second Pharmacists album hits the most high marks. There's a passion here that never lets up, but the first half of Hearts of Oak is what really floors you. As great as "Rude Boys" is, after a few spins, I had trouble picking a favorite song on this disc. I still do.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?"