2024 comes to a close. We're happy that our house build is underway and were able to get away during the holidays.
David Arkenstone
I've known of David Arkenstone for a long time. Initially as a new age musician, but later on for his contributions to video games like World of Warcraft.
One of the unexpected benefits of living in Sedona is that Arkenstone actually loves Sedona, so he includes it on his tours. I've been able to see him three times since living here, usually during his Christmas/Winter concert series, and it's always a worthwhile experience.
A Short Route 66 Arizona Roadtrip
Way back in 2007, I went on a more extensive Route 66 road trip. The western half of Arizona still had some places I'd visited which my wife hadn't seen, so we took the long way to Vegas to experience it.
In addition to the scenic drive, we also stopped in Oatman, AZ where they have shootouts and wild donkeys walking around town. There were dozens of them when we were there and found out that you need to protect your belongings because they have no problem trying to snatch stuff from you on their hunt for anything edible.
The Punk Rock Museum
Never knew this existed, but when I told a co-worker that I was visiting Vegas over the holidays, they asked if I'd visited. I had not, but I was sure not going to miss out.
While you can get into the museum and tour it yourself, they offer guided tours by relatively famous people. We happened to coincide with a day that Jennie Vee, bassist for the Eagles of Death Metal, was giving tours. She was joined by her husband, Slim Jim Phantom, who is the drummer for the Stray Cats!
Jennie was a font of knowledge and had tons of info about Punk history and just about every item in the collection. It was awesome just to hang out with her and Slim Jim for a while. I highly encourage a visit if you're in the area.
Death Valley National Park
One of the main destinations for our trip was a visit to Death Valley. December's cooler temperatures are much more forgiving than the 130 degree plus summers, so it was a great time to go.
The temperature ended up in the 60's later in the day, making it pretty pleasant walking around outside.
House Construction Update
Things are moving along. Our house will be a story and a half. Since we're on a slope, the half will be below the main floor. I think we'll see quite a bit of difference by the end of next month.
Movies
- Wicked, which is really Wicked Part 1, was okay. I've never seen the musical. Will probably watch the second part when it comes out.
- Gladiator II wasn't a sequel I was ever expecting, but here we are. Not as good as the first, but an epic level of film we don't find much anymore.
- Moana 2 is yet another sequel. Again, not as good as the first, but still enjoyable. Just felt maybe more of a direct to streaming release than theatrical.
- That Christmas ended up being the holiday movie we watched on Netflix. Not quite what I was expecting from the trailer, but not bad.
- Shot Caller (2017) is a film a co-worker recommended to me and I saw it was leaving Netflix this week, so I made a point to check it out. Really good flick. Violent, but not quite as much as I was anticipating.
- Nosferatu was great. Director Robert Eggers is building up quite the filmography. I still rank his film, The Northman, above it, but Nosferatu, drips with imagery. I understand how some may not like it, having expecting something more mainstream, but having seen all of Eggers' films, I knew what I was in for.
Top 5 Films of 2025
- Poor Things just stuck with me for quite a while. The kind of unexpected adventure you don't come across often. It was a delightful journey for me. My wife absolutely hated it, so not sure how many best-of lists this will be on. I guess technically, this is a 2023 film.
- Killers of the Flower Moon, while watching it, felt like I was experiencing the strokes of a master artist being painted on the screen.
- Dune: Part Two was better than the first part.
- Hundreds of Beavers was, hands-down, the funniest, and funnest, flick I've seen in a while. This one had to be on the list.
- The Substance was amongst a number of other four-star films I saw this past year, but it still stood out as the most bold and because of Demi Moore's performance, which I still hope nabs her some award nominations.
I don't want to extend this list into a top 10 list, but here are some honorable mentions:
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