A proud Husband and Daughter, and the start of the top 50

Well, this week marks a huge milestone in the Huffine household; Kristen is finally done with nursing school. It has been a long 3 ½ years of long hours of us not seeing much of each other, and sometimes the unfortunate reality that I am sometimes taking care of Sloan. That would mean me teaching her different pop culture references to greet mom as she walks in the door, or me letting Sloan listen to the Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, The Grateful Dead, or (almost) anything else she pulls out of my album collection out of curiosity.

I have to give it to Kristen not only did she work her butt off in school, she also worked full time and was a parent full time during school. She also had to do all of this around my busy schedule for work. Not to mention both of our parents pitching in to help when we needed them too, this was a lot of the time. And we are so thankful for awesome loving, and supportive parents that we have. There is no way we could have done this without them. Long story short, Kristen will be graduating this weekend, and just one other step of taking the state boards she will be a certified nurse, which is awesome. Other than Kristen being proud of herself, I think Sloan and I are probably the most proud of her. Now all we have left is for all of our families to get in town this weekend so we can celebrate. I just have to make sure we have all the pictures of her childhood displayed at her Mom and Dad’s this weekend for everyone to see. Hopefully the glamour shot/body glove picture isn’t “lost” before I get there. Just a thought, but I might need to make some copies of that for blackmail reasons alone. Well done Kristen, I don’t think any of us could be prouder of you for doing this.

Well, as you know on top of keeping friends and family abreast of what is going on in our little world and my sarcastic take on it, I also like to mention music on my blog as well. I am by no way an expert on music, I just love most music (country does nothing for me, unless it’s Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson), and since I can’t be a writer for Rolling Stone, this is my way of being a “music writer”. I have been known by some of my friends of being a music snob when the topic of music comes up. Dave can agree that I do become defensive and sometimes a little too sarcastic when it comes to talking about music. So with that said, I wouldn’t be much of a music blogger (I use that term very loosely). I planned on doing this last week, but fell short, so I am going to start with #50-#30 to catch everyone up that is keeping score at home. So with no further fan fare we will start my top 50 albums of 2009.

50. The Features-Some Kind of Salvation
They are the first band on the Kings of Leon’s music label. Their debut album is some good old fashioned rock. I would give them a chance even sitting at 50.
49. The Black Crowes-Before the Frost…Until the Freeze
You always have a soft spot for some of your favorite bands, the Black Crowes are one of my soft spots. The Robinson brothers came back with some good old Black Crowes music for this album. One of my favorites this year.
48. Gomez-A New Tide
I was curious one day and gave Gomez a shot, and I have to tell you after the first listen of this album, I had to go back and listen to their whole catalogue. One of the most under rated bands I have listened to in a while. Great band from England.
47. 50 Cent- Before I Self Destruct
I am a huge fan of 50, his recent albums have fallen a little short, but he always seems to find that hidden gem of a single to help his album sales out. I was excited to hear Dr. Dre was going to help him out on this album. It’s good, I was hoping for a little more, but it’s still 50 Cent.
46. Tegan and Sara-Sainthood
A music writer for ESPN mentioned their album “The Con” in one of is columns and I decided to give the twin sisters from Canada a listen. I was very pleasantly surprised listening to them and decided to get their new album once it came out. I really like this album more than “The Con”. I am now fans of Tegan and Sara.
45. Stellastarr*- Civilized
Once again another band that I have read about for a while and decided to get their latest album. Stellastarr* has been around for a while, but sometimes you don’t get a chance to listen to their earlier stuff. I have to say after listening to Civilized I am going to check out their earlier stuff.
44. Blind Pilot- 3 Rounds and a Sound
Blind Pilot hails from Portland, Oregon and has opened up for some big bands this past year while on tour. The first leg of their tour to me is the most unique of all bands, seeing the rigged a way to haul their equipment up and down the west coast by their bicycles. Please give this band a listen, you will not be disappointed.
43. Dashboard Confessional-Alter The Ending
I have always been a fan of Dashboard; I do hate the nickname of “The godfather of Emo” that has been placed on the lead singer. They put out another good album, I think this is better than their last album they put out. I do recommend the acoustic version of the album the band put out though.
42. BLK JKS-After Robots
Since I have listened to this album, every time I listen to it I find something else now that I love about it. BLK JKS hail from Africa, and I would say they closely resemble TV On The Radio, if you want a comparison. They mix rock with African musical beats and it is amazing.
41. Lily Allen-It’s Not Me, It’s You
The second album from Lily Allen is just as good as her first album. I have to add some pop to my Top 50, and this album is what made it. If you want something that is a great pick me up, get Lily Allen.
40. The Xx-XX
The Xx are just now coming out on the music scene (I can’t believe I just said that), I missed them playing down in Austin with the Friendly Fires, and do regret it. They remind me of Smashing Pumpkins just a little. They will be big in not long.
39. Miike Snow
This band is from Sweden, and once I heard their first single “Animal” I was once again wondering why some music gets played on popular radio and some great music that should be getting air play doesn’t. This is a band that should be blowing up pop radio, and here lately finally has along with Owl City. If you like Owl City, you will love Miike Snow.
38. Coconut Records-Davy
This is the second album from Phantom Planet founder Jason Schwartzman. I really like the feel of his new band and it’s something you can put on while sitting at home on a Sunday just hanging out. Also pick up their first album Nighttiming.
37. Mason Jennings-Blood of Man
Mason Jennings is about as close to country music as I can get, and he isn’t even close. He writes amazing lyrics and plays a great guitar. It was tough for me to put this album this low. Please go get this album when you get a chance.
36. Wolfmother-Cosmic Egg
The second album from the band from Australia rocks even more than the first. You can’t go wrong with a band that just wants to play some rock and try to melt your face off while doing it. If you loved their first album, this one is better.
35. Weezer-Raditude
Another band I have a soft spot for, they brought me back with the Red Album. I was a little excited to hear they were coming out with a new album. Rivers Cuomo decided to make a more poppy album for this one, and I have to say it is great. A lot of people have bashed this album, but I feel Cuomo did a great pop rock album.
34. Wilco-Wilco, The Album
My best friend from college got me turned on to Wilco recently and I am glad he did. Another great album from Wilco.
33. Tanya Morgan-Brooklynati
Ok, as most of you know, I am a huge hip-hop lover. One of the hardest days of my life was when Tribe Called Quest broke up. Tanya Morgan reminds me a lot of the Tribe/De La Soul side of hip-hop. Love this album, and if you love hip-hop you should get it.
32. White Lies-To Lose My Life
When I first listened to this album, I thought it was good, but it didn’t register with me right off. Then I got the luxury of seeing the live at ACL and I was blown away, these guys are amazing live. I then started to listen to the album more and this is a great album, a must get.
31. Them Crooked Vultures
For my generation, Dave Grohl is one of the best drummers around. I have always been a fan of the Foo Fighters and of course his time with Nirvana. I started listening to Led Zeppelin at a young age thanks to my sister, and I also started listening to Queens of the Stone Age in college.So when I heard Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones decided to form a group I was ecstatic. Great rock album.
30. Sonic Youth-The Eternal
I would like to call this band one of the founders of the Seattle music scene of the 90’s. They keep putting out cutting edge albums every time. I was totally bummed when they couldn’t play ACL. If you love Sonic Youth go get this album, SY is an acquired taste so some won’t like them.

We are all caught up, for next week #29-#20.