R.N. is ريان نوفاك profile picture

R.N. is ريان نوفاك

My ski vest has buttons like convenience store mirrors.

About Me

Hi, I'm Ryan, and I'll keep this short. I'm a proud husband, son, brother, college graduate, Democrat, vegetarian, unapologetic music geek, Red Sox fan, Boggle champion, and brunette. I'm also a swell bowler, and just about the coolest dude that you're ever going to come across.

Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Boston Red Sox

My Interests

A Pavement reunion tour? The gritty, hard-nosed play of Trot Nixon. Seeing Yo La Tengo play one of their Chanukah shows in New Jersey. Skee-ball. Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup-winning goal in overtime against the St. Louis Blues. Irony. Washing my hands when they're dirty. Taking the express train to Nappy-Ville. I'm starting work on my master's degree, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

I'd like to meet:

The Boston Red Sox and Bill Murray (not necessarily at the same time, though). In my mind, after several years of idolization, I have elevated Bill Murray to a nearly mythical, God-like status. I'm not saying that he could walk on water, turn it into wine, and, I don't know, cure a leper, but, believe me, brother, if it turned out that he could, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Would you?
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Shan-Fastic

Beej

"Superstar" Luke Stahl

Vice-Wife Heather

My Sweet Becky Sue

Rondell

"Sassy" Hannah

Miseur Gripka

Tom

Tracy

Keep on E-Rokin' in the Free World

Jonathan McD

Scott of the Primates

Frank

Dinker

Lexi's #1!

"Scooter" Frye

The Amazing Chris-to

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Music:

Music: It's delightful, it's delicious; it's da' best time to be had. Here's a tasty sampling: The Autumn Defense, Band of Horses, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Belle and Sebastian, Calexico, Johnny Cash, Cat Power, Elvis Costello, Crainbuilders, The Drive-By Truckers, Dropkick Murphys, Bob Dylan, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Fall, Edith Frost, Grandaddy, Howlin' Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt, The Kinks, My Bloody Valentine, Neutral Milk Hotel, Joanna Newsom, Nora O'Connor, Will Oldham (be it Palace Music or Bonnie "Prince" Billy), Pavement, The Silver Jews, Smog, Son House, Sonic Youth, Spoon, Swell Maps, The Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Wilco, Yo La Tengo, Warren Zevon, and so on...

Movies:

I like these movies: Bottle Rocket, Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, Evil Dead 2, Fletch, Garden State, Ghost World, Grosse Point Blank, The Hebrew Hammer, The Hustler, The Jerk, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Roxanne, Running with Scissors, Still We Believe, Stranger Than Fiction, Trainspotting, Wonderboys, and most of Albert Brooks's movies (Real Life, Defending Your Life, and Mother for instance). Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and Lost in Translation make up the Holy-Murray-Trinity.

Television:

Arrested Development, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Monk, Mystery Science Theater 3,000, The Office, Scrubs, The Simpsons, and Six Feet Under. I'd probably sound cooler and above it all if I claimed that I didn't bother watching television, wouldn't I?

Books:

Reading is FUNdamental! Here's some good times for you and yours: Actual Air, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Among the Thugs, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, Bodies in Motion and at Rest, Do Fish Drink Water?, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the Fletch series, Fraud, Gig, Is There No Place on Earth for Me?, Jenny and the Jaws of Life, Love is a Mix Tape, On the Road, Random Family, Stiff, and Undertaking. Anything by Augusten Burroughs, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Franzen, Nick Hornby, Chuck Klosterman, David Rakoff, David Sedaris, or Sarah Vowell. I'd name more, but that seems like a nice, tidy amount for now.

Heroes:

You mean other than Bill Murray? Okay, Mark Ibold, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, Spiral Stairs, and Steve West (formerly of Pavement and currently of their own damn selves), Dad, Paul Newman, Ted Williams, Elvis Costello, H.D.J., Hunter S. Thompson, Cam Neely, Steve Martin, Larry Bird, a whole slew of Davids (Berman, Bowie, Cross, Eggers, Letterman, Rakoff, and Sedaris), and, finally, Mr. Nomar Garciaparra.

My Blog

Desert Island.

     This is a cheat because it's not a real blog, but, out of curiousity, I'm going to pick my desert island picks, which are as follows: Albums:1.) Pavement: Slanted and Enchante...
Posted by R.N. on Mon, 22 Jan 2007 06:50:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 6 (Two and One).

2.) The Beatles: Rubber Soul -- When I was seventeen, ABC broadcasted the multiple-part documentary, The Beatles Anthology. There was an unescapable advertising blitz that was lead by the tag-line, "A...
Posted by R.N. on Tue, 17 Oct 2006 11:24:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 5 (Five through Three).

5.)Belle and Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister -- Their first album, "Tigermilk," was released as a limited pressing for a friend's final project for a recording class. It was released with no exp...
Posted by R.N. on Mon, 09 Oct 2006 06:59:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 4 (Ten through Six).

10.) Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea  They say that Brian Wilson's attempts to top Pet Sounds with Smile is what pushed him over the edge. So, it can be reasonably assumed that atte...
Posted by R.N. on Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:59:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 3 (Fifteen through Eleven).

15.)Neko Case: Furnace Room Lullaby I love the word chanteuse. Its a fun word shan-tuz. Go ahead say; love it. Its a female concert or nightclub singer. One who can stand almost motionless and still h...
Posted by R.N. on Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:08:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 2 (Twenty through Sixteen).

20.)Warren Zevon: Life'll Kill Ya -- Predating, by two years, the announcement that Zevon was dying of cancer, his 2000 release is full of songs about the fear of doctors ("My Shit's Fucked Up") ...
Posted by R.N. on Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:52:00 PST

The Top Twenty-Five: Part 1 (Twenty-Five through Twenty-One).

Okay, here we go: 25.)Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation -- While many indie rock bands may claim more musical-allegiance to bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, The Fall, or Swell Maps, Sonic You...
Posted by R.N. on Sat, 26 Aug 2006 09:50:00 PST

Prologue to the Top Twenty-Five: The Introduction and an Added Bonus!

     My friend Tim and I had a conversation the other night about the film Reservoir Dogs. After we got other our mutual, geeky admiration for it, we both agreed that it presented ...
Posted by R.N. on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:50:00 PST

The Jews at the Duck Room: Kosher for Passover.

     There are certain things in music that I've come to accept as unwavering: Wilco will close with a ballad instead of a rocker, Rubber Soul will always be the best Beatles'...
Posted by R.N. on Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:37:00 PST

Sleeker and More Aero-Dynamic, I Suppose.

     It took me three weeks into my first semester of college before I finally had a schedule for the bathroom nailed down. I've always been weary of public restrooms since the fir...
Posted by R.N. on Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:41:00 PST