Oh, hey!

So it's been a long time since anything filled this space with new material. Blame study abroad, blame a rough fall semester finally ending, blame the innocuous beauty of life.

That said, I have a few things to cover.

First, this:


Wow. All I can say. Is it possible for Justice to make anything less than an awesome video?

In addition, I recently attended a fantastic concert with my father and my friend, his brother and father. Here's a couple clips:

One of my favorites, Little Wing is. Clapton's (Derek & The Dominoes) version is a completely different song from Hendrix', but both are amazing. Really comes out here.


Winwood solo time:

Winwood covering good ol' Ray Charles. Very powerful stuff. Not sure you get the full effect via YouTube, but worth noting nonetheless. Anyone else find irony in their group being called Blind Faith and Winwood rocking out on an organ that has a distinctly 'church-y' sound to it?

NOW, in the next couple months I have some shows I'm really looking forward to. The month of April will be especially busy. I'm going to go in chronological order, here.
First up is one of my favorites, DC's own Exit Clov.

Exit Clov - Violent Berries
Exit Clov - MK Ultra

Very excited to be seeing them here on campus @ UMD College Park this Friday, 3/7.
Buy everything they have here and here.

Next, the first weekend in April is a trip up to Manhattanville College just north of NYC. In addition to checking out my friend's play, I'll be partaking in a Matt Nathanson concert. For anyone who doesn't know, Mr. Nathanson is one of the most entertaining and engaging live acts touring these days. He's in the middle of promoting his most recent release, Some Mad Hope. He's been featured on countless blogs, and even made an appearance on Fox Business Network (who knew there was such a thing?) talking about the state of the music industry. Very intelligent guy, definitely worth listening to. I consider his live album At the Point one of my favorites. Here's a track from Some Mad Hope, followed by an excellent cover. Purchase Some Mad Hope and other gems here.

Matt Nathanson - Still
Matt Nathanson - Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead Cover)

Next up is Spoon on April 10 in Philly. Been dying to see them for quite some time, and finally the opportunity fits in with my too-busy life! Hooray! Most are familiar with these fellas from Texas, so I'll just post one quick mp3 from their latest, Ga Ga Ga Ga (I think that's enough Ga's). Purchase all their music here.

Spoon - My Little Japanese Cigarette Case

After the Spoonage is the super hyped but super awesome band, Tapes 'n Tapes. The Loon continues to be a favorite of mine, even after about 1.2 million plays. Definitely worth investigating. In addition, they have their much-anticipated full-length coming out on April 8th, titled Walk it Off. Pre-order Walk it Off and purchase the Loon here.

Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor

Closing out my massively massive month, April concludes with Tokyo Police Club in DC on the 29th. I hold TPC and T'nT in similar regards. Both produced fantastic EPs, both are coming out with full-lengths this year (Tokyo Police Club's Elephant Shell comes out April 22nd), both of which are highly-anticipated. Plus, I get to see both within a week of each-other. Aweshum. For all your Tokyo Police Club music needs, check it here.

Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment


April is going to be a busy month. On top of all that I have research papers due in addition to working on the senior thesis. Should be a fun time! Oh, senior year...

'Til next time, true-believers!

I Need a Time Machine

This movie needs to be out last week. I've watched the trailer a few times already, and forced myself to stop just so I wouldn't ruin it. I sent it to everyone I know after a friend sent it to me, ala-chain mail style, because everyone needs to see this trailer right now. If you know anyone who is sleeping, infirm, comatose, asleep, in a desert or jungle or even blind, cure them of their handicaps and get them to a computer right now. This movie is going to be huge. Batman Begins ushered in a new era of Batman films, and this is continuing in the darker, film-noir-esque (if that is a real term, it shouldn't be) direction that Christopher Nolan is taking the franchise. No longer will fans be subjected to cartoony weirdos in spandex and superheroes with chest plates giving them larger chests than the female lead (although I will admit that, due to my idol-worship of Jim Carrey at the time of Batman Forever, I did enjoy it immensely, and still do. But Uma and Arnold? Please...) I digress... Health Ledger looks and sounds great as Joker, and Maggie Gyllenhal still looks tired (but cute, somehow?), and well, what is there to say about Christian Bale? He's redefined the role completely. Well done, sir. A friend of mine summed it up quite well already: summer can't come soon enough.

Even before summer comes, there are a great deal of movies coming out in 2008 that are worth looking forward to. Here is a quick list of some movies to look forward to in 2008:
Cloverfield; RAMBO; Fanboys (I'm a sucker for Kristen Bell dressed as Princess Leia); Be Kind, Rewind (Michel Gondry!); Was anyone aware they're making Horton Hears a Who and Where the Wild Things Are into movies?!?!; Run, Fat Boy, Run; 21; Harold and Kumar ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY?!?!; Iron Man; Speed Racer (worth a shot, I guess...); Indiana Jones; a new Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, instead of the disappointing performance by the otherwise incredible Eric Bana; Get Smart; the X-Files sequel... can't wait!

Top Gear is the Best Show in the History of Television

"Top Gear," a BBC gem for over two decades (although the current format is only, say, one decade or so old...) is quite simply amazing. The three presenters offer something for everyone. Jeremy Clarkson is your obstinate, pain-in-the ass friend who knows everything and refuses to ever budge-- but you love anyway. Richard Hammond is the one you always root for-- the most amenable, most charismatic, and most relatable. James May, AKA "Captain Slow," is the conservative and even-tempered conscience for the other two to balance them out when they push too hard on the gas in a Zonda or want to strap an extra rocket to a car (YEAH). The show is centered around testing automobiles in creative ways and providing reviews of them in a surprisingly efficient and effective manner. In addition, the aesthetic quality of the show is remarkable. The cinematography is fantastic-- but then again, when the focus is a Bugatti Veyron, how could any view be bad?

Richard Hammond and Top Gear Dog (that's what they've named the dog)

There are a myriad of reasons as to why I love this show. First, I'm a sucker for anything British. I find myself utilizing fun British colloquialisms like 'rubbish' and 'such and such is called...' (as opposed to 'such and such's name is...). Also, I love how they make fun of footballers' car selections, and use them as an example of what is 'rubbish' or not. That said, there are occasions when I have no clue what the hell is going on. I'd provide an example but often I can't even figure out what the guys are even saying. Now I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Jeremy Clarkson has come under scrutiny for a number of comments about gays, Germans, and well... bus drivers? The second, most glaring bit of awesomeness to come out of Top Gear is that they do the most ridiculous things with cars. Essentially, these gents (that was a natural use-- I wanted to edit it out but I felt it proper to leave it in) are the epitome of boys with toys. I absolutely detest the overuse of that phrase, but trust me, this is boys with toys. In one episode, James and Hammond ("Hamster") play a traditional British children's game called "conkers" WITH CARS. Knowing the specifics of the game is not relevant-- just know that the two hung caravans (our equivalent of a travel trailer, typically hitched onto the back of a car or truck) from cranes and swung them at each other in hopes of hitting each other and knocking the crap out of the other. In the Winter Olympics episode, the guys did a number of exciting things. First, they did a biathlon pitting Jeremy in a Volvo XC90 (which he owns) against James in an Audi Q7. They raced each other through a snow course, then had to shoot targets-- all in Lillehammer, the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics. Later, the team filled a snow-covered field with ten Suzuki Swifts... and a giant inflatable hockey puck. Easily one of the most amazing five+ minutes of television I've seen in my life. There's no point in describing it. I'll post a link to download episodes at the end of the post. The finale of the episode one of my favorites: they put a car down a ski jump. But this wasn't just pushing some car down a ski jump with a hope and a prayer. They added rockets to it, and shot that big boy down! PURE AWESOME fed by petrol.

I'd also like to briefly mention how diverse and impressive their music selections are. During their skits or reviews you'll hear anything from Bloc Party to ELO to Led Zeppelin (and fine, to include a band not from Britain, you'll even hear Lynyrd Skynyrd), and it always fits quite well into the segment.

Overall, Top Gear is a solid show from top to bottom. There's far too much to praise and discuss for one post here-- these are just a few shimmers of light. I promise you, there will be more Top Gear posts to come in the future. Oh yes, there will be more...

You can read news updates and download full episodes from Final Gear.com...
Download here for the lazy ones...
Also, TopGear.com occasionally posts extra materials cut from shows.

PS- Final exams and finals papers are 'rubbish.'