Let's Talk Music....

I’ve been doing a lot of random music listening lately, sitting in front of my monitor with headphones strapped to my head, blasting sweet melodies into my ears while I bash away at essays. I’ve been told that listening to music while writing or reading or something that requires focus and concentration, since it effects your output. I don’t know if I agree however since I often listen to something while typing. Though sometimes some subject matter requires silence for it to be absorbed, and some songs just aren’t good music to be mentally active to.

This post has turned out to be longer than I thought it would, but all interrelated which is why this ramble drags on. I kinda got a bit self indulgent and started to analyse my own musical taste evolution and what's stuck with me, maybe theres a trend. Anyway, it's a good idea to try yourself if you're bored enough and have time to waste! So' scuse all the reading, but thats what a month without writing will do to you!

Lately, since I’ve been home more than traveling with my mp3 player, I’ve gotten myself a lovely playlist that I’m happy with so instead of writing about 10 songs I’m just going to give you a bunch and let you venture for yourselves! Think of it as a lucky dip or a surprise party bag of music delights. The list below is comprised of a mix of dub, reggae, classics, female singers, classical, world, dark ambient, electronic, trip hop, downtempo, new wave, tango, Cuban orchestra, new york rock, cabaret, latin… ah you get the idea. I'll even divide it into band genre to make it easier to find what you like .

Enjoy!

Blackberry Moose’s Playlist Surprise Party Bag of Music Delights.

New Wave, Indie New Wave & Post Punk Revival
New Order – Ceremony*
Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
The Police – Walking on the Moon*
The Radio Dept. – Pulling Our Weight
Windsor For Derby – The Melody of a Fallen Tree
She Wants Revenge – Tear You Apart

Rock - Indie, Brit, American, Underground, Post Punk
The Strokes – What Ever Happened?
The Strokes – I Can’t Win*
The Futureheads – Decent Days and Nights
The Smashing Pumpkins – Luna
The Smashing Pumpkins – Soma
The Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs
The Velvet Underground – Stephanie Says
Radiohead – There, There
Radiohead – Sail to the Moon*
Radiohead – You and Whose Army?
Radiohead – Everything in its Right Place
The Cardigans – I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to be Nicer.
The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1(Tunnels)
The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3(Power Out)
Interpol – Obstacle 1*
Interpol – NYC
Interpol – PDA
Weezer – Say it Ain’t So*
Weezer – Across The Sea*
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Black Tongue*
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Pin
The Shins – New Slang

Australian Artists
Architechture in Helsinki – Souvenirs
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – 15 Ft of Pure White Snow*

Reggae & Dub
Toots and the Maytals – 54-46
Sublime - Doin' Time*
Sublime - Santeria*

Chill - Downtempo, Trip Hop, Hip Hop, Jazz, Deep House, Electronica, Dreampop
Aim - The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice*
Swayzak - Make Up Your Mind*
Blue States – Season Song
Outkast/Andre 3000 – Prototype
Portishead – Only You
Portishead - Cowboys*
Portishead – Mourning Air
Beck – Jack Ass
Erykah Badu – Didn’t Cha Know*

Cocktail - Lounge, Mondo, Cabaret, Bossa Nova, Latin, Jazz
Pepe and the Bottle Blondes - Cuentame Que Te Paso
Pink Martini – Lily*
Pink Martini – Le Soledad
Nouvelle Vague – Ever Fallen in Love*
Nouvelle Vague – Too Drunk Too Fuck
Monsieur Camembert – Dance Me to the End of Love

Dark Ambient & World
Lisa Gerrard + Pieter Bourke - The Human Game
Lisa Gerrard + Pieter Bourke – Nadir(synchronicity)
Lisa Gerrard – Hymn For The Fallen*
Lisa Gerrard – Space Weaver*
Dead Can Dance – Rakim*

Chick Songstresses
Nellie McKay – Ding Dong
Cat Power – Cross Bones Style
Nico – These Days
Fiona Apple – Carrion
Fiona Apple – Sullen Girl
Fiona Apple – Get Gone*
Fiona Apple – I Know
Alice Russell – High Up on the Hook*
Cibelle - Waiting

Manly Voices
Cody ChesnuTT – Serve This Royalty
John Mayer – Stop This Train
Emitt Rhodes – Lullaby
Elliot Smith – Needle in the Hay
Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats*
Bright Eyes – Lua

* = songs I highly recommend, or particularly like more than the others.

Hopefully some of you will find some new music gems there to add to your collection. Part of the beauty of music is that there is such an extensive amount available that its almost impossible to tire and get bored of music. There's always something to listen to, and somewhere to listen to it. Always a song for any mood, any emotion, any situation, moment, memory. There's always an artist, or artists, that will remind you of a certain point in your life, a certain stage in your timeline.

Music is eternal, though tastes change.
On the bus today I was thinking about how my own music tastes have changed over the last decade. What I regard as my favourites now aren't entirely what fueled me through my adolesence. Have I gone from an angsty teenager that no one understood to a chilled out adult that couldn't care less? I guess so. I thought it'd be interesting to write down and see what was playing on my stereo when I was 14 to 17, then when I was around 17 to 21 and now at neering 25 and compare the evolution of my own tastes. Might give you an idea to try yourself!

The Music Evolution of Blackberry Moose: Favourite Artists

Phase 1 - Ages 14 to about 17
Deftones, Marilyn Manson, Ben Folds Five, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tori Amos, Bjork,Something For Kate, Stabbing Westward, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Lisa Loeb, Sublime, Radiohead, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Blink 182, Superjesus, Hole, Nirvana

All Time Favouites (as said at 17)
Deftones, Tori Amos, Ben Folds Five, Tori Amos, Sublime, Marilyn Manson

Phase 2 - Ages 17 to about 21
Bjork, Ben Folds Five/Ben Folds, Incubus, Something For Kate, Tori Amos, Massive Attack, Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, The Hippos, LTJ Bukem, Portishead, Pj Harvey, Ben Harper, Erykah Badu, John Butler Trio, Jeff Buckley, Diana Krall, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Muse, Sigur Ros, Weezer

All Time Fabvourites (as said at 21)
Incubus, Something For Kate, Tori Amos, LTJ Bukem, Erykah Badu

Phrase 3 - Ages 21 to now (24)
Fiona Apple, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Zero 7, Lisa Gerrard, Pink Martini, Bjork, John Mayer, LTJ Bukem, Gilles Peterson (DJ), Portishead, Erykah Badu, Mr Scruff, Peaches, Kings of Convenience, George, Hird, Cornelius, Weezer, Common, Dead Can Dance, Madeleine Peyroux, The Polyphonic Spree, Taraf De Haidouks

All Time Favourites (as said at 24)
Fiona Apple, Bjork, Radiohead, Weezer, Lisa Gerrard, Pink Martini, Zero 7, Massive Attack, Portishead, John Mayer, LTJ Bukem, Erykah Badu, Taraf De Haidouks, Mr Scruff

So there you have it! If someone asks me what music do I like, I'll just send them here from now on. Maybe it's something you'll want to try in your procrastination time, mapping out where you started with music and where you are now. It's interesting, I'll give you that. Or maybe I just find these small things interesting.

For now though, I think that's plenty of music talked abouthere. I have many more music blog plans, quirky and whatnot. Maybe this will end up being a psuedo-music-move blog more than aimless rambles. Well... rambles still but not so aimless.

Until next time, toodles!

<3 Blackberry Moose

P.S If my spelling gets off towards the end blame my spellchecker. It just packed it in half way though this post.

She Surfaces, With TV Addictions

Apologies. A mixture of headcold's, migraines, period pains, Easter holidays, essays and general malaise caused me to neglect my readers from my rambles. But I'm back, and hopefully it won't be another month til I post again!

Firstly I must do a small praise of the wonderful Lisa Gerrard, who I was lucky enough to see live about two weeks ago. She was absolutely beautiful, singing angelically to a sold out audience. After many standing ovations we were graced with two encores, and I got some fantastic photos:



If you'd like to see the rest of my photos of Lisa or others I have taken in general, go here

Over the past couple of weeks I decided a few things. I post mostly about media related items - music, TV shows, actors, films etc - and that I do more rambling than actual structure to these posts. So I changed the title of the page to make it more appropriate for what it is, don'tcha think?

Speaking of media related things though I have been addicted to several TV shows not available to us, sadly, in Australia but thankfully to the beauty of downloading piracy I have been considerably entertained for the past couple of weeks. If you need something new to watch, something to suck you in for a couple of days to a couple of weeks - look for these:

Ideal

A British dark comedy series that my partner stumbled across. It's centred around Moz, a overweight weed dealer and all the characters that he encounters via his business. Instead of the focus being on drug culture, it is instead on how people lives are connected via the a same interest. The characters he deals to are pretty unique and very, very funny. If you like black British humour, I highly recommend this.


Reno 911!

Another gem my lovely partner stumbled across, except this is an American Comedy Central series which is based around the Reno Sheriff's Department in Nevada. Set up just like cops, where camera follow the police around on their daily shifts, this follows a bumbling more realistic, lazy police force that grow on you. If you like shows like Trailer Park Boys, you'll like this immensely. They also did a film recently, which is also very funny.

Trailer Park Boys

I believe you can see this on Comedy Central here but we've been getting series seven, fresh from Canada. And boy is it funny so far. No more Trevor and Corey though. Though still many dodgy, greasy things going on with Ricky. Highly recommended show, one of the best I've ever seen. About the residents of Sunnyvale Trailer Park, especially Ricky, Julian and Bubbles. There's drinking, nudity, swearing, bad grammar, guns, weed, kitties and so many more funnier things. Just... go watch.

As for other shows, here's what I have to say about my regulars:

Lost
This is now just dragging on too long and making me lose interest. The deal with the 'others' keeps getting complicated, and I really just want to know why they're still there. That's all. I can see this being dragged out for another season, at least, maybe even up to 6 series. So we know there's two islands, there's two types of others and there's getting to be divisions in the survivor camp.

Heroes
I wish this would hurry up and come back on air, since we've been left at a cliffhanger. What is going to happen to Mohinder, what about Sylar, the cheerleader....? So many unanswered questions. Currently I have a debate with my partner whether or not they'll drag this out for a few seasons too. I do like the comic book aspect of this show though, and it's got great dramatic tension.

House
Two things are standing out to me lately about House. One - wonky, distorted vision always signifies someone is sick. Two - House has a thing for Cuttey. Also, I'm curious as to who the second antagonist will be for the latest series (3rd) as the police dude has been and gone. The cases are interesting, but nothing overly mind boggling. Chase and Cameron are also engaged in real life (meaning Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison) which could be reason to why they're a bit cosy on the show.

Supernatural
In the realm of supernatural things, I still prefer The X-files but Supernatural has its moments. Though I find it amusing that the boys solution for every demon/ghost/ghoul/spirit and so on is to salt and burn the bones. Without fail, at least once in every episode the salt-and-burn-bones gets offered as a solution. There must be more ways to vanquish spirits.

Desperate Housewives
Or as I call it 'Desperate Muchachos'. I gotta admit, the recent series ain't so bad. Though Teri Hatcher completely shits me, as does her character of Susan, the rest are their usual bored, oversexed 'housewives' with nothing better to do than gossip and snoop. Though this series has divorce, scandal, paedophilia, murder, mystery and intrigue.

The Sopranos
According to my partner, looks like Tony Soprano is probably going to get his comeuppance. Chris's film has been made and it's a good mix of gore and the mob. I believe this is the last series, and these current episodes are an extension to the series to round things up (as happens with most serial narratives).

Hotel Babylon
Although we just finished watching series 2 (only 8 episodes), I highly recommend this show cos I'm addicted to the scandal of the hotel industry. Based on a tell all novel about the hotel industry, the series is set in the fictional Hotel Babylon in London and its core staff, and what events happen there. There's tabloids, bad football stars orgies, drugs, money, fame, and lots and lots of sex. Highly recommended book, if you want an easy read for a day, and show. If only they'd show it on TV here again.


That should be enough entertainment there, if you're bored of whats on your normal box. If you're familiar with bit torrent programs, you're bound to find all of the above listed shows on one of many torrent sites.

Until next post, I shall bid you adieu and happy viewing.

<3 Blackberry Moose

Revival of the Long Lost Pictures

I gotta admit I've been wasting time on my computer, but then again - aren't they just perfect for procrastination? As much as I have to get three assignments done for school, I also have a short attention span. Could be from the cold draft that's carrying icy winds through my house, or just from having the concentration skills of a ADD teenager without any Ritalin. I've been cleaning up my picture folder, trying to discard the ones that just take up room and sort the others that I've decided to keep. But by doing that I've also stumbled across many images I forgot about, reminding me why I kept these pictures:

Only in the UAE - apparently the largest couch in the world, owned by a Skeikh in Abu Dhabi (the rainbow Sheikh I think...). I wonder if they'd use a ladder to get on top!


Speaking of Dubai, here is a recentish aerial photo of the city now. It looks like a whole new city to when I was there last (7 years ago). Those formations in the water are man made islands, littered with houses, shops, land to buy etc.



A sign for a Gynecology Examination in Shanghai, China :)



I'd love to own a set of these puppets!


A MacGuyver multitool, don't leave home without it.



I wonder if they still sell these. Though, the last book will tell us for sure whether Dumbledore is actually dead or not.

This week I've been wondering whether taking photos and accumulating them is more a female influence trait, or genderless. The people I know who hoard photos are female, yet the "photographers" who take the art seriously seem to be more of the male kind. Makes me wonder, is it the structure of our society that influences such things, or is it our personal agency of self identity and individualism that influences it more. Are happy snaps fundamentally a feminine trait? The debate continues - structure Vs agency.

<3

He's The Housewive's Friend

I love wacky, old skool signs and slogans that imply a lot more than what they intentionally mean. On my way to school every week, my wonderful bouncy bus bops along, passing many shops. But always one shop makes me giggle. After finally taking a picture of it, I wonder if it'll make you giggle too.

In case you can't see it says "Vince Martino... The Better Fruit Suppliers, The Housewife's Friend..."

Not just a sexual innuendo there, but also gender role discrimination! Ah the days before being 'PC' become second nature to most. How pre-post-modernised :)

<3

Music For Feeling Like You've Gotten A Scholarship

Today, as much as my head is still sore, I've had some wonderful news so I've been stuck in a pretty happy mood. The wonderful news = I just got granted a scholarship for the next four years at while I finish my course at university, which is just peachy for me since I wasn't really looking forward to having to work three to four days a week just to be able to survive better.

No real reason for mentioning about my good news, more so just because I'm grinning ear to ear at the moment and thought I should share this blissful feeling. So on that note, I think my songs this week should be catered to the idea of feeling happy, upbeat, and blissful.

10 Songs to Make You Feel Uber Wonderful:

The Polyphonic Spree - Reach For The Sun
I don't think it's possible to feel anything but happy when The Polyphonic Spree are playing. It's odd but their music is just so... positive. The ultimate in hippy choirs. And one hell of a live band to see (I had the pleasure of seeing them in 2005 and still remain in my top 10 live acts I've attended) if you get the change, I recommend it. This song has a moment where all these orchestra instruments flood into the song, which strangely reminds me of animals in the wild, and sunshine. Don't ask why, it just does. It also makes me feel quite uplifted too, no matter what situation, like a wave of serenity washing over moi. Hopefully it'll do the same to you.

Nicola Conte - Fuco Fatuo (remixed by Koop, sung by Earl Zinger)
Possibly one of my all time favourite songs, I lovingly refer to it as the 'one in one out' song since I didn't know the actual title for a long time. Nicola Conte is a famous Italian jazz pianist, and Koop are a famous downtempo/jazz/acidjazz group - together they make beautiful music. Earl Zinger provides fantastic raspy vocals, singing about trying to get into a club, Noah's Ark, and being told it was a night where you had to come in two's - a play on the idea of the biblical Noah and his famous ark. All I can say is listen to this piece of jazz, it's divine. Though it may not seem too bliss-inducing to many of you, I love this song more than words can express :)

Common - Pop's Rap III... All My Children
My partner and I debate often about whether the music for this song is based on a Fela Kuti song, since it sounds incredibly similar. Unlike Common's other tracks, being him rapping, this song is actually Common's dad speaking over the top of a great backing track (with vibraphone!). The message is great, giving praise and love to his children. And with a son like Common, you'd be a proud dad. Even without Pop's rapping over the top, the music stands up perfectly on its own. Cruisy jazz, almost in loops.

Earl Zinger - Escape From Ibiza
This is kinda like big band samba with a British guy singing over the top, kinda like music that could be accompanied by go go dancers. But the beauty to this song is the actual story told via the lyrics of the song. Zinger tells the story of a trip to Ibiza, and eventually trying to get off the island. There are immense amounts of Ibiza references to clubs, DJ's, the crowds, drugs and assorted tid bits. By the end Zinger sounds desperate to get off the island and you kinda feel sorry for him. Still, the story is funny as hell and well done. If you can name all the references, please let me know! According to my partner, the Ibiza references are pretty spot on.

Hird - Keep You Kimi
One of my old housemates loved this song to bits, and often it would be playing in our lounge. He passed the love onto me. A jazzy piece with a bop, some double bass and beautiful vocals by Yukimi Nagano (who strangely sounds more like a soul singer than a Japanese girl). The keyboard over the top sounds more like drops of water than a keyboard. Hird are a Swedish act that create downtempo/jazz tunes, beautiful sounding and very relaxed - otherwise called cafe/lounge music. Often they use Miss Yukimi as well. The song's words are pretty, and would work as a good soundtrack to city life at night time I think. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just music to drink something to. Either way, Kimi will get to you :)

Jazztronik - Arabesque
Jazztronik is a Japanese DJ who ultimately creates latin-influenced jazz creations. My partner came across Jazztronik about a year or so ago and we both fell in love with his albums. Normally in each of his songs there is a variety of musical influences, and Arabesque is no different. It sounds like a mash of Japanese scales, flamenco, gypsy music, tribal percussion and electronica. There are flutes, there's clapping, samples of scatting, violins, and pianos amongst other sounds. It sounds very similar to 'Spain' by Chick Corea in some parts. I wonder if that was an influence. I suggest finding more Jazztronik songs if you like this, you won't be disappointed.

Yma Sumac - Gopher
This is my praise for my total love of what I like to call cocktail music. The mondo/exotica period of music from the 1950's, big band and calypso like. Yma Sumac was the voice of many mondo songs of that time, with her voice having one of the largest vocal ranges of the 20th century (more so than Mariah Carey). You would know her voice, her songs, this one included, are famous for being in TV programs, ads and films. She is of Peruvian decent, and just divine. I wish I could be miss Sumac, and then go sing with Pink Martini. Defiantly good music to drink cocktails to while swooning around in beehives.

Sublime - 5446 Thats My Number/Ball and Chain
There's always those bands you grow up with, that give you some meaning to your teenage life and that is the fundamental band all your friends love. Sublime is that band for me, and to this day my high school friends and me still love all their songs - reminds us all of many parties and teenage shenanigans. This song is partly original, partly a cover (5446 originally is a famous reggae song by Toots & The Maytals) and is two songs put together as one. Probably my favourite song off their first album (40oz To Freedom, highly recommended) and an all time classic uplifter for me. Sublime were a reggae/dub/punk/acoustic/funk/hip hop trio that were, like the name states, sublime until the singer Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996. Pity, he was a gem :/ Anyhoo this is a mixture of reggae and ska, with a touch of punk and dub.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Sugar Daddy
So this is a song from the fictional band, and subject of the wonderful film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I sometimes forget that Hedwig is just a character, and not a real person. Pity, I do adore Hedwig so much. This song is basically a country sounding song, sung by the transsexual that is Hedwig, about a sugar daddy. This is by far one of my favourite Hedwig songs, and somehow always makes me smile on the bus. If you've not seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch - go see it! A rock musical odyssey about a transsexual's life and botched sex job (hence the 'angry inch'). One of my all time favourite films, and a must see-and-sing-along.

Eric Sartie - Je Te Veux
Eric Sartie is a famous 19th/20th century French composer, with many famous pieces. This, however, is my favourite piece by him. To describe it simply, it reminds me of bike riding through villages and countryside in France on a warm day. That's probably the best way to describe this piece, a warm Frenchy bike riding song. With just a sole piano, it's enough to sooth the savage beast. I wish I could play piano like this, but alas I'm just too impatient.


So there's 10 songs for your audio pleasure. I think the next time I'll have a theme. Maybe the greatest intro's of songs... I could think of a few there. Or maybe the best of cocktail oddity music. Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.


<3

eBay Horrors

Everyone seems to love eBay. Why? Cos you can buy and sell without having to leave the comfort of your home. You can sell half your life while in your pyjama's, or add to your collection of random paraphernalia while sitting in bed. But more and more people are getting ripped off via eBay, with dodgy bidders and even dodgier sellers. With the Internet being a faceless medium people contact others via, you really can do anything. eBay has many loop holes people jump through, and obviously don't get penalised properly. I've had a couple of friends scammed via eBay, even my partner has had some horrible eBay experiences. But nothing compares to what I'm about to show you.

Judge Judy vs eBay Scammer

This clip is a Judge Judy case of an eBay seller gone wrong. Firstly, if it's on Judge Judy it has to be pretty bad. I base arguments on the premise that 'if you went on Judge Judy, who would win?' She's a bitch, true, but she's a justified one. The people they get on there are pretty low on the human spectrum. In this case, the seller is a total... well.. idiot really. All she needed was to say "I know you are so what am I" and it would have taken the cake. Sure, Judge Judy didn't let the seller tell her case, but really do we need to hear something blatantly idiotic?

Have a giggle, and remember there are people like that on eBay!

I have Watched A Lot Of Cinema Recently...

I've been having some pretty shocking migraines this week, topped off with a very sore right side of my face and possible ear infection (well it feels like it at least). Why? Because I have some shocking teeth that need to be ripped out of my skull, it seems. Two fillings that have fallen out, some impacted wisdom teeth (they certainly feel like it) and others rotting away, it's time to see the dentist. But you see, I'm a wuss for seeing the dentist. I can't think of anything worse than teeth pain, really. It freaks me out in movies, and it certainly freaks me out in real life. However, I must bite the bullet and go see one this week otherwise I might have to be like Tom Hanks and ice-skate a tooth out myself, which I don't think I have the nerves for. For now I'm dosed up on painkillers, but still my face throbs away - I just can't bring myself to disregard the warnings on my packets of Nurofen, and chow down as many as I feel like. Yet 6 doesn't seem to be doing much... hmmm..

So that's my explanation of why I've not updated this in a few days - I just haven't been able to bring myself to sit in front of this here monitor for so long. But today I aim to write a couple of things at least - music post and some mini film reviews. Film reviews first, for once!:

Mini Film Review - or Films I Have Seen Over the Last Couple of Weeks, Reviewed in a Couple of Sentences:


Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty
Not a bad film, if you love the TPB as much as I do. Tailored to both hardcore fans of the series and newbies to the show - but not as funny as some of their series. Ricky and Lucy finally get married, trailer park styles. And they try and pull off the best job of all time - stealing change. 4 stars out of 5

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Odd and enjoyable, there's 3 stories in Tristram Shandy: the making of the movie, the movie itself of the life of Tristram Shandy and the camera following Steve Coogan's time while making the movie. It has some very witty humour, very confusing bits and overall is an interesting film. Not the best Mike Winterbottom film, but original... that's for sure. 4 stars out of 5

The Inside Man
Went on a small Spike Lee kick this week. Inside Man is about a flawless bank robbery, and the stupidity of the police handling the situation. Really well done, made me think that robbing banks was easier than it looks. Worth checking out! 4 stars out of 5

Sucker Free City
Another Spike Lee film, this time about gangs in San Fransisco. Filmed interestingly, shows 3 different gang areas and how they all intersect. Didn't really like the sudden ending, or what strong point Lee was trying to get across. Worth watching though if you like gang films. 3 stars out of 5.

25th Hour
I love Edward Norton, and he's great in this as an ex-drug dealer who has a day to live before going to jail. You end up feeling for the protagonist, Norton, even though he's a criminal by trade. I enjoyed this immensely. 4 stars out of 5

Idiocracy
A film by Mike Judge (office space, king of the hill, beavis and butthead) that is pretty funny. About a man who's frozen for 100 years only to find he's the smartest man on earth because only the dumbest have been breeding. It it was real, the future looks bleak. 3 stars out of 5

Snakes on a Plane
Yeah so we watched this because we thought, why not. And the film is about as good as it sounds. All you need to know is that there's many poisonous, pissed off snakes on a plane with Samuel L. Jackson. Best line - "Snakes on crack." 1 star out of 5

Miami Vice
Since Michael Mann directed the film, I thought it'd be alright. But if anything it was more confusing. Colin Farrell has a shocking accent, Mann has his trademark blue tones and the story is a bit average. But then again, I never liked the show much. 2 stars out of 5

SWAT
Don't even bother. Nothing can save this film. Colin Farrell is shocking, and Samuel L Jackson is his usual hard ass yelling righteous black man self. 1/2 star out of 5.

Hot Fuzz
I love Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Spaced) and this film is really really good. It's basically a homage to the apparent best cop films of all time - Point Break and Bad Boys 2. Pegg plays a great hard ass, serious cop, in a small Cornish town where people are getting brutally murdered. Highly recommended if you want a great giggle. 4.5 stars out of 5

Harsh Times
Directed by David Ayers, the man who wrote Training Day, this film is great. Pretty messed up but great! Christian Bale plays an ex-military nutjob who rolls gangs, takes drugs, gets drunk and vicious with weapons while trying to secure a job with Homeland Security. Fantastic acting, despite the intense story plot. 4.5 stars out of 5

Taxi (1, 2 and 3) - the french series of films
Written by Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element) the Taxi series (4 films in all) are very funny and action packed. The main premise is about a taxi driver with a souped up race car taxi helps out the fumbling police, catching the bad guy in each film. But there's a continuity, joint smoking, great action sequences and lotsa French humour. Highly recommended for a giggle. 4 out of 5

Banlieue 13
Another film written by Luc Besson, this one is set in the future about a district in Paris that is riddled with gangs. A prison inmate and a cop must go in to diffuse a bomb and save thousands of people. This film has some fantastic stunts in it, mixing Martial arts and parkour together. Interesting concept, great action. 4 stars out of 5 (mainly for the use of parkour)

Pan's Labyrinth
Everyone loves this film, but I sadly was disappointed. I expected more. The Spanish love gruesome films, and this certainly is depressive subject matter wise. The special effects are interesting, kinda like watching a Tool video clip, but the story itself is gruesome and very depressing. You'll either like the film or not like it. 3 stars out of 5.

Gangs of New York
Scorsese put 25 years of research in for this film, and it shows. Mainly about a battle between Irish immigrants and 'native' American's of New York, the film highlights the life back then and what else was going on in America with the Civil War. Leonardo Di Caprio has a pretty shonky accent, Daniel Day Lewis is AWESOME as the antagonist, Cameron Diaz doesn't do that bad an Irish accent either. Maybe not the best Scorsese film, but one worth watching. 4 stars out of 5

Night At the Museum
Another Ben Stiller film. I personally don't like Ben Stiller much, unless he's in a Wes Anderson film. This is pretty stereotypical Stiller, with children's and obvious humour and slapstick comedy. It's entertaining, at most. I reckon the dinosaur was the best part. 2 stars out of 5

Déjà Vu
A Jerry Brockheimer film - that should say it all. Apparently a sci-fi thriller, I found this film tedious. Denzel Washington always plays a good cop, and in this he goes back in time to stop a bomb exploding hundreds of people. If anything, the budget went on the action sequences and special effects. 2 stars out of 5.

Swordfish
Operation Espadons, as my partner calls it. Not a bad film, John 'Scientologist' Travolta plays a pretty good villain, Hugh Jackman plays a great hacker - though he is daggy at some points. Halle Berry has a boob shot, and there's some pretty expensive action sequences. Entertaining. 3 stars out of 5.

Peeping Tom
I had to watch this for a class at school. It's a famous, controversial film from 1960 by Michael Powell, about a voyeur who's fetish is filming people being murdered. Interesting film, especially from a voyeur perspective, and if you like Hitchcock-like films. 4 stars out of 5

The Science of Sleep
The latest from Michel Gondry, I enjoyed this film muchly despite being confused for a lot of it. The story is a bit everywhere, but the visuals are amazing - more like watching a video clip than a film for parts of the film. Gael Garcia Benal is wonderful, and speaks in French, English and Spanish. 4 stars out of 5.

Crank
Another Jason Stratham film, this is a non-stop intense roller-coaster of action. Stratham is injected with a poison that means if his heart rate drops below a certain rate, he'll die. Basically the whole film is about him keeping his adrenaline levels up in order to get revenge on the person who injected him. A hell of a ride to watch. 4.5 stars out of 5.

Underworld: Evolution
The first Underworld didn't do anything for me, and this continues to do nothing for me. It's basically a lot of vampires fighting werewolves, and talking about how both came to be. There's an overly long sex scene with Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, which I think is for the directors (and Beckinsale's husband) viewing pleasure more than anything. Beckinsale's character becomes a new species of vampire too. I like a good vampire film, but this isn't one of them. 2 stars out of 5.

Letters From Iwo Jima
Clint Eastwood's other film dealing with the battle of Iwo Jima (the other being Flags of Our Fathers), though this is from the Japanese perspective. And it's fantastic. Moving and easy to get wrapped up in, the film doesn't portray the Japanese as being unjustified, cruel soldiers. It highlights how unprepared the Japanese were, and how the Imperial Army left the soldiers to die. Highly recommended! 4.5 stars out of 5. (just make sure you get a copy with the RIGHT subtitles, not Engrish)


There was many other films too, but I've either forgotten I watched them due to being too long ago or them being too shocking to remember. On average I'm watching 2 films a night - yes I am a film fanatic. Along with that I have also been keeping up with the recent series (as shown in the USA recently) of:

House, MD
Heroes
Supernatural
Lost
The Simpsons
Family Guy (sometimes)
Law and Order: SVU

Gotta love the Internet.

Next film review post - I plan to watch Shortbus (if I can finally convince my partner to watch it), The Libertine, MirrorMask, Perfect Creatures, and other assorted films. Who knows what I'll whip out of my bag of movie tricks.

<3

All Hail the Mighty House

There are a few actors I love in the world, and not just because they're all very easy on the eyes - mostly it's their talent. Hank Azaria, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman and my newest rekindled love for this wonderful man:

That's right - the magnificent Hugh Laurie. More famously now known (in America mostly) as the cynical Dr House, yet I grew up with Hugh Laurie on our TV screens at home (thanks to my mum) as the bumbling socialite idiot Bertie Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster (with Stephan Fry playing his more intelligence butler Jeeves ) and in Blackadder (The Third) as the Prince Regent, one of his best roles I believe, and Lt. George (in Blackadder Goes Forth). Also it must be noted he had a great guest appearance on The Young Ones in the University Challenge episode, famously saying 'Rah-rah-rah, we're going to smash the oinks!' with Emma Thomspon, Ben Elton and Stephan Fry. If you don't know any of the above listed shows, I pity you and demand you to go out and get your hands on copies of these GREATEST of the great in British humour.

Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent in Blackadder the Third

Mr Laurie is a highly talented man, not just actor. Originally starting out as a champion rower for Cambridge University (following the footsteps of his gold-medal winning rowing father), he then branched off into comedy with, most notably, Stephan Fry. Many stage shows, TV shows, and works with other famous comedians, he rose to stardom within the UK. From there he branched out into films and the rest is, well... what we know today. But did you know he was also a highly talented musician? I didn't until a couple of hours ago. Hugh can play a mean guitar, killer piano and sings wonderful satirical songs. He even plays in two bands - one is Lenny Henry's band, with Henry and Ben Elton's wife Sophie among many others, and the other is called Band From TV with other actors from American TV (they mostly do covers I believe). I cruised around on YouTube before and found some wonderful clips of Hugh Laurie's musical talents, which I thought was worthy of sharing.

'Mystery', written and performed by Hugh Laurie
'The Sophisticated Song', performed on A Bit of Fry and Laurie
'Too Long Johnny', performed by Laurie on A Bit of Fry and Laurie
'There Ain't The One Way', performed on A Bit of Fry and Laurie


Here are some other clips worth watching:
Shakespeare Sketch with Rowan Atkinson
Laurie's appearance on The Young Ones as part of University Challenge.
A scene from Jeeves and Wooster
Spoon Bending sketch, with Stephan Fry
As the Prince Regent in Blackadder


You should love Hugh Laurie by now :)


<3

Praise Be to the Shower Products

So this blog is about pop culture, I should include more than just media related items. Although I have quite a large fondness for media - being music, TV, film, books, websites yadda yadda yadda - there is more to pop culture than what the media has to dictate. Today I decided it's about time I gave praise to some girly things. Yes, that's right - girly. I, being a girl, should indulge and praise the femme side of moi, which I don't nearly do as much as the next girl. I believe it's about time I did.

Today's girly praise is going to be for wonderful, delicious, lovely smelling shower things! What am I talking about? Shampoo, soap, conditioner, cleansers... the works! Things to make your skin feel brand new, fresh and so clean, and leave you smelling like buttercups and cupcakes.

I recently decided to treat myself to some 'expensive' (by my standards, anything over $6) products in order to help with the shocking condition of my hair and skin. After walking past the shop many times and being invited in with their overpowering wonderful smells, I ventured into Lush to spoil myself for the first time in a veeeeerrrry long time. Lush is wonderful - not too pricey and natural ingredients are used. Their products smell divine and leave you feeling environmentally friendly and super clean. While there I indulged myself in some fantastic shampoo, lovely light conditioner, some sweet smelling body jelly (soap, but in jelly form) and a fresh face cleanser. They have left me feeling so clean I think it's about time I gave them some praise:

'Big' Shampoo - the hair revitaliser

I have been every colour hair dye has to offer, and as much as I am proud of my colourful lock adventures, it has left my hair pretty worn out, damaged and fine. For a while I was using various shampoo's found at my local supermarket, never really venturing to splash out past what Safeway or Coles had to offer. The end result was my hair being limp and stripped of it's black dye (once you go black, you never go back). The split ends were building up and there wasn't much volume or texture to the mop on my head. Then I came across this - this wonderful shampoo that cleans, replenishes, adds volume (I always wondered why they call it volume) and also massages your scalp. 'Big', designed to breathe life back into the follicles. It makes your hair shine so much that it blinds people. It's like someone has turned up the volume in my hair to 10. It's truly wonderful. And the best bit - chunks of sea salt that feel great on your skull, massaging away all the dead bits clinging to you for dear life. With real lime juice, coconut oil, sea salt and seaweed, it smells divine and probably tastes alright too. If you're like me and need a kick with your hair, go buy this for around $26 for 330g

Veganese Conditioner - Light and Lemony

For years as a teenager I didn't see the point in conditioner, but as an adult I now do. For me it mainly helps with untangling my hair without too much pain or brushing involved. Most conditioners I've used in the past have been really oily feeling, laden with oodles of moisturising agents. Veganese, however, is different. It's lighter and not so oily, and smells deliciously of lemon. And like the name suggests, it's totally vegan. A good ender to the washing hair routine.

Herbalism Face Cleanser

I've done my time with skin stripping face cleansers, or ones that are all talk but not much show. I often have bad breakouts, usually due to hormonal imbalances at certain times of the month, and as much as I sadistically enjoy destroying these red dots of doom, I'm starting to not want to destroy my skin anymore. Herbalism is a clay - you take a small bit, rub it in your hands with water and then go crazy all over your face with the green concoction. It has almond meal and rice bran to rub away the dead skin, flower petals, rosemary and chamomile, and powdered herbs all wrapped up in china clay. It's gentle but effective. It's lovely smelling and easy to use. And lasts you a long time. I'm yet to try the other types of cleansers they have, but was told this would be the best for my skin type. I agree for now :)

Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly

I saw this and thought I just had to try it. It's an odd concept - jelly soap. And I mean jelly (or jello for you Americans) like the wobbly uber sweet kind you can eat. This, however, I don't think you can eat, even tho it smells delicious and very sweet like cupcakes and candy. The jelly is an interesting idea - you can freeze it, chill it, or just use it at room temperature (I recommend the freezing of it). It wobbles, it cleans, it feels oddly nice against your skin and leaves you smelling like candy and sweetness. Try it out, you'll love it!

So there is my homage to the shower products that have recently made my shower-time wonderful. I actually look forward to getting clean and fresh everyday, no matter how pissweak the water pressure from my showerhead is. If you have Lush store in your city, I implore you to go look, try and buy from them. Or if not, try their online shopping.

Speaking of showering, it's time for mine now so I bid you adieu.

<3

YouTube Funnies

There are many funny videos on YouTube. Here are some for you to enjoy:

Interpretation of 'Fucking Hostile', by Pantera (Warning: Metal music)


Norman Gunston's Tribute to ABBA - Australian style.
(70's Australian Comedian/Tv Personality)


Circle Circle Dot Dot - Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone
(Lego videoclip of their rap)


Wishmaster - the misheard lyrics


Irrational Exuberance, aka Yatta!


Yatta - the original by Japanese 'boyband' Green Leaves.
(Yes, I love this song, and it's got nearly naked Japanese men disco-ing)



Enjoy!
<3

Keywords from IMDB.com

My partner sent me a rather funny link. It's all the keywords listed for the movie Underworld: Evolution. I thought it was worth a mention:)

How gruesome is this film?

Edit: This film isn't really gruesome, more boring really. I've never been a fan of over-hyped blockbuster vampire serials. Unless they're done well of course, which Underworld isn't.

Sites To Entertain

Similar to the post before, I've found some more websites for you lovelies out there to roam around on. Nothing depressing, in fact it should all be sunshine and lollipops for you to look at. So to take the edge off being over-saturated with the bleak future humans may face (if we don't change our ways), here are a bunch of sites to entertain:

Current Entertaining Sites Found:

Dark Passage
This is a great site a friend sent to me years ago that I forgot about until about a month ago. It's basically a photographed catalogue of abandoned buildings across America, and some in Europe. There are mental asylums, discarded hospitals, Nazi tunnels, sewers and so much more. The photos are amazing to look at, and sometimes haunting to look at. I recommend getting lost on this site, maybe even while in a dark room on a windy night... ooOOOooh.

Christopher Walken Clips
I love Christopher Walken, and I especially love how he talks. Nothing compares to a quote or stare from Christopher Walken. So why not share the love. This site has many clips of his speeches, quotes and other tidbits from various films and Saturday Night Live appearances. Go listen to him speak the way that only Mr Walken can.

Ricky Gervais (official)
Ricky Gervais is a very funny man, hands down. So go check out his official site and what he's done. I highly recommend his stand up comedy DVD's, 'Politics' and 'Animals'. Very, very funny man.

Virtual NES Games
What more could you want, virtual old school Nintendo games from back when Street Fighter and Double Dragon were cooler than cool. It has over 400 games there, and many old favourites like Bubble Bobble. You'll be sucked back into a time warp playing these gems.

BookMooch
Similar to Bookcrossing or Postcardcossing, this is a swapping books site. You swap one of your books for something you want from someone else. It's free to join and you are able to get books based on a point system. Interesting though if you love books and don't mind them being 'well loved'.

Infinite Wheel
I get stuck on this site all the time. Basically it's got a few games where you make your own dub music with samples by playing interactive flash games. There are some great dub samples there, and the flash games are cute.


I hope these take the edge off and entertain you somewhat :)

<3

Sociology Lives Online

There are many things in life that are important; information that needs to be passed on and on and on round the the world until the message is made obvious. Sociology is a fascinating topic, especially since everyday life, human behaviour and the interactions between both are what makes up most of the day to day humdrum of society. And how our modern society is now is even more fascinating.

I've watched a fair amount of documentaries about peak oil and gas, the Iraq war, 'terrorism' and other related topics over the past year or so, and more recently watched one about private corporations involvement in this Iraq war going on. It's disgusting how much money is generated, and how much the government has to pay for corporations like Halliburton to run below average services. Anyway, that's off the topic a bit. What is on the topic is how much the Internet is filled with useful and insightful information related to the above social and economic problems humankind is facing.

The last week I've been surfing online and come across some great sites I'd like to share with you, that hopefully will enlighten and inform you all like it has for me. Some are amusing, some are scarily informative, and others are use interesting. So now, onto the site listing....

Peak Oil, Apocalyptic, Cloning and Population Related Sites:

Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash
My friend sent me this link to look at a while ago, and it drew me in pretty much. It's scary, not in a graphical or gruesome way but just how humankind is heading towards. The site tells you how it is, and how we'll be effected due to the oil reserves becoming all used up. I recommend this site for a great source of chilling information. Be warned though, your outlook of life might change.

World Overpopulation Awareness
Overpopulation and population control is what I'm all about, in a nutshell. It's what I'm working towards at school and hopefully in a career - informative family planning, future overpopulation prevention and population control. So I know this is me pushing my own agenda, but it is a really important topic that needs more discussion and promotion across the globe. After global warming/climate change, this will become the next major issue humans face. This site is very informative, about actions taken across the globe currently and future endeavours. Hopefully it'll open some eyes to what our future could hold unless we discuss how to lower the birth rates.

The Volunatary Human Extinction Movement
This is not everyones cup of tea, but it's interesting to say the least. It's a group of people, a movement really, who pledge to not to procreate or not to procreate anymore than they already have. It talks about some interesting concepts dealing with birth and death rates, and basically trying to save the human species by maintain a period of no procreation to level out humans impact on the Earth. I found this site really interesting, and the concept I support. But don't hate me because I do, it's all voluntary - no one has taken away your right to give birth yet! Still, kudos to those who are willing to not add to the billions that inhabit this planet already.

Exit Mundi: A Collection of End-of-World Scenarios
Another friend sent me this link, and I had a great time giggling at the possible outcomes of humans. Its basically a collective of apocalyptic and doomsday predictions we face. Mostly seemingly satirical, there is also a truth behind a lot of the listed predictions. For example, in 2007 the Earth is meant to be sucked into a black hole that we created in a lab in Switzerland. It may not happen, but the research to create black holes is. Go look and see when we will all be destroyed.

Clonaid
Ok so this both scares and amuses me. Scares me because if it is true, then that's a scary road to go down. Amuses me because it is run by a group of Raelians - if you don't know about the coo-coo Raelian religion, go here. Basically the site is a company that claims to have cloned humans, 13 in fact, and will clone one for you at a hefty price of over $200,000 USD. Yet there is no proof of their clones, to the disappointment of the UN and US government (who have been trying to suss out if Clonaid is true or now). The fact that an extreme cult like religion claims to have cloned humans is rather unnerving, more so than the fact that humans could have possibly been cloned. They promote the idea of being about to live immortally, which personally creeps me out. Anyway, go check it out for yourself and see what you make of it.


So enough depressing things for now. I personally like reading the morbid, but I can see why it's not everyone's cup of tea. If you have found related sites that I might become absorbed in, please send them over. Otherwise, I hope you find some sound information in those listed above.

<3

La Música Para Usted

It's been one of those weeks where you're never home and everything seems to pile up. The kind of week where bills need to be paid, time to get prepared to go back to school and endless amounts of family shindigs. But now that's all over, family have gone back to Morocco and Brisbane and school has begun. So no excuse to put of blogging, my dear readers. As I write this I am incredibly hungry, incredibly broke and somewhat grumpy, so excuse if I come across at more cynical and bitchy than usual - I blame the hunger pangs.

So what aimless words of ramble can I put here today? Well there is a much needed music update, for all you out there waiting to get your weekly music recommendation fix. I also have other random things to mention, photos to show and tidbits to remark on, some raving, some ranting and assorted other gems of sentences. In time, lovelies, in time I shall get round to putting them all up here for your viewing pleasure. Don't worry, I gots dem all figure out in my head, like.

Firstly though.... the music!

For starters I have to outline why my choices are as below this week. Well, I got myself a ticket to see Lisa Gerrard in concert, so I'm on a Lisa Gerrard kick for now. For those who don't know her name, you probably know her music. She was one half of the world famous fantastic dark-ambient-world-infusion band called Dead Can Dance, and since their breakup 10 years ago she has been a composer of film soundtracks - like Gladiator, Ali, Whalerider and The Insider. Famous in her own right, she has one of the most haunting, mystifying, magnificent voices I have ever come across so you must understand that me getting a ticket to see her perform live has made my year! Although she is rather epic, Lisa Gerrard can soothe the soul and open the mind - or you can be like my friend and give birth while she hauntingly wails in the background. So to go along with her, I've also had this gypsy music, middle-eastern-trip hop kick for the last couple of days. I just stumbled across a label of world music called Putumayo, and boy do they have some awesome albums! What can I say, I have a fond love for gypsy music and middle eastern fused sounds (and of course vibraphones).

So....

Current Favourite Music Tracks:

Azzddine (with Bill Laswell) - Srir D'al Houbb
I stumbled across this artist about a week ago by coincidence, while trolling my way through friends MySpace profiles and was impressed. Middle Eastern influenced electronica usually comes out as some form of trance or psytrance (not my cup of tea!) but this came out as trip hop/downtempo. Azzddine is a fusion of (apparently) Moroccan sounds, such as singing, ouds (Arabian guitar with 4 strings), violins and so on, accompanied with a backing beat, filters on vocals and other assorted sounds. The rest of this album is interesting, but this song is probably my favourite. Despite what the world seems to think about arabs, Muslims, and supposed 'terrorists' - middle eastern music is flippin' awesome. (I'm biased though).

Gotan Project - Epoca
This song is famous. It's in tv ads, its been on shows, it's everywhere and stupidly got stuck in my head this week. If you hear the first 30 seconds, you'll know the song. Gotan Project are a group from Paris, France, which combine tango with beats and breaks. Not a bad mix of music, though my partner does despise this group. The piano accordion is the instrument of choice with these artists, notably being one of the main instruments used. Not in a cheesy way though, thankfully. Gotan Project is a pretty interesting mix of tango and electronica, and who doesn't love a tango, or songs in French and Spanish. It kinda reminds me of the music from 12 Monkeys....hmmm.

Lisa Gerrard - Song of Ammergin
This is the first track of Immortal Memory, an album Lisa Gerrard collaborated with Patrick Cassidy in 1998. This song is based upon the supposed first song a mortal sang on Irish land, an is sung in Gaelic (I think). I adore this song because it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up - strange but true. In fact this whole album makes my hair stand up. The ambiance created by strings is deep and haunting, which her voice floating over the top. I can see why the goths love her (well the ones who know more than new-wave). How can I describe this song... good music to accompany a vampire film? Excellent soundtrack to a Wiccan circle casting? Music to walk through a church graveyard with? Maybe... either way, you have to hear her to understand my adoration for this lovely lass.

New Order - Ceremony
This song is recently famous for being in Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006) and highlights the best of the new-wave movement in the 80's. Taken from the album Substance, more famously known for putting out hits like 'Blue Monday' and 'Bizarre Love Triangle', this song went along unnoticed in my life until recently. Maybe it was because I finally watched Marie Antoinette, or maybe because I finally understood the appeal of new-wave music. Ceremony was originally written by Joy Division, before singer Ian Curtis died, and New Order (made up of the remaining members of Joy Division) recorded it. The guitars are simple and melodic, the drums are consistent and the vocals are hidden amongst the rubble of music. And amazingly it worked fantastically with scenes of 18th century France.

Aphex Twin - Jynweythek Ylow
So another song off the Marie Antoinette soundtrack (though more famously off Aphex Twin's album Drukqs), and very unlike Aphex Twin - known for his notorious song 'Come To Daddy' . This song is calming, charming and twinkly. Unlike his other albums, Drukqs is a mix of his IDM compositions as well as piano songs, like this one. With a normal piano and a prepared piano (where objects are placed between the hammers and strings), this song reminds me of a medieval music box. It also has a dulcimer sound to it, with slight electronica qualities added. I read somewhere that Druqks was Aphex Twin's most personal album, influenced by composers such as Eric Satie - it shows.

Linn & Freddie - L.I.N.N
Swedish hip hop, what more can I say. Linn, the singer, is Sweden's version of Erykah Badu, apparently. This song is boppy, with some nice beats and what sounds like different sized bottles of water being hit. Reminds me of creeping through a cartoon monster house with a gang of hiphopsters. Ok, thats probably an obscure image but my mind works like that - the best way to describe a song is to describe the visuals it gives me. Make sense? Either way, just get this puppy and bop along with me.

Royksopp - What Else is There?
I like Royskopp, and chances are you probably know them.Their track 'Eple' plays while you install Mac OS X v 10.3. This Norwegian duo are joined by Karin Dreijer Andersson, half of the industrial act The Knife, who provides some haunting Scandinavian vocals. The song is pretty, nicely Nordic, and the video clip is pretty to watch. I don't know what more to say but their name is cool.... Royksopp, ja :)

Cibelle - Waiting
Cibelle (pronounced see-BELL-ee) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, who does lovely downtempo/lounge/chill in English and Portuguese (ooh I love Portuguese) and if you like chick singers with chilled out, relaxed music - you'll like Cibelle. This song has a nice bass line in it, with some jazzy drums and is pretty simple. Simple and pretty. What more can I say. She's delightful. This song reminds me of walking around a huge metropolis, like New York, in winter, staring up at the tall buildings. Does it do it for you?

Dj Marky & Dj Patife featuring Fernando Porto - So Ti
Brazilian drumnbass, who doesn't love it! It has guitars, Portuguese singing, a bossanova feel and a nasty drumnbass rhythm. There is a whole genre of Brazilian drumnbass, mixing bossanova in with drumnbass or samba or something else distinctly "Latino". I personally really love the Brazilian drumnbass hybrids, and it makes excellent cleaning music. And this makes great public transport traveling music, just don't bop too much during peak hour traffic.

Kronos Quartet & Taraf De Haidouks - Turceasca
Two ultimate bands combined - one of the best recognized quartets in the world and a Romanian gypsy band that has about 20+ members. And what happens when they combine? Some of the best gypsy music I've heard, hands down! Taraf De Haidouks are also more known for being Johnny Depps favourite band, and hey if they're good enough for Johnny, they're good enough for me. This song reminds me of Mr Bungle a bit, cos of its intense chaoticness that carries you through its 7 minutes of bliss. For a true gypsy experience, look for Taraf De Haidouks.


So for now I end this, but I shall returneth soon for more exciting updates on random crap :)

<3

Movie reviews, shonkily done.

Beloved readers, please excuse my hiatus. I was busy wrapped up with family shindigs and business and unable to tap away at my keyboard for you lovely lot. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, no? And gives more things to discuss.

Over the last couple of days my partner and I have ventured into watching a lot of movies. Endless movie nights consist of at least 2 movies, tim-tam's and some assortment of lollies and beverages. But most importantly, it's about the movies. I am a self proclaimed movie fiend, watching as many as I can and working out what it is about the film that draws you in, or spits you out. It's amazing how many films can be shockingly bad, but how many can be wonderful gems. So this week I have watched....:

The Prestige (2006, Dir:Christopher Nolan, Starring: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johanssen, Michael Caine, David Bowie)
Originally I didn't care for seeing this film as I thought it would just be another big budget action film based on magic. But then I found out Christian Bale was in it, and I thought bugger that I'll give it a go. And I'm glad I did cos The Prestige is a wonderful film. Directed but Christopher Nolan, more famous for directing Memento and Batman Begins, the film is beautifully shot amongst a setting of the late 1800's. With constant twists, the story grabs you and pulls you in for the journey. Jackman and Bale are wonderful, but they generally are in everything they do. The costumes are beautiful and the magic is, well... magic :) The story in a nutshell = two rival magicians who were once friends but grew apart, one gets blamed for the other's "murder"... but is he really dead? :) I give this puppy 4.5 stars out of 5.

The Illusionist (2006, Dir: Neil Burger, Starring: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell)
Another film about magic and magicians, funnily enough being released around the same time as The Prestige. Yet they are different. Whereas The Prestige is an adventure of twists and turns, The Illusionist is a mesmerising story of wonder and love. Set also within the latter part of the 1800's, the films revolves around two childhood lovers, one of higher social status than the other, who are torn apart during adolescence. The boy is banned from seeing the girl, and leaves forever, travelling the world for many years. When he returns as an adult he is the world famous magician Eisenheim . He learns that his childhood sweetheart is to marry the crown prince, who is a macho, chauvinistic brute, and tries to woe his ex-lover back. The prince learns of this , and the next thing we know is the girl is dead. But is she? Similar to The Prestige, the film is about magic and illusions, and tricking the tricker. The illusions played within this film are stunning, never showing how it is done and leaving you, as part of the audience, mesmerised. Also recommended highly, and I give it 4 stars out of 5.

War of the Worlds (2005, Dir: Steven Spielberg, Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins)
I originally did not want to see this film, since I'm not a fan of either Tom Cruise or Steven Spielberg. I actually thought this would have a religious tint to it, being either Scientology or Judaism. But neither reared its ugly head, thankfully. However Spielberg, like all his films, gives a "happy" ending where humanity triumphs. My partner wanted something action-based to watch, so I gave in and we got this. As far as the story goes, it's famous - aliens attack earth, aliens kill many people, yet somehow humans triumph. Patriotic, no? Cruise was his average acting persona, complete with his intense stare thing he does. Fanning plays a very good neurotic kid. The aliens looked kinda scary, and they use humans as fertilizer. Yet Morgan Freeman does the "voice of god" narration, explaining that because we were immune to our bacteria, and the aliens were not, they were doomed to begin with. Bah, humbug - I want more alien exploding in my film than just simple dying because they were sick. The special effects were good, the story was... well very Spielberg, and there was some good suspense. But nothing I would write home about. I give it 3 stars out of 5.

Marie Antoinette (2006, Dir: Sofia Coppola, Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Swartzman, Marianne Faithful, Rip Torn, Steve Coogan...)
I'm biased to start with as I adore Sofia Coppola's films, with The Virgin Suicides being one of my all time favourites. So I wasn't entirely sure what to expect as I'd heard mixed reviews about this film, some saying it was beautifully stunning and others saying they expected more. But really, what more can you expect? We all know what happened to Marie Antionette, the famous French queen who was beheaded at the height of the French revolution. What Coppola does in this film is wonderful - she shows a new light on Marie Antoinette, portraying this young queen has naive, addicted to the lavish lifestyle and just stunning really. The costume, cinematography, sets - mesmerising. The colours of whites, blues, pinks, all merge together to highlight the extravagance of that world and subtly show why the French hated them so much. I feel for poor Marie Antoinette too, as she did not know any better than the life she had. Sold into marriage at 15, she became accustomed early to the over to top lavish party lifestyle of the French royalty, without any interest in the outside world. And then doomed to death. I loved this film. The story was more a biopic than a story, but so tastefully done. I never knew the 1700's could be so divine to look at. Highly recommended, 5 out of 5 stars.

Ghost Rider (2007, Dir: Mark Steven Johnson, Starring: Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes)
Two things I dislike in a film - lame comic-book-to-film superheros and Nicholas Cage. Once again, at the request of my partner, we watched this... or actually, half of this. Probably one of the cheesiest, lamest films I've seen so far, and it's only the beginning of the year! Cage plays a cheesy damned soul, who's made a contract with the devil, or some demon - it was never entirely clear - to reap souls for the term of his contract. He's a daredevil motorcyclist, performing impossible tricks like jumping over 6 helicopters, all in hover. I can't say much for this film cos I walked out just after he changed into Ghostrider - a flaming skull-headed, bike riding fiend - and decided to kill a bunch of supposed bad demons. I got turned off by the fact there were Australian actors ( bad actors) in it, like the fat chick from The Wedge, since it was filmed in my city of Melbourne. Look, this film is cheesy. Unless you dig bad Marvel comic adaptions, don't waste your money - 0.5 stars out of 5

King Kong (2005, Dir: Peter Jackson, Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody)
I tried to avoid this film because the idea of a supermonkey never really interested me much. Sure, the original is a classic piece of cinema but remakes of originals can always be dicey ground, as sometime the remake can do a worse job at telling the story than its predecessor. Peter Jackson loves special effects, that's his niche market. The LOTR's movies show how extravagant they can be, and how much he'll put into a film. However, why remake King Kong? Why a remake when he has done so many wonderful original films (Meet The Feebles, Heavenly Creatures...). In my opinion - because he can really. This film is no exception with the budget being used for special effects. And honestly, this film went for about an hour too long. There was too much lead up to catching the giant ape, extended fight scenes between giant ape and three Dinosaurs, extended scenes between the love relationships between Watts and the giant ape. The film was pretty to watch, some stunning cinematography but ultimately, just too drawn out and a bit cheesy. Maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn't. Either way, I feel a but let down by Mr Jackson, as I'd come accustomed to his wonderful work before King Kong. 3 stars out of 5.

For Your Consideration (2006, Dir: Christopher Guest, Starring: Harry Shearer, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Michael McKean, Ricky Gervais)
Once again, I'm biased - I adore Christopher Guest films. Unlike his other films, For Your Consideration is not a mockumentary but an actual story. Though once again I'm sure most of it is ad-libbed. The film is about the making of a film, Home for Purim which gets changed to Home for Thanksgiving as 'Purim' sounds too Jewish, and how a rumour that 2 cast members will be nominated for Oscar's. Yet there is nothing set in stone, it is all the hype. And what funny hype it is. The film shows how Oscar buzz goes to peoples heads and starts to influence their lives egotistically. Two nominations becomes three, and the jealousy begins. A bit different from Guest's gems like Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, it still is very funny with small subtle humour that may or may not be picked up on. I recommend seeing this for a clever laugh. 4 Stars out of 5.


And that was the movies for the last few nights of this week. Next on my list to see - Shortbus, Pan's Labyrinth, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, and more....