My possibly favorite musician returns…
Posted on March 30th, 2010
Listen to a free full sneak of Cary Brother’s new album Under Control here! (note: you have to register first – I know, annoying, but worth it)
Entries in the '' Category
Words Clever People Know: Iconoclast
Posted on March 30th, 2010
-A destroyer of images used in religious worship
1. One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.
2. One who destroys sacred religious images.
During the Protestant Reformation images in churches were again felt to be idolatrous and were once more banned and destroyed. It is around this time that iconoclast, the descendant of the Greek word, is first recorded in English (1641), with reference to the Byzantine iconoclasts. In the 19th century iconoclast took on the secular sense that it has today, as in “Kant was the great iconoclast” (James Martineau).
-The Free Dictionary
Introducing: Color of Clouds
Posted on March 27th, 2010
So new that they don’t even have a Wikipedia page yet, Color of Clouds has been described variously as indie folk and electroacoustic, though for the record I tend toward the former categorization. Color of Clouds is made up of a trio from Brooklyn which consists of singer-songwriter Kelli Scarr (formerly of Salt & Samovar), Dan Chen, former keyboardist for Nicole Atkins & The Sea, and producer Nate Greenberg. All three knew each other from electronic band(now disbanded) Moonraker, and got their start when Chen and Scarr, both recovering from breakups in 2008, decided to turn their loss into music. Greenberg was then recruited to polish and produce their songs. They released a debut E.P. entitled “The Look” in May 2009 which was well-received, with the title track being featured on One Tree Hill. They’ve also been featured on Ugly Betty, Damages and Mercy. Their self-released debut album, Satellite of Love, comes out April 6.
Satellite of Love Tracklisting:
1. Brother
2. Wonder
3. Satellite of Love
4. Left You
5. Lullysome
6. The Look
7. I Want You
8. Haunts Me
9. Let Go
10. Cinderella
11. Come Back to Me
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Haunts Me(acapella):
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“Brother”, a wistful folk gem driven by Scar’s silvery vocals, reminds me oddly of some of Hansard and Irglova’s softer songs, particularly Irglova’s “The Hill”, with its exploration of a relationship riven with guilt and blame and love and loss. “Haunts Me”, on the other hand, with its religious undertones and electronica-tinged pop, reminds me of State Bird’s “The Golden Glowing Mask”. The final track, however, the only other one to be pre-released, has more tinges of folk and country.
Read an excellent review here
Now we only have to wait until April 6th!
Sony Bravia Spot
Posted on March 25th, 2010
To me this captures so well our desire to live in a world filled with magic and colour. This space they’ve created is just so saturated with colour..
(song is Jose Gonzales’s “Heartbeats”)
Play On Round-Up
Posted on March 24th, 2010
Odds of Being Alone, Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup(from the Life Unexpected soundtrack)
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You Don’t Know What You’re Sorry For, Sweetbox
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Remember the Name, Fort Minor feat. Styles of Beyond
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Don’t Give Me One Kiss,Alyse Black
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Brother, Color of Clouds
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Words Cultured People Know: Otaku
Posted on March 20th, 2010
Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games – Wikipedia
1.Otaku is the honorific word of Taku (home).
Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn’t have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)
Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).
2.The term “otaku” seems to have been introduced to anime fans in the US and other countries via Studio Gainax’s “Otaku no Video 1985,” a self-parody film.
Otaku, meaning probably “venerable house,” refers to someone who has a devotion to a subject or hobby (not necessarily anime) to the point of not leaving home. For instance, an otaku fan of a particular movie star could quite possibly know all of the films s/he has been in, their birth date, time of birth, shoe size, favorite toothpaste, etc. Generally speaking, calling someone an otaku in Japan is an insult, implying that their social skills have atrophied or never even developed, due to their manic involvement in their chosen fandom.
In America, the term is used to denote a zealous fan, usually of anime and/or manga. Due to its introduction to most people’s vocabulary through its tongue-in-cheek use in Gainax’s film, “otaku” tends to have a much less dire definition overseas.
Kdrama Review
Posted on March 17th, 2010
RE-POSTED from an older blog
- Title: The World That They Live In
- Also known as: Worlds Within……
- Genre: Romance
- Episodes: 16
- Broadcast network: KBS2
- Broadcast period: 2008-Oct-27 to 2008-Dec-16
- Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55
Synopsis:
This drama is about the process of a television drama producton. Jung Ji Oh(Hyun Bin) is a charismatic drama PD whereas Joo Joon Young(Song Hye Kyo) is a PD who is direct and confident.
Review: Take two of the most gorgeous and arguably most talented actors from the land of Korea. Add an intriguingly unusual storyline, a compelling title, and a stunningly beautiful setting.
What do you get?
One of the most soulless, blank, boring pieces of media I’ve ever had the misfortune to see. I had as high hopes/expectations for The World That They Live In as most of Korea, and like most of Korea, the same reaction after watching it. For many people, their boredom/disatisfaction with World crept up slowly, almost without them realizing it; they had to watch several episodes or more before coming to the saddening and baffling realization that they were bored almost out of their minds. For me, it took a shorter time; approximately one episode. I started watching, with full expectations of enjoying it immensely, or at least of it being a sharply-cut, fast-paced drama, and about halfway through, realized that I wanted to turn it off and do something else. Dismissing this as some weird aberration, I kept watching, but when that episode was over didn’t go on to the next one. Coming back to it later, I started the next one, then skipped around a bit through the third – then stopped. I realized that, quite simply, I was bored – and not just mildly bored. Deathly bored.
I’m not quite sure how to describe exactly what’s wrong with Worlds Within; I’ve never seen anything like it before. But it seems dry and clinical; the drama itself doesn’t seem to care about its characters, or if it does, to care about them only in a distant, objective way, and when a drama doesn’t care about the characters, it’s hard for an audience to. The point of view of the drama feels panoramic and, as I said before, clinical – it’s as if the characters are test subjects which the camera is watching for a case study; with care for their well-being and an eye for detail, but no real warmth, emotional depth, or concern. These aren’t human beings; they’re far too – blank – for that. That’s how I’d describe the drama as a whole – blank, and soulless. As much as I want to care about the characters, and to be interested in what they’re saying, doing, and experiencing – and I did want to, very much – I simply can’t, and I”m not. There’s simply nothing there to hold onto. I’m not sure whether Song Hye-Gyo was simply miscast, or having a (long) series of bad acting days, or whether it’s the way her character was written(I suspect mostly the last and a bit of the first two) but she is stiff and unconvincing and seems tired – mentally or emotionally checked -out – most of the time. There’s none of her shining appeal, her fragility and luminous beauty from Autumn Tale or her verve and vim from Full House. She walks around like a ghost of herself, and much the same applies to Hyun Bin; there’s no substance behind his performance. He, like Hye Gyo, seems to have simply wandered on set and decided to perform a set of prescribed motions and words without having any real idea what or why he’s doing it, and certainly without believing in it. Again, I’m not sure whether to blame him or the writers/directors more; but one thing I’m sure of – the two leads got a raw deal with their characters. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to root for/care about Ji Oh and Joon Young whoever played them.
The drama has other problems too. In the first few episodes of the series at least, the plot and conversations are highly confusing; it switches abruptly from scene to scene and character to character, often starting in what feels like the middle of a scene, without explaining the background or who these people are. The pace is uneven: it speeds up when it should be slow, confusing the audience(or at least me) and then slows down for the boring parts, the “emotional”(what passes for emotion) conversations. Moreover, very little seems to happen – and this occurs on a constant basis.
Ultimately, however, the problem isn’t what Worlds Within is. It’s what it’s not – what it lacks. And what it lacks is heart. After only an episode and some of a combination of all these flaws/problems/lacks, I checked out, and I suspect that’s the case for most of its viewers( it currently has very low – and dropping – viewing ratings). Because after all, that’s why we watch dramas to begin with; they have such a combination of heart and emotional depth. I won’t give this drama an official rating, as I didn’t really watch it, but I can’t say that I recommend it.
Quotidian
Posted on March 12th, 2010
MEDVIEDENKO
Why do you always wear mourning?
MASHA
I dress in black to match my life. I am unhappy.
-The Seagull, Anton Chekhov
Song of the day: Dark Dark Dark – “Bright Bright Bright”
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