Plastic Jesus

On with my love of intimate live performances... I was reminded the other day of the scene in "Cool Hand Luke" in which Paul Newman plays this song after learning of the death of his mother. An amazing scene from one of my all-time favorite movies...

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison, especially his early stuff, will always hold a special place for me. Discovering his music represents a part of my life that I'll always hold dear,and I have Jannette to thank for that. While I'm not a huge fan of the Frames, and I'll admit I haven't seen the movie "Once", Glen Hansard has blown me away with his reinterpretation of Astral Weeks. I love covers, especially when the artist makes it his own and Glen has managed to do just that with one of my favorite Van songs from his first solo album, which is incredible from start to finish if you've never experienced it. Here's a clip from one of his solo shows:

Volkswagen

When I bought my MINI I was a bit torn between this car and the Golf GTI. I've always loved Volkswagens, but they're quality has been shit in recent years. You can't farm out production to Mexico and expect the quality control to be up to German standards. That said, Volkswagen has an incredible marketing department and comes out with consistently good ads. Here is an excellent example:

Thanks to John for this.