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.

White Lies

These guys officially qualify as my current "band of the moment". Take equal parts of the Killers (their decent stuff, not the trash they've been putting out lately) and Echo and the Bunnymen, add some 80's Tears for Fears/Depeche Mode-ness and voila - White Lies. All of this is meant as a compliment. Album comes out next month; or if you're like me, just buy it on ebay now.

8 Track

I have found what looks to be the best solution thus far to my quest for a replacement of my beloved Mixwit. I'm addicted to mixtapes, creating them and listening to other's. You can actually track the parts of my life by going through the old mixtapes (CD's really, and playlists more often now).

This is the first mix from the latest mixtape site.

The Take-Away Shows

This is another one of those websites in which all I could think about when I stumbled upon it was, "how did I not know about this before?!" Similar to the Black Cab Sessions but in any impromptu location. Please enjoy as much as I do:
The Take-Away Shows

In trying to decide which to post here I was torn. There are so many incredible performances on here but it came down to two. I ultimately went with Beirut's "Nantes" because it was the video that lead me to this site. Bloc Party's "This Modern Love" was a close second, not only because it's my favorite song of theirs but also because they performed so honestly that it sent chills through my body...

Triumph

Ever since I was a little kid I've always wanted a motorcycle. I think every kid wants one at some point. I'm at that point where moving to a major city is looking ever closer and losing the car for public transport is going to be part of that move. But if you've got a motorcycle you don't need to be entirely dependent on the subway, buses, etc. Ah, sweet freedom...

So it's time to pick one up and get that license. What kind is the question? I've always liked the older sportster types; you'd never catch me owning a crotchrocket. If you know me you know that I also have an affinity for most things British. Never had a strong desire to live there but they always have all the cool stuff: cars, motorcycles, clothes, music... Triumph and Norton bikes have always been what I imagined myself ending up with.

When I was in junior high school like many boys I was addicted to martial arts movies. I watched them all, no matter how awful they were. And none were more awful than the Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, but I watched them all. In one particular Van Damme movie that came out around that time, "Nowhere to Run", he finds an old Triumph in a barn and fixes it up. I was sold, that was what a motorcycle was supposed to look like. That was the motorcycle for me. I wanted to go in old barns searching for such a treasure and fix it myself; after which I would run around and fight off my imaginary attackers I'm sure.

If you can make it halfway through this unbearably exciting trailer you are rewarded with a few quick glimpses of said motorcycle.


The Triumph Tiger. A simple and yet exciting bike. Perhaps this could be the one.