Is There An Exit?

It's no news that I'm a big fan of French, space-synther, M83. Pretty much anything he's put out is pure gold in my book. Note: "my book" is completely subjective and can sometimes hurt peoples' feelings.

According to This Pitchfork article, M83's April release "Saturdays = Youth" is going to be taking a step back into 1980's synth/pop. Some hints of Simple Minds, Eurythmics and maybe a little New Order in there. You can catch a song from the album if you click here. The song is titled Couleurs and I am really digging it.

We are theives and saints alike

I was lucky enough to catch a viewing of There Will Be Blood this weekend. I was excited before seeing this movie, but after seeing it, I can honestly say that it is certainly one of the best of the year. Maybe one of the best of 2007 and 2008.

Based on the Upton Sinclair novel Oil and set at the turn of the 20th Century, the movie follows the life of Daniel Plainview (portrayed by the amazing Daniel Day Lewis) and his aggressive move to become one of the biggest oil men in the United States.

The score for the film was done by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead and was a perfect fit for the tense story for which it was created.

And it, very deservingly, has received eight Academy Awards nominations alongside other great films such as Juno, Sweeney Todd and No Country for Old Men. I highly recommend this movie to anyone. However, I will warn you that there is an investment that you'll have to make. Not just the $9.50 for the movie ticket, but 160 minutes and a good bit of emotion as well. But, it's all worth it.

By The Grace Of God

So, today I only have questions. My first questions is: Is Mitt Romney really wearing pleated khakis and a member's only jacket in his plea to the people of South Carolina?

Question #2: Can we really trust a man to be our President who wears pleated khakis and member's only jackets?

Big Nothing

Today Apple (aka Steve Jobs) introduced the world to the Macbook Air. And once again Apple is on the cutting edge of technological innovation. However, I'm always the skeptic. Always. And to me this seems like more of a novelty product than a practical, functional machine. I really do hope it's not a flash in the pan like the Apple Cube was.

The product as a whole is really cool. It's so small and light and the idea of compressed technology is great. Heck, I love my iPod shuffle. It's the best. But in order to have this compressed technology you give up certain luxuries of larger pieces of equipment. With the iPod shuffle, I don't have a screen or much control over much of the music for that matter. And with the Macbook Air, you give up certain things in order to have the new petite laptop. Things like a CD drive, meaning no uploading CDs for music and no watching DVDs.

It will however communicate with any other computer (both mac and pc) which is great, but, all in all, it seems like more of a novelty product than anything super-practical.

It sure would be amazing to travel with, though.

Only The Truth

It was a movie-going-to weekend for me. And I was lucky enough to catch a matinée of "Juno." This is, hands-down, one of my favorite movies of the year. Granted I have missed three movies that might give "Juno" a run for her money (The Darjeeling Limited, No Country for Old Men and Into The Wild).

I'm no movie critic and I never claim to be an expert, but this movie is pretty perfect. It's hilarious, has an amazing cast/ensemble, has a script that's so well put together and does a great job of balancing the comedy with drama and emotion.

Ellen Page and Michael Cera are so perfect together. Actually Michael Cera is perfect on his own. There was not one scene with him (either serious or comical) that I didn't laugh out loud.

And - in what was a surprise to me - Jennifer Garner was top notch. I had my doubts about how she was pan out as an actress in a dry comedy, but she pulled it off well.

And to top it off, the Movie has a pretty stellar soundtrack featuring Belle & Sebastian, The Kinks and Cat Power.

They Will Come

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It's great. It's a musical, which is really a different style of film for Tim Burton as well as his leading cast of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman. But, aside from that, it's fantastic. Of course the visual aspect of the movie is second to none, considering Tim Burton was behind the camera. Also, the costumes, hair and sets were just really beautiful.

It does take some getting used to Johnny Depp singing, but once you get used to it, you realize he was a perfect fit for the role.

It's worth the price of admission, but if you absolutely hate musicals, I'd say "stay away." This film is 90% in song. Just beware.

My Moon

The photo above is part of the newest application for the iPhone that - although completely gratuitous - is completely awesome and going to really push the limits of technology and connectivity in the world.

It simply blows my mind that, through your iPhone, you can connect directly to Starbucks, place an order, scan your phone and either pay or have the cost of your coffee drink debited from a pre-paid credit. Simply amazing.

Other exciting news: Bank of America will be buying out the remainder of Countrywide. Not only does this completely save Countrywide's tail, but it puts thousands upon thousands of home loans in the US in the hands of a smart and financially capable company. Hopefully all of the deal can be completed by third quarter of this year.

I'm Fractured

I'm impressed. Even after releasing their newest album "In Rainbows" as a 'Pay What You Like' format via their website, Radiohead has still hit Billboards number 1 spot, selling just over 122,000 copies of "In Rainbows" since it's release to stores and iTunes last week.

These sales come after selling hundreds of thousands of copies of the record online with no other forms of distribution. Very impressive. But, it is a phenomenal record and I will be buying it in stores as well.

Many critics have expressed disappointment in the numbers, since their previous record, "Hail To The Thief" sold over 300,000 copies in it's first week. I think Radiohead made a great decision in doing what they did, and in the process left a struggling industry scrambling to find out how they can keep up. They are true pioneers of musical and industry progress.

There's a great story about all of this on New York Times.

It Escapes Real Life

It appears that if you shed a few tears then Democratic women in New Hampshire will make a last-minute decision to vote for you in their primary. Such is the case with Sen. Hillary R. Clinton. A statistic was presented on FoxNews last night (that's right FoxNews). It was interesting to hear that in a poll taken yesterday that over 40% of voters decided to change their vote in favor of Clinton just before entering the voting booths. Does empathy play into it? It's pretty clear that it does.

Another funny thing I read today was on Clinton's strategy. According to This New York Times article, Clinton has boldly adopted Obama's "Change" theme, which has seemed to work elsewhere in the US, but has criticized Obama in his approach to change. This is similar to what Bush did in 2000 when he adopted John McCain's "Reform" theme after its initial success, then criticized the Senator's stance on Reform.

So from what I'm seeing, the key to Primary success is to cry a little, criticize a lot and then find what's been successful for others, use the already established success and blatantly criticize others for the exact same thing you're using to garner votes. Genius.

Justice

Each year over 500,000 tons of waste are disposed of by Nashville residents and businesses. That's a lot of trash.

However there are cool organizations - both locally and nationally - who are doing great things to help the cause and raise awareness. Greener Nashville is one of those organizations. Head over to their site for some cool info. Also their blog is a great read.

You want to plant some trees? Do it. It's only a dollar per tree through Plant It 2020. This organization was founded by John Denver and they will plant one tree for every dollar donated. They only plant trees indigenous to the area in which they'll be planting and they will never plant trees that will be harvested.

Have fun being green

I felt the chase

What does the Iowa Caucus predict about the upcoming November Presidential elections? Not much. Except that, if there are more conservative Christian voters voting in Nov. than non-Christian liberal voters then the Republican candidate will win.

And...if history had told us anything, it's that former Arkansas Governors end up in the White House for two terms (Well, at least Bill J. Clinton).

If you're bored reading this political hogwash, then drop down one post and watch the Iron and Wine video. It's good.

Distance is distant

This is the newest video from Iron and Wine. The song "Boy With A Coin" is from his latest release "The Shepherd's Dog."

It's a wonderful video and, while on paper the concept may seem weird, ended up being a perfect visual to accommodate the song.

It's also nice to see that Iron and Wine didn't have to get too corporate or MTV to make a video. It fits his style and music and lacks any of the pretension that could ruin the music if handled poorly.

Enjoy the video.