New Website - Check it out!

Have you ever wondered what it would sound like to hear one of your favorite bands walking through the streets playing music or just jamming in their apartment? Well, I've found a website that does just that. The Take away shows website gives us a glimpse of various musicians walking through the streets of paris playing for all to hear. http://www.blogotheque.net/takeawayshows/

Here is a an example. Beirut. If you've never heard of Beirut, you should check them out. They're great.

Favorite new Radiohead song

As we all know, Radiohead released their latest album digitally through their website available for whatever price you wanted to pay. Excellent. The album will be available in stores on December 31st. They have been releasing various webcasts of songs from their new album, In Rainbows. We get to see Radiohead in a close, intimate setting. This song, Reckoning, is my favorite from this album. Here is the webcast of their performance.

A couple of new music videos

Just thought I would put up a couple videos that I've seen recently by two very talented female artists. The first is Bat for Lashes and the other is Annie Clark (the singer for St. Vincent). I especially like the smooth, simple voice of Annie. Judge for yourself.

Joy Division

So, recently I've re-discovered the post-punk band Joy Division. I always knew who they were and was familiar with their music but in the past couple of weeks I've had a new found appreciation for their music. What helped spur this is the release of a movie on the life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. It is also the 30th anniversary of their first album Unkown Pleasures, which is being re-released. Joy Division helped pave the way for the alternative bands of the 80's. After the suicide of Ian Curtis, the remainder of the band members founded New Order. Enjoy these two videos.

Fall Semester 2007 - 1st half

So, the semester is half done. I've been super busy and for that reason I haven't posted any blogs recently. The semester has been great so far. I'm enjoying my classes a lot. Yesterday, I was able to teach in my Elena Garro class. It went very well. I talked about themes in two short stories, Busca mi Esquela and La Culpa es de los Tlaxcaltecas. This Elena Garro class has definately been my favorite. It's a small class (12 students) where everybody participates. Plus, the subject is very interesting. In my Nobel Prize course we've read Borges, Marquez, Neruda and Asturias. We're starting Octavio Paz next week. I started my applications and will hopefully finish them before the end of the semester. Besides BYU, I'm also applying to ASU and Arizona. BYU is the ideal choice, but we'll have to wait and see.