Invasion

Many know Space Invaders as a classic arcade game, not as the subject of street art. The artist known as Invader takes images from the game and others influenced by it and "invades" the world with mosaics of these classic images. An original, one-of-a-kind artist. Here are some of my favorite images. If you want to see more, check out his website at www.space-invaders.com (very fun and interactive) and this site as well has several more images, http://space.invaders.paris.free.fr/ .

200th Post

So, before I made this post I thought it would be something more epic, more

elaborate to celebrate the occasion. Instead of doing that, I decided to just

put up a few videos that I'm enjoying at the moment.

Red Bull BC One - Created in 2004, this competition brings together the

best b-boys from around the world to battle one-on-one. Breakdancing

is the ultimate space of self-expression. Enjoy the videos from the 2005,
2006 and 2008 finals.

2005 Final

2006 Final

2008 Final

Kid Cudi - Day N Night

This song has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks.

Kid Cudi - Day And Night Official Music Video @ Yahoo! Video

White Rabbits "Percussion Gun"

White Rabbits "Percussion Gun" Music Video from White Rabbits on Vimeo.

If you haven't heard of the White Rabbits, do yourself a favor and check them out. Their debut album Fort Nightly is a definite must-hear. Their new album It's Frightening looks promising. I haven't heard anything other than the song above "Percussion Gun" but am looking forward to doing so. Check out the video and then the album which comes out next week. Enjoy.

The Urban Lounge
Thursday June 25 9PM

El Peor Equipo de la Historia

Who is the worst team in history? Who has the worst club leadership and management? According to River Plate fans, yes, it is the gallinas. CARP, River, or whatever you want to call them. I usually don't like to revel in the failure of others except when it comes to Club Atletico River Plate. Where else will you find fans that make signs accusing their club of being the worst in history? The fact that River fans turn on their team and players when the times get tough shows that they are not the biggest club in Argentina and never will be.

Just because

So, It's been about a month since my last post. I'm out of school (well, kind of), back from Peru, and don't really have anything going on at the moment. So, here is my feeble attempt at translating what I'm doing at the moment into blog form.

I'm reading:

mixed with this:
During the semester I took a seminar with Carol Klee from the University of Minnesota on Latin-American contact languages. Yes, the semester is over, but I still have one more paper to write. Although still a work in progress, I'm writing on the linguistic influence of African language as portrayed through history, literature, and of course, linguistics on Rio de la Plata. In actuality it's supposed to be a linguistic-focused project but I've been given permission to mix linguistics, history and literature into the paper. A kind of smorgasbord of many things relating to the forgotten afro-rioplatense influence within all of these contexts. This book is giving me a better understanding of what possible influence African roots have in Latin-American language.

and this:
Despite what you think of Galeano and his political views, his writing is entertaining. I recommend also, Soccer in Sun and Shadow.

I'm listening to these:
Recently discovered these mix-tapes on the blog www.pigeonsandplanes.com.

Wiz Khalifa
Kid Cudi
Frank Ramz

And watching:
I'm a closet UFC fan and this is their reality show. This season it's the United States vs. the United Kingdom. Each side is coached by current fighters Dan Henderson (USA) and Michael Bisping (UK, and former winner of the show). So far, the UK is on top but it is still early.

Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, my life will get a little more exciting in the coming weeks. For now I'll try to make the blog more active and interesting. I still haven't posted on Peru but am planning on doing so soon. I put a bunch of pictures on facebook and Beckie has quite a bit as well on her blog bexcaliber.blogspot.com .

Slinkachu

Slinkachu's street art is unique and original. In his upcoming book, he is introduced as "a London-based artist who for several years has been placing tiny hand painted people on street corners, park benches, and the Underground, and leaving them to fend for themselves. Much like Banksy’s early graffiti work, Slinkachu’s creations mix the bustle, humor, and melancholy of city life, and lie quietly in the darker corners of London’s streets, waiting to be discovered. And if you’re lucky enough to find one, to quote The Times: "Oddly enough, even when you know they are just hand-painted figurines, you can’t help but feel that their plights convey something of our own fears about being lost and vulnerable in a big, bad city."

Why does he do this? He explains: "Alfresco art frees me up to do what I want. It started as a hobby, just to get my stuff out there, to entertain myself and hopefully others. I know that my work's going to get destroyed in the environment I pick for it, but I find it cathartic saying goodbye. I don't go back to check on the pieces; I prefer to leave them to their own devices." Read the rest of this short article here.

Check out his blog at little-people.blogspot.com and official website at www.slinkachu.com
and for even more of Slinkachu's art check out his photostream on flickr here.

Robert Doisneau

The photographs speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Diego's Debut

Maradona's official debut with the national team (qualifier with Venezuela) couldn't have been better. A dominating 4-0 thrashing of Venezuela by the albicelestes. Read about it here. Watch Diego's press conference here.

25 + years of Cool

Is there anybody who has kept their cool streak going as long as Morrissey? A couple of weeks ago, a friend wondered if he would be this cool at his age. In my opinion, he has succeeded where others have failed. Bono is cooler now than he was at the beginnings of U2, Mick Jagger isn't cool anymore, and Sting, well, I think he used to be cooler as well. But this is just an opinion. Decide for yourself while watching a Smiths video from 1987 and then Morrissey's appearance this week on the Jimmy Fallon show.

Then...

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before @ Yahoo! Video

and Now...(Morrissey appears near the 38:00 mark)

Sigur Ros Take-Away Show!! (and a couple of others)

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Bloc Party, 'This Modern Love' - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Fallon, Public Enemy and The Roots

I haven't watched a lot of the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon but from what I've seen I'm really enjoying some of the things he brings to late night. The main thing being, The Roots as the shows band and of course, the many diverse musical guests. Earlier this week, Public Enemy played the show and it was fun for all.

The first video is one of the best things I've seen in awhile. I love it.

New Wave Noir

Beckie and I watched Francois Truffaut's classic Jules & Jim last weekend and immediately several things came to mind. The relationship between noir and French New Wave, the influence of noir on the New Wave, and the noir elements in the film. Catherine is the epitome of noir femme fatale. Men are attracted to her and when they get too close they can't return to where they were before and are lead to their demise. Jules and Jim are these characters. The morally ambiguous male without any obvious motivation except to be near the female. I won't ruin the end for you if you haven't seen the movie but I will say that the end is very noirish. Besides the femme fatale other themes appear in the work that make me contrast the two genres.

1. The self-conscious rejection of classic cinematic forms - Obvious in French New Wave, many noir classics portrayed a type of rejection of the classic happy ending.
2. The relationship between cinema and politics - The 60's of the French New Wave and the implicit political ideas of noir.
3. Radical experimenting with editing, style - The everything-goes attitude of New Wave with the stark colors and dramatic angles of noir.

Maybe these two genres are more similar than first thought.

White as Diamonds

Listening to Alela Diane's White as Diamonds transports me to a place and time I never knew. Her voice is soothing and hypnotic. Watch the video below and listen to her here.



Alela Diane - New Music - More Music Videos

Zizek or Zizek?

While browsing upcoming concerts in the SLC area, I came across Zizek in the list for one of our favorite venues, Kilby Court. Would Zizek really be lecturing at a small concert venue in Salt Lake city? I obviously had my doubts. But, who was this Zizek that would be playing next month at Kilby? After some research I found that this Zizek was not the theorist but instead, a group of DJ's from Buenos Aires that named themselves after the Slovenian theorist. They apparently do mash-ups of cumbia and electronica. Check out their website here. It's pretty psychedelic. Also, here's an article that explains who they are a little more clearly.

The question then becomes, what theorist or philosopher would you name your imaginary band after? The Heideggers? The Derridians?

Randy's Records

Beckie and I were in Salt Lake this weekend celebrating our anniversary. We stayed at the Little America, did some shopping, went to a piano-dueling club, and just had an overall good time. Whenever we go to SLC we make a stop at Randy's Records. One of the last surviving record stores in Utah. Dedicated almost entirely to vinyl, Randy's selection is excellent. In truth, I could probably spend a lot more money than I should there. I did find a couple of records on Saturday, Aretha Franklin's Spirit in the Dark (my favorite of hers) and The Swingin's Mutual with George Shearing and Nancy Wilson.

Spirit In The Dark - Aretha Franklin