video roundup

felt like phoning in a post this morning with a few random youTubed vids.



great spoof of Magician David Blaine. I love that the fake Blaine has a goatee that is marker.



another great SNL digital short. if you love the OC like i did this slow motion death scene if priceless.



it's an old viral clip but still funny nonetheless and since i was a tour guide this is even funnier.

don't forget to wash.

The Analysis

Bright Eyes: Cassadaga

for those of you that know me, you know me feelings on Conor Oberst, the wunderkind behind Bright Eyes. His album "Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground" is one my cornerstone albums of my life. Hit me right at the end of high school/beginning of college and has cemented itself in my personal lore. it was the start of my love affair with pretetious indie music.

fast forward a couple of years and Mr. Oberst has been called every name in the indie/blogosphere dictionary with the most prevalent being "The New Dylan." I too have jumped on that band wagon and soapboxed my beliefs about his musical talent and god given talent to make my heart, my head, and my liver hurt simultaneously. he is releasing his new album "Cassadaga" to the masses which is combination of last two records "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" Listening to the record for the first couple of times you can't help but be overwhelmed by the production. It's bigger, smoother, and holistically different that a lot of his past records. But in the end it does feel like a mashup of previous work but with larger issues within the songs.

a lot of critics have railroaded Conor for being too political and tackling material too big for his britches. this is a more, dare i say it, "mature" album which i don't think is a bad thing. you can feel a lot of the sadness and growing pains coming through the lyrics with topics such as personal cleansing, war, and death doting virtually every song. but some of the songs come off with grand pagentry and lyrical flourish that make Oberst a man to watch for a long while.

my favorite standout tracks are as follows "Soul Singer in a Session Band" is a great country/soul mash up with the lyrics following a desperate man trying to sing for the masses. sonically and lyrically great to the ear as it just charges forward. also "If the Brakeman Turns My Way" is another hard driving song about growing up. there are also a handful of slower bluesy tracks that showed up a lot on "I'm Wide Awake". "Classic Cars and Hot Knives" are hard songs to get into from the start but they pull you in eventually.

as a whole the record is well produced and sonically stronger than its predecessors. yet, i can't help feeling this is more of a transitional record rather than a cornerstone of his work. i am always going to be partial to "Lifted" and "I'm Wide Awake" is amazing. yet, with the force and lyrical material Oberst displays i think we are in for an interesting ride. i still believe that he is one of the men that we have to watch with the future of music and a lt of that is personal bias but i think i have a reason to say that. pick it up and see if you agree with me.

vote democrat.

Springtime For Hitler and/or Me

well it's the start of spring folks. yes i know it was actually the start weeks ago but i'm slow and way too lazy to put in my thoughts about this time of year. why may you ask? because i live in wisconsin where spring doesn't start till August and you get three days of nice weather and then blistering humidity for a month then it's fall and then winter for 10 months. global warming it's not but more like WTF Weather. spring always tends to look like this in Sconnie. in the month of April and the end of March we get at least 1-2 days and anywhere's up to a week of good weather. this can be spread across the board or all at one time. the remaining days are either 1. snowing 2. raining 3. a combination or both 4. or the dreaded warm/cold/warm/humid/cold type of shitastic weather. i.e. why i don't like spring that much because it nevers stays consistant over time.

but one of my favorite (new) pastimes started yesterday. Brewers baseball. yes i'm a Crew fan big surprise. but any baseball team named after an alcoholic beverage is fine by me. plus the Crew have the most annoyingly interesting franchises in the league. why? because we are owned by Bud (No This isn't a Toupee) Selig's family, we were originally the Milwaukee Braves and had Hank Aaron for a little while, and our original logo is a mitt shaped like and M and a B. awesomeness. i will pretty much shit my pants if the Brew Crew make it into the playoffs this year. but the goal is simple....don't choke. they always choke and usually right after the all star break. this year all i hope is that our pitching rotation stays healthy for at least most of the season. if we can keep a rotation together, take some pressure off of the bullpen the Crew have enough talent to make some impact in the league. i am not trying to be openly optimistic but hopeful enough to watch the team.

in other spring baseball news. the Cubbies are being sold at the end of the season. i wonder if they offended another goat during the off season. rough for the Cubs but here is my suggestion. publicly sell the team like the Packers. there are enough crazy Cubs fans that would buy stock in the team. hell even Bartman would probably buy some shares....if they let him.

also in more Midwest Baseball here is The Hold Steady's Twinsified "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" mp3. entertaining and another reminder of spring.

keep hitting homeruns.