Liquid [Hip]

John Green Sees Fault In Our Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Sixteen-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster has a problem. It's not a small problem. It's a big problem.

She is going to die. And when she dies, the last thing she wants to be is a grenade — someone who causes collateral damage to everyone around her; people who might get to know her, become her friend, or otherwise attach themselves to her long-standing battle with cancer since she was 14.

So she sleeps, eats, repeats, limiting her contact with everyone except a few friends long vested, her parents who have no choice, and the support group just because her mom makes her go. You need a life, her mom insists. Make friends.

"Then we introduce ourselves: Name. Age. Diagnosis. And how we're doing today. I'm Hazel I'd say when they'd get to me. Sixteen. Thyroid originally but with an impressive and long-settled satellite colony in my lungs. And I'm doing okay."

Although she also takes a few college classes, every day is the same. And every support session is the same. It's an exercise in sharing their medical stories, offering near-scripted circle support for the living, and remembering the dead. Every session is the same, except when one attendee brings his friend, cancer survivor Augustus Waters. From that day forward, Hazel will never be the same.

The Fault In Our Stars is a perfect expose on life, love, and the mortality of everything.

Hazel and Augustus are almost mirror images of each other. They are smart, snarky, sarcastic, cynical, contemptuous, and sometimes a little pretentious.

It won't take long to forgive the pretentiousness. Hazel, because she has faced death for almost three years and fights for another breath every day. Augustus, because he gave up a leg and basketball to beat it. More than that, it's their desire to tell their sad stories in the funniest way that wins people over.

It won't take you long to forget any summation that suggests the book is about dying of cancer, either. It's about living, and how infinite you can make life when circumstance pulls the knot of time taut.

When there isn't time, accepting an invitation to a boy's house to watch V For Vendetta, simply because he says she has a likeness to a millennial Natalie Portman, is perfectly justified. When there isn't time, putting off video game serials to read the thick-spinned An Imperial Affliction in order to impress a girl, makes perfect sense. And when there isn't time, you tend make time by splitting seconds into fractions of a second, just to savor all of it a little longer.

The pair of them do exactly that, perfectly enough that although The Fault In Our Stars is fiction, it is impossible not to become attached to the characters. Their sheer determination to deny their affliction will bond you to their lives. So will their unabashed wit and the occasional theatrical artistry for everything.

It doesn't take long for this fast friendship and hesitant romantic interest to develop into an inspired idea. The girl with an oxygen tank and the boy with a fake leg decide to take on a noble quest. They must find out what happens to all of the characters, including the hamster, in their mutually beloved book An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten.

It won't be easy. The author is notoriously infamous for not responding to fan mail and lives in Amsterdam.

John Green has written his most ambitious novel and a timeless masterpiece.

Although John Green is already a best-selling and award-winning author with two collaborative works and four books, The Fault In Our Stars is easily his most ambitious work. Not only does he take on the challenge of making his ill protagonist an adolescent girl, he also molds together a near-adventure story into a beautifully moving contemporary classic.

Green has captured his white whale. He wanted to write the book, or more exactly could not not write the book, to the story of characters who do not have the luxury of taking their own bodies for granted, taking their own mortality for granted, or taking their ability to find meaning in the world for granted. All the while, he shows them as full and complete humans and not people who need to be treated differently or less than.

Before writing and starting a popularized videoblog project with his brother Hank, Green worked as a book reviewer for Booklist Magazine and has had reviews appear in the New York Times. He also worked at a children's hospital for five months, immediately out of college, while considering whether or not he wanted to pursue a life as a minister. He met many teenagers with cancer.

The Fault In Our Stars By John Green Soars To 9.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

The Fault In Our Stars is a breakthrough in simultaneously taking on the awkwardness of adolescence and challenges of living with a terminal disease. Although he takes the subject matter head on, his decision to make Hazel sick from page one immediately casts the affliction as expected and accepted because it has to be. This makes it possible to laugh with the characters throughout, even when the story takes a crushing turn toward the end.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green is available on Amazon. You can also order the book from Barnes & Noble or download the book from iBooks. The audio version, from iTunes, is especially brilliant. Green describes Kate Rudd's narration as adding more to the book than was even in the book. He's right.

Rudd becomes Hazel Grace Lancaster for about seven hours. If you think the book is haunting and will stay with you forever, so will Rudd's voice, cadence and performance. There is also a short question and answer interview with Green at the end of the audiobook. Read or listened to, it will change you.

The Murder City Devils Rise Every Day

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It has been ten long years since the The Murder City Devils put out a new single. And when the new single hit iTunes on Tuesday, it only confirmed what everybody knew. Ten years was too long.

It's good to have Spencer Moody back, and most of the Seattle-based punk garage rock sextet with him. (And Gabe, making seven.) Yes, the band has been back and playing live shows here and there since 2006, with increasing frequency. But this is different.

The release of the new two-song 7" single marks a much more serious reunion, especially since nothing new has even been locked down since two unreleased songs appeared on the 2002 Halloween concert track in 2003 (R.I.P.). It also seems fitting for the band to restart with something close to how they first started. They debuted with a 3-song 7" in 1997.

Every Day I Rise feels like someone pushed paused on the Murder City Devils.

What always worked for the Murder City Devils ten years ago is working today. Every Day I Rise takes everything they learned as a punk band and shifts it into the garage rock slot. Their music was even described as the kissing cousin of punk back then, which is why they were able to open for X.

Nowadays, the genre-bending sound still applies. They sometimes play with bands we like on both sides of the spectrum (Obits and JEFF The Brotherhood among them). Every Day I Rise is partly why.

But since the video exists, let's start with the B-side. Ball Busters In The Peanut Gallery first appeared on the scene as their first new song played in front of a live audience. At the time, it didn't have a title.

When Moody first played it in 2010, it was still unpolished with the singer speak-belting the vocals even more than he does on the track. Not so on the new studio cut. There is more melody and bigger instrumental breakouts, creating a crisp sound more indicative of where they are as band.

And although more subdued than the front side, Ball Busters captures the essence the band. Moody hollers poetry vocals. The music bed is thick. The instruments are gritty. And when you add up all the elements, everything plays dark, bleak, but woozily party ready.

Every Day I Rise plays even closer to In Name And Blood, their last full length, with a little bit of the band buster direction of Thelema tossed in. What does sound different is the mix. The instruments are more pronounced. Moody's maturity makes it possible for him not to shout as loud to command attention as his voice growls and cracks under the emphasis.

In fact, while his vocal style has been likened to dozens of artists (including Jim Morrison), it's obvious Moody's real influences are one off from music. He screams his words as fiery as any preacher. The effect is as menacing as it is captivating.

"Every day I rise and nobody cares, I've got no disciple to scare." — Moody

The song is wrong, of course. The response to the 7" pressing overwhelmed the band, selling out almost immediately after it was posted. The second pressing is expected to be ready in March. It will sell out again, and not just because some people are are feeling the tug of nostalgia. It's great music.

A quick catch up on the band.

Mostly, everything has come together for the Murder City Devils as sort of a slow creep, which is a complete contrast to how it all ended. Moody drove the band in a different direction to produce Thelema in 2001. While fans revered the directional change, it also broke the band apart.

They ended like they played. It was fierce and unforgettable, much like their presence on the punk and garage rock scene. Of course, that was only on stage. Most of the band, especially Moody, always appeared easygoing, contemplative, and even joyful off stage. They all went on to do other stuff.

Notably, Moody has focused on his store, art, poetry, and other bands. Dann Gallucci (guitar) played on and off with Modest Mouse. Derek Fudesco (bass) played with Pretty Girls Make Graves before The Cave Singers. Nate Manny (bass) is a commercial art director and artist. Coady Willis (drums) plays with Big Business. Leslie Hardy (keys) did real estate. And Gabe has been keeping things live on the website for awhile. Even better, they all get along now.

Every Day I Rise By The Murder City Devils Raises 9.7 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

What else can be said? They're back. And if some of the interviews they've held over the last few months are any indication, they might have created more than two new songs since they started working on new material in 2009. We can hope.

Every Day I Rise by the Murder City Devils is on iTunes. If you want to dig up some other material, start with In Name and Blood, which is on Amazon. You can also find the album on iTunes. Barnes & Noble still has the vinyl edition put out by SubPop. The new material, however, is all self-produced.

An Early Spring Escape To ME Cabo

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Some people might disagree, but you need a swimmable beach anytime you stay in Cabo San Lucas. The ocean air and weather makes it too inviting not to swim. And some hotels are either landlocked or located on the west side of the point, where swimming is impossible because of the waves and riptides.

ME Cabo is idyllic for this reason, even if you don't spend every waking minute on the beach. You'll want to. The music starts every day around noon and the place becomes a party within a couple of hours.

The same goes for the terraced pool area on the weekends, especially Saturday night. During the week, everything is considerably quieter (compared to the weekends). You're much more apt to notice the wear and tear in the town and the club music can still be a bit much. And yet, it's Cabo San Lucas.

The ME Cabo is the heart of the Cabo San Lucas.

There are a few things you need to know before you stay here. Booking a view room is an absolute must, as is asking for a room farther away from the lobby and club. If you can afford it, upgrade for one of the rooms on the upper floor (about $50). They call that the "Level."

Booking a better room is especially important if you are looking for something more relaxed. The experience varies dramatically. The same can be said for the entire city. So other hotels might be a better match for escaping couples or families (like the nearby Casa Dorado). This is a party hotel.

I went with two friends and we were looking for fun. They picked the ME Cabo because they had stayed there before. It's one of the best places to mix and mingle with people in their twenties to forties.

On the Level floor, you'll know your experience is different. The rooms have private balconies overlooking the Sea of Cortez. The beds are comfortable, with 300 thread-count sheets. The extra bed is not as comfortable (about $80 per night), but the couch works well enough. So do the patio chairs, where I fell asleep on the first night.

The hotel itself feels like a destination, which is by design. It's owned by Sol Melia, which owns experience-based hotels all over the world. Its newest is opening in London this spring.

It would be easy enough to stay at ME the entire time, but there are other places to go. But it also feels good to have a home base, knowing you can always eat at The Deck. It's easier to get a table there than it is to lock in a cabana bed or lounge chairs during peak times.

Everything is within an easy walk of the ME Cabo San Lucas.

You might need a car or a cab for some excursions, but staying at a central hotel has advantages. You can walk almost anywhere, including to the water taxis continuously departing for the El Arco. While it is the most common thing to see in Cabo, there is always a thrill being bounced around in a water taxi where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez.

Make sure you take one that allows you to hop out at Playa del Amor (Lover's Beach) and spend a few hours. (The water taxis will take you back any time.) If you get off, prepare to get wet. The taxis don't land at the beach; you have to jump into waist deep water, off a rocking boat when the water is choppy.

The less common excursions (meaning less crowded) are fishing tours and parasailing expeditions, which highlighted my trip. Definitely charter your own boat, usually for five to six hours. The guides will take you anywhere you want to go, but they mostly want you to catch a fish, especially a marlin.

We did, but it wasn't me. Anything in March or earlier will usually be cabrilla, yellow tail, or wahoo. But our guides were good, especially because we asked questions and befriended them.

The best part of about chartering a boat (assuming it's a small boat) is you can find one for about $300 to $500, which includes license, bait, equipment, cervezas, and cleaning your catch (unless you release it). The only extra is the tip (usually 15-20 percent, which is why they want you to catch a big fish). The downside is heading out so early to get more out of the day. Seven comes up early.

Parasailing is much more spontaneous. It usually happens in the afternoon after lunch. You kick back with your friends on the beach and you see someone else parasailing. As soon as you mention it looks like fun, your friends vote for you to go first. The thrill is all about being lifted out of the water, even if I prefer to have a board under my feet. (Surfing will be a must next time.)

Some other stops to make in Cabo include Habanero's for breakfast, Tequila for dinner, and Cabo Wabo after that. But most of best finds along the tip of Baja California are made walking around. The downtown area and the marina are filled with little local shops and more commercial places too.

ME Hotel At Cabo San Lucas Catches A Wave At 6.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Truly, Cabo San Lucas is not Jack Kerouac's Mexico. This is a resort town as Americans would like all of Mexico to be. Since the 1950s, it evolved from a billfishing hot spot to a resort town. There are areas you can find with a little more authentic charm, but mostly you have to drive a few hours to feel it.

To make plans for Cabo San Lucas, check for Mexico packages on Orbitz. You can also compare deals for airfares, discounted hotels, and car rentals on Fare Buzz. Fare Buzz recently started a new promotion for servicemen and women to receive an addition $10 off too (code MIL10).

Turf War Takes Its Years Dangerously

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

When Turf War made the move from Augusta, Georgia, to Atlanta, it was one of the best decisions they ever made. The other, of course, was having guitarist Ian Staint Pé (The Black Lips) produce their debut album, Years Of Living Dangerously.

John Robinson has never sounded better. After a few years working it as a solo artist, he and the full band that has since joined him are hard to beat. With a stack of regional shows lined up in February, expect to hear their name more often in the coming months.

They've already earned a reputation for some knockout rowdy performances after supporting their debut album in December. They opened for The Black Lips and Vivian Girls last year, part of some earned perks just before gaining some attention at SXSW a few months earlier (where they met Rob Mason, owner of Old Flame Records).

At the time, their debut record didn't even have a name. But what they did have were four songs on a free EP and a killer live show. Between their punk-infused demos and sweaty stage presence, Turf War had all the makings of a band with the best of indie goodness.

In fact, all four demos did make the album. While the songs have a little more fuzz, a little less fullness, and a lot more polish, it's clear they haven't given up on the punk roots that have been recast as garage rock.

Years Of Living Dangerously is all anxious and dirty, dark but upbeat.

Although the name Turf War suggests this is a tougher band than they are (it was the toughest name Robinson could think of at the time), the album cuts across the last days of everyone's younger years, when fun means drunkenness, recklessness, and as little responsibility as possible.

That doesn't mean they have produced a laid back party album. It means that these guys play every song as if they know all too well that such days are numbered. You have to make the most of every moment while you can.

Robinson feels it because he almost gave up music to become an electrician. The rest of the band knows it too. One of the most poignant songs on the debut underscores the sentiment. It was written for a dead friend. (The band did a See/Saw cover by Jay Reatard the night after he died.) There is no time.

This knowing, always present and lurking in the background, is precisely why the album works so well. It plays like a tug of war between being a mess and wasting your time versus getting your shit together and wasting your time.

Cheers To The Years is the song the band has been pushing in advance of the album. It captures all of their catchiness, and some subtle Southern influences.

There is much more to discover from this nearly undiscovered band. For The Last Time showcases their ability to bury emotive and somber vocals deep inside their upbeat instrumentals. Where I Belong throws punches at the idea of being trapped in a path of circumstance. A Little Harder This Time captures how it feels to be yanked in different directions, none of which are necessarily good.

If Years Of Living Dangerously can be summed as anything, it's that space between a rock and a hard place. It's knowing that life is too short to trudge through but wasting time and punching a time clock seems much the same. It sucks so you might as well have a good time.

Turf War does know a lot about good times. Even during their holiday hiatus, they composed a new song (not on the album) exactly where you might suspect. They did it in a garage or maybe a basement.

Turf War has been together as band for about three years, but Robinson first started it as a bedroom project back in 2007. The balance of the band includes Cecil Moss (guitar), Brian McGrath (drums), Brad Morris (bass), and Ian McDonald (who they added after working with him in the studio). McGrath, by the way, designed the album art.

Between booking shows and emptying bottles (or cans), they have a wry sense of humor. Follow their updates and you might see a shot of a random beef jerky store. The caption? Best day ever.

Years Of Living Dangerously By Turf War Hits 8.6 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

There is plenty more to like about the band. Robinson has always said they would rather have respect than ever be popular. In other words, they'll work it as long as they can to avoid the daily grind. We think it will be a long time before that happens. Maybe never.

Years Of Living Dangerously by Turf War can be download from iTunes. Years of Living Dangerously is also on Amazon. The entire album is worth the download. But if you do try to pick and choose, start with the ones mentioned in the review plus Bones, Enemies, and 100 Years.

Victorinox Swiss Army Is Timeless

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

If there is such a thing as a perfect watch, it should be stylish enough to wear on special occasions but durable enough to wear every day. They aren't always easy to find. Swiss Army’s women’s Vivante with mother-of-pearl pink dial meets both criteria effortlessly.

As someone who collects watches, I've always wanted a Swiss Army watch but never found just the right one. That changed when I opened a gift box containing the Vivante last month.

The pink pearlescent background shimmers, accented by bold silver-toned Arabic numeral hour indexes (very easy to read), and stainless steel case and bezel with a cabochon crown. The date display covers the six position, and the watch features beautiful Swiss analog quartz movement.

The features that make the Vivante stand out and Swiss Army shine.

The Vivante is also water resistant up to 99 feet, which means you can wear it in the shower and in the pool without worrying about it. It's an important feature for anyone who frets over wearing their finer jewelry or watches.

Another smart feature is the anti-reflective sapphire window. It makes the face virtually scratch resistant, which is a big plus for anyone who needs a watch that can endure wear and tear.

The stainless steel bracelet is also something to admire. It includes a push button folding clasp that is easy to put on and take off but secure while wearing it. The links can easily be removed by a jeweler to adjust the bracelet down to fit a smaller wrist. (I paid $5 to have this done at my local jeweler.)

Some of the finer details aren't seen so easily seen. Swiss Army watches, for example, are handcrafted. The company also guarantees only first-class stainless steel is processed in its plants. All employees are responsible for quality control, which isn’t surprising given the company’s long and respected history.

A bit about the brand behind the Vivante watch.

The history of Swiss Army goes back some time. In 1884, a gentleman by the name of Karl Elsener opened his own cutlery workshop in Switzerland, a business venture made possible thanks to the support of his mother Victoria. After being in business for seven years, Elsener and his team delivered their first order of knives for soldiers in the Swiss Army, hence the Swiss Army connection.

In 1909, Elsener registered the now iconic cross and shield emblem as a registered trademark. In 1921, he chose the company name Victorinox to honor his mother Victoria, who had passed away. The “inox” part of the name is an abbreviation of the French term for rust-resistant steel, inoxydable.

By 1945, Elsener’s original Swiss Army knives were available and widely popular worldwide. It wasn't until 1989 that the company started selling watches in the United States under the Swiss Army brand.

Since, the success of the company’s knives and watches paved the way to offering other product lines, such as travel gear, clothing, and fragrances. Part of the allure is in the quality. Swiss Army has one of the better warranty programs.

It promises each watch will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for three years. All you have to do is make sure any work done on the watch is by an authorized Victorinox Swiss Army retailer. Otherwise, the warranty will be void.

The warranty information isn't always included by resellers on websites. However, the warranty is spelled out in a little book (literally) that accompanies the watch. The packaging is impressive too. My watch came in a heavy box that fit snugly in a larger box with just a silver logo on the lid. Perfect.

In checking out other models in the Vivante line, I noticed a nearly identical watch that includes shiny diamonds instead of the Arabic numerals. It’s priced at about $150 more, which is still a nice value although not as functional. Either one beats the more outrageously priced brands on the market.

Victorinox Swiss Army’s Vivante Clicks In With A 8.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Victorinox Swiss Army’s Vivante mother-of-pearl women’s stainless steel watch is one of the best looking watches for a better value on the market. The company is also environmentally conscious, locating its global headquarters in Ibach, Switzerland, and its North American headquarters in Monroe, Connecticut. The locations help it secure mostly recycled products in its buildings and offices.

You can order the Victorinox Swiss Army’s Vivante mother-of-pearl women’s stainless steel watch through Sundance Catalog (about $500). Sometimes you can also find good values at the Swiss Outlet, but not necessarily the specific watch you want. Also, I noticed there is generally no price difference on Swiss Army watches unless they've been discontinued.

Plants And Animals Put Up Lightshow

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The new single, Lightshow, released by Plants And Animals in anticipation of their new album, isn't getting as much attention as some would expect. But any lack of love doesn't have much to do with Lightshow. It has to do with the B-side.

For some unknown reason, the eclectic Canadian indie band from Montreal decided to add their recent cover of I'll Believe In Anything by Wolf Parade. It's the one they recorded live at the POP Montreal International Music Festival.

It's not bad, but Plants And Animals didn't really do much to make it their own, creating a rather flat rendition in comparison to the original. I understand why they played it straight, but they really didn't need to.

Sure, the angst is felt and the emotion of the song bristles along through their fingers and onto their instruments. And yet something feels off, almost as if they were trying too hard to play it like Wolf Parade instead of like Plants And Animals.

Or maybe it does sound like Plants And Animals, just not the one we've heard before. Both tracks on the single suggest that their next album, The End Of That, is going to have more of an indie rock edge than La La Land ever did. That's a good sign. Plants And Animals sounds better when they play dirty.

What is really weird to me is that the cover actually does work well when you can see them play it, especially with the lead-in homage to Wolf Parade as being one of the first bands to take them on tour. See for yourself.

Why it doesn't work as well as an audio track is hard to say. But all the reactions to it are different. Those who saw the video love it. Those who didn't see the video aren't so excited. And that is why the cover is getting more attention than the single, which is just too bad because the single rocks.

Lightshow Is A Powerful Reintroduction To Plants And Animals.

Lightshow highlights some renewed indie brilliance on behalf of Plants And Animals, something for an entirely new audience. The song meanders in and out of musical stylings, including some deathly hard transitions that could physically manifest themselves as head snaps.

The lyrics are dark, moody and biting. The delivery brings back some of the sounds from Parc Avenue, but from a more mature band that is unafraid to evolve. In fact, Lightshow is especially distinct because it dares to do things other bands would never do. And even if those bands did, it would never work.

The single comes together as a richly complex track, alternating sharp pop sections with crushing indie rock. After listening to it a few times, you might even wonder if it alludes to where the band is more than the you, me, and the planet (which is what the song is about).

Or maybe not. Knowing Plants And Animals, only one thing is certain about Lightshow. This isn't post-classic rock as they used to describe their music. It's something different. Something better.

The band that everybody expects more from, including themselves.

With three vocalists and varied backgrounds, Warren Spicer (guitar), Matthew Woodley (drums), and Nicolas Basque (guitar, bass, keyboards) the band always surprises. Even when they released their first self-titled sprawling full-length with Ships at Night Records, they were counted as a band to watch.

But then they followed up with a sharply cut full-length and a new label. It was so sharp that it might have been a mixed blessing as much as it was a mixed bag. It catapulted them into the public eye with two Juno nominations and a spot on the Polaris Prize shortlist, but also set their sophomore album up to feel less complicated and more contemplated.

Lightshow doesn't suffer from being over thought. It feels natural. And even if they did record some songs two or three different ways (as they have been known to do), no one would ever really know it.

Lightshow Puts Plants And Animals At 6.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Lightshow comes across as a new direction for Plants And Animals, closer to the less played basement mix of The Mama Papa from La La Land. Of course, there is no guarantee that the single is a foreshadow to The End Of That. Eclectic and meandering is just as likely.

Lightshow by Plants And Animals is up on iTunes. Take the B-side or not, but definitely pick up the single. You can also find Lightshow on Amazon. The End Of That is due out on February 28.

Nevil Shute In The Wet For 60 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

For most people who read the book when it was published in 1953 (written in 1952), In The Wet by Nevil Shute Norway (aka Nevil Shute) was a provocative, controversial, and sometimes overreaching story in its attempt to be speculative about the British Commonwealth. And being so overtly critical of England's future, some of the early negative reviews were probably unfair.

Shute always considered In The Wet one of his better books. And he probably considered it as such because the book tackles topics such as democracy, socialism, and racism. He does so enough that some might find it equally provocative and controversial today. But in terms in being speculative, it'd be more likely to come across like an oddly crafted alternative reality, as his future is set in 1983.

The two interwoven stories in the foreground of In The Wet.

The book opens with narrator Roger Hargreaves, an aging priest who is assigned to a remote area in the Australian outback in the 1950s. The portrait he paints is remarkably vivid in that it captures a stark and unforgiving landscape almost parallel to what one might expect in the American West some 50 years prior.

It is in this harsh and unforgiving environment that Hargreaves meets Pisspot Stevie (Stevie Figgins), the area's most infamous drunk who spends a good portion of his time hustling pints in town or disappears for days to see Liang Shih. Shih, among other things, grows his own opium in the bush.

Still, Shih proves to be a good friend. When Stevie becomes deathly ill, he looks for help. And when no one else is available to accompany Sister Finlay to aid Stevie, Hargreaves insists on accompanying her. The three of them set out across the flooded landscape together.

When they do arrive, Hargreaves spends considerable time with Stevie, expecting to give him his last rights. And it is during his final opium-soaked hours that Stevie begins to tell Hargreaves about his life, but not the one he lived. The next one he will live.

The substance of science fiction to explore social commentary.

David Anderson is an Australian pilot who is assigned the Queen's flight team. In the forefront of this story is Anderson's relationship with a young English girl who works as an Oxford-trained secretary for the Queen. While it is a courtship story that slowly develops as the romance is placed on hold for the good of the Commonwealth and the Queen, it's obvious Shute brought the couple together so they can compare and contrast their respective countries.

In Shute's world, the United Kingdom has suffered an economic crisis caused in part by a socially driven exodus as the country became both more socialistic and adversarial toward the Royal Family. The crisis itself seems to have occurred in three parts over a span of 30 years.

The population, which still relies on World War II rationing, used democracy to continuously vote for a higher standard of living at the expense of entrepreneurial opportunities. The loss of these opportunities sparks a mass migration to America, Australia and, to a lesser extent, Canada.

Young men and women, he describes, decide to place more faith in liberty and individual ability to succeed than in the government's ability to keep people secure in their respective stations. The mass exodus compounds the economic weakness with a collapse of the housing market (which the government assumes).

Australia, on the other hand, embraces rugged individualism and an alternate democracy, which grants people multiple votes based on their contributions, e.g., one vote plus an additional vote for military service, a college degree, living abroad, raising a family without divorce, etc. The intent was to elevate the quality of the people in government rather than those who cater to a wanting majority.

The contrast between the two fictionalized futures exists, but the storytelling is never mired down by it.

Perhaps even more interesting is that Anderson is a "quadroon," which means his mother was "half caste" Aborigine. Shute doesn't create a world where racism has disappeared, but Anderson disarms people by embracing it. He adopts the nickname "Nigger" even though no one would be able to tell by the color of his skin.

Some people might be offended by its usage, but Shute is pretty clear in his intent. He wanted to show two-fold that people of color are as good as anybody else and that even a quadroon born in a ditch can not only grow to become self-made but also to be the hero of the story in action and romance. Shute was well ahead of his time.

In The Wet By Nevil Shute Flies To 6.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

In The Wet sometimes gets mixed reactions for its unapologetic layering of social commentary, but it's not a plea to embrace Shute's socio-political fantasies. Anyone could easily place more weight on the reincarnation story with a pastor attempting to reconcile it or the light romance between two people during political strife. More than that, it is effortless storytelling despite its complexities.

Then again, it might be some Americans without any understanding of the Commonwealth (and the ability to separate fact from fiction) will find some sections tedious or alien. Personally, I think Shute possesses a literary talent to keep it moving, but not everyone will. This isn't an intense story (even an assassination attempt is overtly calm), but it does fully realize the characters and a future of the author's making.

In The Wet by Nevil Shute is available on Amazon. You can also find the book at Barnes & Noble. iBooks also carries In The Wet and iTunes carries an audio version, read by Norman Dietz. Dietz breathes a fresh pace into the story, but as a decidedly young Hargreaves. He makes a better Anderson.

Midnight Empire; Emerging Artist Pick

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Last year around this time, no one had heard of the Dallas-based rock band called Midnight Empire. They were still a few months out from starting a band. Bassist/vocalist Jacob Henderson and guitarist Art Struck hadn't met. And drummer Matt Cook wasn't a glimmer (someone else with sticks came first).

And yet, Midnight Empire comes across as a three-piece that has played together for decades. They have a manager. They have a slate of booked shows. They earned some play time on local stations. They have a self-produced album, up on iTunes and stocked at most Dallas record stores.

"When you look at other local bands, so many seem like they are afraid to do stuff for themselves," says Cook. "They seem like they're waiting around for something to happen."

But not this band. Despite a big rock sound that often harkens back to an era that predates grunge and alternative rock, they have a modern tenacity that's hard to ignore.

They set their lightning pace early last year, shortly after one of Henderson's friends suggested he call Struck. Struck had recently graduated from the Musicians Institute's GIT Program in Hollywood and moved to Dallas in the hope of starting a band too.

When they did meet, it came together naturally. They started writing acoustic arrangements on the same day. They established a definitive direction. They could see who they wanted to be.

All they didn't have was a drummer. And it would take several months before they found Cook. In fact, Henderson and Struck still describe their first drummer experience with an intense bitterness. They call him lame. A fucking idiot. A virgin with STDs.

"We really wanted a band that could collaborate on all ideas," says Henderson. "A lot of times, we piece together stuff and then Art shows up with some chords, and maybe a word or a phrase or a title. And then we all jump in and start dissecting it until something comes out of it that isn't forced."

That's not to say everything comes easy for the band. After advocating that they take a long shot on Kickstarter, band manager Kevin Huckabee had more than a few sleepless nights. Despite one of the better EPKs to showcase the album they wanted to produce, Midnight Empire hit another wall.

Everything And Nothing almost added up to nothing.

Some people liked what they heard enough to share it, but the funding seemed stuck in neutral. And with less than half the funding pledged a few days before the deadline, any excitement had waned. Huckabee even sent a private message to backers, outlining a backup plan with less than 72 hours left.

"We didn't expect anything at that point," said Henderson. "But then Kevin called me two days before it was over and said 'you're not going to believe this but we just got $2,500 from one person.'"

The single contribution reignited the funding, pushing it $11 over the $6,000 needed for studio time at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, which has recorded artists ranging from Ted Nugent and Eddie Coker to Tripping Daisy and Doosu. It was also enough to cover their engineer, Kent Stump.

Even so, the band didn't waste a single minute of studio time. Although some songs were written a few weeks prior, the entire album was fully realized before they walked through the doors. It left the band just enough time to wing a few guitar solos and change up some harmonies.

"The album took 37 hours and we recorded our parts in 17 hours, so that was everything. That was the rhythmic beds, that was the overdubs, that was tiny fuck ups," said Struck. "I felt inspired there, like there was a real electricity in air. There was a real wonderment about the whole thing, at least from my perspective."

There was a real wonderment in being funded too, by Struck especially. He admits that he didn't get it [Kickstarter] or even fully appreciate what it meant until he heard a Dallas Morning News report on their success. He gets it now and, like the entire band, couldn't be more grateful.

"That effort — the labor, hustling, promotion — is all Kevin," said Struck. "Now, I just drink beer and play guitar."

Of course, Struck does more than play the guitar. When he isn't making jokes, he is surprisingly reflective about the kind of music he and his bandmates want to make. In working on songs or playing on stage, he strives for a sound that can't be quantified. They only want to be sincere and make genuine rock and roll music like they grew up with, and with a few new twists.

"We do stay real busy as a three piece," adds Henderson. "We've got a lot of jobs going on when we're playing on stage, but we love it. We've even been adding more backup vocals, especially with Matt to liven up our presence."

Midnight Empire Revives Big Rock At 5.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

All in all, there is something likable about the band. And while they really like an early review that described them as "like everything and nothing you ever heard," their real calling card is exactly like Henderson, Struck, and Cook echo on a regular basis. They deliver polished, genuine rock and roll that might not be edgy, but still carries a smooth and sometimes melancholy sound you haven't heard since rock bands in the late 80s started over thinking record sales.

For starters, check out the fast-paced All Used Up, bipolar-ish Tidal Wave, and Take You Home, an up tempo lament about a girl who blows off the guy she goes out with. Ask the band and they'll instinctively pick Black Eyes and Misery. The album, Everything And Nothing, is available on iTunes.

Rich Becker was also a Kickstarter backer on the album.

Hoops Of Hope Takes Its Best Shot

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Eight years ago, Arizona's Austin Gutwein saw a video that changed his life forever. He learned from the film that more than 15 million children would be orphaned by HIV/AIDS that year, and 12 million of them lived in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although Gutwein was only a nine-year-old boy, he felt a profound connection to the children affected by AIDS in Africa. The way he saw it, those children weren't any different than him. Except, they suffered in a way he could never imagine. They had lost their parents.

"People think that kids can't really make a difference, that they should wait until they are older, but that is totally wrong," Gutwein said when he was nine. "You can do something as a kid."

On World AIDS Day in 2004, he shot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 kids who would be orphaned during his school day. People sponsored him for his effort and he was able to raise $3,000. That year, the money was used to provide hope to eight orphaned children. But that year, Gutwein also learned that these children needed more than basic food and shelter. They needed an education.

"I told my dad that there has to be something we can do to help them," he had said. "I wanted to give other kids the opportunity to do something they could be proud of and then let them see the results of their effort."

From that year forward, he decided to shoot more free throws. And every year, he encouraged more and more American children to join him to raise funds for African children who lacked what he and his peers took for granted — food, shelter, parents, and an education.

Even in his earliest involvement, Gutwein wouldn't accept that there were limits to what could be accomplished. When his campaign raised enough funds to build a school, he became concerned how far the children would have to walk to make it.

Hoops Of Hope has grown into an international effort led by a 16-year-old.

To date, Hoops Of Hope participants have raised more than $2.5 million, helping the orphans of AIDS receive food, clothing, shelter, schools, dormitories, medical centers and, more than anything else, an opportunity to live productive lives. And at the same time, the participants are forever changed too.

As Gutwein's own efforts have expanded as a story of inspiration as well as a fundraising effort to ease the burden of AIDS orphans, the children and adults who participate learn how powerful becoming more involved in the world can be. Even more remarkable, listening to some of the testimonials from children as young as Gutwein was when he first started, it becomes clear they learn something else. They learn not to take anything for granted. Somewhere in the world, there are children who wish for those things.

"When you help somebody change their life, it changes yours," says Gutwein today. And sometimes that change can even be as small as giving someone a soccer ball on what has become one of many visits to Africa.

Interestingly enough, Gutwein wasn't even that good at basketball despite his love for the sport. But what he did learn, like many children who now participate in Hoops Of Hope, is that you don't have to be the best at something to do something extraordinary with it.

Today, the United Nations estimates that more than 5,700 children are orphaned every day because of HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that more than 15 million children have already lost one or both parents. The number is expected to grow to more than 20 million in the next few years, which is one of the reasons Gutwein's campaign has expanded in prevention.

Three years ago, Gutwein also wrote a book with Todd Hillard in the hope of inspiring others. Take Your Best Shot: Do Something Bigger Than Yourself, which chronicles his journey while challenging others to make a difference in the lives of others too. Although the book also carries a message of faith, the real message is one of seeing a goal and then being moved and motivated to accomplish it.

Hoops Of Hope By Austin Gutwein Is A Liquid Hip Good Will Pick.

At least one a month, Liquid [Hip] highlights good will efforts undertaken by courageous people with big hearts. We don't score them. That belongs to you.

Hoops Of Hope sets tangible goals every year, outlining exactly what Gutwein hopes to accomplish. Last year, he set goals that included feeding 1,000 children and building a community center in Malawi, building a dormitory in Kenya, building a computer lab in Zambia, providing scholarships for a high school, and digging boreholes in India. The site includes a listing of how to join an event or host one of your own.

Equally important is that Gutwein's message is one of motivation. He has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people on behalf of orphaned children in America and around the world, inspiring others to take their best shot and do something bigger than themselves. It could be something in support of Gutwein or even something on your own, closer to home.

Lemonheads Laughing At The Cleaners

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It’s almost hard to believe that enough time has passed for the Lemonheads to release a career retrospective. But think about it: the band was formed in 1986 by Evan Dando and two friends while they were still Boston high school students and plenty has happened in the span of 26 years.

All of it is punctuated with highs (literally) and lows (more than a few). Laughing All The Way To The Cleaners/The Best Of The Lemonheads is a 2-CD collection packed with 47 tracks. It serves as a career anthology of the unlikely indie band that could break into the mainstream with a catchy cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson. The year was 1992.

Never mind that Dando doesn’t like Simon & Garfunkel and refuses to play the song today.

The anthology takes its name from the band’s edgy debut EP, which was released in 1986. Right from the start, the band was lauded as much for Dando’s boyish good looks as for their music, which was a big hit on the college rock circuit.

The Lemonheads quickly released three solid indie LPs on Boston’s Taang! Records, Hate Your Friends, Creator, and Lick before being scooped up by major label Atlantic in 1990. And in 1991, Dando met bassist Nic Dalton and songwriter Tom Morgan, who would play prominent roles on what is arguably the band’s finest release, It's A Shame About Ray.

Boston-based singer/guitarist Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies) played bass and sang on the album, which fueled plenty of speculation about her and Dando’s relationship.

Were they or weren’t they? Did they or didn’t they? Had they or hadn’t they?

Speculation wasn’t such a bad thing as it helped to generate interest in the band and also Hatfield’s other work. But media hype aside, the album delivered some tasty pop rock, including Confetti, My Drug Buddy, and Rudderless. Not long after, Into Your Arms was also embraced and the band performed on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

From the early to mid Nineties, Dando appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and battled a host of personal issues and a raging heroin and crack addiction. He was even booed at the Glastonbury Festival for turning up late and trying to play anyway.

Few bands hit highs and lows in such a short expanse of time. But in 1997, the Lemonheads mercifully disbanded. Only Atlantic would think to squeeze out every last drop with a premature Best Of The Lemonheads release in 1998. It seemed the final nail in an already tattered coffin.

Back then, people never really expected Dando to surface again. But in 2006, Dando/Lemonheads found a home with Vagrant, recording a self-titled album with notable guests such as Tom Morgan, bassist Josh Lattanzi, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and The Band's keyboardist extraordinaire Garth Hudson (playing on Black Gown and December). Two years later, It’s A Shame About Ray was reissued packed with raw tracks and demos. Varshons, a CD of cover songs, soon followed.

Dando seems to have mostly escaped his inner demons.

No one can argue that Dando has talent. He is still an engaging performer. Watching him in 2011, especially at the Triple Door in Seattle, will make you forget he ever took time off.

Seeing him today might make you glad that he survived at one time being named to People’s 50 Most Beautiful People (seriously). Most that make the list and then hit rock bottom never survive with their looks intact.

Laughing All The Way To The Cleaners features songs from every incarnation of the band’s constantly revolving door, with the only common denominator being Dando himself. In addition to much of It’s A Shame About Ray, give a listen to Big Gay Heart, Rick James Style, Hospital, and Mallo Cup, and their punk cover of Suzanne Vega’s Luka.

All in all, this is a solid collection. The only drawback might be in the track order, which is quite random and not at all chronological.

Laughing All The Way To The Cleaners/Best Of Lemonheads Rolls In With 4.5 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

While much of their young punk roots have mellowed over time, there are some real gems to be found in the new release. And whomever helped pick what to include did a great job avoiding any duds. The release also helps usher in a grueling tour schedule through the early part of 2012, when the band hits the Midwest, South and plenty of places in between.

Last November, the gritty Hotel Sessions was released early. It includes 14 songs that never made it an official Lemonheads album. In the meantime, Laughing All the Way To The Cleaners/Best Of Lemonheads can be found on Amazon. You can also find the occasional resale on Barnes & Noble. There are no plans for a digital release to date, but you can find the very rough Hotel Sessions (complete with background noise) on iTunes.

The Night Strangers Will Creep Inside

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

When author Chris Bohjalian first started writing The Night Strangers, he didn't have to look far for inspiration. In the basement of his own house in Vermont was a door. It was five feet high and three feet wide, consisting of rough wooden planks that were nailed shut.

He convinced himself it was nothing more than a coal shoot, much like one of the principal characters of The Night Strangers. A few years later, curiosity finally had gotten the better of Bohjalian and he pulled the door open using a crowbar, wrench, and ax.

When he finally opened it, he found nothing more than a space about the size of the door and 18 inches deep. It also spooked him enough that he nailed it shut again, and steered clear of the basement after that.

The Night Strangers Is A Creepy Chiller From Chris Bohjalian.

Unlike the door inside of Bohjalian's basement, the door inside the rambling Victorian house owned by Chip and Emily Linton would hold a much more sinister secret. Sealed shut with 39 six-inch carriage bolts, it slowly became an obsession of Chip Linton as he remodeled his family's new home in New Hampshire.

His fixation on the door in the corner of the dirt floor basement isn't a side effect of curiosity alone. Thirty-nine was a number that meant something to Linton. It was the number of people who died aboard Flight 1611 and Linton, the pilot of that ill-fated flight, was one of a handful of survivors.

With the promise of a fresh start, neither he nor his wife had noticed the odd door when they purchased the home for themselves and their twin girls. But there were many oddities about the house that they ignored.

The move from Pennsylvania to a northern New Hampshire town was too important. Although the people would still recognize Linton after months of being splashed across the headlines, the slowness of a small town seemed easier to endure than the judgment of an entire urban city.

"When your Philadelphia therapist refers to this as a flashback, you wonder if you should correct her. It's a nightmare, not a flashback. In reality, you didn't actually auger into the ground." — The Night Strangers

Of course, the book doesn't open on one of Linton's many nightmares. It opens in the minutes leading up to a bird strike, very much like the one that caused US Airways Flight 1549 to go down in 2009. But unlike pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who succeeded in landing his disabled plane without incident on the Hudson River, Linton's emergency landing on Lake Champlain goes horribly wrong.

Bohjalian meticulously paints the details of the accident — the actions, the reactions, and the thoughts of the crew and passengers — as the plane attempts its emergency water landing. Some of the passengers remain surprisingly calm in their reflection of what Sullenberger had done months before, adding even more tension because you know they're wrong.

The difference between life and death all comes down to a single wave, a small wake caused by a boat turning to assist any survivors. And as the wing tip crashes into it, Linton's chapter as a carefree pilot and attorney raising twin girls is over. Something wicked in on the horizon.

A ghost story at its heart, but with the head of something more sinister.

Most people consider The Night Strangers a ghost story. It is much more than that, blending elements of haunting, a coven, and psychological strain of post-traumatic stress disorder into a novel that sometimes putters along with slow-motion melancholy and other times at a feverish pace.

It mostly works, largely because two opposing forces — both with misguided and malicious intent — bear down on a broken family in a tight and frightful squeeze. However, that doesn't mean it all works.

At times the similarities between the book and well-known movie material (Rosemary's Baby, The Shining, and The Sixth Sense specifically) are so apparent that it steals any attention away. Along with this small annoyance, Bohjalian also runs the first person perspective of the pilot using "you" as the operative pronoun, apparently in an attempt to put "you" in the story.

The technique doesn't work well, especially when coupled with the pilot's predisposition toward rehashing the accident. At times, it even makes you want to rush ahead to the more interesting points of views, predominantly the wife, children, and occasional outsider. And then, unfortunately, there is the epilogue. It's hard to like, especially because whatever feelings you have for any character in the story will be irreparably changed.

The Night Strangers Creeps And Crawls To 4.0 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

The story is still worth the share for the creepy atmosphere Bohjalian conjures up. He does an exceptional job making the supernatural subtle and more believable as a result. While the earlier chapters are almost more climatic and engaging than the balance, it's rare to find an author so willing to keep everything from tumbling toward an epic cosmic struggle between good and evil. This is about people.

The Night Strangers: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian is on Amazon. You can also find the novel at Barnes & Noble. The Night Strangers is also on iBooks as well as iTunes. The audio version is read by Mark Bramhall and Alison Fraser. Bramhall covers the point of view of pilot Chip Linton, even though the story is told as if it is "you." Fraser's voice isn't always as engaging, but she does a solid job covering the rest of the characters, especially the wife and two daughters. It will also be published as a paperback in April.

The Spectrals Play Like A Bad Penny

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Leeds has an incredibly vibrant music scene. It's been mentioned more than once here. It’s where the Mekons got their start. It's where bands like Dopamine and the Diamond Sea are big draws today.

It's also what makes the Spectrals stand out. While they are technically part of the scene, the band comes across like a bastard stepchild. It's partly by design and partly no fault of their own.

The band is (mostly) a single person, Louis Jones. He's a 21-year-old redhead from Heckmondwike in West Yorkshire, which is about 10 miles from Leeds. He’s been dabbling in music and playing in bands for a number of years, usually with a punk bent.

Louis Jones is a multi-instrumentalist and insightful songwriter.

He started started recording his tunes in a friend’s homemade studio and then put the finished songs on his MySpace page for his friends, never expecting anyone else to listen. But they did listen, including reps from the labels Captured Tracks and Slumberland.

This gave Jones the avenue he needed to record a slew of songs, including the 7-inch Peppermint. The Spectrals is really a vehicle for Jones to shape and share his distinctive sound and his yearning lyrics.

Before you listen, keep in mind that the Spectrals are way out there. It's not like anything we've reviewed before. That, and Jones is an old soul, which is why his songs sound as though they’ve been written by someone who has done a lot more living.

Where Peppermint carried the surf pop forward, Bad Penny, the Spectrals’ first full-length album, is more of a detour from previous reverb-heavy work. It's very much a throwback.

This time out, except for the drums, Jones plays every part. (The drums are now handled by his brother.) As a prolific songwriter, it's no surprise that these are a brand new batch of songs, all of which carry a collective theme. It's about a relationship and all of its ups and downs. Mostly downs.

He didn't make it up either. The girl in question is Jones’ long-time love. So yes, there is a bit of a spoiler. He gets the girl in the end.

“Love songs are the kind of songs I like,” said Jones. “Not all of them are nice, but they’re all feelings I’ve had.”

Check out the video for Get A Grip, which finds Jones singing and playing guitar in a variety of Yorkshire country settings. Like the song suggests, the album, produced by veteran Leeds-based producer Richard Formby (Spacemen 3), weaves together doo wop, 60s surf music, soul, garage rock, and Phil Spector-like choruses.

The result is understated and nicely balanced. So while Get A Grip is dreamy, Big Baby is a brighter slice of California surf rock. Luck Is There To Be Pushed adds in tasteful piano and some of Jones' best songwriting. Start with those and then listen to the rest, and play the clips more than once because they do unexpectedly grow on you.

What you might find is that Jones does a nice job balancing his songs between his influences and his own vision. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music, and embraces his decidedly American influences.

In fact, the contrast between the American music and Jones’ Yorkshire croon gives the Spectrals a bit of charm. It seems to match his personality, which comes across as somewhat shy and sincere. In reality, he is a bit of a control freak. And that's why he plays nearly all the instruments.

According to Jones, he says he writes the music on his guitar first and then adds lyrics in after. He has consistently said he is not interested in anyone else shaping his songs or direction.

The result is a band that performs as a 4-piece, but any song played is really Jones times four. And if it doesn't sound like that, then it's not really the Spectrals. This attitude might also be why he's often kept at arm's length in Leeds. He's rebellious and intends to stay that way, doing his own thing. Here’s a clip of the Spectrals at Benicassim Festival in July 2011.

Bad Penny By The Spectrals Chimes In With 4.3 On the Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

If there is any criticism of Bad Penny, let it be that it does become repetitive at times. I also think that Jones is more engaging performing live compared to what he’s managed to put down on tape. It’s an obstacle he’ll have to overcome.

The Spectrals will be touring the United States in March and April. It will be very interesting to see if their mostly American sound truly resonates with actual Americans. You can keep up with the tour via MySpace and Twitter. Just don't expect too much about music on Twitter. Jones would rather talk football.

All 11 tracks from Bad Penny can be downloaded from iTunes. You can also find Bad Penny on Amazon. There is also a vinyl edition at Barnes & Noble, along with the CD.

Parra Knows Underground Post-Pop Art

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It's almost hard to define Pieter 'Parra' Janssen. He's a skater. He's a band member. He's an artist. He's a sculptor. He's a cult apparel designer. And he's self-taught creative whose underground club posters are torn down within minutes of being posted around Amsterdam.

They are not torn down to be tossed. They are torn down to be treasured.

You can still see his work all over the place. Kids wear his shorts and shirts. Store owners protect their paintings and prints. And he only started working in Amsterdam a little more than ten years ago.

On the whole of it, all over Amsterdam, people convey a sense of community pride about his work. It doesn't matter that he grew up in Nijmegen, sometimes affectionately referred to as the dirty south. He calls Amsterdam home. His art has taken root there in every possible way. And his shows, no matter where they are held in the world, always sell out.

He also does commercial work as an art director, but usually only a few lines at a time. Most of them are small lines of clothing and skateboards (sometimes bearing his name and sometimes not), but his larger portfolio includes Nike and Heineken. His signature style has a vintage feel with saturated colors that pop or bleed or melt on whatever canvas needs to be filled.

His approach is casual, usually fast drawing designs from whatever inspires him. Then the designs are scanned, colored, placed, and sold. Perfect, considering he originally started the company with a friend out of necessity and still maintains that the best advice came from his father. Just keep playing.

Parra does do more than draw, but usually he likes to put it on paper first. His sculptures are surreal. And he doesn't always color, smooth, and blend his work as an illustrator. Sometimes he paints. But always with the same bold designs and minimal color combinations. Or sometimes intense black or whites.

He calls all of it fun. But somehow his work still transforms the usual, like a T-shirt, into something much more than it started. If you ask me, it's mostly because he captures emotion in the simplest shapes and forms. The curves carry most of it. And sometimes the names do too.

Some of the shirts I caught at Urban Industry certainly capture the message. The illustrations are named after what they convey, like Annoyed. Sometimes they aren't, like a shirt he called Rockwell but the emotion is hung up. Another, called No, is hung up for another reason.

It doesn't really matter what emotion or scene or point of inspiration he is chasing after. He catches it, with the work being unmistakable. (And almost all of it is produced on 100 percent cotton, organic when available).

According to Parra himself, his art came from growing up with a father who was also a painter and sculptor. So he grew up around colors, paints, weird images, and Rubenesque paintings. The latter refers to the fondness toward the extravagant style characterized by Flemish baroque painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens. Although the finished work could be considered very different, you can see it in his lines, curves, shapes, and moods.

When added to a minimal color palette, esoteric characters, and poster designs reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s, it can be hard to tear away. Mostly because it's both familiar and new at the same time.

Designs By Parra Round Out A 9.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Parra is going to be around for some time to come. I was fortunate enough to catch his How Original Show at HVW8 Gallery in Los Angeles. It features some of his more provocative work, which you can glimpse with a time-lapse video of the show.

Like his art, Parra's work isn't always easy to find, especially on apparel. It's not so much that there isn't enough of it. It's the opposite. There are enough individual designs that you pick them much like you might pick a painting. You have to find the one that hits home for you.

You can find Annoyed at Urban Industry, which is located in the United Kingdom but ships worldwide. Most Rockwell by Parra apparel retails between $50 and $120 U.S. Urban Industry has a flat shipping rate, which varies by country. His apparel isn't all that common in the U.S., which adds to the appeal.

The White Buffalo Is Lost And Found

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

After a decade of hard drinking and harder touring, The White Buffalo, the throwback folk rock three piece from Southern California, have plenty to look forward to in 2012. With an album due out this year, the ever-talented, always haggard sounding singer-songwriter Jake Smith continues to improve with age.

No surprise, even if he never intended to become a songwriter or musician. Writing songs was just something he did in his spare time while still in high school. Eventually, friends encouraged him to play live gigs, which he booked by calling up venues direct and leaving short voicemail messages of his songs. It was enough, at least at the start.

"The whole point of my songwriting is taking people on an emotional journey, like a mini-movie." says Smith. "Most of my songs capture snippets of life and some broader pictures."

As Smith grew more confident, he started making tapes for friends and family around the holidays. And it was those tapes that suddenly began to circulate across California. Eventually, producers of the 16MM Woodshed Films surf documentary Shelter asked Smith if they could include one of his songs for their compilation. It was enough.

Lost And Found is five tracks of cross-genre folk rock from Jake Smith.

The soulful, gritty, and emotive songwriting of Jake Smith combines folk, country, rock, and blues while improbably staying true to the roots of each. The Darkside Of Town, which is the third of five tracks, captures Smith explicitly, with its crystal, purposeful acoustic guitar and lamenting, contemplative vocal work.

The songwriting is perfectly crafted, as Smith sings about fatefully wandering to the dark side of town, not because it's necessarily what he wants to do but because it is in his nature. The fifth track on the EP, Wish It Was True, carries the same meditative qualities as Smith carries on while reminiscing about everything his parents wanted to be.

Sometimes, though, we just come up short. As the lament closes, we catch of sense of Smith's meaning as the life begins to flicker and fade a solider, conflicted over what he had do. It's easily one of one of Smith's most powerful compositions. Expect it to stick in your head.

Not everything on Lost And Found is downtrodden. Insane features some campy, feel-good picking with a Southern country and blues fusion. Smith growls out the vocals with Tommy Andrews (bass) and Matt Lynott (drums) laying down a swampy instrumental bed worthy.

All three contrast with the indie folk rock of The Pilot. Smith keeps the swampy flavor, but The Pilot makes for a great foot stomp open for the EP. It's also the best track to lead into Every Night Every Day, which is clearly good old boy country from beginning to end.

The evolution of Jake Smith has made for an extraordinary decade.

Smith has matured perfectly since his earliest days. While he always produced a great body of cross-genre music as a songwriter over the last decade, Lost And Found carries a tightness to the writing that has raised the bar for this artist.

If you ever have a chance to see him live, especially outdoors, don't hesitate. We found a clip of the song Damned from his last full length. It perfectly captures his stage presence while also illustrating how (as good as Damned is) his new material is more confident and even better.

What makes Lost And Found even more engrossing is there isn't a wasted word on any track, as if Smith doesn't seem satisfied with singing well-composed lyrics anymore. He owns every tune so much that even the songs that aren't personally about him feel like they might as well be.

That includes the more unexpected romp, Insane, which he delivers as lively as a younger Tom Waits while as purposeful as a less seasoned Johnny Cash. And at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if his name eventually stands right beside those legendary artists.

The White Buffalo's Lost And Found EP Tramples At 8.7 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Expect this year to undoubtedly be one of the biggest for The White Buffalo. Smith's voice became especially familiar last year as he lent his talents to Sons Of Anarchy. The fourth season includes a new cover of The House Of The Rising Sun (with the Forest Rangers).

Lost And Found by The White Buffalo can be found on iTunes. You can also find the EP on Amazon. Although Lost And Found is better, we noted that Barnes & Noble still has a digipack from the 2010 EP Prepared For Black & Blue. Black & Blue is undoubtedly the best song on that one whereas all five tunes are perfect on Lost And Found.

Kymera Wands Enchant Electronics

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Although it has been out for some time, I've never seen one work in person: a real magic wand. And although this particular magic is limited to performing a few simple television tricks, it's still the kind of magic that will make you think twice.

Developed by English inventors, the Kymera Wand is a universal remote control that can be custom programed to perform up to 13 individual commands. Wave the wand up and the volume goes up. Wave it down and the volume goes down. (Or whatever you program it to do.)

"Essentially we set out to design a magic wand that uses modern remote control technology to give the user a magical experience,” says Chris Barnardo, one of the co-inventors. “The result not only delivers a magical experience but is the first gesture-based remote control that doesn’t have any buttons."

The wand itself isn't limited to a television, but will essentially work with any infrared (IR) remote control, including receivers, light switches, curtains, iPod docks, and even some Apple computers. But with only 13 operational gestures supported by any one wand, be selective. But you can program more than one device into the wand.

For televisions, my friend noted the first eight are almost a given: on/off, volume up/down, channel up/down, mute on/off. He also noted that as fun and magical as the remote really seems, it's impossible for cable subscribers to give up the remote. The functional fun runs out if you have to make 300 motions.

The technology of the Kymera Wand is simple, sophisticated and stunning.

The first assumption is that the wand is powered by the same motion technology found in a Wii remote. Interestingly enough, Barnardo and his partner, Richard Blakesley, chose accelerometers as opposed to other motion meters so the wand would respond to more fluid commands (similar to mobile phones).

One minor difference is that the wand's microprocessor seems to be more sensitive to how hard it is and in which direction the wand is accelerating. It's this sensitivity in the microscopic silicon architectures that can detect any force of gravity, even when the device is at rest.

Whereas most mobile phones have four axis points, the wand's shape allows it to use three: x-, y- and –z. The microprocessor translates the moves, which is programmed by the owner (and has to be one of the predefined gestures that are programable). When the wand understands the gesture, there is a tiny vibration letting you know the wand emitted the command to your device.

The coolest part is that they have squeezed the assembly into the wand, without leaving any visible seams or screws. The Kymera Wand video isn't so seamless, but it gets the point across well enough.

If you recognize the wand as the one used by Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter films, you would be right. The similarity was intentional. Although it makes the wand immediately recognizable, one can't help but wonder what might happen if the inventors could expand the number of commands and offer various wand bodies instead of one.

A few graphs about co-inventor Chris Barnardo.

Barnardo, who is the more visible partner, originally worked as a studio artist for an advertising agency in London before moving to Sharja in the UAE. When he returned to London a short time later, he worked as a creative director until founding his own agency.

Twenty years ago, he decided to pursue a full-time degree in biomedical science and engineering instead. As it turned out, the move changed his life. It gave him the opportunity to blend design and engineering.

Today, he is named as an inventor on more than 25 different patents. He also publishes a site called dadcando, which blends magic, crafts, and projects especially suited for dads. Barnardo is a single dad with four children.

The Kymera Wand Can Cast A Spell At 6.1 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

There isn't anything not to like about the Kymera Wand because it really works and works so well. In fact, I would love to like it even more. The ability to create custom gestures, program more commands, and offer a line of wands with different casings would make it even better (and maybe drive the price down).

It is good to see that Barnardo is interested in expanding and accessorizing his product. He recently started manufacturing LED lights that look and flicker like candles. You can even blow them out like real candles, set them to a timer, or give them a wave with a magic wand. You can find the Kymera Wand on Skymall for about $90. The Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control is also on Amazon, for about $80. You can also find the Kandela Magic Candle there for about $60. However, the wand that comes with the candle is not a universal remote. It's similar in design to original, but has an ivory look.

Gallows Goes For Death Is Birth EP

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Everyone I know who listens to the Gallows felt some sting last year when Frank Carter announced he was leaving the hardcore punk band from Watford, England. It's apparent everyone involved was too.

Well, almost everyone. I'm not convinced Carter was surprised. The writing was on the wall as he was already laying the foundation for Pure Love several months earlier. Most assumed it was a side project.

Where there seems to be more to the story is that Carter wanted to move Gallows more mainstream a la Queens Of The Stone Age. And yet, early on, he has often described Pure Love in the same fashion. Knowing this, I can't help but feel sympathy for Wade MacNeil as he steps into some big shoes.

No, Gallows will never be the same without Carter. But from everything I've heard, Gallows wasn't going to be the same with Carter either. And that is why I feel slightly better about the new EP from Gallows, introducing MacNeil as the band's front man.

Death Is Birth is four tracks of screaming hard core punk rock.

Consisting of some material that Gallows was already working on in the studio, I have to give MacNeil props for being able to step into it at all. Then again, he isn't a slouch. As a long-time member of post-hardcore Alexisonfire and the founder of the punk band Black Lungs, I can't think of a better match.

If anything, the Canadian-born singer-songwriter-guitarist might add more range to the future Gallows repertoire, much more than some people might expect. Even better, if MacNeil had any mainstream dreams burning in his brains a few years ago, I suspect they were drenched with the release of Old Crows/Young Cardinals, which is the album that helped put a nail in the coffin of Alexisonfire.

The same could be said of the rest of the band's feelings about mainstream. Breaking out with Mondo Chaos as the lead into Death Is Birth (shortly after releasing the free :40 screamer True Colours for download), I think Laurent "Lags" Barnard, Steph Carter, Stuart Gili-Ross, Lee Barratt, and their new bandmate made their intent clear. It's hardcore and clearly explicit.

Although the lyrics are thinner than anything from Barnard (the band's principal writer), MacNeil delivers them. Everything else is Gallows material, with an edge that was meant to send a simple enough message — we're not dead and we're not mainstream.

Given the pace of production with Joby Ford as producer (The Bronx), Gallows banged out the EP on the quick. It's the longest eight minutes of thick and fast anger the band's ever released as a standalone.

Across the EP, Mondo Chaos delivers the best intensity despite its lyrical thinness. Death Is Birth is the best track of the the bunch, directly taking the change up to task. True Colours is too short to be anything more than a head-splitting novelty. And Hate! Hate! Hate! unfortunately meanders into standby sameness so you just might skip it.

Transitions can be painful and ugly things, so what?

If death is birth, than this is an ugly one, but not without merit (or I wouldn't bother). I'd give Gallows some more time rather than deciding their fate today. Any album produced in the months ahead might just ground the band, albeit a different one.

Sure, like most people, I was looking forward to reviewing a new Gallows album with Carter this year. Grey Britain was the pinnacle of a darker and harder Gallows, which makes the realization that another one like that is never going to happen all the harder (with or without Carter).

With luck, fans might find they like two bands: Gallows and Pure Love (which is what both bands want). At the moment, I'm moderately convinced Gallows can pull it together. In fact, I have more reservations about Pure Love, especially after the band teased its first track and then pulled it down. So, we'll see on Feb. 14 when Pure Love performs for the fist time.

Death Is Birth By Gallows Hangs On 3.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

A 3.8 is respectable here in that it is a shareable EP. Death Is Birth is not the best hardcore out and certainly doesn't shake the industry. The good news for Gallows is that the EP is continuing to catch interest behind the scenes (people buy it quietly) as the controversial split runs its course. In thinking about Gallows as a new band, they make the cut. I give these guys credit for sticking to their guns.

Death Is Birth by Gallows is available on iTunes. You can also find Death Is Birth on Amazon. Again, Mondo Chaos and the title track are worth consideration. If you want True Colours for its brutality, download it from their website for free.

Jack Kerouac's Tristessa Is Tangled Up

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

With a casual hand, Tristessa can easily be trivialized. It's a book about nothing, except a sliver of Jack Kerouac's time in Mexico City and one of the girls he meet. She was a prostitute and drug addict.

The stories he spins are sometimes all a daze and hallucination, stabbing around the subject but letting it slip from his grasp at the same time. It's everything you might expect from someone trying to live on the edge, while winding one arm around a safety rope so he might live to write about it.

In typical Kerouac fashion, the tone is raw and rambling, scratched out with more creation than craft. And yet, it can be quite dazzling when he gets a line right or a thought right. And this time around, on another trip to Mexico City after On The Road, he slushes it up into metaphor.

Tristessa is a sliver of a novella that best captures Kerouac's voice.

There is certainly an undertow of sadness in Kerouac's voice as he struggles to understand layers and layers of contrasts. The American and Mexican. The Buddhist and Christian. The drunk and drug addict. The human and the animal. Bill Garver (a.k.a. Old Bull Gaines) and himself.

Tristessa (Esperanza Villanueva) is at the heart of the book, however. She is both beautiful and seductive to Kerouac, but equally self-destructive and out of reach. And like many of the people in the neighborhoods where he spends most of his time, he is in awe of her ability to be happy and carefree despite being impoverished or marginalized.

He draws comparions to convey his point often enough. Even in describing a cat in Mexico City, Kerouac notes that he doesn't scratch like an American cat. He just endures, except in intervals when he burst into a furious scratching.

By the same token, so does Tristessa. In America she would be gloomy. But in Mexico City, she goes about her day happy enough. Except in a fit of coughing, when she might complain the rest of the day.

It does no good for the cat or her, and Kerouac wants to understand it. And his sadness creeps in again because he knows even if he can befriend them all — the animals that live indoors and the people who live with them — he will never understand the dove, the cat, the chicken, or the rooster.

The romanticized notion of love that Kerouac denied himself.

My poems stolen, my money stolen, my Tristessa dying, Mexican business trying to me down, grit in the sky, agh. I never dreamed it could be so bad — And because she hates me — Why does she hate me?

He never fully grasps how different their worlds really are until he returns to Mexico City maybe a year later. Tristessa almost does die, right in front of him. At first it prompts Kerouac to fancy himself a savior. But she doesn't want to be saved. She doesn't want his love but would accept him as a junkie.

For all the shortcomings of Old Bull Gaines, Kerouac eventually acquiesces that the 40-year addict could probably take care of her better. He almost can't bear the disillusionment of it all, thinking he missed his chance a year earlier during his uncharacteristic vow of celibacy. That, of course, and being too smart for his own good.

As the author who even coined the phrase "Beat Generation" to describe the underground, anti-conformist youth movement to which he and the likes of Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burrough, and Herbert Huncke belonged, it might have been an odd revelation. He was so busy living a life he could write about, one had to wonder if he was really living at all or stumbling around as an observer.

Tristessa By Jack Kerouac Racks A 8.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Tristessa doesn't compare to On The Road, but it does make a poignant companion piece that digs deeper into the author's allure with a culture he perceived as truly alien to America. While most people would be repulsed by some of it, he embraced and celebrated the ideology beneath the grim.

Still, their happiness wasn't so much a mystery. Every day is the same and, as she reminded him, tomorrow we may die. La vida es dolor. If such is life, who could afford not to grab at happiness?

Tristessa by Jack Kerouac is available from Amazon. You can also find the book at Barnes & Noble, including the recently translated Spanish edition. At less than 100 pages, it makes for a great afternoon read. For people who love the book, also check out The Dharma Bums, which Kerouac wrote between the first and second acts of Tristessa.

Lonely Crowds Howl For Comet Gain

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

David Feck a.k.a. David Bower a.k.a. David Christian has always struck me as a poet first and a singer/songwriter/guitarist second. There's art in everything he does, and anything by Comet Gain.

Howl Of The Lonely Crowd is no exception. The album strikes all the right chords and wrong notes as Feck and his band of seven skip across a collage of underground rock and indie pop sounds. There is more good noise to be found on this one album than some bands produce in a career.

It certainly doesn't hurt that Ryan Jarmen (The Cribs) climbed aboad Feck's shooting star as one of his guests. And given Edwyn Collins (Orange Juice) produced it, it's a small wonder why there wasn't more traction. Some critics say too pretentious. Others say stagnant. Can anyone possibly be both?

The Howl Of The Lonely Crowd remains elusive for another reason.

It's one thing for a band to go largely unnoticed for a few albums, but it's all together something else when they chug along for two decades. Yet, it's not hard to figure out why. Feck said it himself.

Every album is a retaliation against the last album. When he said that, it all made sense to me. The writing, at least some of it, is written like most reviewers cover them. Always looking backwards.

I'm not saying that is good or bad, but it might explain why Comet Gain almost never feels ahead of the curve. So let's do that. Listen to Love Without Lies with before breaking into the Howl Of The Lonely Crowd. The clip is from 2008, four years old and somehow timeless.

It also has plenty of stuff people love from Comet Gain, assuming you've heard of them. There's the driving beat. Memorable melody. Honest vocals. Just enough distortion. And here is something new...

The Ballad Of Frankie Machine is decidedly darker, diving deeper into the underground. It's messy, haunting, and crawls under the skin. The nostalgic flavor comes from the film that inspired it, circa 1963. Feck likely picked the film because he enjoys sharing his eclectic bag of tricks.

And that is also what to expect from Howl Of The Lonely Crowd. Whether Rachel Evans or Feck are picking up vocals (mostly, it's Feck), the album is an eclectic mix that might pay homage to cult heroes and other interests. That doesn't mean you have to carry a cipher. It just makes the music more likable if you really know who inspired the song Yoona Baines. Not one of my favorites, but fitting enough.

Highlighted tracks from Howl Of The Lonely Crowd.

The first three tracks from Howl Of The Lonely Crowd fit in easily with any Comet Gain work. The effortlessness of Clang Of The Concrete Swans, the pop sappy satire of the Weekend Dreams, and the jangly Arcade From The Warm Rain That Falls are among Feck's upbeat best.

But it's the lower tracks that keep my interest. The respectful raunchiness that pays tribute to one of the Beat Generation's best, Herbert Huncke, Pt. 2. The preceptive A Memorial For Nobody I Know with spoken verses. The heartbreak inside In A Lonely Place, along with Ballad For Frankie Machine, are all worth the listen.

The other members of the band are just as eclectic as the music: John Slade (guitar), Kay Ishikawa (bass), Woodie Taylor (drums), Anne Laure Guillain (keyboards), and Ben Phillpson (guitar). Of course, even this roster can be misleading. It was always Feck's intent to make the Comet Gain a collective. You can check in, but never leave.

Howl Of The Lonely Crowd Is Heard At 6.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

I recently read somewhere that Feck doesn't want Comet Gain to become a legendary band just because of longevity. But there is more to it than that. Comet Gain is the kind of music that rarely busts out.

It slowly gets shared around after hours, one friend to another, with somebody muttering that they can't believe they never heard of them before. At least that's the way is was for me years ago. The song was Charlie, and then the rest of the EP.

Howl Of The Lonely Crowd by Comet Gain is available from iTunes. Howl of the Lonely Crowd is also available from Amazon on CD or vinyl. You can also find both at Barnes & Noble.

Asif Kapadia Has No Fear With Senna

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

In his treatment of legendary Formula One racer Ayrton Senna da Silva (Senna), director Asif Kapadia manages to create a powerful, somber, and sobering biopic that is nearly autobiographical in nature. Without narration, Kapadia leaves most of the storytelling to Senna and a handful of others, interweaving vintage interviews and minimal commentary over archival footage.

While the approach tends to carry the film forward with only a few gears and seldom delves deep into Senna's personal life, the decision to skip talking heads lends well to the legend. It also casts a gloomy gauze over the film as Senna tells his own story, sometimes foreshadowing his own end.

The conflict between Senna and Prost sparked Formula One interest.

While Formula One racing is loved all over the world, American racing enthusiasts generally prefer NASCAR. However, this wasn't always the case in the Eighties and early Nineties as anyone who even had a passing interest in racing knew of the intense rivalry between Senna and Alain Prost. It defined the sport for a decade.

Although Prost had several years to ascend as a favorite, winning his first championships in 1985 and 1986 after two consecutive years finishing second, the younger and rasher Senna was seen as the underdog to watch after a strong start during his first year in a car that was never designed to win.

His skill as a racer quickly became known at the Monaco Gran Prix. To this day, many believe Senna would have won the race had it not been stopped for heavy rain. But this race and a strong season were still enough for Senna to land a spot on the Lotus team and eventually the McLaren team, alongside Prost.

The film doesn't open on the rivalry, however. It opens with a glimpse of Senna's early life. Especially poignant is listening to his father and mother comment after their son won a Formula Three race. It is an ominious foreshadow to a career that would include 161 Gran Prix races, 65 pole positions, 41 victories, 19 fastest laps, and three world championships.

"We didn't think that karting would become a career," said Milton da Silva. "But it's taking on a bigger dimension and we're a little worried because he will probably race in Formula 1."

While Senna's roots were firmly grounded in the industrial steel making city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, his strength as a racer often seemed more mystical and transcended racing. He believed, and frequently proved, that intuitiveness and intense mental acuity were more powerful than muscle and better tone.

In Formula One racing, you need the will to win as it is one of the most physically demanding sports. Drivers typically average 180 heartbeats per minute, peaking at up to 230 beats per minute. They are subjected to extreme heat throughout a race, and average speeds between 200 and 230 miles per hour. They also pull as much as 1.45 gs at acceleration and up to 6 gs while breaking.

Kapadia doesn't share these facts in the film, and he doesn't cut Prost any breaks as a nemesis. While Prost did include a clause that prevented Senna from being on the same team as him after 1992, the two did share a mutual admiration. In interviews since Senna's death, Prost often called himself boring by comparison, given that Senna would train physically during the hottest parts of the day and meditate until he could see himself outside the car; things that no other driver did at the time.

It is also worthwhile to note that many believe it was the rivalry between the two men that propelled them to dominate the sport. While Senna focused on his ability to improve as a man, Prost focused on his ability to improve the machine. Today, Prost is a trustee for The Instituto Ayrton Senna.

Asif Kapadia is a British director to watch.

Kapadia is no stranger to producing award-winning films since studying filmmaking at the Royal College of Art. He has directed several, including The Sleep Thief (1997), The Warrior (2001), and now Senna. He is best known for creating films that explore the lives of outsiders, people who live their lives to the extreme. His vision for biopics tends to elevate people above their fields.

"The challenge was to make a film that appealed to people who think Formula One is about men driving in circles in oversized cigarette packets," Kapadia has said in interviews. "I guess we must have done it."

Whereas Kapadia doesn't provide as much insight into the challenge of Formula One racing (outside of the politics), he does add a richness to the film that previous documentaries have lacked. In fact, even though the film is packed with racing footage, it's the portrait of Senna — his pride in himself, in his country, and Brazil's love for him — that leaps it forward.

Senna By Asif Kapadia Roars To 7.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

The film Senna proves once again that you don't have to be a fan of a sport to appreciate the extraordinary people who rise to the top of it. Although Kapadia may not have given Prost the benefit of the doubt in some circumstances, he creates a near-perfect portrait of Senna as a racing legend whose career was tragically cut short. Senna was 34.

Senna by Asif Kapadia is available to rent from iTunes. While Amazon also carries Senna - Special Edition (2 DVD), the DVD set is Region 2 PAL DVD (Europe). Currently, the movie is also enjoying a limited run in the United States in advance of a wider release or possibly a DVD set. You can find the current schedule on the film's website. Otherwise, the best bet is to rent it on iTunes.

Gary Clark Jr. Shines Bright In Austin

noreply@blogger.com (Kim) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

At 27, one might think guitarist Gary Clark Jr. is an upstart, another young and promising entrant into the blues scene. But Clark has been quietly paying his dues at home in Austin for more than a decade.

He was just 17 when Austin Mayor Kirk Watson declared May 3, 2001, Gary Clark Jr. Day for his role in helping to make Austin the live music capital of the world. The mayor isn't his only admirer; so are Jimmie Vaughan, Ron Wood and Eric Clapton.

The latter even helped put his career in the spotlight. Clapton gave Clark the opportunity of a lifetime to play at the Crossroads Festival. And his performance prompted Warner Brothers to sign him.

The Bright Lights, his 4-track EP, is only a taste of things to come. The full length is slated for spring.

While working on his major label debut, due out this spring, Clark cut four tracks as an introduction. The Bright Lights EP is a lively blend of old fashioned blues, soul, and classic rock. It includes two studio cuts, Bright Lights and Don’t Owe You A Thang; and two live solo acoustic tracks, Things Are Changin’ and When My Train Pulls In.

Clark's work on these tracks is cause to mention him in the same sentence as Jimi Hendrix, Richard Thompson, and Jack White. Clark is intense and captivating to watch. Oh, and he can sing too.

Don’t Owe You A Thang is an up tempo slice of Southern blues boogie. Things Are Changin’ is surprisingly delicate and soulful, punctuated with snazzy, jazzy fretwork. Bright Lights, from which the EP takes its name, blends cool vocals with hot guitar. And when My Train Pulls in is eight minutes of unadulterated virtuosity. Hear it for yourself, one of the few clips stripped down to nothing but Clark.

It’s odd that a blues artist, especially one who until late had been relatively unknown, would attract the interest of the mainstream music media. But this time out, it was Rolling Stone’s feature review that propelled the EP to the top of the blues chart. It also landed on the top 200 pop chart.

The earliest beginnings of Gary Clark Jr., a name you'll get to know.

Clark took an interest in music at the age of 12 when he received a guitar for Christmas. Determined to learn how to play, he borrowed instructional books from the library and augmented this with clips from Austin City Limits that he recorded on VHS tapes.

Eventually, Clark played clubs throughout Austin and met Clifford Antone, owner of the music club staple Antone’s, who gave him the opportunity to perform. He didn't perform with just anyone, but with some of the most influential names in the city's music scene.

Locally, Clark is household name. He received the Austin Music Award for Best Blues and Electric Guitarist three times, and also managed to self-produce two albums and score the film Full Count. Go and rent the 2007 film Honeydripper, and you’ll even see Clark playing (no surprise) a bluesman, along with Danny Glover and Stacy Keach.

Pretty cool, especially because Clark has retained his personality. He's laid back, even understated, as if he doesn't know how great he is. Maybe he doesn't. Even on Late Night with David Letterman, he rules.

The song is perfect, especially the lyrics. There is little doubt we will know his name.

The Bright Lights EP by Gary Clark Jr. Smolders At 9.4 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

If the EP is any indication of what is on the full length, then Clark and his Epiphone Casino guitar have a real shot at legendary status. While he continues work on the album, Clark is still playing a few dates here and there. He’ll be in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco Feb. 13-15 and is slated to appear at the much-anticipated New Orleans Jazz Festival in April. You might save the date.

You can find the 4-track Bright Lights on iTunes. Barnes & Noble has the CD for $1 more. The Bright Lights EP is slightly more on Amazon, unless you download the tracks.

Gauguin's Intimate Journals After 90 Years Defines Early Counterculture

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

When people are asked which era produced counterculture, most irrevocably conjure up images of the Sixties. Some, it seems, like to scoff at that notion and roll it back to the Beat Generation of the Fifties. Only a few, ignoring when the term was coined, give any credit to the Harlem Renaissance.

Even they are off the mark to some degree. Counterculture is not the stuff of eras; it is more visceral. Paul Gauguin knew it. His work, Gauguin's Intimate Journals, was first published by his son in 1921, almost 20 years after his death. And while there are earlier examples, his work proves the point.

The man for whom Van Gogh cut his ear off was a counterculturist. And Gauguin, who was easily one of the most insurgent spirits of his time, knew it more than 70 years before the beatniks. He knew it so well that in 1883 he gave up his job as a stockbroker, said farewell to his wife and three children, and eventually escaped what he called the "sham and hypocrisy of civilization" for the simpler and more savage South Seas by way of Paris.

Gauguin's Intimate Journals is a self-portrait of a counterculturist.

The legendary story that he shed all of his bourgeois ambitions and respectability in a single night, of course, is dispelled early on by his son in the preface. It was less of a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation than an understanding he reached with his courageous wife. She was willing to sacrifice her safety net to let him plunge feverishly and headfirst into his passion for art.

Nonetheless, even tempered by the preface, the story is a good one. The book itself strikes as hot and hard as any contemporary work, maybe harder. Gauguin might have appreciated writers and philosophers (except when they bored him), but had no inclination to be overly contemplative. If there is any underlying message, he is clear enough about it: non-refinement is art.

"I should like to be a pig; man alone can be ridiculous." — Paul Gauguin

The journals, completed during his final years, are filled with wit and no holds barred ramblings and rumblings about his life and what he thought of various colleagues while in Paris, people like Van Gogh, Degas, Cezanne, Manet, and others. Ramblings and rumblings are exactly the right words. Within the first few paragraphs, Gauguin insists that what he was writing was not a book.

Even if an author has no serious readers, he wrote, the author of a book must be serious.

He would rather chatter. In doing so, he reveals motivations much more effortlessly than anyone might expect, despite the fact that many entries fail to retain some semblance of coherency. Most of it is more akin to a series of personal blog posts, collected and printed more than a hundred years before blogs existed.

It strikes me that this is the way he intended it. It may even be that his constant reminders that "this is not a book" is not for any reader's benefit as much as his own. He wanted to write very much like he painted, reinventing how people perceived things like art, literature, theatre, and philosophy.

It is much more important to feel and connect with it, he sums, than to be overtly concerned with old techniques or the tenets laid out by critics. So instead of composition, he writes nakedly, fearlessly, shamelessly. He didn't do it to please anyone, but rather because no one could prevent him from doing it. It was his will.

His personal relationship with Vincent Van Gogh and the infamous ear.

With the exception of art students, some may be surprised just how much sway he held over Van Gogh, who would become the more famous artist (to the modern general public). Yet, it was Gauguin's premise that an artist needs to cut the shackles of one school or another and paint from his or her nature and will.

Following his advice, Van Gogh would produce some of his most brilliant and avant-garde work. However, given his mental disorder, finding himself may have also hastened his unraveling. Van Gogh may have even subconsciously blamed Gauguin for it, which would explain why he began hearing a voice that urged him to kill his roommate.

Although the account written by Gauguin only sheds light on his point of view, Van Gogh did intend to kill him in a public garden with a razor blade. Instead, when the pending confrontation was about to occur, Van Gogh ran home and cut off his ear in the hope he would no longer hear the voice.

Gauguin's Intimate Journals Turns A 8.4 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Although not for any literary merit, the book is a must read for anyone interested in counterculture or art. Instead of technique, he writes about things like hanging pornographic pictures at his residence.

He did it because it amused him when the only people who stopped visiting his home considered themselves respectable. They were also the only ones who would dwell on it for more than a year. That is Gauguin, the same artist who influenced the likes of Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Julian Hatton, W. Somerset Maugham, Michael Smetanin, Alison Croggon, and others in art and subject.

Gauguin's Intimate Journals is temporarily out of print and has not been added to digital libraries to date. However, Barnes & Nobles lists several editions in its marketplace for prices that vary depending on its condition. On Amazon, Gauguin's Intimate Journals is also limited to outside vendors.

The book includes 27 black and white illustrations by Gauguin. For those unfamiliar with his work as a painter, we found a surprising collection of prints, museum prints, and canvas prints at Barewalls (including the two above). Just search for his name.

OBN IIIs Get Restocked For Shock

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

As Beerland regulars in Austin, the OBN IIIs have developed a bit of a formula. When people aren't paying enough attention, you play a little harder and sing a little louder.

Houston-born Orville Neeley, who also fronts the 5-year-old Denton-born power pop-punk fusion trio Bad Sports, does exactly that any time he takes the stage with the OBN IIIs. After pumping out singles, a second 7-inch EP, and a full-length album this year, it's hard not to notice. In fact, Tic Tac Totally just recently restocked the all the rawness after selling out the first batch.

Neeley, by the way, isn't only in two bands. He also plays drums in James Arthur's Manhunt and A Giant Dog. Sometimes he performs with John Wesley Coleman III. He has produced several records for others, books and runs sound at Beerland, and has a passion for making shorts. You get the picture. No one knows what's next. He can't help but to stay busy and make friends along the way.

In fact, that is exactly what OBN IIIs really is: a collection of friends who play in other bands. Graham Low (bass) and Andrew Cashen (guitar) are members of A Giant Dog, and Matt Hammer (drums) was a founding member of the Strange Boys. And Jason Smith rounds everything out to make five. The whole idea was to fill the empty slots at Beerland. And then they overshot.

The One And Only is cleaner than the EP. And that means it's dirty, not filthy.

We don't have an official top ten list around here, but The One And Only would make this year's cut if there was one. The EP would make it on its own merit too. It was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder in a garage and still beats out plenty of studio albums.

Originally, Neeley said he wanted to record everything live. But then he found out recording their live shows sounded like shit. So he settled for mostly live and that's good enough, as long as they have fun.

And he does have fun in a very intense way. At least that is the way it seemed at the last SxSW, where he was selling CDs streetside with all the heart and fire he takes to the stage. Something like this...

The opening track of The One And Only, The S**t Fits, is the best introduction to the OBN IIIs anyone could ever hope to hear. It captures the essence of the one band that is truly his band, with Neeley breaking from his lyrics to bark out when he wants band members to join in again.

There isn't a better a play for wanton abandon and reckless proto-punk out there. It's hard to believe these guys almost never (maybe never) play out of state. They barely break away from Austin.

A quick hit list of the tracks to grab off everything.

The whole album is well worth the download, but if you want highlight tracks on the must have list, pick up No Enemies, Can't Wait Till You Shut Up, Get Off Yer Knees, Communicated To Death, Don't Feel Fine, and Kick Me Out. Off the 7-inch self-titled CD, grab Runnin On Fumes, Do My Thing, Mad, and License Plate. Yes, all four them. And you also need Heavy Heart from their single.

All of it is turbulent. Every track hits hard with howls, dissonant guitar wails, and ballistic drum sets that don't waste a stitch of the short-ordered song sizes, with most played out in under three minutes.

The One And Only By The OBN IIIs Crunches 9.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

As the last music review of the year (but not the last review), the only band we hadn't reviewed yet that was lively enough to fill the spot was the OBNs IIIs. They are everything anyone can want in an unabashed bruiser of a punk band, without any political statements but with plenty of sweaty attitude.

Even though a few songs feel rushed in production despite some cleanliness (by comparison), it's the perfect download to rock in the New Year. Play it loud. Play it in heavy rotation. Play it again.

On iTunes, download The One And Only, the Self-Titled EP, and Mark On You/Heavy Heart single. The The One And Only is on Amazon, which list the EP as Do My Thing. Follow them on Facebook too.

Able Planet Headphones Have An Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The biggest holiday gifts this year were clearly Androids and iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, and iPods). More than 6.8 million devices (combined) were activated on Christmas Day, up from the 1.5 million activations a day during the rest of December. Apple alone saw 12 times the number of activations over the holiday weekend.

While it is almost impossible to guess how many of these activations are new devices or upgrades, one thing is for certain. Those little buds, as good as they are, tend to create ear fatigue over the long haul.

Headphones are a better choice for more comfort and clarity, especially for people who love music. And Able Planet is worth consideration.

Able Planet provides a richer, fuller sound.

Sure, there are dozens of headphone makers vying for attention. And many of them support celebrities or athletes like Ashely Fiolek, one of the toughest Motocross competitors out there. But when you narrow the field, there are only three names worth mentioning and one of those has the edge with music (it also makes gaming headphones).

Able Planet knows something about the way we hear music. Originally, it made hearing aids before headphones. But when it made the move to the mainstream, Able Planet brought its patented Linx Audio technology along too.

Linx Audio technology was specifically developed for people suffering from hearing loss, but you don't have to suffer to benefit from the tech. It focuses first and foremost on higher frequencies, which is usually the first range of hearing lost. Losing these frequencies is what causes certain letters or letter combinations to drop off or make music sound less lively and flat.

What Linx Audio does is add harmonics that open up higher frequencies, making music sound richer and fuller without having to increase the volume to drown out any white noise (which ear bud users usually do). The setback to drowning out background noise with volume, of course, is that it causes more distortion (and can eventually cause hearing loss). So Linx Audio enables you to turn it down.

Clear Harmony NC1000 is the company's premium headphones.

While the retail price is steep at about $300, Clear Harmony is one of the better headphones on the market. The reason it sounds better is because it combines Audio Linx with advanced noise canceling technology (white noise, but not all noise).

It's this unique combination that makes them compete so well, along with other features like a detachable cord, in-line volume control, and a long battery life (it also takes two AA batteries that do not require a special charging unit).

Even better, if the batteries do run down, Able Planet headphones still function. While there is an impact to sound quality without noise reduction, most other headphones won't operate at all.

Two other names you are likely to hear while shopping for headphones.

Sennheiser and Bose also make great headphones, but I still think the edge belongs to Able Planet. It comes down to specifics. Whereas the best Sennheiser models do compete or beat Able Planet in terms of frequency response and sound quality, Able Planet blocks out more white noise. And while Bose matches Able Planet on noise cancellation, Able Planet has better sound quality.

There is still that question of a higher price. So if price is important, it might be worth checking out the more stylish Extreme Foldable XNC230 (about $100), which comes in black and plaids.

It has many of the same features, but there are three noticeable differences. The construction is lighter, which is meant to add portability along with folding. The comfort is a noticeable compromise. And the battery is limited to one AAA (the company says about 50 hours of play time).

The Extreme does lose some sound quality when compared to the Clear Harmony, but not nearly as much as one would think. Considering the price and portability, the Extreme works well enough as an everyday workhorse or traveling companion. And, like all Able Planet headphones, the price includes two adaptors: one for airplanes and one for professional stereo equipment.

A few people might wonder why I didn't mention the recently-made popular Beats to the mix. To be honest, they really don't compare to any of the other three, except maybe in style. Even then, if style is your biggest concern, it might be better to find some earmuffs. They are more comfortable.

Clear Harmony Headphones Chime In At 6.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

When comparing consumer reviews or reviewers, you may notice some people giving higher marks to Sennheiser or Bose (or even Sony). That makes sense to me, but many of them miss the point.

Generally, reviewers compare headphones at the same levels of volume rather than optimal volume. I make the distinction here because Able Planet headphones sound better at a lower volume (as they were designed), well before any bass distortion. I will, however, concede to some audiophiles who don't appreciate the idea of adding harmonics via Audio Linx. So keep that in mind.

While the premium headphones generally list for about $300, you can find Clear Harmony NC1000 on Amazon for around $170 (the price fluctuates). There are other models are available for under $100, including the Extreme Foldable (about $70). Barnes & Noble carries Able Planet too, including a Sound Clarity mode bundled with an 8GB iPod Nano and the Extreme Foldable (about $100). Prices for Able Planet headphones from Buy.com start at around $60. Just pay careful attention to what model you order. Generally, the higher the number, the better the sound.

Iced Earth Delivers With A Dystopia

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

When Matt Barlow said he was leaving heavy metal band Iced Earth again last March, it really wasn't clear whether the band could survive another reincarnation despite Jon Schaffer's continued persistence to keep it alive. Dystopia quiets any questions.

The best days for Ice Earth may be ahead of them, with the band finding a perfect match: Vancouver metal vocalist Stu Block. Block, who most recently fronted the inventive and progressive metal band Into Eternity, also known for a revolving lineup, is one of the most versatile metal singers out there.

And while more than one person has rightly pointed out that Dystopia doesn't open Block's full range, the stylistic differences help distinguish the sound between where he has been and where he is now. It wouldn't make sense for Block to make Iced Earth sound like Into Eternity, especially since the release of Sandstorm. (Into Eternity started soliciting for a touring vocalist in November).

Dystopia sets the stage for a reinvented Iced Earth.

The title track sets the tone (even if it isn't the best track on the album), but it's everything else that scales up this outing. The website is revamped. The world tour is their most extensive. The online coverage, helmed by bassist Freddie Vidales, is consistently down to earth. And the album is one of Schaffer's most thought out, with some fans even recognizing it as a benchmark classic for the band.

Although the track Dystopia is front and center in promoting the album, it isn't the best track. There are plenty to skip ahead to before considering the entirety of the album.

The mid-tempo Anthem is traditional metal, trudging along with throaty lyrics that ask people to take a chance, break away from their sordid past, and seize a new destiny. Boiling Point is a semi-restrained smasher, with even-paced vocals over furious guitar work. Dark City is also steady and heady, one of the most mature compositions of the band, unshackling souls from the oppression laid out in Dystopia.

As much as Dystopia sounds familiar, the album shows that Iced Earth is ready to stretch its legs. Hints of this can be heard in the previously mentioned song Dark City, which owes some of its influences to German power metal; Anguish of Youth revives more emotive, chorus-heavy metal; and Tragedy and Triumph is a departure for the band, carrying an uplifting tone that conveys how Schaffer attacked much of the songwriting with Block.

Dystopia delivers the message without a concept album.

While the underlying theme of the album twists some of the darker notes from Schaffer's Somethin Wicked storyline, settling into a message to stand up against an established charade, a dystopia that has been slowly enslaving people. At the same time, Dystopia can be called anything but a dark album. Schaffer himself has said that he wanted to convey that it is not too late to turn things around.

These changes, although perhaps too subtle for some to notice, is what makes Dystopia one of Schaffer's best composed albums. He wants people to wake up. He wants people to have hope and triumph (without the cheese). And, above all, he wants to make the music more accessible than ever.

Throughout the album, expect to hear plenty of solos from Schaffer and Troy Seele. There is some fine drum work by Brent Smedley too, even if he isn't always noticed behind the strong strings. All in all, Dystopia is definitely a revival for the band, easily one of the better traditional metal albums this year.

Iced Earth Delivers Dystopia Heated To 4.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Dystopia does put Iced Earth back on the map while reviving the idea that traditional metal adds something to music. While the freshness and enthusiasm mostly comes from Schaffer's work on Sons of Liberty, Block punctuates the evolving direction with a commitment to the band and a willingness to explore a broader range.

Although Dystopia doesn't carry Soylent Green as a bonus track on iTunes, it does include a mediocre cover of Mob Rules (Black Sabbath). At Barnes & Noble, look for the CD. Dystopia by Iced Earth is also on Amazon. Their next video, centered on the song Anthem, is expected to be released soon. It was filmed on Dec. 7. The tour is going strong, with new dates frequently added on the band's website.

SunSaluter Inspires Solar Good Will

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Becker) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Eden Full barely has a website and it redirects to a blog, still listed as coming soon. But she also has an idea, and it's not coming soon. It's happening in Kenya. And expect it to be happening elsewhere too.

The 19-year-old second-year student at Princeton designed a motor-free tracker for solar panels that improved their efficiency by 40 percent. Called SunSaluter, she invented it in high school in hopes of pushing solar technology toward the forefront of alternative energy in both the developed and developing world.

SunSaluter is an inexpensive solar rotator that puts energy within reach.

Most people know what solar panels are. And some people know that solar tracking helps improve efficiency by about 40 percent over panels that are stationary. Their efficiency is improved because once tracking systems are aligned to the sun, the panels can follow it and improve output.

Full takes the concept a step further because SunSaluter doesn't use electricity to rotate the solar panels. Instead, SunSaluter uses highly temperature sensitive bimetallic strips found in most thermostats to track the optimal position of the panel. The cost is about $10 to $20 each.

"I deployed two prototypes of the SunSaluter in two villages of 500 people that didn't have electricity," she told Poptech. "The villages were located in central Kenya about an hour's drive from the closest town. A lot of villagers have cell phones but they had to go into town to charge them."

Because of her innovation, the villagers can now charge cell phones in the center of the village, safely collect firewood, and remain connected to the outside world by powering portable radios. Her company is now working to install refined prototypes in Tanzania, Uganda, and Western China.

The technology that delivers social good around the world.

What makes her concept so unique is that her solution reduces the costs of tracking and improves output without the complicated mechanics and expense associated with most tracking systems on the market. It requires no electricity, motor, or mechanical parts.

In fact, her solution allows for the solar panel to be mounted on wood, bamboo, or metal depending on location and preference, significantly reducing the cost of installation and maintenance. Currently, cost is essentially one of the last remaining hurdles to push solar energy toward mainstream adoption.

Full hasn't been idle with innovative engineering alone. Throughout the year, she has been meeting with people who are interested in partnering with her and applying for grants.

Remarkably successful on this front, Full has won numerous awards, including the $10,000 social good award from the UN Foundation, a $10,000 Startups for Good award from Mashable, 2011 Staples/Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition, and a $100,000 fellowship from the Thiel Foundation. She was also a runner-up in the Green Challenge. As runner-up, she received $275,000.

Her first award came from the Scotiabank Ecoliving Student Leadership Award, which helped her found Roseicollis Technologies, a social enterprise that she intends to use to take her tracking invention and other technologies to developing and established communities.

A few panels about Full and her inspiration.

Full, who was born in Calgary, credits her parents with instilling a sense of environmental awareness in her at a very early age. She also had an opportunity to travel to the Canadian Arctic two years ago, where she saw first hand how sea ice has been diminished as a result of climate change. It was on that trip Full decided that she could help do something to prevent the problem from getting worse.

"If you set creativity and innovation free, well, then you have so much more and so much potential," she said. "So thinking out of the box and applying to science fair projects, I was able to come up with something that was more accessible to everyone."

Since receiving the Thiel Foundation fellowship, Full has taken time off from school to pursue her passion full time. She is now overseeing the installation of her innovation in several locations and may see SunSaluter begin manufacturing. Full built her first solar car when she was nine.

SunSaluter By Eden Full Is A Liquid Hip Good Will Pick.

At least once a month, Liquid [Hip] highlights good will efforts undertaken by courageous people with big hearts. We don't score them. That belongs to you.

Although the SunSaluter website is still in development today, there are many other ways to inspire youth like Full to have the audacity to dream, invent, and recreate the world. Rather than investing time into the advocation of policy and protest, help support and raise awareness for programs such as the Green Challenge, Ecomagination, and the the Thiel Foundation.

These innovation supporters do more than talk about the challenges we face. They do something about it by catapulting young entrepreneurs like Full forward. And that's pretty cool.