Alicia’s eclectic elixir

I’m really enjoying Alicia Key’s latest album “The Element of Freedom”. Always been a big fan of this beautiful and talented girl who to me had the best of all worlds, in terms of style and substance. Both physically and musically. That girl has now grown to be a lady, her music is perfected by experience and the signs of maturity can be heard all over “The Element of Freedom”.

In this album Keys goes back to the eclectic retro style that she touched upon in her previous album, departing from that she blends a soulful elixir, a fusion of the 60’s musicality and 80’s instrumentation in the late 90’s style of presentation! You’ll recognize pieces and bits borrowed from many POP and SOUL songs from those decades. Alicia’s eclectic elixir sounds settled and soothing, becoming its beautiful artist gracefully.

Parkour animation

First time I’m seeing the flip-flap technique being used like this! This is super cool!

No mane for this man!

As much as I am crazy about scarfs I just can’t wear the new over-sized ones! Those are made for tiny thin men, compensating lack of neck and shoulder while when I try them on I look more like a savage warlord with a lion mane around his neck and shoulder, just about to lead his army into the bed of battle!lol

By the way, this post doesn’t qualify to get filed under “Things that I would NEVER wear” series, because unlike those I love these and would have worn them If I only could!

“It only ends once!”

” … Anything that happens before that is just progress!” says a pivotal character in LOST season 5 finale and its pretty much what I hope to become reality as the show is going towards its very end. As you know I’ve been an avid fanatic fan and devote of LOST ever since the show started, but lately I’ve been a bit disappointed in the writers/producers of the show due to the fact that they have done exactly what they had promised not to do and basically lied to the fans in order to keep their loyalty! Now they are delivering on whatever prophecies the cynical critics had predicted from day one instead of their own promises. Something I had come to fear along the path of its labyrinthine seasons. Anyway, I wont go in to details at this stage since I don’t want to spoil it for you and also because I still have a shred of hope left that they will somehow come through this very final season and don’t make me feel completely fooled and betrayed by the end of the show. The following clip is NOT recommended to those who haven’t watched season 5!

In case you are a fan and in need to discuss the show we have had a fun and engaging discussion in the official LOST thread (warning for spoilers!) of our forum. By the way, this show has become such worldwide phenomenon that IRIB (Iran’s state media) is to make its own series officially inspired by LOST! No its not a joke, unfortunately, although it doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict that the result will be!lol ‘Til the day you get to enjoy the Iranian low budget version probably starring Reza Shafie Jam as Jack and Javad Razavian as Sawyer lost on the island of Kish you just have to settle for the original which kicks off again, for the last time tomorrow! If you have missed season 5 and intend to catch up for the final round do hurry and pick up the cleverly deigned and limited edition DVD or Blu-ray set of the season from amazon.

By the way, a fan of the show has designed some really cool posters which I happen to love. They have managed to catch the spirit of the show and represent it with a retro charm. I wouldn’t mind a few of these prints on T-shirts!

For the rest visit his website.

To declare before the turn in …

Friday is long gone on this side of the globe and as I am to retire I had to post this jam before I called it a day! Heard it for the first time tonight and just can’t get the groove out of my head!

On that note goodnight and good morning ...

Wash away your sins in the sanua!

Can the Finns make horror movies? Well last year we saw that the Swedes can make great vampire movies, so anything is possible. I’ve just watched “Sauna“. You might know that the people of the Nordic countries, Finland in particular, love their wildlife saunas. Especially during the winter time when they step out of it just to take a dip in a frozen lakes, before they get back in for a sip of vodka! Its a cultural thing and when a movie from Finland is titled “Sauna” you can’t really take it seriously, let alone as a horror movie!

This movie however surprisingly works! Very well as a matter of fact. It is not the American type of horror movie, with a lot of noise and gore, but rather in the European less-is-more style. Much like “Let The Right One In” and “Antichrist”, which means less action and more suggestion. By suggestively creating a creepy atmosphere and ambiance it crawls under the skin of the viewer and evokes subliminal associations while creating a sense of discomfort and fear! With a lot of help from the great acting, a good story and gorgeous photography, of course. Give “Sauna” a try if you are into this kind of horror. For some strange reason is the entire movie on youtube and has not been removed!?! Unfortunately it doesn’t feature English subtitles, but watch the opening minutes and you get a feeling. Warning for graphic content!

Caught on cam

You’ve been reading (and hearing me a few times) while seeing my pictures here on the blog, but you’ve never seen me in motion. Well, no more sleepless nights for you!lol This clip is a test shot me and my colleagues did for the presentation of a project we are working on about “youth on youtube”. Thought it would be fun showing you guys what the review-master does when he is not here sharing wisdom with the world!lol By the way, if you hear me saying something that sounds like “group sex” then don’t be shocked (even though by now I hardly think anyone who has been a reader of mine would!lol), you are not hearing wrong! Obviously I am saying exactly that! However in Swedish it simply means group six! Yes, sex stands for both sex and six in Sweden. I know, very confusing and one of the reasons why I love Sweden!lol Oh, another thing! The footage is a mirror image! Don’t ask me how this happened but we noticed the technical mistake first after that we had recorded the whole program and someone spotted that my birthmark is on my wrong cheek! D’OH!!lol

Digitally vintage

Who wants to shoot short clips that look and sound like old analogue 8mm footages? I do! I do! I want a Superheadz Digital Harinezumi! Its cheap and ugly-chic! I want one!!

Mos Def doc

I really like Mos Def. The guy has a very likable personality. Very sympathetic and intelligent (though not always equally articulate!). Being both musician and actor he is the definition of omnipotence, to me he is the epitome of the entire American urban culture! Omnivorous and eclectic, even when it comes to his sense for fashion.

His latest album “The Ecstatic” was of a high caliber, lyrically as well as musically. This interesting documentary follows the man on his recent tour to Japan. If you happen to be into cultural fusion I highly recommend you to watch it. I let you to it by quoting something Mos expresses well in this documentary, a point of departure which I personally happen to share:

“I’m into cultures that are fixated on beautiful things!”

Click to watch

Things that I would NEVER wear! (#2)

I like to think that I’m an open-minded guy, relatively in touch with my feminine side and wouldn’t mind unisex clothing, as long as it remains anchored in my masculinity one way or another. Not because masculinity is superior in any way, but simply because I am a masculine looking man! If I had more feminine features I could have pulled this combination off, but imagine a (off course a handsome one but nonetheless) gorilla with a ribbon!lol Now how cute would that be? Well, very cute but not a bit handsome!lol On that note I gotta say these latest lady’s handbag inspired men’s bags that are meant to be carried around hanging on the wrist are just too much! Look at those big round loop handles, someone told me that even my laptop case is supposed to be carried like that! My only answer was that I rather hold it with my teeth ’til my last tooth falls out, before I wear it like that!lol Reminds me of a Friends episode with Joey and his unisex handbag:

Up where we belong

I had been waiting a long time to see this one and am glad to say that it both surprised and satisfied me. Surprised that it didn’t go exactly the way I thought it would and satisfied because I really enjoyed the way it took! I was worried that the Hollywood face of the movie would take over sooner or later, but fortunately the indie heart shone all the way through. Though soaring above the clouds it had its feet on solid ground.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this movie was because I found Clooney’s character very familiar, its someone I can relate to particularly at this age and phase in life. By now you know my love for realistic takes on life and love and this one took it even one step further! There is a certain pre-wedding scene which delivers perhaps the best existentialistic contemplation and comparison of a life lived alone and one in companionship of another person, for your consideration.

It goes without saying the movie owes much of its credibility to the matching performance and perfect chemistry of Clooney and Farmiga (and her marvelous behind which she proudly displayed in “Running Scared” and now does a follow up to in a barely-embedded *pun intended* nude scene), but in “Up in the Air” we can also witness the blooming of the cute and petite Anna Kendrick into a credible actress!

Something to go gaga for!

If you are a Gaga fan or a collector of limited editions then this is one set to go gaga for! Lady Gaga recently re-released her successful debut “The Fame”, injected with a chunk of remakes along with new material under the title “The Fame Monster”. The revamped (the monster version of “The Fame”) album was initially released as a single-disc jewel-case and a double-disc deluxe digipak, both with different covers (below)! The third edition released last week however is a super set limited to 10.000 copies, all numbered and including a lock of her (wig?) hair! This is one over-priced set at the moment, but the production quality is top notch and needless to say on my to-get list as soon as the price drops a bit.